100,000 expected to attend Mobile World Congress

Almost 100,000 people are expected to attend Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this week, with companies such as Samsung, LG and Sony due to unveil their newest cutting-edge smartphones and tablets.

Under the over-arching theme of Mobile is Everything, the event will examine topics such as 5G, digital commerce, disaster response, enterprise mobility, gaming, the internet of things, machine learning, security, smart cities and virtual reality/augmented reality.

The chief executives of AT&T, BT, Cisco, Huawei, Stripe, Vodafone and WPP are all confirmed to speak at the four-day event, with the speaker line-up also including Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, Getty Images chief executive Dawn Airey, BuzzFeed founder Jonah Peretti and PayPal president Dan Schulman.

Among the most highly anticipated keynote sessions is a presentation by Qualcomm president Derek Aberle, who will be joined on stage by three-time Formula One World Champion driver Lewis Hamilton, to discuss how wireless technology is transforming the future of consumer automotive through motorsport.

“We have an outstanding line-up of chief executives confirmed for this year’s Mobile World Congress, including several who are first-time keynotes at Barcelona,” said GSMA chief marketing officer Michael O’Hara. “This year’s speakers will share insights on a range of hot topics in mobile, from mobile identity to the internet of things, from digital inclusion to industry disruption, from network evolution to entertainment, among others.”

Samsung released its Galaxy S6 to great reviews at last year’s Mobile World Congress, and this year it is expected to follow up with the Galaxy S7, while LG is due announce its new G5 Android smartphone.

For the first time in MWC history, the event will showcase drones within the exclusive Drone Zone.

Mobile World Congress 2015 was a record-breaking year, with more than 94,000 attendees, 2,199 exhibitors and more than 3,800 journalists and industry analysts.

Elsewhere, as part of Galway Mayo Institute of Technology’s (GMIT) annual New Frontiers pitching competition and awards ceremony, GMIT will host a free one-day conference on the internet of things. With more than 34 billion devices expected to be connected to the internet by 2020, and almost $6 trillion forecast be spent on internet of things solutions over the next five years, it is a hot topic.

Speakers will include VT Networks founder Mark Bannon, Sigfox UK and Ireland sales director Kevin Maher, Firmwave chief executive Fintan McGovern and WebThings Group director Justin Tisbury.