Joana Barbany holds a Licentiate Degree in Journalism from Pompeu Fabra University (UPF) and a BA in Business Sciences from Vic University (UVIC). She has focused her professional career on digital communication (first of all in Lavinia TC and subsequently working freelance) and in strategic and organisational consulting (DEP Institut and LTC Project). In 2013 she became the councillor for Communication, Citizen Assistance, Promotion of the City and Technology. 3 years later, in 2016, she was deputy mayor of Economic Promotion, Innovation and Open Government, as well as of the department of Communication and Employment, attached to the department of Commerce. In June 2018 she was appointed Director General for Digital Society of the Catalan Government (Generalitat de Catalunya). Some of her interests are STEM, new collaborative/business models, open data, digital citizen and society or entrepreneurship.