The conference was jointly organized with the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) and took place at the Ciutadella campus of the Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona. Organized by two leading economic historians, Robert Gordon and Hans-Joachim Voth, it brought together academics and researchers from European and U.S. institutions. UPF faculty & PhD students also attended the event.

The conference was split into six sessions, each of them containing several presentations and discussions:
(i) the value of information technology
(ii) historical perspectives
(iii) new goods and the pace of TFP growth in 20^th-century America
(iv) panels and methodology
(v) welfare gains from communication technology
(vi) lifting the veil: the American standard of living since the civil war