El MWC 2017 opens its doors with forecasts of more than 100.000 visitors

The most representative fair of the mobile communications industry, will host until 2 March at Fira de Barcelona to representatives of 200 countries, more than 160 government delegations and 3.900 media. As a novelty, This year a connected city has been created and the latest advances in virtual reality can also be seen from drones.

Today a new edition of the Mobile World Congress has opened its doors (MWC), the most important exhibition in the mobile communications industry, which is being held at Fira de Barcelona until 2 March at the Fira de Barcelona Gran Vía venue.

The organizers expect an attendance of 101.000 professional visitors of 200 countries, more than 160 government delegations and more 3.900 media. for four days, The latest innovations and developments in mobile technology will be shown, devices and services 2.200 exhibitors. As a novelty, This year a connected city has been created and the latest advances in virtual reality can also be seen from drones.

The conference program includes the participation of heads of the main operators and companies in the sector, such as the CEO of Netflix, Reed Hastings, and the creator of Pokémon Go, John Hanke. Other parallel events will also take place, like Women4Tech, dedicated to the role of women in the technology industry.

El Mobile World Congress (MWC), organized by the GSMA in collaboration with Barcelona Fair, It is expected to have an economic impact on the city and its surroundings of more than 465 million euros and generate more 13.200 temporary jobs.

The Government of Spain, through the public entity Red.es and within the framework of the Digital Agenda, They have an institutional representation space within the Mobile World Congress. A zone of 800 square meters, denominada Congress Square (CS60 and CS73), that welcomes 64 companies, 47 with own stand and others 17 sin stand.

This list of national companies reflects a wide geographical variety and sectors as diverse as smart cities., cybersecurity, fintech, IoT/industria 4.0, apps, marketing digital, Language technologies, health applications, cloud computing o Big Data.

4 Years From Now

Coinciding with the congress, MWCapital, in collaboration with GSMA, has organized the fourth edition of the 4 Years From Now (4Yfn), dedicated to entrepreneurship in mobile technologies. This is the platform aimed at the community of digital startups that is consolidating itself as a reference international meeting point for entrepreneurs., investors and large corporations.

This event, which will be held until 1 March, brings together more than 600 startups, 700 investors and will welcome 20.000 visitors according to forecasts, and 60% more than last year's edition. Throughout 3 days, will have more than 100 lectures given by 270 speakers, among which Terry von Bibra stands out, Global Manager EMEA at Alibaba; Michael Spiegelman, Director of Product Innovation for Growth & Acquisition de Netflix; Harper Reed, Next Gen Commerce from PayPal; Fernando Fanton, CTO de Just Eat, y Martin Sorrell, CEO de WPP Group.

4YFN Barcelona 2017 starts with new spaces to encourage exchange and interaction between its participants such as, las Startup Pitching Sessions, where the startups, classified by sector and maturity, They will present their projects to the investment community; o las Industry Networking Sessions, a conference that was born as a networking space to bring together startups, entrepreneurs, investors, corporations and potential clients based on their area of ​​interest.

Regarding the presence of Spain, ICEX and Red.es have jointly developed the Spanish Pavilion at 4YFN for the first time, located on Avenida Reina Maria Cristina in Barcelona, so that 35 technological projects emerging in national territory, five of them selected by the National Cybersecurity Institute (Inhibits) benefit from the fair's services, as well as specific activities within the institutional space.