The audiovisual world has its annual meeting in Barcelona this week. Also, it’s expected to definitely be the post-pandemic edition. For the third time, the Fira de Barcelona is organizing Integrated Systems Events (ISE), the leading technology fair in a booming world market of almost 260 billion euros, according to the associations AVISA and CEDIA, the organizers of the congress. According to calculations by the Audiovisual Cluster of Catalonia, the sector in the Community includes 3,600 companies and 31,000 workers with a turnover of 6,700 million euros. The director of the ISE, Mike Blackman, has estimated that it will generate an impact of between 280 and 400 million euros. He also explained that the contract between the organization and Fira will be automatically renewed for three editions until 2025: “If we are successful in Barcelona, which we are, why are we going somewhere else?” The event managed to avoid the looming taxi strike, which is being postponed to Mobile World Congress at the end of February.
King Felipe VI will open the fair this Tuesday and visit some of the exhibitors together with other authorities such as the Minister of Justice Pilar Llop, the Mayor of Barcelona, Ada Colau, or the government delegate in Catalonia, María Eugènia Gay. 1,055 exhibiting companies, including multinationals such as Panasonic, local companies such as MediaPro and Catalan start-ups such as Sono, present themselves on the almost 60,000 square meters of the congress. The event, which rivals Mobile as the largest convention of the year in the Catalan capital, aims to surpass last year’s 43,000 attendees, compared to Amsterdam’s 80,000 visitors in 2019.
Organizers decided to move away from the Dutch capital, which had hosted ISE for more than 10 years, in search of larger capacity pavilions as the event grew. Sector entities such as the cluster are striving to make this edition truly post-pandemic and are optimistic about the lifting of Covid restrictions in Asian countries, as well as an effort to attract countries like the United States.
Catalonia is the fifth territory with the most companies participating in the ISE, after China, the United Kingdom, Germany and the United States, according to a government statement. He estimates that 7% more local businesses will participate this year: 73 in total. Of these, 21 will be in a Generalitat pavilion so they can find investors, new customers and visibility. In parallel, 34 will attend the IoT Solutions World Congress to present their technological advances related to artificial intelligence, virtual reality, 5G or cybersecurity.
Follow EL PAÍS Catalunya on Facebook and Twitteror sign up here to receive our weekly newsletter
What affects most is what happens closer. Subscribe so you don’t miss anything.
Subscribe to