Barcelona on Wednesday unveiled the Barça Innovation Hub, which will be led by board member Jordi Monés. The project is part of the organization's '15-21 strategic plan and features five knowledge areas: team sports, sports performance, medical services and nutrition, technology and social sciences. The project will be carried out over four phases, which the club identified as incorporation of knowledge, creation of knowledge, dissemination of knowledge and innovation. BIH Commissioner Monés told SBD Global, "In the medical area and the performance area, for years we've been trying to acquire and generate knowledge. ... At some point, we decided that we wanted to make that more structured and strategic." The project will primarily operate from a space on the third floor of Barcelona's famous La Masia academy and count on 15-20 full-time employees, with numerous contributors from around the world. Monés believes that the BIH is a necessity for the club to live up to the expectations both inside and outside the franchise. "We need to be in a position to win all the time," Monés said. "It's very demanding. Our followers, our friends, our members, their expectations are very demanding. To do that, we need to be on the cutting edge of everything. This means we are reinventing ourselves all the time. It's a must. It's not a luxury." The many partners that will be involved in the BIH include Barcelona's Universitat Politècnica and the University of Beijing, as well as Gatorade. Monés admitted it is hard to predict what the project will look like one year from now, and said that its fluid nature makes it difficult to set concrete objectives. "We don't have specific goals at this point because right now we are in quite a creative brainstorming moment. In two years, I think it will be different than what we can imagine now."
THIRST FOR KNOWLEDGE: GOAL's Oliva & Hayward reported Barcelona is aware that either it looks to the future "with new technology and innovation" or it will be "left behind by other clubs in the coming years." Barcelona said in a statement, "The core aspects of this pioneering project are aimed at creating the sports industry’s number one centre for knowledge and innovation, thereby generating value both for the Club and for society in general. ... The Club is looking to use the Barça Innovation Hub to form an ecosystem fostering knowledge and innovation by promoting a culture of excellence, transparency, openness, and collaboration with prestigious brands, universities, research centres, start-ups, entrepreneurs, students, athletes, investors, and visionaries around the world" (GOAL, 3/22). In Madrid, Xavier Hernández reported the BIH is "not that dissimilar from what goes on in technology companies." Club President Josep Maria Bartomeu opened the presentation by saying that Barcelona "wants to transform the world through sport" (MARCA, 3/22). In Barcelona, Ferran Martínez reported club Sporting Dir Albert Soler called the BIH "the Silicon Valley of sports in Barcelona." The club "believes that in the long term, the project will be a source of revenue." The BIH will reportedly cost approximately €1M ($1.08M) per year (MUNDO DEPORTIVO, 3/21).
