Mobile for Development (M4D) Utilities – meet us at MWC Barcelona 2019!

The biggest annual event in the mobile industry is less than three weeks away. Join the Mobile for Development Utilities team from 25 to 28 February at MWC Barcelona 2019! To help you navigate our activities during this packed week, we thought we’d put together a short blog post.

The GSMA Mobile for Development Utilities programme will be strongly represented at the event along with some of our key stakeholders in the mobile-enabled utilities ecosystem. We are especially excited that several of our Mobile for Development Utilities Innovation Fund grantees will be taking centre-stage at several exciting MWC events. These include:

  • The Ministerial Programme, which brings together ministers, telecom regulators and other influential government stakeholders from around the world to discuss key technology developments and policy trends in the mobile sector.
  • The Innovation City, which showcases the latest innovations in mobile with a particular focus on emerging technologies such as AI, 5G and IoT; and
  • 4YFN, which features the latest tech start-up innovations from around the world. Our programme and the start-ups we are funding will be represented on our dedicated booth. Come meet us at 4YFN, Montjuic Hall M8 Stand 54!

 

Here is a preview of our grantees and what they’ll be doing in Barcelona:

  • VITALITE (Zambia) – Provides smartphone and Cook stove add-ons for PAYG solar home systems;

William Makubalo, Project Lead at VITALITE, will be speaking in a panel on ‘Mobile Operators & Start-ups Collaboration in Emerging Markets Powered By GSMA M4D’ on Monday 25 February between 12.30 and 14.00 on the 4YFN Stage.

  • SolarWorks! (Mozambique) – Uses machine learning using weather forecasting data and user data to improve solar home systems downtime;

Arnoud de Vroomen, CEO at SolarWorks!, will be speaking in a panel on ‘Mobile Operators & Start-ups Collaboration in Emerging Markets Powered By GSMA M4D’ on Monday 25 February between 12.30 and 14.00 on the 4YFN Stage.

  • Drinkwell (Bangladesh): Provides safe drinking water to low income households across Dhaka via Mobile-Enabled Water ATMs;

Minhaj Chowdhury, Co-Founder & CEO at Drinkwell, will be speaking in a panel on ‘Transforming society through IoT’ at the MWC Ministerial Programme on Monday 25 February between 11.30 and 13.00.
The Drinkwell team will also be showcasing their innovative water ATM solution throughout the week at Innovation City in Hall 4 Stand 4A30 at MWC.

  • KCCA (Uganda): Uses a GIS tracking system enabled by a mobile application and call centre to improve sanitation service delivery in Kampala City;

Eunice Namirembe, Project Lead at KCCA, will be speaking in a panel entitled ‘Transformation of public services’ on Wednesday 27 February between 11.30 and 13.00 on’ at the MWC Ministerial Programme.

  • M-KOPA (Kenya): Provides PAYG Solar products for small entrepreneurs;

Elizabeth Littlefield, Chairwoman for the M-KOPA Board, will be speaking in a panel entitled ‘Technology shaping our future’ on Wednesday 27 February between 10.00 and 11.00 on’ at the MWC Ministerial Programme.

  • CityTaps (Niger): Provides smart prepaid water meters for urban populations using mobile money;

Gregoire Landel, CEO & Co-Founder at CityTaps, will be speaking on Wednesday 27 February between 11.30 and 13.00 on ‘Transformation of public services’ at the MWC Ministerial Programme.
He will also be speaking on Wednesday 27 February between 14.45 and 15.45 on ‘Partnering for Impact: Health-Tech Innovation Showcase’ at the main conference and;
On Thursday 28 February between 12.30 and 13.15 on ‘Innovating: The Importance of Diversity in Creativity’ at the Women4Tech conference.

  • SunCulture (Kenya) – Provides PAYG solar powered irrigation systems. See the SunCulture video;

Charlie Nichols, CTO & Co-Founder at SunCulture, will be speaking on Monday 25 February between 12.30 and 14.00 on the 4YFN Stage, ‘Mobile Operators & Start-ups Collaboration in Emerging Markets Powered By GSMA M4D’.

In addition to these sessions, the M4D Utilities team will also hold a workshop with selected industry stakeholders at MWC Barcelona. The session will bring together participants from the mobile industry, utility service providers, donors and other relevant ecosystem enablers. It will focus on identifying roadblocks to further utility service provider-and mobile operator partnerships, mobile utility bill payments, the potential of IoT, and other pressing issues in the mobile-enabled utilities space.

The MWC Barcelona agenda features inspiring key note speeches, eye-opening exhibitions from leading enterprises, thought-provoking debates on the newest disrupting innovations, and opportunities to network and build partnerships. If you have questions about the event, or are interested in meeting one of our grantees – feel free to reach out and send us an email at [email protected].

We look forward to seeing you there!

This initiative is currently funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID), the Scaling Off-Grid Energy Grand Challenge for Development and
supported by the GSMA and its members.

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