DFactory Barcelona recognized as the best business initiative in Spain

• DFactory Barcelona, promoted by the Consorci de la Zona Franca de Barcelona, was recognized by Ejecutivos magazine for having established itself as the largest industry 4.0 ecosystem in southern Europe.

• Pere Navarro, special delegate of the State in the Consorci de la Zona Franca, received the award in a ceremony with great business representation that took place last night at the Hotel Rafael Atocha in Madrid.

Barcelona, September 28, 2023 – DFactory Barcelona, a technological hub promoted by the Consorci de la Zona Franca de Barcelona, was awarded the Best Business Initiative Award during the XXXII edition of the national awards organized by the Ejecutivos Magazine held yesterday at the Rafael Atocha Hotel in Madrid. The special delegate of the State in the CZFB, Pere Navarro, accompanied by the general director of the CZFB, Blanca Sorigué, was in charge of receiving this award that recognizes the trajectory of this business hub located in the Zona Franca of Barcelona, which promotes the creation of synergies between all economic agents, both business and professional,  that meet in the disruptive building with the aim of developing innovation projects and new technologies based on Industry 4.0.

DFactory Barcelona has become in just two years of activity as the main industry 4.0 ecosystem in southern Europe with 30 companies installed in the sectors of artificial intelligence, robotics, 3D printing, blockchain, sensors, IoT… A benchmark in the development of industry 4.0, it has facilities of up to 17,000m² distributed over four floors with open, diaphanous and digital spaces, and currently has an occupancy of 80%. Some of the companies are HP, Nexiona, Picvisa, Hubmaster, Símbiosy, Witeklab, NTT Data, Girbau, Leitat, Alisys, On Robot, Asorcad, SioCast, Imhoit, Innovae, ICIL Lab or Excelencia Tech Stratasys, among others.

Pere Navarro, special delegate of the State in the CZFB, has been “very proud to receive this recognition as ‘Business Initiative’ reference of the country. DFactory Barcelona is the cathedral of the new economy, aligned with the SDGs, which brings together the most disruptive technological projects and solutions in our country. And we are already thinking about the execution of the second phase to continue growing and developing disruptive and innovative proposals and initiatives based on industry 4.0.” 

Meanwhile, Blanca Sorigué, general director of the CZFB, pointed that “not only the DFactory Barcelona is recognized, but also the 500 people and all the companies that have chosen to settle in this disruptive and spectacular building. The new technologies that are developed in this technological hub are pioneers in innovation and technological development and can be a range of new possibilities and solutions for companies and society as a whole”.

DFactory Barcelona is aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations 2030 Agenda, facilitating the digitalization of industry as a key lever for the ecological transition and promoting the circular economy through the adoption of new production systems and sustainable advanced manufacturing. The project has a second phase planned with 72,500m2 where 1,500 people are expected to work directly and 5,000 indirectly, which will begin to materialize at the end of 2023.

The XXXII Executive Awards also recognized, among other winners, Iberdrola (company of the year), Cupra (business strategy), L’Oreal (brand), Senniors (startup), Vanesa Prats, executive vice president and director of P&G Spain and Portugal (executive of the year) and Inés Bermejo, general director of HP Iberia (professional career).