Barcelona contributes its experience and adds its conclusions to those presented by the WIST European Project, which studies the role of women in the knowledge society.

On June 11,12 and 13 the “Barcelona Women in Science and Technology Conference” (WIST Barcelona) will take place at the Barcelona Biomedical Research Park (PRBB).  

An international meeting organized by the Network of Science and Technology Parks of Catalonia (XPCAT), 22@Barcelona, the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce, the Barcelona City Council, the Catalan Foundation for Research and Innovation, the Newcastle University Business School, the University of Tampere (TASTI), the Institute for Employment in Nuremberg (Germany) and the National Centre for Programme Management in Bucharest (Romania).

On May 15, 2008 the managing director of 22@Barcelona, Josep Miquel Piqué, and the vice-president of XPCAT, Sònia Gonzàlez, presented this congress, which will bring together more than 50 experts from around the world to present the results of the latest reports and studies analyzing the new roles of women being developed in the innovation and knowledge society.

During the presentation, Sònia Gonzàlez stressed the importance of this congress because “it will allow us to come up with new policies to promote the integration of women in emerging professions”.

The “Barcelona Women in Science and Technology Conference” will take a special look at the results and conclusions reached by the WIST project, which is the inspiration for this conference.

The WIST project and studies in Catalonia

The WIST project, directed by Henry Etzkowitz as part of the European Commission’s 4th Framework Program, spent eighteen months analyzing the new role of women today, when emerging professions in science, business and technology are changing feminine roles. Experiences in United Kingdom, Germany, Finland and Romania – the countries the WIST project focused on- will be complemented with other studies and analysis in order to put the general topic of the conference in a global context.

Likewise, studies undertaken by renowned Catalan institutions like La Salle and the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce, have also analyzed the female talent in science, technology and entrepreneurial fields in Catalonia.  For this reason, Josep Miquel Piqué, believes that this congress “will be a push to foster female talent in the knowledge economy”.

As part of the conference there will be a parallel event open to the public: a Round Table with representatives from different institutions, research centers, organizations and scientific and economic promotion agencies, where we will debate the role of women in Catalonia.