Exploring the GSMA Innovation City

Anyone who has attended Mobile World Congress (MWC) over the last two years will know that the GSMA Connected City has been the place to experience the very latest in cutting-edge mobile technology. We first hosted the exhibit five years ago and it’s expanded every year in line with developments in the industry, particularly in the machine-to-machine (M2M) and IoT markets. Last year, we welcomed nearly 18,000 visitors which is a great indicator of the continuing power and interest in the showcase.

This year, it’s been rebranded the GSMA Innovation City, to reflect the great technological strides that the mobile industry continues to make, as well as the number of innovative, state-of-the-art products and services that will be on display. The Innovation City is all about experiencing and exploring the latest mobile technology in the context of an extensive virtual cityscape, where amenities, services and businesses are transformed and given added functionality through mobile connectivity.

The exhibits are brought to you by the GSMA and its partners and demonstrate how mobile technology is having an immediate and positive impact on everyday lives, helping to make simple day-to-day tasks, such as paying for food from a shop, much easier. At the City, you can see a demonstration of an International Coupon System which allows purchases to be made across the globe with a smartphone, via a one-tap, pay-and-redeem digital wallet which is being run by our Digital Commerce programme.

Our Personal Data programme will be exhibiting GSMA Mobile Connect, which delivers a fast, secure login system that enables people to access their online accounts and authenticate themselves using their mobile phone, giving them simple, secure access on any device and eliminating the need for complex usernames and passwords.

For the first time, the GSMA’s Mobile for Development programme will also have a presence in the Innovation City, showcasing their ‘Connected Community’, a rural journey from digital to financial and social inclusion. They will also be showing how Mobile technology can used to reduce energy consumption and enable more effective responses to disasters.

Demonstrations like these serve as a brilliant reminder of how mobile technology is making life easier and more convenient across the world. The Innovation City will of course feature the latest advances in traditional mobile communication services with a demonstration of voice over LTE (VoLTE) and Rich Communications Services (RCS) that enrich calling by using an all-IP solution – a key objective of the GSMA’s Network 2020 programme.

The GSMA’s Connected Living programme exists to accelerate the development and adoption of machine-to-machine (M2M) technology and the Internet of Things (IoT) and offers some of the most compelling exhibitions at the City this year. This is of course no surprise, given the attention the IoT is receiving – we are bombarded with news about new connected devices and services on an almost daily basis. However, the IoT does seem to be at the tipping point. Industry experts predict rapid growth in the number of connected devices, including analyst house Machina Research, who estimate that by 2020, there will be 27.1 billion total connected devices across the globe, up from 12.6 billion in December 2014.

Of particular interest in the M2M space will be two demonstrations of live operator profile swaps based on the GSMA Embedded SIM Specification, which is intended to make it easier to remotely change the profile of SIMs that are often located in difficult to reach or hazardous locations. One demonstration will show a smart parking application using a profile swap, and the other will demonstrate a connected car profile swap from the perspectives of both the end consumer and the backend provider.

On top of this, you can expect to see a vast array of connected devices on display across a number of different verticals, including transport, automotive, health, utilities and learning, all of which will be showcased in a series of live interactive displays, talks and demonstrations throughout the week.

All of this makes the GSMA Innovation City a truly unique place to experience the vanguard of technology and we invite all attendees of Mobile World Congress 2015 to explore the numerous demos and exhibits. We look forward to seeing you there!

Michael O’Hara, CMO