The Mobility City initiative of Fundación Ibercaja has joined its project with Cablescom. José Luis Rodrigo, CEO of Fundación Ibercaja, and Verónica Iliescu, CEO of Cablescom, have signed an agreement through which the telecommunications and signalling company becomes part of Mobility City, an international project of Fundación Ibercaja with the support from the Government of Aragon.

This Mobility City project aims to place Spain at the forefront of the debate on new mobility and the transformation of associated industries and sectors. This new incorporation represents the accession of a leading firm (i.e. Cablescom—editor), thanks to which fibre infrastructure will be installed in the Pabellón Puente de la Expo site, headquarters of the Mobility City project, which will enable the deployment of innovative communications and building-control technologies. Specifically, the facility will have a state-of-the-art installation necessary for data-display screens or for signal communications inside the exhibition space.

Fundación Ibercaja and Cablescom are two innovative entities, as highlighted in this collaboration agreement to improve the Pabellón Puente site, and will give continuity to other agreements signed by the Aragonese cable company. The most recent, signed at the beginning of this month of October with the Technological Institute of Aragon (ITAINNOVA), was the "Gazelle Program" which aims to enable companies to set innovation challenges by applying agile methodologies.

The “Pabellón Puente” was one of the main buildings of Expo 2008 in Zaragoza. Designed by British-Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid, it connects the right bank of the river with the Expo site. Its plant is in the shape of a gladiolus, is covered, and is housed with exhibition rooms on sustainable water management.

The theme of the 2008 Expo was “Water and Sustainable Development”. So themed because Zaragoza, the fifth largest city of Spain and the capital of Aragon Region, with the convergence of three big rivers, is a veritable water city of the Ibérian Peninsula. The World Expo banner was handed over to Shanghai thereafter.

Cablescom has donated all the fiber from the “Pabellón Puente”. The accession of the signalling company based in Aragon to Mobility City will allow the Zaha Hadid Bridge facilities to have the best optical fibre on the market, along with collaboration with relevant information from its sector to obtain resources for the improvement of the project.

“It is time to join forces and contribute to the development of our territory. For this reason,” - Iliescu adds – “it seems essential for us to be part of this type of project that is aligned with two clear objectives of our strategy, which are the promotion of Aragon and the commitment to sustainability”.

Leveraging its experience in the telecommunications sector, Cablescom will participate in the activities proposed by the Ibercaja Foundation within the exhibition space of the Puente de Zaragoza Pavilion, which is undergoing renovations and is scheduled to open to the public in 2021.

The project began in June 2018. As of October 2020, 35 companies and entities are part of the member club.

Mobility City will place the future mobility agenda at the highest level in development policies. It also helps partners share innovative best practices and ideas, working together towards mobility as a service.

Mobility City is headquartered in the Puente Pavilion located in the Expo de Zaragoza venue. The emblematic building, designed by architect Zaha Hadid, is a symbol of innovation and will become a gateway to the City of Mobility, whose influence will permeate other spaces of the city, where demonstration spaces and testing of new vehicles have been planned.

The Zaha Hadid Bridge is in a process of transformation that will turn it into a space open to all citizens in a few months, who will know the latest advances in mobility, and will be able to experience them.

The building's largest space, on two levels, will host an interactive exhibition on the aspects of mobility as a service, sustainable, urban, connected, autonomous and shared mobility. An exhibition is designed to enjoy as a family, with advanced audiovisual technologies, and proposes unique experiences through games and teaching challenges.

Manufacturers will also have spaces for the exchange of ideas and collaborative development, which will include an area of presentations and events. Companies are expected to present their research and innovations, in a space open to all kinds of education centres and universities, and to become a focus of attraction for citizen family leisure.

But Mobility City is much more and extends to other spaces in the city and even the Community, and to all kinds of business. A testing and awareness-raising area has been planned for urban personal mobility vehicles, or a balled circuit for connected and autonomous vehicle testing.

（Sources: adapted from https://www.mobilitycity.es/）