-- New for 2014: mPowered Industries Programme at MWC Will Address Growing Interest in Mobile Among Key Vertical Industry Sectors

LONDON, Sept. 4, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The GSMA today announced the first details of the 2014 GSMA Mobile World Congress, including exhibiting and sponsoring companies, executives speaking in the keynote programme and new event features such as mPowered Industries, which will explore the impact of mobile in vertical industries. The GSMA expects more than 72,000 attendees for Mobile World Congress 2014, which will be held 24-27 February 2014 at Fira Gran Via in Barcelona.

"Under the theme of 'Creating What's Next', the 2014 edition of Mobile World Congress will highlight the most significant innovations and advances in mobile, providing a blueprint for the future," said Michael O'Hara, chief marketing officer, GSMA. "Attendees will have the opportunity to experience firsthand how mobile is revolutionising business across many industries and transforming everyday life for billions of people around the world. We're looking forward to welcoming the mobile world to Barcelona in February."

Mobile World Congress Conference Programme
The four-day conference programme will feature 10 keynote sessions including the signature Mobile World Live keynotes, which will conclude the conference programming on selected days and will be streamed live across the venue and to hundreds of thousands of viewers globally via the Mobile World Live portal. The first executives confirmed to deliver keynote presentations at Mobile World Congress 2014 include:

• Jon Matonis, Executive Director and Board Member, Bitcoin Foundation
• John Chambers, Chairman and CEO, Cisco
• Sirgoo Lee, Co-CEO, Kakao Corp.
• Michelle Gallen, CEO, Shhmooze
• Rich Riley, CEO, Shazam Entertainment
• Franco Bernabe, Chairman and CEO, Telecom Italia Group and Chairman, GSMA
• Jon Fredrik Baksaas, President and CEO, Telenor Group 
   

In addition to the keynote programme, the conference will also include in-depth track sessions on topics such as business transformation, connected living, data analytics, developing markets, devices, future of communications, intelligent networks, mobile commerce and payments, mobile identity and privacy, network economics and network optimisation, among others. For more information, visit www.mobileworldcongress.com/conference.

GSMA Ministerial Programme
An integral part of Mobile World Congress is the GSMA Ministerial Programme, which brings together governments, regulators and industry leaders to explore the regulatory issues shaping the development of mobile around the world. This year, the programme will examine new paradigms in policy for managing networks and facilitating investment. The 2014 Ministerial Programme will take place 24-26 February and is expected to attract delegations from 145 countries and intergovernmental organisations. Tata Consultancy Services is the Official Sponsor for the GSMA Ministerial Programme.

Showcasing the Future of Mobile
As always, the Mobile World Congress exhibition will showcase the technologies, products and services that are shaping the future of the mobile industry, from network infrastructure to mobile handsets and devices to software and applications and much more. More than 1,700 companies are expected to participate in the exhibition, including global brands such as Acer, Alcatel-Lucent, Deutsche Telekom, Ford Motor Company, HTC, Huawei, Intel, LG, MasterCard, Mozilla, NEC, Nokia, Nokia Solutions and Networks, Oracle, Samsung, SAP, Sony Mobile Communications, Telefonica, Visa, Vodafone and ZTE. For more information, visit www.mobileworldcongress.com/exhibition.

The Mobile World Congress show floor will again include the highly popular GSMA Connected City. The Connected City enables attendees to experience a real-world urban environment with mobile-connected products and services that can improve people's daily lives across automotive, education, health, homes, retail and other applications.

Following the success of the NFC Experience at Mobile World Congress 2013, the GSMA will again integrate a broad range of mobile NFC services for attendees with NFC-enabled handsets. The NFC Experience activities will be implemented at Fira Gran Via, rewarding those who 'tap' with streamlined entry to Mobile World Congress, instant access to information, technology demonstrations and more.

Introducing mPowered Industries
To address the rapidly growing interest in mobile amongst key vertical industry sectors, the GSMA is introducing a new programme being held in conjunction with Mobile World Congress: mPowered Industries. mPowered Industries comprises a range of industry-specific conferences and exhibits driven by leading organisations in areas such as health, marketing and advertising, media and travel. The mPowered Industries vertical conference and exhibition programme will be held at the nearby Fira Montjuic venue and will be integrated with Mobile World Congress at Fira Gran Via.

For the inaugural mPowered Industries programme, the GSMA has confirmed the following Event Partners across the health, marketing and advertising, media and travel sectors:

• Health – The European Connected Health Alliance is the leading membership organisation in Europe bringing together health authorities, health providers, industry and academia to develop and deploy products and services to provide better care and economic opportunities.
• Marketing and Advertising – The Mobile Media Summits and Mobile Media Upfront are the quintessential thought leadership forums for brand, agency and mobile leaders to learn and network on the newest mobile technology and media. Mobile Media Summit will bring together top brand marketers, advertising agencies, publishers, app developers and mobile/ad tech companies from around the world.
• Media – The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) produces the NAB Show, which, over the past 90 years, has evolved into the largest and most important media and entertainment event in the world covering the development, management and delivery of content across all mediums. NAB Show is home to the solutions that transcend traditional broadcasting and embrace content delivery to new screens in new ways.
• Travel – EyeforTravel is a leading global media company specialising in business intelligence for the travel and tourism industry. EyeforTravel has successfully produced conferences, reports and webinars focusing on mobile, product development, travel technology, online marketing and social media, among other topics.

For more information, visit www.mobileworldcongress.com/mpowered-industries.

Featured Programmes at Mobile World Congress
Beyond mPowered Industries, Mobile World Congress offers a number of additional featured programmes that target specific attendee interests and requirements, including App Planet, the Forum Series and Partner Events:

• App Planet – App Planet connects the developer community and the broader mobile ecosystem, with exhibition, app developer conferences (ADCs), product and service demonstrations and workshops from some of the largest and most influential mobile industry companies. The Generalitat de Catalunya is the Official App Planet Sponsor and the first Supporting Sponsors for App Planet include the Car Connectivity Forum and Samsung. For more information, visit www.mobileworldcongress.com/app-planet-overview. 
• Forum Series – The partner-sponsored Forum Series brings together industry players to discuss and debate a range of topics in focused sessions. Forums currently scheduled for 2014 include the LTE Forum and the Mobile Security Forum. Forum Series Partners include ZTE for the LTE Forum and AVG and FingerQ for the Mobile Security Forum. For more information, visit www.mobileworldcongress.com/forum-series. 
• Partner Events – The Theatre District in Hall 8 will be home to several partner events during Mobile World Congress, providing companies a platform to discuss key market trends highlight product developments and programme initiatives and make announcements. Acision, ClickSoftware and Open Mobile Alliance are among the Partners scheduled to host meetings at Fira Gran Via. For more information, visit www.mobileworldcongress.com/partner-events.

The Mobile World Congress is the cornerstone of the Mobile World Capital, which will be hosted in Barcelona from 2013 to 2018. The Mobile World Capital encompasses programmes and activities that span the entire year and will benefit not only the citizens of Barcelona, Catalonia and Spain, but also the worldwide mobile industry. For more information on the Mobile World Capital, visit www.mobileworldcapital.com.  

For more information on the 2014 Mobile World Congress including how to attend, exhibit or sponsor, visit www.mobileworldcongress.com.

About the GSMA
The GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide. Spanning more than 220 countries, the GSMA unites nearly 800 of the world's mobile operators with more than 230 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, including handset makers, software companies, equipment providers and Internet companies, as well as organisations in industry sectors such as financial services, healthcare, media, transport and utilities. The GSMA also produces industry-leading events such as the Mobile World Congress and Mobile Asia Expo. 

For more information, please visit the GSMA corporate website at www.gsma.com or Mobile World Live, the online portal for the mobile communications industry, at www.mobileworldlive.com.

SOURCE GSMA