No strike by taxi drivers or metro workers or political demonstrations taking advantage of the biggest international showcase in Barcelona… The Mobile World Congress (MWC) is enjoying an unusual tranquility after overcoming the bad moment of the pandemic. Without any scare or social conflict that would endanger the mobility of those attending, the event is progressing towards a peaceful celebration without shocks from Monday 26 to Thursday 29 February.
The CEO of the GSMA, John Hoffman, attributes the favorable scenario surrounding the congress to the contract signed with the local administrations without an expiry date. “The agreements reached in the longer term help to provide stability”, Hoffman celebrated in conversation with La Vanguardia, making explicit reference to Fira de Barcelona, ??the Spanish Government, the Generalitat and the councils of Barcelona and Hospitalet de Llobregat.
With the latter, he maintains a very special relationship since the congress moved to Fira Gran Via. For the past ten years, every Friday before the fair, Hoffman and the mayor of the city, Núria Marín, meet in the village of Plaça Europa to give each other a big hug, eat some tapas and toast the successful functioning of the congress . If in other years Marín has put Hoffman in a straw hat with virtual reality glasses or made him dance to the rhythm of a rumba, this time he has put on a pink sweatshirt to talk to young people who have trained in digital subjects to help elderly people who require their help to carry out bureaucratic procedures. The same young people who dress casually will from now on attend to residents who have problems with technology from stalls in markets and other municipal facilities, the latest innovation in the l’Hospitalet 6.0 program, which is trying to finish with all the digital gaps.
“L’Hospitalet is an excellent example of digital and technological transformation”, celebrates Hoffman, satisfied that the city exhibits this more informative part next to a leisure area where there is a sample of local gastronomy and musical performances thought out both for the residents of the city as well as for the conference participants. For the time being, those who already turned their noses up yesterday afternoon are some of the thousands of workers who will be putting the finishing touches to the assembly work on the fair’s stands throughout the weekend.
