Mobile World Capital Barcelona announced the creation of Talent Arena, a developer-focused event set to be held in parallel to MWC Barcelona which counts Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak and chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov among the speakers for its debut.

The first edition of the event will be held on the first three days of MWC Barcelona (3-5 March 2025).

Announced at a media event yesterday, the initiative has been created with the goal of consolidating Barcelona as a world-class hub for digital talent, attracting professionals, technology companies, and educational institutions from around the world.

Talent Arena 2025 will focus on key areas for the development of digital talent including artificial intelligence, software engineering, cybersecurity and cloud computing. This is alongside addressing future technologies such as quantum computing and NewSpace, and issues related to sustainability and talent management.

The primary audience for Talent Arena is developers, leading technology companies and educational institutions. The event is expected to attract more than 4,000 attendees.

Featured activities
Talent Arena 2025 is set to include conferences and round tables with more than 200 international speakers, ICT experts and leaders of technology companies.

It will also host a hackaton for GSMA Open Gateway in order to promote innovation in programmable networks, while the GSMA Open Gateway DevCon will deliver sessions for developers about the potential of network APIs.

Other highlights will include workshops, technology exhibitions and company demos, as well as networking opportunities for attendees with industry leaders.

Admission to Talent Arena 2025 will be free of charge.

Confirmed speakers joining Wozniak and Kasparov include: Xavier Amatriain, vice president of product at Google; open source expert Sarah Novotny; Meta Platforms head of AI Cristian Canton; and Lauren Lyon, former head of engineering development at SpaceX, Blue Origin and Starlink.

From pilot to fully-fledged event
Talent Arena was piloted at MWC Barcelona 2024. The first full edition will take place in Hall 8 of Fira de Barcelona Montjuic, following in the footsteps of the 4YFN congress for start-ups, which later moved inside the main MWC Barcelona event.

When Fira de Barcelona expands with the new Hall 0 pavilion in 2027, the Talent Arena is expected to also move to the Gran Via venue.

Francesc Fajula, CEO of Mobile World Capital Barcelona (pictured, left), said Talent Arena aims to consolidate Barcelona as a hub where digital talent is generated and attracted.

“Barcelona will be the world centre for technological development,” added Maria Gonzalez, secretary of state for telecommunications and digital infrastructure at the Spanish government.

John Hoffman, CEO of GSMA Limited (pictured, right), underlined the importance of talent in technological development.

“Behind innovations and companies there are brains; it’s all a circle and talent is the leading part,” he said. “That’s why Talent Arena will converge, connect, and create talent.”

The event has been driven by Mobile World Capital Barcelona in collaboration with the GSMA, Barcelona City Council, Generalitat de Catalunya, the Ministry of Digital Transformation and the Civil Service.