Health and Proptech, vital sectors of the new economy, key-roles today at BNEW

• During the session “The impact of virtual reality and augmented reality in the real estate sector“, within the BNEW Proptech vertical, the participants discussed how the way we buy homes is being transformed.

• At BNEW Talent, the panel “The art of leadership in a highly competitive business world” brought together Blanca Sorigué, CEO of CZFB; Jan de Dreu, Executive Director, Debt Investments at BBVA Sparks; Miquel Rey, General Business Director at EURECAT; and David Boronat, Founder and President of Multiplica; to find the keys to thrive in a challenging and constantly changing business world.

• This afternoon (7pm) will take place the cof the Awards to the Best Startups of BNEW 2023 that will recognize the most innovative projects in the digital industry, sustainability, mobility, talent, health and proptech.

Barcelona, October 4th, 2023.- The Barcelona New Economy Week (BNEW), promoted by the Consorci de la Zona Franca de Barcelona (CZFB), held its third day today, continuing with presentations on the verticals of the new economy. The impact of telemedicine and exponential technologies on the sustainability of the healthcare ecosystem, new investment trends in the real estate sector and green occupation as an engine for generating new professional opportunities were some of the topics discussed this morning at the DFactory Barcelona.

Transforming the real estate sector: the revolution of virtual and augmented reality

Today the BNEW Proptech vertical was inaugurated, within which interesting round tables were held with multiple attendees, both in person and virtual. One of the most outstanding was “The impact of virtual reality and augmented reality in the real estate sector”, moderated by Quino Fernández, CEO and co-Founder of ATICCOLAB. Participating in this debate were Jaime Flores, Co-Founder and Project Manager at Jotavirtual; Francesc Quintana, CEO of Vivendex; Ezequiel Vallejo, director at Lodging Apartments; and Carla Martínez, Country Manager for Spain and Portugal at Habiteo.

During the session, speakers discussed virtual reality, augmented reality and other innovative technologies that are transforming the way we buy properties. In this sense, Frances Quintana has assured that “these technologies must be reliable, transparent and easy to use in order to speed up the purchase process”. On the other hand, Jaime Flores explained that “suppliers have the responsibility to make pedagogy to real estate developers, since some are still unaware of the capabilities of new technologies”. In the same way, according to Ezequiel Vallejo, “it is in the hands of developers that customers can experiment with these innovative tools, which already exist”. Finally, Carla Martínez has stated that “during the next decade, the metaverse will be more than integrated into the real state sector”.

Leadership as a differentiator in today’s business world

This afternoon, as part of the BNEW Talent vertical, the panel “The art of leadership in a highly competitive business world” took place, moderated by Lluïsa Serrallach, Business Director at Harvard-Deusto. In it, Blanca Sorigué, CEO of CZFB; Jan de Dreu, Executive Director, Debt Investments at BBVA Sparks; Miquel Rey, General Business Director at EURECAT; and David Boronat, Founder and President of Multiplica, explored how effective leadership can lead to business success in a highly competitive environment, providing some keys to stand out and thrive in a challenging and constantly changing business world.

Blanca Sorigué has stated that the leadership of an organization must be “generous, must grow capabilities and empower all team workers”. In his case, Jan de Dreu explained how, according to BBVA Sparks, entrepreneurs should be: “they are people who are hungry to take on the world, they are leaders, and they have resilience when creating their projects”. Miquel Rey, in his case, has detailed that “with the time dedicated to people, their ideas and doubts, business confidence is gained, something essential. It takes trust, generosity and empathy, basic characteristics to undertake”. Finally, David Boronat, has presented the qualities of edgers, the leading people who live between today and tomorrow: “they are rebellious, bold, decisive, connectors, techno-open, multipliers, and curious”.

Technology and sustainability, key vectors in e-Health

Another of the most eagerly awaited debates of the day was “The impact of telemedicine and exponential technologies on the sustainability of the healthcare ecosystem”, as part of the second new vertical of this edition: BNEW Health. Moderated by Ricard Castellet, Head of Digital Transformation at Gebro Pharma Laboratories, and it has had the participation of four high-level speakers: David Campos, Board Member at Science4Tech Solutions SL; Rat Gasol, CCO/CCO at Onalabs Inno-Hub; Tomás Torres Ramos, medical director at Clínica Tres Torres; and Xavier Lleixa, co-founder at DigimEvo.

The objective of this session was to discuss how the impact of telemedicine and exponential technologies will boost the efficiency of the health system, reduce expenses, and ensure its viability. In this line, Rat Gasol has assured that “telemedicine is a useful channel for users and professionals, since it provides more data and increases the scope of medicine”. On the other hand, David Campos has stated that “5% of clinical trials are delayed” and ensures that “only with exponential technologies can it be remedied”.

For his part, Xavier Lleixa said that “the health sector is one of the sectors that has taken the longest to adopt new technologies. Today, telematic consultations represent 7%, when in the pandemic they were 80%. What happened? Why is it so hard to consolidate? This is the challenge facing the telemedicine sector”. Finally, Tomás Torres, explained that “as a result of the pandemic we saw that we had to integrate and adapt to new technologies. And now we see that citizens return to consultations, and they like direct and personal contact. We provide many facilities and are very agile in offering solutions to users, and for this reason we have been surprised by the decline in global telemedicine.” 

BNEW Best Startups Awards 2023

Carlos Prieto, the delegate of the government of Spain in Catalonia, will chair the delivery of the Awards for the Best Startups of BNEW 2023, an authority that will be accompanied by Laia Bonet, first deputy mayor of the Barcelona City Council; Joan Romero, executive director of ACCIÓ; Pere Navarro, special delegate of the State in the CZFB, and Blanca Sorigué, general director of the CZFB and the BNEW. The awards ceremony will take place today from 7 pm in the auditorium of DFactory Barcelona.

This year, a total of 80 emerging companies have submitted their candidacy to the BNEW Startup Innovation Hub awards, to each of the verticals of the event: Sustainability, Digital Industry, Proptech, Mobility, Talent and Health. The jury will evaluate the solutions of the 30 finalist startups according to the impact they have on the industry, the capacity of the management teams and the high-value technological solutions that provide sustainable competitive advantages. Likewise, the sustainable growth potential of the startup, its ability to influence the economy and society, and its innovation component will be considered. Tomorrow will be held the fourth and last day of this edition of the Barcelona New Economy Week that so far is having a very positive balance.