GSMA Announces Additional Updates for 2017 “GSMA Mobile World Congress Americas, in Partnership with CTIA”

The GSMA released new details for the quickly approaching inaugural Mobile World Congress Americas, including recently confirmed speakers, sponsors, exhibitors and partners. Mobile World Congress Americas will take place September 12-14, 2017 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco.

“In just two weeks, San Francisco will host the most comprehensive mobile technology event the Americas region has ever seen,” said Michael O’Hara, Chief Marketing Officer, GSMA. “Mobile World Congress Americas will illustrate how mobile technology impacts the everyday lives of more than five billion people worldwide, transforming industries and contributing to the global economy. Moreover, it will reinforce the Americas region as the epicenter of mobile technology innovation.”

New Additions to Keynote Program

The GSMA announced several additional keynote speakers for the Mobile World Congress Americas conference program, with executives representing a wide range of organizations across the mobile ecosystem:

• Amanda Kahlow, Founder and CSO, 6Sense
• Niccolo De Masi, President and COO, Essential
• Mitchell Baker, Executive Chairwoman, Mozilla Foundation
• Cristiano R. Amon, EVP, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and President, Qualcomm CDMA Technologies
• Al Guido, President, San Francisco 49ers

Beyond the keynote program, the three-day Mobile World Congress Americas conference will offer focused track sessions on range of subjects, such as consumer IoT, content and media, the Fourth Industrial Revolution, next-generation networks, policy and sustainable development. Newly confirmed conference speakers include:

• Ashwin Karuhatty, Business Development, Smart Home, Amazon Alexa
• Chris Berend, SVP of Digital Video and Co-founder of Great Big Story, CNN
• Erik Ekudden, CTO, Ericsson
• Eric King, Director of Technology, Sacramento Kings
• Vish Shastry, VP, Merchant Solution Delivery and Commercialization, Digital Products, Visa
• Imran Ansani, Principal Manager, Innovation, Walmart Labs

For more information on the conference, including the agenda and complete speaker list, visit www.mwcamericas.com/conference/.

New Summit Speakers Confirmed

Mobile World Congress Americas will also include a series of GSMA Summits that explore a wide range of perspectives across the mobile industry. New speakers scheduled to present in the Summits include:

The Latin America Investment Summit, September 12

• John Farrell, Founder, Acelera
• Juan José Roesel, CEO and Founder, COMBI
• Andrés Tahta, EVP, Argentina Investment and Trade Promotion Agency

The Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality in the Enterprise Summit, September 13

• Allan Cook, Global Sector Lead for Technology, Media and Entertainment, and Telecommunications, Deloitte
• Mark Greget, CEO and Co-Founder, NuEyes
• Katrina Strafford, VP Marketing, Unity

Women4Tech Summit, September 13

• Melissa Arnoldi, Senior Executive Vice President, Technology and Operations, AT&T
• Frederique Dame, Product Leader, Angel Investor and Board Member, Ubisoft
• Mary Clark, Chief Corporate Relations Officer and Chief of Staff, Syniverse

The Connected Vehicles Summit, September 14

• Liz Kerton, Executive Director, Autotech Council
• Chris Pendleton, Principal PM Manager, Azure IoT, Microsoft
• Don Butler, Executive Director for Connected Vehicles and Services, Ford Motor Company
• Hakan Kostepen, Executive Director, Product Planning Strategy & Innovation, Panasonic Automotive Systems America
• Matt Marshall, Founder and CEO, VentureBeat
• Andres Irlando, CEO, Verizon Telematics

For full information on the GSMA Summits, visit www.mwcamericas.com/events/gsma-summits/.

GSMA Innovation City at Mobile World Congress Americas

In the GSMA Innovation City, visitors will experience how mobile-connected products and services are improving the daily lives of citizens and businesses around the world, in diverse areas such as home, automotive, health, utilities, industrial and more. The City will feature leading-edge demonstrations from companies including AT&T, Google, KT Corporation, MasterCard and TIM Brasil, as well as from GSMA programs including Future Networks, Identity, Internet of Things and the GSMA’s work supporting the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Demonstrations and experiences include:

AT&T

AT&T will display its latest innovations across IoT, entertainment, security and more, including:

• Vehicles: Enjoy an interactive experience that demonstrates the features of in-vehicle connectivity, plus learn how AT&T is connecting long-haul trucks.
• Healthcare: See how AT&T technology is helping to improve healthcare, from Aira’s connected smart glasses for the blind and visually impaired to the Philips DreamStation sleep apnea therapy solution.
• Consumer Electronics: Explore how AT&T is making everyday things like pet collars and luggage smarter and more efficient.
• Smart Cities: Discover how AT&T is helping cities integrate Smart City solutions, like Digital Infrastructure, to accelerate economic growth and create safer and more sustainable cities.
• Enterprise: Check out the newest innovations in IoT networks, platforms, security, and turnkey solutions for business customers from AT&T.
• Entertainment: Experience the latest in content, movies, live-action sports in 4K and much more. See how customers can take their TV with them data-free with the DIRECTV App and DIRECTV NOW.

KT Corporation

South Korea’s KT Corporation will highlight its work in advanced 5G technologies and 5G-related services. KT is the official telecommunications service partner for the upcoming Pyeongchang Winter Olympics 2018 and will exhibit relevant and innovative 5G and ICT technologies.

MasterCard

MasterCard will showcase Masterpass, which will demonstrate how a consumer gets a faster checkout experience in store with tap and pay. Masterpass is the digital payment service that enables MasterCard’s customers (banks and other partners) to provide digital wallets to their customers. It’s also MasterCard’s digital acceptance for roughly 340,000 merchants to enable online and in-app purchases, and at more than 6 million merchant locations in approximately 96 countries that accept contactless payments. With Masterpass, MasterCard became the first and only network to deliver an omni-channel all-digital payment service for issuers, merchants and consumers.

Additional demonstrations in the Innovation City will enable attendees to:

• Experience how the San Diego Ambulance service uses the GSMA’s Mobile Connect authentication service to access patient records at the scene of an accident.
• See how Dell and TIM Brasil are helping Rio de Janeiro track the movement of people across the city using its Crowd Thermal Map.
• Fly through the “internet of the skies” and experience how commercial drones are set to change the world via mobile networks providing flexible delivery services, building inspection, aerial photography and more.
• See how Smart City solutions and IoT Big Data are helping to keep cities cleaner and improve air quality.
• Understand the impact of low power wide area Mobile IoT networks and how they are helping to connect billions of new IoT applications

For more information on the Innovation City, visit www.mwcamericas.com/exhibition/gsma-innovation-city/.

Additional Exhibitors, Sponsors at Mobile World Congress Americas

Located in Moscone West, NEXTech will highlight next-generation technology including augmented and virtual reality, robotics, connected and autonomous cars, and artificial intelligence. Within NEXTech, the VR/AR Zone will offer attendees the opportunity to experience the latest in wearables, displays, object recognition and 3D holographic image visualizations, while the Graphene Pavilion will showcase applications of graphene that are impacting the industry, from batteries and screens to chips, wearables and more. Companies exhibiting in NEXTech include Bottle Rocket, Cassia Networks, IBM, Meta, Samsung Electronics, TomTom Maps and many others.

The Mobile World Congress Americas exhibition will put the spotlight on the mobile industry’s contribution to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals in the GSMA’s Better Future Lounge. This space will display how mobile technology initiatives are positively impacting lives and communities across the world, accelerating the SDGs. In addition to interactive exhibits, attendees can learn more about operator and ecosystem initiatives addressing all 17 SDGs in areas such as health, education, climate change, digital inclusion, agriculture and finance, among others. For more information on the Mobile World Congress Americas exhibition, visit: www.mwcamericas.com/exhibition.

Sprint signed on as the Platinum Event Sponsor for Mobile World Congress Americas, while PayPal has joined as a Supporting Sponsor and a Headline Sponsor of the Women4Tech Summit. The GSMA also announced TomTom Maps as the Headline Sponsor and ARM as Supporting Sponsor of the Connected Vehicles Summit, while Arrow Electronics was confirmed as the 4YFN Silver Partner and Stonecrop as Supporting Sponsor of Women4Tech – 4YFN. For more information on Mobile World Congress Americas sponsors, visit www.mwcamericas.com/about/sponsors-partners/.

Updates for 4YFN Startup Event

Several new speakers have been confirmed for the 4 Years from Now (4YFN) Startup Event, including Jay Parikh, VP, Engineering, Facebook; Amanda West, Social Ventures, Mercy Corps; Robert Scoble, Partner, Transformation Group; and Jor Law, Co-Founder, VerifyInvestor.com. Of the nearly 130 startups registered for the event, 15 will be selected to participate in three pitch events for a chance to be become the overall winner of the 4YFN Americas Awards 2017 and attend Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in 2018. For more information on 4YFN, visit https://www.mwcamericas.com/events/4yfn/.

New Partner Programs, Sponsors Confirmed

The GSMA announced a number of new partner programs taking place during the three-day Mobile World Congress Americas, including:

Monday, September 11

• Masterclass at 4YFN: Intellectual Property Powering Innovation Through IP

Tuesday, September 12

• Network Function Virtualization: The Foundation for 5G & IOT Success
• The SDL Developer Conference Presented by FordDev
• The Telecom Infra Project
• The 5G Innovation Summit

Wednesday, September 13

• Appnext, TUNE and Fetch present App Valley by Appnext

Thursday, September 14

• Developer and Partner Ecosystem – Path to Success
• IoT Enterprise Implementations

The GSMA also announced that Worlds Global Telecom has signed up as the Headline Sponsor of the M-Enabling Forum taking place on Thursday, September 14. For a full schedule of Partner Programs at Mobile World Congress Americas, visit www.mwcamericas.com/events/partner-programs/.

Get Involved at Mobile World Congress Americas 2017

Mobile World Congress Americas will offer attendees various networking and entertainment experiences. The Official Mobile World Congress Americas Opening Party will feature live entertainment from premier Bay Area DJ DJ Quantum along with the Venusians. The Opening Party will take place Tuesday, September 12 at 5:00 pm in the Yerba Buena Gardens of the Moscone Center.

Amdocs, Globetouch and Lleida.net have signed up as sponsors of the Mobile World Congress Americas Sunrise 5K Run, which will be held on Wednesday, September 12 at 6:30 am and will take runners on a scenic and historic course throughout San Francisco. For registration details and further information on the Sunrise 5K Run, visit: www.mwcamericas.com/events/5k-run/.

More information on Mobile World Congress Americas 2017, including how to attend, exhibit or sponsor, is available at www.mwcamericas.com. Follow developments and updates on Mobile World Congress Americas on Twitter @GSMAEvents using #MWCA17, on our LinkedIn Mobile World Congress Americas page https://www.linkedin.com/company/gsma-mobile-world-congress-americas or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/MWCAmericas/.

-ENDS-

About the GSMA

The GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide, uniting nearly 800 operators with more than 300 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, including handset and device makers, software companies, equipment providers and internet companies, as well as organisations in adjacent industry sectors. The GSMA also produces industry-leading events such as Mobile World Congress, Mobile World Congress Shanghai, Mobile World Congress Americas and the Mobile 360 Series of conferences.

For more information, please visit the GSMA corporate website at www.gsma.com. Follow the GSMA on Twitter: @GSMA.

About CTIA

CTIA® (www.ctia.org) represents the U.S. wireless communications industry and the companies throughout the mobile ecosystem that enable Americans to lead a 21st century connected life. The association’s members include wireless carriers, device manufacturers, suppliers as well as apps and content companies. CTIA vigorously advocates at all levels of government for policies that foster continued wireless innovation and investment. The association also coordinates the industry’s voluntary best practices, hosts educational events that promote the wireless industry and co-produces the industry’s leading wireless tradeshow. CTIA was founded in 1984 and is based in Washington, D.C.

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Contact information

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