Catalonia is planning on making Barcelona a digital hub, launching a range of skills programs aimed at university students as well as boot camps to encourage talent.

Director general of Innovation in Catalonia, Daniel Macro discussed the plans during the European Blockchain Convention (EBC) 2022. He said the pandemic has boosted the notion of the digital economy over the last two years, during an interview with Cointelegraph’s managing editor Alex Cohen.

In April this year, European Blockchain Convention co-CEO Daniel Salmeron said of the event: “We built EBC to create an open space for everyone to learn, connect and unlock blockchain’s potential. It will be amazing to see people reconnecting in-person again and re-experience the beauty of face-to-face conversations.” 

Macro took the reins of the SmartCatalonia Government Strategy back in 2014, monitoring the progress of making Catalonia a globally recognised "Smart Country". The minister is now working on creating a completely digital economy.

He said the government is focusing on building its own metaverse, dubbed Cataverse: “Cataverse will be linked to the Catalan language and the Catalan culture. That is what we want to have in this metaverse, that Catalan entities that are doing things for the culture can do that in the metaverse.”

The innovation minister went on to explain the government’s plans to convert Barcelona into a digital hub, including numerous policies and university courses to cultivate the required talent: “We have very strong policies to generate talent that are from university but also we are skilling programs like boot camps and other activities a lot because we need different profiles.”

He continued that the government is aiming to acquire a combination of fostering new talent and attracting more businesses with a “friendly working environment,” Cointelegraph reports.

When questioned as to a series of blockchain projects in the pipeline that visitors to Barcelona can interact with, Macro referred to an initiative based on personal healthcare and others related to public transport.