New Edition of MWC Kicks Off in Las Vegas

GSMA MWC Las Vegas, in partnership with CTIA, opened its doors yesterday. This year marks the first time the event is held in Las Vegas, after editions in San Francisco and Los Angeles.

The GSMA reached an agreement to keep its MWC North America series in Las Vegas until at least 2024. The association expressed delight at agreeing to an extension to its partnership with the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) to keep the event at the venue for a further two editions.

Mats Granryd, director general at the GSMA, focused his keynote on the potential for technology to transform various industries through partnerships, with Las Vegas an ideal testing ground for a range of 5G use cases made possible by teaming with different sectors. “MWC22 Las Vegas will show off the power of connectivity to expand across all business sectors, from manufacturing to energy and financial services,“ said Granryd, with his keynote including a short discussion with Rich Knipp, VP of partnerships at Hologram to emphasize his point. For Granryd, the new era of intelligent connectivity also means it will take more than two to do business. He argued that with connectivity embedded in every aspect of life, there was a bigger need to share knowledge and best practices across industries and verticals, requiring three or four to tango.

Aside from the potential of technology to transform businesses, Granryd also pointed to budding environmental benefits. He said smart technology was very underused by energy-intensive industries including energy, transport, buildings, and manufacturing. “Adopting mobile technology in those four industries alone will enable global savings of around 11 gigatonnes of carbon emissions by 2030, equivalent to roughly 40 percent of the total required reduction. It’s good for the environment and business, and the mobile industry is ready to engage with other sectors to enable these savings,“ added Granryd.