Born 1956. Ph.D. in Physics, University of Barcelona 1982. He has hold different grants of research in Spain and the United States. Former professor of Physics at the Polytechnic University of Catalunya, of Astronomy at the University of Barcelona and currently of Mathematics at the University Rovira i Virgili in Tarragona, Spain. In 2007 he obtained a Bachelor Degree in Humanities from the Open University of Catalonia (UOC) and a Master Degree in IT from the same University.
During the last two decades he has shared his teaching at the University with several positions related to IT implementation. From 1999-2001 he was director of the Consortium for the Information Society of the Regional Government of Tarragona. From 2001 to 2004 he was director of the Open Administration of Catalonia (AOC), one of the main E-Government projects in Europe. From 2005 till 2011 he was the CIO of a Health Services Consortium in Tarragona. From 2011 till 2015 he was the CIO of Barcelona and the main responsible for the Smart City Strategy. From February 2016 until 2018, he lead the Digital Administration of Catalonia.
Most recently, and due to his outstanding CV and achievements, Manel was appointed as Executive Director of Smart Cities at NEOM, the most exciting Smart City project in the world being built in the north-west of Saudi Arabia. The project has an estimated cost of $500 billion with a total area of more than 25,000 square meters, almost the size of Belgium, and due to its strategic location on one of the world’s most prominent economic arteries, will aim to be a global hub for trade, innovation and knowledge.
He has published dozens of articles and several books on its two main activities throughout the years, namely Astronomy and the applications of the Internet. He was the creator of the first Community Network in Spain, TINET (Tarragona InterNET). Between 1999 and 2002 he served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Internet Society (ISOC). In 2001 the national magazine El Mundo included him as one of the most influential Spaniards in the development of the Internet.
He is a member of different scientific and professional associations, among others the International Astronomical Union, the Catalan Society of Mathematics and the Internet Society. On February 2018, he was awarded the Alan Turing Award to the most distinguished CIO in Spain.