From March 2nd to 5th the telecom industry will descend on Barcelona for Mobile World Congress 2015 (MWC). This event brings together leaders from across the globe to discuss trends in the industry and showcase new products. MWC also acts as an annual milestone for the M4D Utilities programme to take stock and to look ahead at the year to come. We could not have asked for a more appropriate theme: The Edge of Innovation
2014 was a landmark year with:
- Mobile-enabled energy access taking centre stage: energy access companies closed over US$60M of investment, a ground-breaking deal between our grantee Mobisol and the Government of Rwanda is signed to extend decentralised energy solutions, and Orange hints at the development of a mobile-enabled solution for emerging market utilities.
- The UK Government extending  their commitment to the sector pledging an additional £6M to the re-branded M4D Utilities programme to support trials and lesson sharing for the broader sector.
- Mobile-enabled water services in Bangalore are poised to receive a significant boost as the Bangalore Water and Sewerage Board is preparing to open a tender for valve monitoring services across the city. M4D Utilities grantee NextDrop is a strong contender.
2015 is expected to be as exciting with:
- Our programme allocating an additional £3.2M in grants for pilots and field trials
- New insights being published on the mobile-enabled utilities sector drawn from the fresh pipeline of Concept Notes from our Innovation Fund
- Case studies from our Phase 1 grantees being published throughout the year and the findings helping to feed specific insight reports
- Continuing engagement with Mobile Network Operators, through feasibility studies, to highlight the opportunity for them to enter this market.
Mobile World Congress 2015
With the past and present year in mind, we hope you will be able to join us at MWC where you can learn more about the state of mobile-enabled utility services in emerging markets, across several events:
- Mobile for Development Seminar
Monday 2 March, GSMA Seminar Theatre CC1.1, 14:00 – 17:00
Through mobile, we can enable digital, financial, economic and social inclusion – and the key is innovation. Mobile for Development products and services continue to deliver value to operators and to improve the lives of end users in emerging markets. This seminar will explore how mobile has acted as an enabler for bridging the digital divide, closing the gender gap, financial and social inclusion as well as exploring future trends for how mobile will serve people at scale in emerging markets.
- Exploring Mobile Operator business models in M4D
Tuesday 3 March, 3.14b Level 1, CC3, 8.30 – 10.30
This roundtable brings together industry stakeholders, investors, entrepreneurs, non-governmental and governmental organisations to discuss the experiences of Mobile Network Operators and their partners across the gender, utilities and agriculture sectors. (Due to room size restrictions please RSVP at hsmertnik@gsma.com)
- Advancing Mobile Enabled Utility Services in Emerging Markets
Tuesday 3 March, 3.14c Level 1, CC3, 16:30 – 18.00
This session will present the early learnings from the M4D Utilities Innovation Fund launched in February 2013. The M4D Utilities team will deep dive into some of the identified best practices, most promising models, biggest barriers and will also discuss the future of the sector.
Industry stakeholders interested in applying to the current M4D Utilities Innovation Fund are encouraged to attend. (Due to room size restrictions please RSVP at hsmertnik@gsma.com)