October is a busy month for the GSMA with three Mobile 360 events taking place! The first of these, Mobile 360 – Africa, will be held in Cape Town from 7-9 October with the theme of “Accelerating Social & Economic Empowerment”.
The Sub-Saharan African (SSA) region has seen substantial growth in telecommunications over the last five years, yet there remains a significant proportion of the population who do not have access to the internet. At Mobile 360 – Africa, we aim to address these key issues and explore the future of the SSA region. The two-day conference programme includes sessions such as: ‘The Power to Connect: Providing Access for All’; ‘The Power to Discover: Local Content and Digital Literacy’; and ‘The Power to Borrow, Save and Spend: Building the Mobile Financial Ecosystem’. These sessions feature speakers from African Media Initiative, China Mobile, Econet Services Zimbabwe, Etisalat, Hello Group, Huawei, MasterCard, MTN Group and many more. You can view the full conference programme, including Mobile 360 Africa speakers, here.
Outside the conference sessions, you’ll find the GSMA Showcase with staff on hand to explain demos of innovative new mobile initiatives and technologies. You can check out the Oculus Rift ‘Inside the Network’ demo, a demonstration of All-IP communication services from the GSMA’s Network 2020 Programme and the new mobile operator facilitated authentication service ‘Mobile Connect’.
The GSMA Connected Living team are also running the workshop ‘Realising the Potential of M2M in Africa’ which will look at opportunities for M2M in Sub-Saharan Africa and experts will share opinions on the most significant technologies to drive your business forward in the next five years.
A brand new element in this year’s event is Jumpstart @ Mobile 360 – Africa. This new platform will showcase a line-up of 6-8 budding entrepreneurs who will each give a brief 5-minute pitch to a panel of operators and the audience. This special opportunity allows start-ups to pitch for potential business and possible partnerships with mobile operators.
In addition, co-located programmes at the event will be held on Wednesday 7th October, offering an immersive day of sessions relevant to your chosen field. The Connected Women Summit will explore how the mobile industry and partners can realise the socio-economic benefits of greater inclusion of women. The Mobile Money Global Event will focus on interoperability, digitising government payments, the economic impact of mobile money on digital economies and many more pertinent issues, while Mobile for Development will be hosting breakout sessions and roundtables to explore key issues related to mobile inclusion in Sub-Saharan Africa and beyond.
You can follow updates from GSMA through our social media channels using the #m360Africa hashtag.
We look forward to seeing you at Mobile 360 – Africa!