Barcelona wins European Capital of Innovation award

The European Commission has awarded the European Capital of Innovation (iCapital) prize to Barcelona, Spain, “for introducing the use of new technologies to bring the city closer to citizens.” Barcelona was chosen by a panel of independent experts in a close competition with Grenoble in France and Groningen in the Netherlands.

The €500,000 iCapital prize will be used to scale-up and expand Barcelona’s efforts in innovation. Barcelona was announced as the winner at the closing ceremony of the Innovation Convention 2014.

Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, European Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science, said: “Barcelona is a deserving winner of the first iCapital award for its dedication to using new technology for the benefit of its inhabitants. Outstanding initiatives at the local level will contribute to keep turning the EU into an Innovation Union.”

In September 2011, Barcelona’s city council launched the ‘Barcelona as a people city’ project, introducing new technologies to foster economic growth and the welfare of its citizens. The scheme saw open data initiatives offering valuable information to individuals and private companies; sustainable city growth initiatives on smart lighting, mobility (e-vehicle) and residual energy (heating and cooling networks); and social innovation. The project also promoted alliances between research centres, universities and private and public partners, as well as helping provide better ‘smart services’ in a flexible, continuous and agile way through ICT.