FC Barcelona and Telefónica I+D’s agreement means the Camp Nou will be used as the testing ground for new and innovative technologies. As explained by president Sandro Rosell, "Barça seeks excellence. Sporting excellence and also excellence in new technologies”. Rosell signed today’s agreement along with the director general of Telefónica in Catalonia, Kim Faura, the director of Telefónica’s R+D centre in Barcelona, Pablo Rodríguez, and Barça’s director of new technologies, Dídac Lee, at Torre Telefónica, the telecommunications company’s headquarters in Catalonia.

Global pioneering agreement

The alliance will be implemented over three years in two main areas of collaboration: the incorporation of digital instruments to improve fans’ experiences in the Camp Nou and the application of science to the sports world. The former is based on social networks being increasingly present among viewers of Barcelona matches. For example, for the final at Wembley, more than 6,000 Twitter messages were sent a second and Barça received more than a million mentions around the world. This agreement, “the first in the world” according to Dídac Lee, will make FC Barcelona’s stadium the first venue to be used to test and improve new wireless and networked technologies to improve telephone coverage and provide the finest access for the use of social networks.

The latter involves the creation of a Doctorate in Science and Sport to study how scientific methods can be applied to improving performances in competitions in all sports.

La Masía of innovation

This agreement will not cost the club anything. A team of 20 researchers will work on implementing the agreement and the creation of the Doctorate in the company’s Barcelona centre. Telefónica invests an annual figure of 4,814 million euros in technological innovation, and is one of the European multinationals that spends the most on R+D. Telefónica’s Barcelona centre has set new standards that Rosell compares to his club’s own training centre when he says "the best Masía for innovation is in Barcelona and it is Telefónica I + D".