Joan Laportapresident of FC Barcelona, and John Hoffman, CEO of GSMA Ltd. (Global System for Mobile Communications), a company that organizes Mobile World Congress (MWC) Barcelonahave signed this Monday a collaboration agreement by which the Sports Tomorrowthe sports innovation conference organized annually by the Barça Innovation Hubwill be integrated into MWC Barcelona as part of the program of events for the next edition of the mobile telephony congress, to be held in 2023. This agreement involves incorporating innovation in sports into one of the most important technological events in the world, at at the same time that it promotes Sports Tomorrow at an international level with the help of a benchmark brand such as MWC Barcelona.
The signing ceremony took place this afternoon at the Llotja President Suñol of the Camp Nou, where Joan Laporta and John Hoffmann They have sealed an agreement that stems from the desire of both parties to seek synergies between technology and sports innovation and that represents the first time that a space for meeting, debate and knowledge will be created within the MWC Barcelona for the entire sports ecosystem. The event was also attended by Angel RiudalbasDirector Responsible for the Barça Innovation Hub.
This agreement implies a change of location and dates of Sports Tomorrow. The Congress will move from the Club facilities to one of the spaces of the Barcelona Fair, in Hospitalet del Llobregat, usual venue of the MWC Barcelona. As for the date, it will go from a week in November to be held in two days between February 27 and March 2, 2023, coinciding with the next edition of the mobile telephony congress and which at the moment is the field validity of the agreement between FC Barcelona and the GSMA.
The changes will also affect the content. Until now the Sports Tomorrow It consisted of different tracks or thematic conferences related to sports such as medicine, physiotherapy, nutrition, data analysis, technology, or sportbusiness, among others. Now, the congress will revolve around a single theme that, in the 2023 edition, and under the claim Minds Behind The Gamewill delve into both the role of the brain in the performance of athletes, and the cognitive applications of artificial intelligence in all spheres of the sports industry.
The fact that Sports Tomorrow becomes part of the largest event in the world in the field of technology and connectivity, such as the MWC Barcelona 2023 responds to the vocation of the congress and its organizer, the Barça Innovation Hub, FC Barcelona’s knowledge and innovation platform, to foster a culture of excellence and collaboration with brands, universities, research centers, startups, entrepreneurs, students, athletes, investors and visionaries from around the world. And one of the ways to do it is through the organization of congresses and conferences, such as the Sports Tomorrrow, a pioneering initiative at the level of football clubs and that since 2016, 2020 under the name of Sports Tomorrow, has become a benchmark in the sports ecosystem. In the 2021 edition, for example, the congress brought together 282 experts and had more than 2,000 registered.
The agreement with GSMA also means that Sports Tomorrow goes beyond the scope of the Club to join a city project such as MWC Barcelona, one of the events that best represents the projection of the Barcelona brand throughout the world.
Joan Laportapresident of FC Barcelona, commented in this regard that “we are very proud and satisfied with this agreement with a leading platform in the world of mobile technology such as MWC Barcelona, since on the one hand it will turn a leading event in sports innovation such as the Sports Tomorrow Congress is a global benchmark in terms of the link between technology and sport and, in turn, is also a boost to project the city of Barcelona as a world capital in this field”.
For its part, John HoffmanCEO of GSMA, stated that “we are very excited to collaborate with FC Barcelona. Co-locating Sports Tomorrow at MWC Barcelona 2023 brings together two world-leading events and creates space to identify and create new business opportunities in the mobile and sports ecosystems. The move shows the strategic importance and power of mobile connectivity and builds on the launch of the Industry City at MWC22, in the fintech, manufacturing and automotive sectors.”
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