Intelligent CIO Europe Issue 25 | Page 8

NEWS Barcelona City Council and Huawei sign agreement A t the Smart City Expo World Congress (SCEWC) 2019, Huawei and Barcelona City Council signed a Letter of Intention (LoI) to collaborate in innovation projects and facilitate technological investment in the city. Some areas of cooperation introduced relate to innovative technologies developed by Huawei, such as 5G, Smart City application and Digital Transformation in Barcelona City. The LoI was signed by Jaume Collboni, Primer Tinent d’Alcalde, of the Barcelona City Council and Sun Fuyou, Vice President of Huawei Enterprise Business Group. Wirecard’s boon and SwatchPAY! launch in Germany The new payment method is secure and uncomplicated The LoI endorses Huawei’s commitment as one of the technology partners of Barcelona, providing technology resources and facilitating the development of IT innovation. Huawei is also actively committed to innovation and R&D, and is constantly looking for new cutting-edge initiatives to collaborate the overall economic projection of the city. During the event, Sun Fuyou said: “Spain is a very important market for Huawei. We established our business here 18 years ago and our commitment to contribute to the growth of the digital economy has only become stronger. “We have a very close relationship with Barcelona; a city that welcomes us every year to showcase our most innovative technologies at Mobile World Congress, and Smartcity Expo World Congress. Our will is to cooperate with the Digital Transformation of Barcelona and to contribute to making it the most innovative city in Europe.” W irecard, a global innovation leader for digital financial technology, is the exclusive payment partner for the SwatchPAY! launch in Germany and Austria. With the help of the mobile payment solution, boon, consumers can carry out easy and contactless payments with the brand new line of Swatch watches. How it works: via the boon app on their smartphone, watch owners receive a virtual Mastercard, which is stored in the SwatchPAY! app as a means of payment. The virtual card can be topped up by credit card or bank transfer. Contactless payment is very easy: to carry out a payment, the watch is simply held up to a compatible terminal in-store and a signal tone confirms that the payment 8 INTELLIGENTCIO has been completed. Since the power required is supplied by the terminal, this process works even when the watch battery is empty, as opposed to when paying with smartphones. Like all conventional Swatch models, the new SwatchPAY! watches are waterproof to a depth of 30 metres, making them ideal companions and payment options when, for example, going for a swim. As a result, the traditional wallet can stay at home. “We are pleased to bring ‘The coolest way to pay – SwatchPAY!’ to Germany and Austria,” said Carlo Giordanetti, Creative Director of Swatch. “It has never been more convenient to pay, anytime and anywhere, with the watch on your wrist. The new method of payment is secure, uncomplicated and stylish.” www.intelligentcio.com