GSMA announced details of MWC Los Angeles 2019, in Partnership with CTIA, including participating companies, exhibitors, programs and activities taking place at the event’s third annual gathering. Under the theme “Intelligent Connectivity,” MWC19 Los Angeles, rebranded from Mobile World Congress Americas, will take place October 22-24, 2019, at the Los Angeles Convention Center. More than 22,000 attendees, including over 60 percent in senior-level positions, and more than 1,000 companies from across the mobile industry and adjacent industry sectors are expected to participate in MWC19 Los Angeles.
“This will be an especially exciting time for the mobile industry as 5G will have wider reach and increased use cases on full display at MWC19 Los Angeles making it the must-attend industry event of the Americas,” said John Hoffman, CEO of GSMA Ltd. “We’re looking forward to returning to Los Angeles to showcase how Intelligent Connectivity – 5G, IoT hyper connectivity, artificial intelligence and big data – is disrupting multiple industries throughout the show.”
MWC19 Los Angeles is the premiere B2B event to illustrate the convergence of content, media and entertainment industries with mobile. The GSMA today also announced the co-location of Digital Hollywood, a three-day entertainment and technology conference. Now in its 27th year in Los Angeles, Digital Hollywood will take place at MWC19 Los Angeles from October 21-23.
Today the European Commission made a technology choice in its Connected Car Legislation that, in the view of the GSMA, undercuts its own 5G Action Plan and jeopardises its digital competitiveness; the Commission has chosen to ignore technological innovation and choice, and instead stick with an outdated Wi-Fi (802.11p) technology for connected vehicles. The GSMA urges EU Member States and the European Parliament to reject the proposed rules that favour Wi-Fi technology to connect cars across Europe, and instead maintain flexibility to encourage the deployment of more advanced technologies, like Cellular-V2X (C-V2X) connectivity.
The EU’s 5G Action Plan calls for all “major terrestrial transport paths [to] have uninterrupted 5G coverage by 2025.” Rather than incentivising this outcome, the new legislation – the Delegated Act on Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems (C-ITS) – deals a blow to 5G rollout plans across Europe. As C-V2X is a key building block for future 5G networks, and as connected cars are one of the most important 5G use cases, this decision to prioritise 802.11p will hinder 5G deployment in Europe.
Leading Brands to Showcase Innovations in 5G, IoT, AI and Immersive Content
Leading players in the mobile technology ecosystem and adjacent sectors will convene to showcase how intelligent connectivity is spurring innovation throughout their business models. Over 1,000 companies will participate, including Amazon, Amdocs, American Tower, ARM, Cisco, Corning Optical Communications, DARPA, Ericsson, G&D Security, Gemalto, gsmExchange, Hewlett Packard Enterprises, JMA Wireless, KORE Wireless, Mastercard, Mavenir, Netcracker Technology, Nokia, Qualcomm, Sprint, Synchronoss, T-Mobile, Verizon, VMWare and Xiaomi among others.
Dedicated zones and pavilions throughout the exhibition will highlight various sectors of the mobile industry. In the South Hall, the IoT Zone will showcase demonstrations of current and future IoT technologies from both established and new players in the IoT space. The West Hall boasts a variety of experiences including App Zone where developers showcase next-generation mobile tools; Hollywood Zone featuring Digital Hollywood, media and technology companies; NEXTech Zone which exhibits companies and cutting edge technologies that are driving disruption across the entire mobile ecosystem, including virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR), robotics and artificial intelligence (AI), among others; and the gsmExchange Retail and Distribution Pavilion featuring mobile technology solutions for e-commerce and supply chain, and much more.
MWC19 Los Angeles Conference
The MWC19 Los Angeles conference program will explore the four main themes of 5G, IoT, Disruptive Innovation, and Immersive Content. The conference will include four compelling keynotes with CEOs from across the broad mobile ecosystem and adjacent industry sectors, a series of 33 sessions to explore how intelligent connectivity enables transformational and new capabilities across industries including automotive, financial technology, media and entertainment and retail, and CTIA’s “Everything Policy” track, which focuses on trends and developments in government and public policy.
4YFN Launches New Activities in Los Angeles
The 4YFN (Four Years from Now) startup event returns to MWC19 Los Angeles with over 150 exhibiting startups, 100 investors and leading corporate innovation partners. Once again located in the LACC’s West Hall, 4YFN’s program will include celebrity and inspirational keynote talks, book launches, onstage panels and fireside chats curated by leading entrepreneurial experts.
The GSMA announced new additional activities for the startup event. 4YFN will inaugurate its successful Discovery Area from 4YFN Barcelona for the first time in Los Angeles which includes the 4YFN Investors and Community Club, a dedicated area for workshops and mentorships and a non-stop pitching stage. 4YFN will also launch an Investor Festival, in partnership with Expert Dojo, which will facilitate over 500 one-on-one investor/entrepreneur speed pitching meetings. For the latest on 4YFN.
Women4Tech Program Returns
Running across all three days of MWC19 Los Angeles, Women4Tech is designed to address and reduce the gender gap in the mobile industry. A central element of the program is the Women4Tech Summit, with keynote presentations and panel discussions exploring topics such as gender equality and career development; mentoring and youth education; women in communication and vertical sectors; and women as entrepreneurs and innovators. Additional Women4Tech activities will include a speed coaching and networking session; specialized MWC Los Angeles Tours; and Women4Tech activities at 4YFN.
YoMo Expands at MWC Los Angeles
The Youth Mobile Festival (YoMo) returns to Los Angeles to inspire a new generation in pursuing education and careers in science, technology, engineering, art and design and math (STEAM) fields. YoMo will convene over 150 area schools and over 100 interactive exhibitions from stakeholder organizations.
New to YoMo Los Angeles this year is the “Teacher Track,” a two-day dedicated conference program for educators on the digital transformation of the classroom, in partnership with the Department for Education, County office of Education and the Los Angeles Unified School District.
The festival, which is free for teachers, students and their families to attend, will attract 15,000 visitors in engaging, fun and hands-on educational experiences and over 1,500 hours of content. YoMo will again take place in the LACC’s Kentia Hall and span the three day MWC19 Los Angeles show. For more information on YoMo, visit: www.mwcyomo.com/us/.
MWC19 Los Angeles Stage for DARPA Challenge Finals
The GSMA also announced MWC19 Los Angeles will host the finale of the United States Defense Advanced Research Project Agency’s (DARPA) three-year Spectrum Collaboration Challenge (SC2), a groundbreaking public prize competition which is using AI to unlock the full potential of the wireless spectrum. DARPA is focused on making pivotal investments in breakthrough technologies for national security. The agency is responsible for transformational technical innovations including the introduction of the Internet, the miniaturization of GPS, the advancement of AI-enabled personal assistants, and much more. The SC2 Championship Event will feature teams’ AI-enabled radios competing head-to-head in front of a live audience, demonstrating a new paradigm of autonomous wireless spectrum management. The event will be open to all MWC19 Los Angeles attendees as well as the public and is free to attend.
First, second, and third place finishers will be awarded $2 million, $1 million, and $750,000 prizes respectively. Previous DARPA challenges have focused on autonomous vehicles, robotic disaster assistance, and automatic cyber defense systems, among others. For more information on SC2, visit: www.SpectrumCollaborationChallenge.com/
“Now in its third year, this MWC event is gaining tremendous momentum beyond the exhibition and world-class conference program as evident through Digital Hollywood, DARPA and expanded programs in education across the region,” said Hoffman. “We’re excited to showcase how the technology that billions of people rely on every day continues improving in order to connect everyone and everything to a better future.”