Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA) and Fira de Barcelona have established a partnership to hold the 2020 European Wireless Global Congress within the framework of the IOT Solutions World Congress, set to take place from 27th to 29th October at the Gran Via venue. This is the main global event specialising in Wi-Fi that attracts more than 1,000 key decision-making professionals linked to operators, service providers, technology and software companies, and user companies and entities across the world.
Wireless Broadband Alliance –a body focussed on promoting and enabling co-operation between service providers, enterprises, cities and technology providers to improve and advance the customer experience of Wi-Fi – is the organiser of the Wireless Global Congress, which every year holds one event in the USA and another one in Europe. In 2020, Chicago will be the venue for the North American edition of the WGC in June, while the Spanish city will host its European counterpart in October and have the option of extending its partnership for a further four years. Frankfurt and London were the last European cities to host this international congress.
Notably, the Barcelona Wireless Global Congress will take place co-located with the IOT Solutions World Congress, an event organised by Fira de Barcelona and the Industrial Internet Consortium that focuses on demonstrating the real impact of IoT on the digitisation of industries, together with other disruptive technologies such as artificial intelligence, augmented reality, blockchain and digital twin. At the previous edition, the IOTSWC brought together 350 exhibiting companies, more than 300 speakers and 16,000 professionals from over 120 countries.
With this partnership, the two technology events will capitalise on the synergies created when it comes to bringing together companies and professionals from around the world while generating meeting and networking spaces to boost shared knowledge, promote standards, detect challenges and accelerate business opportunities, placing Barcelona at the epicentre of the digital transformation of industries in October 2020.
Key global events
According to WBA CEO Tiago Rodrigues, “This will be a big year for the world of Wi-Fi and this partnership with the IoT Solutions World Congress will be a good platform to highlight the developments in Wi-Fi that can make a major contribution to digital transformation of economies and businesses”. Rodrigues also explained: “During the year I expect to see a growth in roaming federations that will make the use of Wi-Fi easier and smoother for consumers, operators, cities and enterprises, as well as the release of Wi-Fi 6 and 6E making use of 6 GHz bandwidth to improve the speed of connections.”
In keeping with the above, Salvador Tasqué, Fira de Barcelona’s Director of In-House Business, rated the arrival of the Wireless Global Congress (WGC) in the city highly positively: “We are very pleased to be co-organising this key global event in the Wi-Fi ecosystem, which continues to enhance the position of Barcelona and Fira as a leading international venue for technological congresses”. Tasqué also stressed that the connection established between the WGC and IOTSWC “will serve to increase the convening power of the two events specialising in disruptive technologies that are leading the transformation of industry, economy and society”.
In 2020, the WGC Barcelona agenda will cover topics such as the opportunities opening up with the next generation of Wi-Fi services (Wi-Fi 6 and 6 GHz), intelligence gathering and data analysis, the Wi-Fi customer experience, synergies with the IoT ecosystem, the impact of Wi-Fi cybersecurity, identity management, location services and the role of Wi-Fi in the future of the connected vehicle. Its sponsors include Boingo, Cisco, GlobalReach and Intel.
Meanwhile the IOTSWC 2020 will be showcasing the transformational power of digitisation with exponential technologies such as IOT, AI, 5G, quantum computing, robotics, blockchain and digital twin. It will provide real solutions and knowledge to guide the different industrial sectors through the implementation of these advances, ensuring welfare and sustainable growth.
Barcelona, 29th January 2020
Source: Fira de Barcelona