Sea, Sand, Sun and Technology

Sea, Sand, Sun and Technology

The Mobile World Congress (MWC) is the world’s largest gathering for the mobile industry, and is held in Barcelona* this year from 27 February - 2 March 2017.

Every year its programmes continue to be the focus for the overall event, educating delegates whilst covering the latest technological developments, like the six-month trial** for contactless mobile shopping (using your mobile phone to pay for things – no coins or banknotes).

In 2011, 500 merchants in Sitges were equipped with payment terminals and 1,500 residents were given mobiles loaded with the contactless technology; all funded by Visa, the people behind debit and credit card technology, Telefonica, and La Caixa.

And the Next Year 2012

The Mobile World Capital Barcelona (part of the MWC) and the SITGES - Festival Internacional de Cinema Fantàstic de Catalunya, created the Phonetastic Sitges Mobile Film Festival, an initiative designed to develop mobile devices—smartphones and tablets—both as cinema production tools and as an audio-visual distribution platform.

 But how does some of these technological developments affect me has also changed over the years and continues to do so… I remember when I carried one to three different notebooks, in order to catch my thoughts and ideas as they came to mind by physically writing them before they were forgotten. I even posted a bit of my writing process in the form of Putting Pen to Paper back in August 2015. Remember what I said? In the post, “I do the majority of my writing easily on my laptop, but I also do a fair amount of note taking by hand—on notepads and little bits of paper I find lying around”; and how they are then transformed into digital form on my computer and further developed and transformed into articles, essays or poems…

Well the ease at which this is done is how radically mobile technology has improved how I get things done.

Today, my mobile phone is the device with which I catch my ever-flowing ideas. My other devices (IPad, Laptop) like my phone all have Google Docs, Google Drive and the app I couldn’t live without, Evernote. These mobile applications allow me to interchangeably work on any one of my devices, to create a document and continue to develop it off or online until it comes to fruition.

Another interesting initiative, in its 3rd edition later this year May 5^th-6^th, Sitges Next, “is the exclusive meeting of innovation in advertising communication.” 

Two days to analyze and promote the work of those creating the relationships between brands and public demand— new connections between advertising and technology, industrial design, art, film, and ecology.

 The organizers continue, “Technology is transforming communication, consumption, entertainment, relationships”; so it stands to reason other organizers of other important “tech” conferences have also chosen Sitges as a host location for its infrastructure and easy global access such as:

The Third International Conference on Bio-Sensing Technology held in May of 2013 which provided a forum for accessing the most up-to-date and authoritative knowledge from both commercial and academic worlds, sharing best practices in the field as well as learning about case studies of successfully integrated bio-sensing technologies as in, healthcare, agri-food, environmental sectors, just to name a few.

And, the 1st International Conference on Bio-resource Technology for Bio-energy, Bio-products & Environmental Sustainability (October 2016) which aimed to provide a forum for researchers, academics, industry, and policymakers, to discuss the current state of the art and emerging trends in bio-technology, bio-energy, and bio-based products.

Although participants flock to Barcelona for the Mobile World Congress year-in, year-out, who knew sometimes our sleepy-in-winter town could sometimes be at the forefront of technology as well? Needless to say, we welcome all thinkers and shakers in the varied world of technologies, but hope when conference attendees come here, they also know how to unplug, unwind, recharge their personal energy and enjoy Sitges.

Scribe Notes:

*The event brings many attendees to Sitges, because we’re located only 40 km from Barcelona and even closer to the conference at the Fira Gran Vía Exhibition Centre (near L'Hospitalet de Llobregat) and Barcelona–El Prat Airport. In addition, connections between Sitges and Barcelona are not limited to access by car via the C-32 motorway, but also there are free buses from the Calipolis Hotel (for guests) to the Fira de Gran Via and one Line of Cercanías or Rodalies that will transfer people directly (without transfer) to the venue of the Mobile World Congress 2017.

**Results of the Trial

The organizers of the trial were encouraged by the early results. They say that 52% of the 1,500 individual users made one or more purchases each week using the phones. The average value of purchases was €10. The majority of all purchases (52%) were made in supermarkets, and cafés also saw frequent use of the phones.

Today, retailers capitalize on the growth of mobile shopping via phones and tablets, but instead of directly using the phone for payment, shopping is done via access to the retailers’ mobile app loaded ON the device or phone with the owners’ bank details.

*** Mobile World Capital Barcelona was an initiative aimed at turning the city into the permanent global centre of mobile technologies, where people, companies and institutions work together to exploit the potential of mobile technologies as an element to transform daily life and create new business opportunities.