Schneider Electric, the global specialist in energy management, announced the creation in Barcelona (Spain) of its first Center of Excellence focused on smart solutions for cities. The announcement was made by Julio Rodriguez, Executive Vice-President Global Operations at Schneider Electric, during a ceremony in the presence of Xavier Trias, Mayor of Barcelona, on July 22.

The mission of Schneider Electric’s Center of Excellence will be to gather the knowledge of the company on solutions for smart cities, thanks to the experience, the results and the successful Smart City solutions established worldwide. The center will offer solutions to the cities which will have economic and social impact, bringing concrete benefits for citizens. The work of the Center of Excellence will enable to guide and support the cities on their way towards a new paradigm in efficiency management, habitability and sustainability thanks to the implementation of smart solutions and the development of new business models.

“In the next 40 years we are going to experience an urban technological revolution. The ongoing concentration of the population towards urban cores and the growing shortage of resources will have important repercussions on mobility, air quality, healthcare service, etc., said Julio Rodríguez, Executive Vice-President Global Operations at Schneider Electric. Today Schneider Electric is working with over 200 cities in smart management projects. With this Center of Excellence we are enhancing our capacity to provide advanced solutions to the cities.”

Along with Cisco, which also announced a research center investment on July 22, Schneider Electric is the first company to settle its Center of Excellence in the Smart City Campus planned by the city council of Barcelona in Sant Marti district. The research center in which around 40 investigators will meet, will be completely operational by mid-2016. Cisco and Schneider Electric will set their innovation center on a common space, a former factory named Ca l’Alier, encouraging therefore collaboration and exchange.

“Barcelona has become a worldwide reference in the field of intelligent city. It is the Mobile World Capital and in 2014 Barcelona has been honoured as European Capital of Innovation, said Xavier Trias, Mayor of Barcelona. The new Center of Innovation located in the Smart City Campus and the common agreement of Schneider Electric and Cisco with our city, will help us to strengthen the bet of a new economic growth model based on technology, urban innovation and services, improving well-being and people’s quality of life.”

The bet of Schneider Electric in the field of smart cities responds to the growing demand for new solutions that can enable cities to provide an efficient and sustainable answer to population density issues. Additionally, Schneider Electric wants its Center of Excellence in Barcelona to be attractive for talent and innovation. It will work in the upcoming months building collaboration with some of the referent universities such as IESE Business School (University of Navarra), with which Schneider Electric already has a Chair devoted to Sustainability and Business Strategy.