FC Barcelona presents Sports Tomorrow Congress 2023, focused on human and artificial cognition

This Friday, the Barça Innovation Hub, the FC Barcelona platform for knowledge and innovation, presented the 2023 edition of the Sports Tomorrow Congress, in the Auditori 1899 at Spotify Camp Nou. This year’s tagline is The Minds Behind The Game.

The event to unveil this congress on innovation in sport was attended by Joan Laporta, president of FC Barcelona, and John Hoffman, CEO of GSMA Ltd, the company that organises the Mobile World Congress Barcelona (MWC), which this year’s BIHUB congress is part of.

Also present were first vice-president Rafa Yuste; institutional vice-president, Elena Fort; the director responsible for Barça Innovation Hub, Àngel Riudalbas; the director responsible for futsal, Aureli Mas; and the head of European events at GSMA Ltd, Eulàlia Ripoll. 

Laporta described how very enthusiastic he is about presenting the new edition of the Sports Tomorrow Congress, at which he says “we will be able to bring together experts who are leading the sports industry … it will help to catalyse innovation and build an economy of knowledge around sport in our country … And it will reinforce the values of innovation and excellence that have made Barça ‘more than a club’.”

For his part, John Hoffman expressed his pride with the initiative, pointing out that this is “the start of a marvellous partnership that brings together two very famous brands that share such values as professionalism and quality … Technology is paramount in the world of sport.” 

Panel debate to discuss contents

The event was built around a panel debate featuring Albert Mundet, director of BIHUB, Doctor Gil Rodas, head of the BIHUB medical area, and Laia Soler, member of the FC Barcelona centre for sporting excellence. 

The session looked in greater depth at the theme of this year’s congress, which will be human and artificial cognition, and some of the most important items on the proposed agenda were presented. The February congress will be discussing the limits of training and the possibilities for fostering cognitive and mental skills to help break new ground in sport. There will be sessions on neurobiology-based technological solutions and the different kinds of artificial intelligence that are already adding value to sports institutions, especially with regard to tactical approaches to games. There will also be presentations of different business opportunities offered by client-based service distribution in stadiums and other high density venues.

Speakers from around the globe

The Sports Tomorrow Congress will be welcoming speakers from all around the world, many of whom are pioneers in their fields, such as Carlos García Galán and Howard Hu of NASA; Álvaro Pascual-Leone from the University of Harvard; sports influencer Joe Pompliano and media producer Amani Martin.

The Sports Tomorrow Congress is aimed at all professionals forming part of the wide spectrum of sports disciplines. In-person attendance of the 2023 edition will be by invitation only, but there is also an online service that can be purchased by going to https://sportstomorrow.fcbarcelona.com

The fact that this congress is now part of the world’s biggest technology and connectivity event, namely the MWC Barcelona reflects how the organiser, Barça Innovation Hub, is aspiring to foster a culture of excellence, and partnerships with brands, universities, research centres, start-ups, entrepreneurs, students, athletes, investors and visionaries from around the world. And one of the ways to do this is by holding congresses and conferences like Sports Tomorrow Congress, a ground-breaking initiative among football clubs and which since 2016 has become a benchmark within the sports ecosystem.