![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/about-us\/regions\/latin-america-and-the-caribbean\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/WEB_ExpostMWC19_Featureimage.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
More than 109,000 attendees from 198 countries and territories came together at MWC19 Barcelona, the mobile industry\u2019s premiere event. More than 55 per cent held senior-level positions, including 7,900 CEOs. There were 3,640 international media and analysts to report on the latest developments announced over the four-day event. Preliminary economic analysis indicates that MWC19 contributed approximately \u20ac473 million and more than 14,000 part-time jobs to the local economy.<\/p>\n
GSMA Latin America once again had a key role in the Ministerial Programme, the MWC forum where ministers, regulators, international organisations and executive directors from across the world discuss key developments and policy trends in the mobile sector.<\/p>\n
The Latin American session, the only one in Spanish during the Ministerial Programme main conference, included top-level speakers. \u00c1ngel Gurr\u00eda, Secretary-General of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), opened the event with a keynote on policymaking for the digital age.<\/p>\n
\u201cNew technologies generate progress, but they also pose challenges in the regulatory arena. As a result, governments have a key role in accelerating digital transformation,\u201d Gurr\u00eda said. The Secretary-General of the OECD highlighted the telecommunications reform carried out by Mexico in 2012\/2013 as an example of how governments can drive policy for a digitalised society. He also stressed the need for all influential players, including the private sector and international organisations, to work together to face the challenges. \u201cWe need the collaboration of all ecosystem players to achieve inclusive and sustainable digital economies that leave no one behind,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Gurr\u00eda\u2019s words were echoed in the first panel of the session, \u201cWhich regulations need to be modernised to achieve digital transformation?\u201d, whose participants were a much-praised lineup of four women leaders from regulators and ministries. \u201cAs policymakers, we have a central role in building the new digital world,\u201d said Salma Jalife, Undersecretary of Communications and Transport, Mexico. She was joined by Silvana Giudici, President, ENACOM Argentina; Sylvia Consta\u00edn, Minister of Information and Communication Technologies, Colombia; and Pamela Gidi Mas\u00edas, Vice Minister of Transport and Telecommunications, Chile. \u201cDon\u2019t be fooled by what you see; there\u2019s still a big digital gender gap and few women in technology, particularly in rural areas,\u201d Giudici said, as she talked about policy implemented in Chile to close this gap. The panel was moderated by Jorge Negrete, Chair, Policy & Law Group.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/about-us\/regions\/latin-america-and-the-caribbean\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/WEB_ExpostMWC19_Invirtiendo-en-la-transformacio\u0301n-digital.jpg\"){kind=spacer}
<\/p>\n
The second keynote of the day was given by Mauricio Ramos, CEO of Millicom. He invited attendees to reflect on two areas of policy that need reform for digitalisation to grow: spectrum and market structure. \u201cIs the function of spectrum to make up for the tax deficit or to drive the digital economy?\u201d Ramos asked.<\/p>\n
The second and final panel of the session, \u201cShould we invest in current conditions?\u201d, included Bernardo Quinn, President, Telefonica Hispam South; Adriana Nore\u00f1a, Vice President Google Latin America; Leonardo Euler de Morais, President, National Telecommunications Agency, Brazil; and Sami Foguel, CEO, TIM Brasil. The panel was moderated by Mariana Rodriguez Zani, Associate Director, Convergencia Latina.<\/p>\n
For the second year in a row, this dialogue opportunity promoted by GSMA Latin America and COMTELCA was held to discuss policies and opportunities for collaboration that will help to grow the digital ecosystem in Central America. The session was led by Lucas Gallitto, Acting Head, GSMA Latin America; Allan Ruiz, Executive Secretary, COMTELCA; and Jos\u00e9 Luis Ayala, Head of Government and Industry Relations for Latin America, Ericsson.<\/p>\n
The future of 5G, the upcoming WRC-19, and topics related to security and regulatory modernisation had a prominent place on the agenda. Paula Ferrari, Marketing Director Latin America, GSMA, spoke about the vision of the mobile industry on the digital gender gap.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/about-us\/regions\/latin-america-and-the-caribbean\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/WEB_ExpostMWC19_COMTELCA.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
MWC19 was the platform for the launch of a new working group co-organised by GSMA Latin America and EMnet, the OECD Emerging Markets Network. Participants from the OECD Development Centre were Lorenzo Pavone, Deputy Head of Division, Networks, Partnerships and Gender Division, and Sebasti\u00e1n Nieto-Parra, Head of Unit, Latin America and Caribbean Desk. The round table examined actions in tax policy and digital infrastructure that could boost investment and growth in the region.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/about-us\/regions\/latin-america-and-the-caribbean\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/WEB_ExpostMWC19_Digitalizacio\u0301n-en-Mercados-Emergentes-05.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
More than 60 leaders from the Latin American digital ecosystem took part in this discussion, which included Ajit Pai, Federal Communications Commission Chairman, as special guest. Pai gave a talk (in Spanish) about the FCC\u2019s 5G Fast Plan.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/about-us\/regions\/latin-america-and-the-caribbean\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/WEB_ExpostMWC19_REGIONAL-DIALOGUE.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
After his opening talk, leaders from the public and private sector across the region kicked off the discussion with a short presentation. Topic Leaders were H\u00e9ctor Huici, ICT Secretary, Argentina; Karim Antonio Lesina, Senior Vice President & International External and Regulatory Affairs, AT&T; Ezequiel Dom\u00ednguez, Head of America and Europe, Cullen International; Annelise Valdes, Regional Legal & Regulatory Director, Digicel; Sebasti\u00e1n Nieto Parra, Head of Unit, Latin America and Caribbean Desk, OECD Development Centre; and Ana Valero, Regulation Director for Latin America, Telef\u00f3nica.<\/p>\n
In addition to these activities, GSMA Latin America held another meeting of the Brazilian Coordination Committee, bilateral meetings with delegations from participating countries, and a CEO Round Table with key leaders from the region\u2019s operators.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/about-us\/regions\/latin-america-and-the-caribbean\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/WEB_ExpostMWC19_REGIONAL-DIALOGUE-grupal.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
More than 109,000 attendees from 198 countries and territories came together at MWC19 Barcelona, the mobile industry\u2019s premiere event. More than 55 per cent held senior-level positions, including 7,900 CEOs. There were 3,640 international media and analysts to report on the latest developments announced over the four-day event. Preliminary economic analysis indicates that MWC19 contributed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":31013,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"_oasis_task_priority":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[5,1],"tags":[],"algolia_discover_type":[13722],"class_list":["post-31074","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-english-news","category-general","algolia_discover_type-article"],"yoast_head":"\n