Accenture opens analytics innovation center in Barcelona

Accenture today announced the expansion of its global network of analytics innovation centers with the opening of a new center in Barcelona, Spain. The Center is a global showcase for Accenture’s predictive analytics capabilities to clients who visit from around the world, with an initial focus on supply chain management. The new facility is designed and equipped to address a wide range of issues that companies may be facing as they seek to glean deeper insights from data and improve decision-making processes, by providing them with quick and easy access to a range of sophisticated analytics solutions and resources, locally and globally.
The Barcelona Analytics Innovation Center is expected to create 50 new, highly-skilled jobs over the next three years adding to the more than 10,000 Accenture employees throughout Spain. The center is located within Accenture’s existing Supply Chain Center of Excellence in Sant Cugat del Vallès, Barcelona, strengthening Accenture’s current supply chain offerings. It is backed by Invest in Catalonia, the agency of the Government of Catalonia, focused on promotion and attraction of foreign investment in the region.
“Today’s announcement demonstrates our commitment to investing in the Spanish market where we see strong appetite for new and innovative technologies,” said Vicente Moreno, country managing director of Accenture in Spain. “The center, the first of its kind to be located in Spain, is designed to help accelerate the development, delivery and commercialization of innovative analytics solutions leveraging capabilities in management consulting and technology. We are currently recruiting locally, working closely with universities in the region, and are looking for both graduates and experienced hires with analytical and statistics experience.”
Barcelona is the latest city to join Accenture’s growing analytics innovation center network. In November 2010, Accenture announced plans to open an Analytics Innovation Center in Dublin, Ireland specializing in the development of sophisticated techniques in compliance-related analytics. The Dublin center will commence operations in May 2011.
The Barcelona Center forms part of a wider Accenture global network of innovation centers dedicated to the demonstration, research and development, delivery and industrialization of analytics solutions and services and will initially focus on the innovative development of sophisticated techniques in supply chain analytics to address many of the key business challenges facing Accenture’s clients.
The solutions will help companies drive improved business outcomes by effectively optimising, predicting, forecasting and centralizing their supply chains, especially in emerging markets where demand is increasing significantly. Over time the center will expand its capabilities to demonstrate, develop and deliver wider cross-functional and cross-industry analytics services.
Welcoming the announcement, Counselor for the Enterprise and Employment Department of the Government of Catalonia, Xavier Mena, said; “The opening of the center highlights Catalonia’s position as one of leading areas in Europe for technology research and development. Analytics constitutes an area of growing importance and this is a significant investment by a global leader in professional business services. The Accenture Analytics Innovation Center helps to position Catalonia at the forefront of analytics solution development and delivery. These strategically important investments are testament to the talent and expertise available in the region, the pro-business environment and our strong track record in attracting knowledge based and technology investments.”
“Only by competing on analytics can businesses address the most important imperatives leaders face today: driving growth, enhancing cost and cash advantage, improving operational excellence, restructuring the business at scale and winning the war for talent,” said Oday Abbosh, managing director, Accenture Analytics for Europe, Africa and Latin America. “Our centers offer research and innovative solutions to support today’s business leaders in using the power of analytics to address business issues and drive improved business outcomes,” “Having a global network of innovation centers allows us to draw from areas with strong local talent, partners and resources and pool that knowledge to create best in class solutions for our clients.”
Accenture’s Network of Innovation centers are co-located with and leverage the skills and expertise at locations across the Accenture Global Delivery Network, Accenture Technology Labs and the Accenture Global Talent and Innovation Network. Other centers in the analytics network are located in Bangalore, Chicago, Milan, Mumbai, New Delhi and San Jose, California.