Barcelona wins Europe's «iCapital» prize

BRUSSELS. KAZINFORM - The Spanish city of Barcelona was awarded the European Capital of Innovation "iCapital" prize on Tuesday by the European Commission "for introducing the use of new technologies to bring the city closer to citizens."

The prize was announced at the closing ceremony of Innovation Convention 2014, Europe's premier innovation event. Barcelona was chosen by a panel of independent experts in a close competition with Grenoble (France) and Groningen (the Netherlands). The 500,000 euros (692,200 U.S. dollars) iCapital prize will be used to scale up and expand Barcelona's efforts in innovation, Xinhua reports. Maire Geoghegan-Quinn, European Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science, said: "Barcelona is a deserving winner of the first iCapital award for its dedication to using new technology for the benefit of its inhabitants." In September 2011, Barcelona's city council launched the "Barcelona as a people city" project by introducing the use of new technologies to foster economic growth and welfare of its citizens.