MWC does a brilliant job of offering up a little bit of everything for their massive, diverse crowd but all of the buzz is still around the hardware. This year’s anticipation is around the announcement of the Samsung Galaxy 9, more around IoT and everything AI, but these topics are worth noting while galavanting around the conference.
3 Things to Look for at the Mobile Mega-Conference
A2P SMS (Application to Person SMS) is estimated to be worth $74 billion by 2021.* Millions of brands already using SMS as a means of consumer communications can adopt Messaging as a Platform to create richer, more compelling experiences for their consumers now, while preparing for future capabilities. Viber has been actively partnering with leading aggregators and telco companies on our performance-based, cost-effective Service Messages solution and with great success.
Petja Heimbach (Deutsche Telekom) and Oscar Gallego (Vodafone) will be leading a discussion on the immediate and long-term impact of this approach for brands, as well as talking through which brands are early adopters of this practice.
The lack of women in tech is apparent and clear. Couple that with the #MeToo movement and women have a stronger, more unified voice than ever. MWC has taken note of that and there’s a specific track dedicated to acknowledging and showcasing the women in tech to every person in attendance.
Women4Tech will feature strategic sessions, career coaches, keynote speakers and an awards ceremony—all focused on championing diversity in the mobile and tech industry. Viber takes gender diversity in the workplace very seriously, so we’re thrilled to see this progress. Expect this to be just the beginning of content and workshops like this.
Data Privacy, Security & GDPR
Privacy and security of customer data is paramount in business today. Viber has prioritized this for years, developing and implementing end-to-end encryption on all chats and messages for users. Regardless of whether a company has an office in the EU or not, if they’re conducting business there, they soon will have to comply with GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation).
Companies are still finalizing and preparing for the May deadline, with many scrambling to ensure they are compliant. There will be several MWC sessions, featuring IBM, Palo Alto Networks and Consult Hyperion, that can assist people on being legally safe as well as secure from an infrastructure perspective. Every attendant should tune in for at least one of these sessions, given that almost everyone is impacted by GDPR in some capacity.
MWC offers a lot to everyone. It truly comes down to how each attendant manages their time. Sure many will flock to see the unveiling of Samsung’s shiny new toy, but do not miss out some other content that will surely set folks up for success in 2018.
*GSMAi estimate