Report on activities 2011 - startvaekst.dk Activa Report on ... Councillor for Education and Universities ... to promote business creation and sectorial investment forums with

Barcelona Activa

Report on activities 2011

Barcelona Activa Report on activities 2011 2

Contents

01 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................................................. 5

02 LINES OF WORK AND NETWORK OF FACILITIES TO PROMOTE BUSINESSES

AND EMPLOYMENT ....................................................................................................................................... 8

03 MAIN RESULTS 2011 ................................................................................................................................... 10

03.1 Business creation ................................................................................................................................... 11

03.2 Business growth ..................................................................................................................................... 12

03.3 Employment ........................................................................................................................................... 13

03.4Human capital ........................................................................................................................................ 14

03.5 Technology diffusion and it skills acquisition .......................................................................................... 15

03.6 International economic relations ............................................................................................................ 17

03.7 Strategic sectors .................................................................................................................................... 17

03.8Regional promotion and tourism ............................................................................................................ 18

04 FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT ......................................................................................................................... 19


Board of Directors President

Ms. Sònia RECASENS i ALSINA

Second Deputy Mayor for Economy, Business and Employment Area

Vice president

Mr. Jordi Joly i Lena

Manager of Economy, Business and Employment Area

Board members

Mr. Jaume Ciurana i Llevadot Mr. Xavier Mulleras Vinzia

Fifth Deputy Mayor Councillor for the Municipal Group of PPC

Mr. Gerard Ardanuy i Mata Ms. Míriam Casanova Doménech

Councillor for Education and Universities Councillor for the Municipal Group of PPC

Mr. Jordi Marti i Galbis Ms. Janet Sanz Cid Councillor for the Municipal Group of Convergència i Unió Councillor for the Municipal Group of ICV

Mr. Raimond Blasi i Navarro Sr. Josep Lluís de Villasante Councillor of Commerce Representative from Unidad por Barcelona

Mr. Jordi William Carnes i Ayats

Councillor for the Municipal Group of PSC


Management Team

Managing Director Anna Molero Romen

Director of Administration and Finances Director of Business Creation Josep Marquès Ferre Montse Basora Farré

Director of Investment and Economic Relations Director of Business Growth

Raquel Antolino Gandia Yolanda Pérez Sáez

Director of Human Resources Director of Employment

Núria Massip Vidal Lorena Ventura Calvo

Director of IT Systems Director of Human Capital

Marc Puente Vila-Masana Lorenzo di Pietro

Director of Strategic Sectors Director of the Cibernarium

Josep Miquel Piqué i Huerta Jordi Roca Carles

Director of International Economic Relations Director of Institutional Cooperation

Mario Rubert i Català Elena del Rey Santamaría

Director of Territorial Development and Tourism Director of Marketing

Joan Torrella i Reñé Maria Vilà Brecha


01 Introduction

Barcelona Activa is Barcelona City Council’s local development agency. Its mission is to support and promote Barcelona’s economic growth and its sphere of influence by carrying out economic promotion policies to ultimately support businesses and employment.

The municipal organisation Barcelona Activa is integrated into Barcelona City Council’s Department of the Economy, Business and Employment and pursues its actions in agreement with the strategic and functional objectives of this municipal department.

Having successfully operated for 25 years and viewed as a pioneer in Spain, Barcelona Activa is a leading national and international agency in designing and implementing innovative policies to support local enterprise and job creation. It has been recognised by the highest-level institutions such as the European Commission, OECD, the United Nations Habitat programme, the Eurocities European network of cities, the EBN business incubation network and the World Bank.

Its programmes and methodologies to promote employment and business creation, growth and innovation have been transferred to other parts of the world, such as Cape Town, Monterrey, Santiago de Chile, Buenos Aires, Bogota, Medellin, Quito, Rome, Sarajevo, Andorra, Brazil, Brussels and Tampere, as well as other Spanish cities like Bilbao, Mataró and San Sebastián, among others.

At the same time, Barcelona Activa is a unique organisation noted for its innovative activities not only in designing programmes and activities, but also in creating and promoting favourable environments and strategic projects to facilitate economic activity, boost the job market and attract and retain talent to the city. All this is done while seeking out opportunities for cooperation among the different stakeholders operating in the region to maximise the impact and potential of the implemented measures. Through its activities, the agency aims to contribute to the city’s progress and change its economic model towards one of growth with high levels of competitiveness and productivity through activities of higher added value while also working to tackle the economic crisis, reactivate economic activity and support employment.

The agency designs and implements initiatives that are co-funded, depending on each programme, by Barcelona City Council, the competent authorities in their field of action, like the Government of Catalonia, the Government of Spain and the European Union and an extensive list of public and private strategic partners in various sectors and collectives subject to the different activities.

In this sense, Barcelona Activa’s activity during 2011 was marked on one hand by implementation of the Agreement for Quality Employment in Barcelona that ends in December 2011, as part of which an agreement was signed between Barcelona City Council and the Government of Catalonia to implement employment policies active in Barcelona.

Furthermore, it was marked by the launch of the initiative Barcelona Creixement (“Barcelona Growth”), begun in July 2011. With the participation of more than a hundred representatives from the financial, business and knowledge worlds, this is a collaborative initiative promoted by Barcelona City Council to seek and concentrate flexible measures with impact that can be implemented to promote economic revitalisation in Barcelona based on public-private cooperation. Barcelona Activa has acted as its technical secretariat by stimulating six thematic working groups with more than 70 experts of renowned prestige, who have agreed on an action plan with around thirty concrete measures to be implemented quickly.

In this context, Barcelona Activa has maintained historical levels of care and service for business and individuals, offering more than 70 programmes that have been able to serve 275,020 participants, while boosting online services in municipal employment portals (www.bcn.cat/treball) and business support portals (www.bcn.cat/empresa), translating the content into English and also providing services in English in the agency’s different spheres in a pioneering way. Notable is the strengthening of business programmes as a lever for economic revitalisation and the creation of new jobs, which has also been made available for individuals, especially unemployed people, with specific actions for the most vulnerable, a comprehensive set of programmes prioritising those that achieve some high job placement rates.


Therefore, more than 2,300 businesses have benefitted from the different programmes for business growth and 2,453 new business projects have received support, of which it is estimated that 1,700 new businesses will be created, generating more than 3,000 new jobs.

Through the different programmes and activities to facilitate access to funding for SMEs, 23.3 million euros have been raised for business creation and growth. At the same time, strategic sectors have been promoted in the city such as ICT, biotechnology, the media, the environment and renewable energies and trade through programmes to promote business creation and sectorial investment forums with close public-private collaboration, working with institutions, companies and organisations from the financial world like Microsoft, Gamesa, la Caixa, the Chamber of Commerce, the Government of Catalonia, Genoma España, BANC, ESADEBAN and Keiretsu Forum, among others.

2011 was the year that a new space for business incubation and growth for highly innovative companies in the city was launched: the Almogàvers Business Factory incubator. This new space, operational since June, is based on public-private cooperation with participation in managing businesses and institutions from the world of knowledge, innovation and business finance like Pompeu Fabra University, Nauta, Appstylus, McCann, Fundació Inlea and the Ecommerce Global Incubator.

Support for businesses from the employment point of view has also been strengthened with new initiatives, from surveying companies to identifying needs for qualified staff and participation in the development of programmes, offering knowledge, internships and recruitment through grants for hiring youth trained through the Joves amb Futur (“Young People With a Future”) programme, business and commercial support and energisation actions for special attention neighbourhoods, as well as through a new space on the Barcelona Treball employment website where companies can carry out high-quality recruitment processes with information on professionals’ training, experience and skills. New programmes have also been launched, such as those for placing unemployed people affected by the redundancy of employment in the automotive industry, which have had a high level of prospection and collaboration with businesses and have achieved rates of placement close to 65%.

In line with the municipal strategy to promote the availability of service for residents who need it most, various programmes were established in all districts of the city in 2011. This is the case of the programme Activa’t per l’Ocupació (“Get Moving Towards Employment”), which has served more than 10,000 unemployed people through 20 points of care distributed throughout the region with a special presence in those most affected by unemployment, the technological training programme through 11 technological literacy antennae using the public library network and the academic and professional guidance programme for young people, found in the city’s 10 youth information points (PIJ) and in more than 200 schools, among other places.

In 2011 the maximum historical level of trained people was reached with 7,684 participants trained in emerging sectors and occupations and/or with work opportunities in Barcelona, such as services for people and the community, services for companies and new technologies. At the same time, 2,515 individuals have been hired in joint work-training programmes for learning how to do jobs in real environments by developing projects and services of collective interest.

Meanwhile, through Barcelona Activa, Barcelona City Council has led the drive in sectors of high strategic interest through city initiatives with a global presence such as the ICT sector (by obtaining candidacy as Mobile World Capital, which Barcelona will hold until 2017 and will bring significant income to the city and surrounding area with the Mobile World Congress), in the field of smart cities (through a cross-cutting strategy of innovation in infrastructure and public services) and the electric mobility sector (through a platform for promoting the LIVE electric vehicle led by Barcelona City Council in collaboration with the Government of Catalonia’s Catalan Energy Institute (ICAEN), the Ministry of Industry’s Institute for Energy Diversification and Saving (IDAE), Endesa, SEAT and Siemens, which has received the recognition of the Observatory of Public Innovation of France, among other multiple initiatives.

Likewise, an important international economic promotion programme has been carried out with more than 100 actions to enhance Barcelona’s positioning and expand the international flows of money to the city, a highly strategic issue at a time of financial crisis, when exports and the attraction of investment should be central lines for economic recovery.

Seven European cooperation projects have participated actively in this international dimension: Creative Metropole, for exchanging policies of support for creative industries; Clusnet, for exchanging policies of support for clusters; Med Ked, for developing an action plan for supporting entrepreneurs in the Mediterranean region; Emma, for strengthening woman-led enterprises in the Mediterranean; Open Cities, for developing pilot open innovation management projects in the public sector; Green Emotion, aimed at implementing electric mobility on


the European scale; and Immediate, aimed at providing tools and services to assist the growth of digital SMEs that operate in the creative industries sector. Moreover, three projects dealing with technical transfer of the model for promoting company creation and business growth have been carried out in Monterrey (Mexico), Quito (Ecuador) and Cape Town (South Àfrica).

In this regard, the agency has received more than 160 institutional delegations, 80% of them international, in order to become familiar with the economic promotion and local development model promoted by Barcelona City Council, which is establishing itself as a point of reference. This is demonstrated by the recognition received throughout the year from European institutions like the European Commissionʼs “European Entreprise Awards” for the Barcelona Activa business creation service as the best European project for promoting entrepreneurial initiatives, the “European Public Sector Award” for the “Get Moving Towards Employment” programme as good European practice and the “Territoria Europe 2011” award given to the LIVE electric mobility project by the Observatory of Public Innovation of France, among others.

These actions of great scope seek to obtain the greatest influence and impact on public action with a clearly metropolitan vision. For that reason, the map of actions of the municipal agency is conceived from a perspective of working in networks with the public and private stakeholders that operate in the region, adding complementarities, taking advantage of synergies and knowledge and optimising resources. Thus, Barcelona Activa actively participates in more than 40 local, national and international networks and began lines of collaboration in 2011 with 120 public and private organisations to carry out its activities. The set of economic promotion policies developed by the agency in 2011 to support and promote economic growth in Barcelona was given a budget of 42 million euros.


02 Lines of work and network of facilities to promote businesses and employment

Barcelona City Council’s local development agency is an anonymous municipal capital corporation that has a Board formed by representatives from all municipal groups.

Barcelona Activa is organised around the following business areas, cross-cutting areas and areas of support:

Business areas

1. Business Creation: to facilitate the creation of new business initiatives with future potential for growth and with special influence in the development of strategic sectors and in entrepreneurship as a driving force for inclusion.

2. Business Growth: to create conditions that encourage sustainability and the sustained growth of companies in the city by internationalising them, providing access to funding, cooperating and improving business management.

3. Employment: to facilitate vocational training and access to employment for unemployed people while advancing in a quality and inclusive job market and tending to businesses’ needs.

4. Human Capital: to promote professional guidance and the attraction and development of human capital by favouring the professional advancement of active and unemployed people.

5. Technology diffusion and IT skills acquisition: to disseminate technological progress and train residents, companies and workers on how to use it as a component for competitiveness and skill improvement.

6. International Economic Relations: to promote Barcelona’s economic flows, exchanges and relations with the outside world in order to boost the city’s economy and business leadership, making Barcelona an attractive environment for investment, business and economic activities.

7. Strategic Sectors: to give impetus to economic promotion policies in Barcelona’s most strategic sectors of the economy (ICT, the media, biotechnology, clean energies, etc.).

8. Regional Promotion and Tourism: to coordinate regional economic promotion actions associated with both the districts and neighbourhoods of the city and the greater metropolitan area, as well as related promotional actions and linked organisations like the Barcelona Tourist Board and the Fira de Barcelona fairgrounds, while channelling the city’s resources to increase the possibilities of success.

Cross-cutting areas Communication, Marketing and Economic Forecasting

Institutional Cooperation and Fundraising

Areas of support Administration and Finance

Information Systems

Human Resources

Investment and Economic Relations


The agency’s commitments when managing and providing service include:

Transparency and results orientation for economic growth

Guaranteeing equal participation in all the agency’s actions

Acting from a base of cooperation and complementarities

Working in conjunction with social stakeholders

Providing structure for an organisation that performs quality work, improves continuously and is oriented to internal and external customers

Strengthening Barcelona Activa’s positioning as an executive arm of the city and metropolitan area’s economic promotion policies

Offering quality service to our customers based on personalised attention

Encouraging innovation in design and project and programme management

Meeting all the requisites of our customers and funding bodies and fulfilling the legal and regulatory requirements

Workers’ personal and professional development

Barcelona Activa has a network of advanced facilities, each specialising in their field of activity: Glòries Entrepreneurship Centre, the city’s leading facility for starting up businesses.

Glòries Business Incubator, the city’s incubation environment for growing innovative companies.

Almogàvers Business Incubator, the city’s new incubation environment for new innovative businesses.

Barcelona Nord Technology Park, an environment for the incubation of innovative technology-based businesses in the growth phase. It also houses Cibernàrium, a place for entry-level technology training.

Porta22 Centre for Professional Development, the leading metropolitan centre for professional guidance and developing human capital.

Can Jaumandreu, a space that houses employment-related activities.

Sant Agustí Convent, a space also specialised in employment activities in trade, food and drink and tourism, and a leader in inclusive entrepreneurship programmes. Since 2010 it has housed Crea, an office that drives the creation of businesses in vacant premises in the district as part of the implementation of its Plan of Uses.

Ca n’Andalet, a facility that specialises in training and skill-improvement activities.

Technology Training Centre for Professionals and SMEs, located in the MediaTIC building.


03 Main results 2011

As a main municipal instrument for promoting economic growth and giving support to unemployed people, the municipal agency served a total of 275,020 participants through more than 70 programmes in 2011. Below, we provide details of the most remarkable features of the municipal agency’s performance throughout 2011 around its eight business areas.


03.1 BUSINESS CREATION

Barcelona City Council has made a firm commitment to business as a driving force for economic recovery and job creation, seeking the maximum level of public-private cooperation to give support and impetus to businesses in Barcelona.

In this regard, the year 2011 witnessed the strengthening of different municipal programmes for promoting business creation, which allowed for sustainment of the most new supported entrepreneurial projects in history reached in 2010, with 2,453 new projects.

Below is a description of the most notable actions undertaken to promote business growth and creation throughout 2011:

It is estimated that by supporting 2,453 new entrepreneurial projects, 1,700 new businesses will be created, generating more than 3,200 new jobs. Through PAIT points for telematic constitution, 331 new companies were formed, 24% more than in 2010. The service was expanded for entrepreneurs through the PAIT point that has given permits for small-scale construction/renovation work since 2011.

Five editions of business creation programmes in strategic sectors of public-private cooperation were promoted such as ICT, biotechnology, the media and clean energies and the environment in collaboration with leading organisations in each sector, such as BioCat, Genoma España, Microsoft, Gamesa, la Caixa, the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce and the Government of Catalonia, among others. New editions of inclusive entrepreneurship programmes that also foster business creation among groups, like young people, female entrepreneurs and people over 40 years of age, as well as entrepreneurship in sectors undergoing transformation like trade and construction. Custom business creation programmes included 769 participants.

Consolidation of activities for foreign entrepreneurs as part of the “Do It in Barcelona” initiative to attract foreign entrepreneurial, launching an informative online session that lets people learn about the main aspects of interest for entrepreneurial activities in Barcelona and receive consultation and specialised training from anywhere in the world.

Strengthening of actions to facilitate businesses’ and projects’ access to funding, which translated into 23.3 millions of euros raised for business creation and growth. This has been possible through the establishment of agreements with financial institutions like Banc de Sabadell, BBVA, CaixaBank, Microbank and Nova Caixa Galícia; of actions of information, consultation and support for processing public funding; of actions for attracting national and international investors; and of the organisation of sectorial investment forums in the health, clean energies and industry sectors, in addition to a permanent information and consultation service on funding and executive training in the matter.

The European Commission’s “European Entreprise Awards” for the Barcelona Activa business creation service as the best European project for promoting entrepreneurial initiatives.


03.2 BUSINESS GROWTH

The sizing of programmes for entrepreneurial growth has expanded in a strategic line for strengthening support for business as a means of economic recovery and job creation, and care for businesses has increased very significantly, from 1.436 companies served in 2010 to 2,322 companies in 2011, an increase of 62%.

As part of the programmes for entrepreneurial growth in Barcelona, the main features are detailed below:

2,322 businesses have been served and 798 have been supported intensively by means of the set of actions for entrepreneurial growth through programmes of internationalisation, of access to funding, of business cooperation (with energisation of the metropolitan platform for business cooperation, which already has 1,500 member companies, prominent among them) and support for the strategic management of growth, with business consulting and mentoring, the intensive growth programme Growth Academy, with IESE, and the School of Women Entrepreneurs (ODAME), which has trained 76 female entrepreneurs, among others.

Expansion of business care and support by increasing the training available in the different areas of interest in business management and growth, exceeding the hundred or so actions, close to triple what this was in 2010.

Launch of a new municipal facility for the growth of innovative businesses. Covering 4,872 m2, the Almogàvers Business Factory incubator established 27 companies and entrepreneurial projects in its first year and a public-private management model that includes seven collaborating organisations, joining the two municipal innovation environments already in existence: the Glòries incubator and Barcelona Nord Technology Park. In total, 139 businesses have been set up in three incubation spaces for growth, which generate more than 700 jobs and an annual turnover of 47 million euros.

More actions to foster internationalisation, with businesses participating in practical seminars and workshops on the subject and three technology and innovation points modelled after the world’s leading technology and entrepreneurial region, Silicon Valley, as well as emerging economies like China and Brazil, with bridge investment with Arab countries.

Beginning of the new Mercat Públic (“Public Market”) programme to promote and help SMEs to successfully bid for public tenders to purchase innovative products and services, with information, advice and expert support. Since the programme’s launch in September, 165 businesses have participated.

Promotion of BizBarcelona, the international innovation and entrepreneurial event transferred to the Fira de Barcelona fairgrounds, which received 13,366 visitors, held more than 875 interviews between entrepreneurs and investors and enjoyed the participation of 54 private investment funds and business angels.


03.3 EMPLOYMENT

In 2011, Barcelona City Council’s priority actions through Barcelona Activa included care for unemployed people and the promotion of formulas that help to lead to businesses hiring while improving people’s current and future employability. Close to 22,000 people were attended to through its occupational programmes, clearly guiding them towards businesses’ needs.

Thus, the mechanisms for job care and guidance and support for placement have been strengthened, increasing the availability of services for residents while decentralising actions in the region. At the same time, innovative initiatives of comprehensive care based on prior work to survey businesses’ needs have been launched, with which it has collaborated closely to develop programmes and create work internships whenever possible.

Thus, the following actions promoted in 2011 should be highlighted:

Intensification of care for unemployed people, as well as surveying of businesses both to learn about their current needs to reorient and train people looking for work and to create confidence towards hiring the participants in the various programmes. 21,724 unemployed people have been served through different guidance, training and hiring mechanisms and programmes, registering 80,064 participations in total. Barcelona Activa’s occupational programmes have an average rate of placement of 57%.

Implementation of work care and guidance in the programme “Get Moving Towards Employment”, jointly promoted by the Government of Catalonia at 20 points in the Barcelona area, providing access and service to more than 10,000 unemployed residents with specific modules for youth and self-employed people. This programme has received recognition as a good European practice with the European Public Sector Award.

Care for the city’s unemployed youth has been strengthened with the comprehensive guidance, training and recruitment aid programme “Young People With a Future”, which has two tracks adapted to users’ needs: the first for youth with few qualifications, and the second for unemployed youth with that have completed a training programme or have a university degree. Giving guidance to 1,700 young people, the phase that will assist the hire of 800 young people as part of the programme has begun, with recruitment aid for companies.

New support mechanisms for placing unemployed people affected by redundancy employment have been activated. In this regard, 150 people in this situation have been attended to, with comprehensive programmes with wide collaboration from the business sector, achieving a placement rate of 64% and 21% for permanent contracts.

More people have been trained through occupational training that has taught 419 courses to 7,684 participants over more than 70,000 hours of training in emerging environments and in economic activities with a future in Barcelona, such as new technologies, community care, services for people and services for businesses, among others. Barcelona Activa’s training efforts have a placement rate of 65%.


A total of 2,515 people have been contracted in work-training programmes to learn and develop trades in projects of group interest and in real work environments. Notable is finalisation of the seven Cases d’Oficis (“Trade Houses”) projects, where 353 young people with gaps in their training have learned trades in different environments of activity with a professional future, such as the performing arts, tourism, the environment, nutrition and food, new technologies and services for people.

The programme of occupational action and support for business and trade has been rolled out in the 12 neighbourhoods of special attention recognised within the Neighbourhood Development Act (Llei de Barris). 2,980 people at risk of exclusion from the neighbourhoods of Santa Caterina and Sant Pere, Barceloneta, Raval Sud, Poble Sec, La Bordeta, La Vinya, Can Clos and Plus Ultra, El Coll, Les Roquetes, Torre Baró-Ciutat Meridiana, Bon Pastor-Baró de Viver, Trinitat Vella and Besòs-Maresme have been guided, trained, hired and/or supported for placement. In this regard, a business growth programme that will be taught throughout 2012 to improve competitiveness in the Bon Pastor industrial estate and the businesses established there stemmed from the study carried out on the needs of businesses in said estate.

03.4 HUMAN CAPITAL

In 2011, the action undertaken to promote the development of human capital in Barcelona has been characterised first of all by an extension of multimedia content and tools for residents, opening them over the Internet.

In this regard, access to information and the applications developed by Barcelona Activa for professional development and job research is provided without the need to travel and at any hour of the day, and this is supplemented by a wide offering of practical workshops and seminars for professional improvement. Therefore, the municipal service for finding work and improving professionally has been enhanced and consolidated.

The struggle against failure in school by rolling out the academic and professional programme for youth in the region has been another priority line of work in this sphere.

The promoted activities had 74,989 participants, notably:

More than 900,000 visits to the Barcelona Treball website (www.bcn.cat/treball) during its first year of operation, which has around 9,000 job offers, 930 detailed professional profiles and more than 150 multimedia resources such as the professional interest test and the job interview simulator, permanently updated content in collaboration with the Knowledge Partners Network used by more than 30 leading institutions and businesses in different sectors of the economy, such as universities, professional associations of architects, surveyors, doctors, industrial engineers, environmentalists, nurses, cultural stakeholder associations, the Barcelona Board of Education, the Fundació BCN FP professional training foundation, the Government of Catalonia’s Ministry of Enterprise and Labour and job placement companies like Infojobs, Manpower, Infoempleo, Infofeina and Emagister, among others.


New space for businesses at the Barcelona Treball portal, the Work-Employment Platform, where information can be found on professional training, experience and skills, a supplementary tool for conducting quality recruitment and talent searching processes.

Expansion of the skill development programme to improve positioning in the job market by acquiring professional skills such as creativity, innovation, communication, leadership and teamwork, as well as abilities to help find work. Close to 7,000 people participated in the 1,353 seminars and workshops held throughout 2011 in a wide range of times and content. More than 70% of the participants recognise that they conduct their work better with the knowledge and skills they learned.

Organisation of job opportunity fairs in various sectors of the economy, like energy efficiency, automobiles, cloud computing, logistics, hospitality and tourism, the food industry and maritime transport, among others, with leading institutions and businesses in each sector.

Prominent in a palliative sense is rollout of the content and methodology of the “Projecte de Vida Professional” (“Professional Life Project”) academic and professional guidance programme in collaboration with the Barcelona Board of Education and the Fundació BCN FP professional training foundation at more than 200 secondary schools and 11 youth information points in Barcelona, to motivate and help to determine the professional future of young people with better information, which has a great impact on students’ professional success. The programme was completed with the “Business in the First Person” module in collaboration with FemCat, through which famous business-owners explain their experience to young people with the aim of arousing and promoting their entrepreneurial initiative. 75% of the participants feel that it has been very useful for guiding their professional future.

Second edition of the Valors del Treball (“Work Values”) dissemination programme for spreading work culture and fostering educational achievement. In 2011, it had 5,000 participants from secondary schools in Barcelona. Among various activities, a series of lectures was organised that discussed the work experience of famous people such as cook Isma Prados, actress Clara Segura and former Barça handball player David Barrufet.

03.5 TECHNOLOGY DIFFUSION AND IT SKILLS ACQUISITION

2011 was the year of the rollout and specialisation of Barcelona City Council’s technology training range, in line with the Literacy and Capacity Building Plan 2010-2015 in Barcelona. The launch of the Technology Training Centre for professionals and SMEs in the MediaTIC building, as well as consolidation of the entry-level training available in the 11 technology training antennae have contributed to this leap of scale as a service of great scope for fully immersing residents in the knowledge society and improving businesses and professionals’ competitiveness in Barcelona through new technologies.


Consolidation of the MediaTIC space as a Technology Training Centre for professionals and SMEs. A Content Advisory Council has been created to structure training and activities of interest for the city’s professionals and businesses, of which 25 leading organisations, companies and institutions in the sphere of new technologies and economic promotion form part, including: ATI Association of Computing Technicians, BCD, b_digital, the Official Professional Associations of IT Engineers and Telecommunications Technicians of Catalonia, the IT Faculty of the UPC, the Government of Catalonia’s General Directorate for Telecommunications and the Information Society, Google, Indra, Microsoft, Telefónica, UAB and UOC, among others.

Rollout and strengthening of the 11 entry-level technology training antennae through the public library network.

Expansion of the technology training available in the city, reaching 5,340 seminars and workshops, 33% more than in 2010, with permanent content renewal and specialisation by fields of training and by sectors of the economy.

Regarding entry-level technology training, a total of 6,628 individuals improved their knowledge of technology. Specific capsules to find work through new technologies were scheduled at different hours as a cross-cutting action forming part of occupational policies.

6,267 SME professionals and workers acquired advanced technological training in specific subjects to make the most out of ICTs in business in times of crisis, both to increase competitiveness and save costs. Likewise, 410 seminars with technological content and specialised in different sectors of the economy were scheduled, such as health, mobility, education, IT and computer programming, design, computer security, e-commerce and tourism and food and drink. 70% of the participants feel that their professional technological skills improved.

Organisation of Estiu Internet (“Internet Summer”), a 12-activity programme on the use of the Internet and new technologies structured into three thematic sections: computer programming and development, multimedia creation and marketing and digital communication tools for SMEs. The programme trained 211 participants in the month of July.

Promotion of the “Connecta el teu negoci” (“Connect Your Business”) programme in Barcelona, an initiative led by Google throughout Spain. The organisation of training sessions aimed at promoting the presence of SMEs and micro-SMEs on the Internet by creating their own website.

Consolidation of a meeting point on current and future technology with the organisation of five specialised workshops that covered the following topics in 2011: open data, advances in technology applied to education, videogames and interactive content, productivity, tools of communication and collaboration and Blackberry for professionals and SMEs.


03.6 INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC RELATIONS

With a mission to promote the increase of flows, exchanges and economic relations between Barcelona and the outside world, to boost our economy and our business leadership, work has been done in foreign markets as well as the city itself. Over the course of 2011, the following actions and projects were worthy of note:

A deep study of the Barcelona brand was conducted in order to enhance its economic promotion and make it available to the city’s businesses.

11 promotion missions were led in different strategic destinations for the city of Barcelona: Wenzhou/Shanghai, Munich, the Netherlands, Sao Paulo, Moscow, London, Stockholm, Shenzhen and Hong Kong, the Middle East, the United States and Singapore. Likewise, 69 business bridge investments and business agendas for foreign business delegations were organised.

14 seminars to present the “Do it in Barcelona” programme were organised and aimed at attracting talent, in cooperation with the ESADE and IESE business schools in different places, such as: Amsterdam, Antwerp, Geneva, London, Paris, Munich, Düsseldorf, Milan, Lisbon, Porto and Mexico City.

Participation in 11 trade fairs and seven international congresses, where more than 2,500 people interacted who were interested in learning about Barcelona’s value proposal as an economic and business platform. Notable among them is participation in the MIPIM and Expo Real trade fairs to promote the Barcelona Economic Triangle economic metropolitan innovation space.

Support has been given to the study of 113 foreign investment projects, 16 of which were finally chosen by Barcelona to develop a new economic activity.

As a result of the work performed by the Aerial Route Committee, seven new intercontinental routes have been achieved for Barcelona International Airport, like Bamako (Mali), Nador (Morocco), Tangier, Sal (Cape Verde), Miami and Sao Paulo. This is a net growth of 22 new international flight frequencies, from 162 in the summer season 2010 to 184 in the same season in 2011.

Work has continued with energisation of the foreign financial community established in Barcelona, with six Barcelona Updates seminars with consulates and chambers of commerce of the United Kingdom, Angola, Portugal, China, Japan and Canada, 10 networking events with foreign business-owners and professionals, 20 local and international seminars with foreign students in collaboration with ESADE and IESE and distribution of the relocation guide “Welcome to Barcelona” among the international and bilingual schools of the Barcelona area. In this regard, a Catalan course for professionals has been created, “Catalan for business”, with the collaboration of the Consortium for Language Standardisation (CNL), and three sessions to welcome “business newcomers” have been organised (foreigners from the world of business recently arrived to the city).

03.7 STRATEGIC SECTORS

In order to promote different strategic sectors of the economy and areas of new economic activity and innovation in the city, new initiatives have been launched and intensified to promote the development of business competitiveness through the coordination of public-private clusters and platforms in the following spheres: ICT sector, aerospace, bio-health, design, media, energy, higher education, agro-food, mobility, logistics and the environment.

In 2011, the following undertaken initiatives stand out:

Consolidation of the platform to implement the LIVE electric vehicle and of Barcelona’s international positioning as a leading region in the field of electric mobility, receiving the Territoria Europe prize 2011, given by the Observatory of Public Innovation of France. The candidacy has been won to host and organise ESV27 Barcelona 2013, a leading world symposium in the electric vehicle field.

More than 50 actions and projects to support and promote clusters and public-private platforms have been launched, reaching 600 clustered businesses. Notable is creation of the BioNanoMedCat network in the health sector, holding of the 2nd International Corporate Universities Forum) and launch of the Barcelona Global Masters website in the field of higher education.

The business landing service has supported the search location of 144 companies in Barcelona, a third of which have been established throughout the year. Through the website “BCN Espais de negoci” (“BCN Business Spots”), 327 requests for business premises have been received for a total of 305,000 m2. More


than 60 companies have been set up in district 22@, taking up 59,000 m2. Notable among them are Televida, Aristia, Seo Group, AmperSistemes, OutdoorMedia, RocwellAutomotion, Telefónica, Vodafone, Gigle and Pue.

As part of the municipal commitment to make Barcelona a pioneering smart city, the Urban Lab initiative is promoted to test solutions that allow for constant improvement of urban services and infrastructure. Along these lines, more than 150 pilot proposals have been received and two international contests have been organised (Living Labs Global Award 2011 and Barcelona Smart City). Of these, five new pilots have been set up: Worldsensing (parking sensors), Zolertia (noise maps), Urbiòtica (sensors on trash bins), Bitcarrier (car counters) and the continuation of Siiur (energy efficiency in lighting and electric vehicles), which received the LLGA2011 international prize.

Support has been given to the 080 Barcelona Fashion catwalk in the urban fashion trade show The Brandery, to opening the emerging fashion platform ModaFad to the general public and to the Barcelona és Moda awards as key events for backing the strategic fashion sector. Support has also been given to the 21st wedding fashion platform Barcelona Bridal Week and the attraction of international firms to the city, like Emporio Armani, Miu Miu and Manolo Blahnik, among others.

Participation in the organisation of various national and international conferences through public-private platforms and as a way to promote clusters, such as BDigital Global Congress (2,000 attendees), BDigital Apps (700 attendees), Forum Biocat (300 attendees), IHT Global Clean Energy Fòrum (250 participants) and the GameLab Fair (5,000 attendees). Barcelona Design Festival was launched (70,000 attendees) as was Fira Smart City Expo and World Congress (6.160 participants).

03.8 REGIONAL PROMOTION AND TOURISM

As part of the rollout of the Strategic Tourism Plan of the city of Barcelona 2015 and in collaboration with the Barcelona Tourist Board, a series of actions was undertaken in 2011 to align with the proposed tourism model, based on the territorial decentralisation of tourist activity, new governance for tourism within the city and its territorial environment; the creation of camaraderie between society and institutions; leadership; and improved competitiveness of the destination and of sectors linked with tourism. Thus, the relations of the area as a whole and of its 10 municipal districts have been articulated in a systematic way.

The action pursued in the sphere of Regional Promotion and Tourism during 2011 may be summarised as follows:

Acquisition of the candidacy as Mobile World Capital for 2013-2017, which will let Barcelona host the Mobile World Congress, the top mobile technology convention in the world.

Logistic and/or institutional support for close to 100 projects and events in Barcelona, like Festival Docs Barcelona, Mobile World Congress, the Brain Congress, Global Clean Energy Conference, Festival Sònar, the GameLab International Videogame Fair, Barcelona Harley Days, the 41st Annual Meeting of the European Society for Dermatological Research, World Youth Students Travel Conference 2011 and EIBTM, among others.

Acquisition of the “Biosphere World Class Destination” certificate, making Barcelona the first city in the world to receive this certificate, synonymous with responsible tourism management and a sustainable tourist destination, given by the Responsible Tourism Institute (ITR-UNESCO).

Presentation of the project to reorder access of tourist coaches in the Sagrada Família area, aimed at creating a traffic calming zone around the basilica, improving the urban space to facilitate movement on foot and expanding the total number of parking places for coaches. Joint presentation with the Hotel Guild of Barcelona of the Mobec Hotels electric motorcycle rental service available for visitors staying in the hotels.

Creation of the World Tourist Cities Federation (WTCF) network, with Barcelona as a founding city. Thus, the seminar-discussion “Destinació Barcelona, on comença, on acaba” (“Destination Barcelona: where it begins, where it ends”) was organised in collaboration with Barcelona Provincial Council on Barcelona as a tourist destination well beyond the city.

Drafting of the Tourism Plans for the districts of Sarrià-Sant Gervasi, Les Corts and Horta-Guinardó, aimed at helping to decentralise tourist activity in the city and take advantage of the tourist potential of the districts and neighbourhoods for their own social and economic development.


04 Financial management

Throughout 2011, Barcelona Activa managed a total of 42 million euros in current revenue (not counting capital revenue). Of this revenue, 43% came from Barcelona City Council, 51% from the Government of Catalonia and 2% from other governments, such as the Government of Spain. Four percent came from own revenue, mostly from the management of business incubation spaces.

Barcelona Activa spent a total of 28 million euros on programmes, notably including the programmes Plans d’Ocupació (“Employment Plans”), Formació Ocupacional (“Occupational Training”), Treball als Barris (“Working in the Neighbourhoods”) and Cases d’Oficis (“Trade Houses”).

Over the course of 2011, payments were made to financial backers to the value of 23.5 million euros with a mid-term payment at 26 days, benefitting 1,240 backers.

The company has renewed its ISO certifications, the processes of employment training, experience-based programmes, company establishment, technological diffusion and capacity-building and administration and finance.

Finally, 261,355.17 euros were spent in 2011 on job placement companies and special work centres, far exceeding the yearly commitments in compliance with municipal agreements and objectives, at 174%.

Documents

Report on activities 2011 - startvaekst.dk Activa Report on ... Councillor for Education and Universities ... to promote business creation and sectorial investment forums with