Microsoft, Siemens, Nestlé, Lidl and Allianz consolidate Barcelona as a technological hub

• These five big multinational groups will locate digital innovation centres in Barcelona
• Barcelona has at hand an important supply of people trained in the technological field

Since Facebook’s recent announcement of its coming to Barcelona’s Glòries tower at the 22@ technological district  through the company Competence Call Centre (CCC), from where some 500 people will be working, other big multinational groups have made public the future location of their digital innovation centres in Barcelona, such as Siemens, Allianz, Nestlé and Lidl or, in Microsoft’s case, a quantic lab. Therefore, Barcelona has definitively consolidated itself as reference capital for big technological multinationals or big groups’ digital innovation centres.

On one side, Microsoft will open a design centre and quantic lab in Barcelona, where it is looking for an office space able to accommodate a team of some 60 people.  Quantic computing is one of the future technological challenges in the computing industry, which should facilitate the development of computers able of complex calculations in a very short time. On the other side, Siemens will locate in Cornellà de Llobregat (Barcelona) its new innovation centre to develop digital solutions. The aim is to research on how to obtain the biggest benefit from digital technology applied to energy to improve its efficiency.

Likewise, Nestlé recently announced that it will move its ICT activity from Switzerland to Esplugues de Llobregat (Barcelona), where its global digital hub is already located. There are currently 150 people working from those offices and now they will be extended. Lidl will also open a centre for its European digital business in Barcelona. The German supermarkets’ chain has rented an office space of more than 3,200 sqm in Catalunya square, which will be devoted to its e-commerce business.

Finally, Allianz, Europe’s biggest insurance group, is finalizing the creation of a technological centre in Barcelona which will service the various companies and subsidiaries the group has scattered around Europe and, occasionally, around the globe. The hub will be located at a building in Aragó street.

Among the reasons why companies are establishing themselves in Barcelona we should highlight its important supply of people trained for the technological industry and its appeal to foreign professionals.

[06/20/2018]