GSMA Announces Additional Keynote Speakers, Programme and Event UpdatesLondon: The GSMA today announced final updates for MWC19 Barcelona (formerly Mobile World Congress), including additional keynote speakers, participating companies, programmes and events. Taking place 25-28 February 2019, with events being staged at Fira Gran Via, Fira Montju c and La Farga L'Hospitalet, MWC19 Barcelona is set to attract more than 107,000 professionals from over 200 countries and territories.
With the anticipated arrival of 5G, this year's event is set to be one of the most exciting as the industry convenes to showcase Intelligent Connectivity across new technologies on the brink of reaching millions of people across the world, said John Hoffman, CEO, GSMA Ltd. Over the four days of MWC19, attendees will have the opportunity to hear from leaders who are driving innovation and we look forward once again to welcoming the mobile world to Barcelona.
Global Leaders to Keynote
The GSMA announced the addition of several new keynote speakers for MWC19 including executives from leading mobile operators and organisations shaping the future of mobile. New keynote speakers include:
Chuck Robbins, Chairman and CEO, Cisco
Dieter Zetsche, Chairman, Daimler AG and Mercedes Benz
Mariya Gabriel, Commissioner, Digital Economy and Society, European Union
Thomas Bach, President, IOC
Satya Nadella, CEO, Microsoft
John Hanke, Founder and CEO, Niantic Inc.
Hiroshi Mikitani, Founder, CEO and Chairman, Rakuten
H.E. Dr. Aisha Bin Bishr, Director General, Smart Dubai
Amina Mohammed, Deputy Secretary General, United Nations
Sir Lucian Grainge, Chairman and CEO, Universal Music Group
For more information on the conference, including the agenda and keynote speakers, visit www.mwcbarcelona.com/conference-programmes/.
4YFN: Start-ups Reach for the Stratosphere
4 Years from Now (4YFN), one of the most influential start-up event platforms in the world, will welcome over 21,000 attendees in its sixth edition in Barcelona, with sponsors including Banco Sabadell, Airbus, Telefonica and Vueling. This year 4YFN will be the first conference ever to reach the stratosphere, releasing the resolutions of start-ups for a better future into the atmosphere and taking the 4YFN Awards trophy to new heights. More information can be found at: www.4yfn.com/stratosphere/
4YFN attendees will have the opportunity to meet the growing global tech start-up community, including over 600 tech start-ups exhibiting in the Innovation Market. The 4YFN programme will feature notable speakers including Claudia Nemat, Board Member, Deutsche Telekom; Adeo Ressi, Founder, Founder Institute and Jared Ficklin, Strategic Design Partner with Magic Leap and Chief Creative Technologist, argodesign. This year's 4YFN themes will be Artificial Intelligence (AI) and robotics, Tech4Good and Blockchain. For more information, visit: www.4yfn.com.
Innovation City: Intelligent Connectivity
The popular GSMA Innovation City will return to MWC19, placing a particular emphasis on the theme of Intelligent Connectivity' the mix of 5G, IoT, AI and big data and how it will positively impact the lives of citizens and businesses around the world. Visitors will have the opportunity to experience a number of hands-on demonstrations across a range of diverse sectors including entertainment, transportation, environment and robotics from our partners Google, Huawei, KT Corporation, Sierra Wireless and Turkcell, as well as from GSMA industry and advocacy programmes. For more information, visit www.mwcbarcelona.com/exhibition/gsma-innovation-city/.
MWC Tours: Tailored Experience at MWC19
MWC Barcelona will again offer attendees focused Topic Tours of the exhibition at Fira Gran Via, led by industry experts. The GSMA also offers bespoke Custom Experience Tours to address attendees' specific business objectives and requirements. Newly announced Topic Tour Partners include:
5G and NFV Tour: Award Solutions, Nishith Tripathi and Mark Harms (Internet of Things)
Mobile Advertising and Apps Tour: Geometry, Olivia Pasquinelli and Doug Chavez (Retail and Digital Commerce)
What's Hot at MWC Tour: Stratacache, Manolo Almargro and Ben Gauthier (Artificial Intelligence)
Cybersecurity Tour: BLUE Software - Stephen Kaufman
More information, including how to participate in a tour, available at www.mwcbarcelona.com/experiences/topic-tours/.
New Partnerships Announced
Attendees will have the opportunity to attend a variety of programmes in Hall 8.0 NEXTech. Here they can gain insights from industry leaders who will hold more than 35 sessions over the course of MWC19.
Recently confirmed Partner Programmes include; China Unicom, Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Huawei, mSchools, Mobile World Scholar Challenge, Samsung, Tappy Technologies, Tanla, Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA), and Vertiv. While Dow Silicones, KLIX Media, NetNumber, Netsia, Tealium and Xilinx will host Power Hour Sessions. In addition, Salesforce will hold programmes in their Networking Garden. For more information and to indicate your interest in attending programmes visit: www.mwcbarcelona.com/conference-programmes/partner-programmes/.
CNN International joins Mobile World Live as Global Media Partners for MWC19 Barcelona. Newly confirmed Official Media Partners include CBS Interactive, CNBC, Euronews, Tencent News, The Wall Street Journal, TIME and Fortune, and Ziff Davis.
New Activities at Women4Tech Summit
Back for its third year and continuing the GSMA's commitment to reducing the gender gap in the mobile ecosystem, the GSMA Women4Tech Summit will gather senior leaders to discuss hot topics ranging from finding AI talent to working in a post #MeToo world, among others. Newly confirmed speakers include:
Dr. Athina Kanioura, Chief Data Scientist,
