«Barcelona has a palpable drive and ambition to be a leading city», by Giorgio Miano
Giorgio Miano is married with two sons and a dog. Born and raised in Rome, Giorgio has also lived in Buenos Aires and moved to Barcelona 9 years ago. He has over 20 years of work experience across the world, leading teams in the telecom and tech industries. He is passionate about technology, start-ups investments, economic development and sport. He participated in early stage investments round of a few Barcelona’s tech start-ups, among these Glovo in 2015. In May 2023, he joined the board of the “Fundación Tenis Barcelona” with the firm conviction that sport is transformative and can offer opportunities for children at risk of social exclusion. From January 2024 he joined PTC as their RVP Sales in South Europe & Asia.
Why did you choose Barcelona?
As an international family, we decided to move to Barcelona because we were looking to live in a city where our two children could combine high-performance tennis training with an international school education. Doing some research my wife Jen, who is from the USA, discovered the Emilio Sanchez Tennis Academy which we visited. During this discovery process, we all immediately fell in love with Barcelona. The decisión to move became obvious.
What aspects of the city would you highlight as being positive?
In Barcelona there is a palpable drive and ambition to be a leading city in the world and the community is proud of this and openly welcomes expatriates to contribute. Furthermore, Barcelona has a unique combination of qualities that makes it enjoyable: easy access to nature, mild weather, colorful arts, good transportation system and overall friendliness. Also, it is a great sports city all year round.
What aspects of the city must be improved? How?
Home affordability, air pollution and traffic are, in my opinion, the top priorities to address. Barcelona can look to the best practices deployed in the top ranked cities in the world for quality of life while also leveraging the experiences and cultures of those who have chosen Barcelona as their home.
What do you expect from Barcelona in the coming years?
Barcelona will remain the global reference in fields such as technology, arts & culture, hospitality, and health while continuing to attract, as the host city, the best global sport events, such as the upcoming 37th America’s cup in 2024. Overall, I expect Barcelona to be selected by the most innovative tech companies worldwide to take advantage of the available international talent and the ecosystem of excellence that permeates the city.
Which city do you feel as «your city»? What do you miss the most?
Rome, beautiful and glorious, was my first home and is close to my heart. I also love Buenos Aires, an artistic and lively city, where I lived for a few years on two separate occasions. In both cities, I still have family and friends, which is what I miss the most. Moving to Barcelona was a step up in experiencing a better quality of life, further developing my professional career, and establishing new friendships that I highly value. I choose all three as “my cities” but don’t ask me where I can find the best food…
