Fira de Barcelona has been awarded the Operations & Services Award 2021 granted by the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry (UFI), the association that brings together the main trade show operators in the world.

The UFI award recognizes the actions Fira de Barcelona has taken to face the crisis caused by Covid-19, as well as the use of new technology models to recover the normal activity, the security measures deployed, as well as the strengthening of ties with society and the territory.

One of the initiatives highly valued by the UFI, in response to the pandemic and to recover normal activity, is the partnership with Wizzie Analytics to develop measures to control the people capacity in real time and to ensure that each person has an individual area of at least 2.5 sqm around them during an event.

The existing resources at Fira de Barcelona were used to accelerate the implementation of our solution and to save costs with a double goal: promote the holding of events in the short-term and establish a solution that adds value in a post-covid environment.

Wizzie Analytics’ Big Data technology provides valuable data on attendee behavior from people-counting cameras and the measurement of devices connected to the Wi-Fi network.

With the data from the people-counting cameras on the perimeter, and knowing the area of the event, we can ensure at all times that each attendee has more than 2.5 sqm of available space.

Through the Wi-Fi network we count the connected devices, not the people, obtaining a very precise calculation, in order to find out the high-density áreas, while respecting the privacy of the visitors.

The Wizzie Data Platform (WDP) social distancing module allows the space to be divided into a 30m * 30m grid of quadrants, activating an alarm if any quadrant has, at any time, a density close to or greater than 2.5 sqm. In those cases, we send a Covid manager to that specific area to divert the flows of people or manage the queues.

The data stream stream is processed with the Wizzie Data Platform (WDP). WDP provides information such as: detailed attendance (by area, by room), density values, flow types, queuing points, etc.

WDP data provides a better understanding of people flows (by day, by time window, by area, etc.). And we can deliver heat maps to see the main points of interest of the event, on the spot. We can also intervene in the operation (to influence the flow of people), and in the design of the event (to make better use of the spaces).

The Wizzie Data Platform (WDP) offers detailed information about the booths, like which are the most attractive, the behavior of the visitors, the profile of the attendees, and we compare the attendance of visitors in between the stands or areas, etc. With this data we can improve events by improving the visitor experience.

Our technology makes events safer and brings new knowledge that, a few years ago, could only be imagined.

The success of Fira de Barcelona at the UFI awards is also our success. Congratulations to the entire Fira team for winning this important award, and thank you for your trust in Wizzie during the project.

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