This year’s IoT Solutions World Congress (IOTSWC) in Barcelona will also host the 2020 European edition of the Wireless Global Congress (WGC) – the world’s leading gathering of Wi-Fi experts. Both technology events will be jointly held from 27th to 29th October in Barcelona.
Organized by the Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA), a body focused on promoting and enabling co-operation between service providers, enterprises, cities and technology providers to improve and advance the customer experience of Wi-Fi, the Wireless Global Congress (WGC) meets twice a year (in Europe and USA) and attracts some 1000 experts and decision-makers from the Wi-Fi industry across the world. But co-locating the WGC European event with the IOTSWC will see over 16,000 decision makers in one place looking into digital transformation.
WBA CEO, Tiago Rodrigues believes 2020 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. During the year, Tiago expects 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.
The IOT Solutions World Congress (IOTSWC) is an event organised by Fira de Barcelona and the Industrial Internet Consortium. It focuses on demonstrating the real impact of IoT on the digitization of industries, together with other disruptive technologies such as artificial intelligence, augmented reality, and blockchain. In 2019, the IOTSWC brought together 350 exhibiting companies, more than 300 speakers and 16,000 professionals from over 120 countries. Constantí Serrallonga, Fira de Barcelona’s Managing Director, said that moving the WGC European event to Barcelona confirmed the City’s importance and leadership in the wireless world and added to the attraction of the IOTSWC.
This year 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 and the role of Wi-Fi in the future of the connected vehicle, in-flight, industry 4.0 and hospitality. Its sponsors include Boingo, Cisco, GlobalReach and Intel.
Meanwhile, the IOTSWC 2020 will showcase the transformational power of digitization 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.
About the Wireless Broadband Alliance
Founded in 2003, the vision of the Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA) is to drive seamless, interoperable service experiences via Wi-Fi within the global wireless ecosystem. Its mission is to enable collaboration between service providers, technology companies and organizations to achieve that vision. It undertakes programs and activities to address business and technical issues, as well as opportunities, for member companies.
WBA work areas include advocacy, industry guidelines, trials and certification. Its key programs include NextGen Wi-Fi, 5G, IoT, Testing & Interoperability and Roaming, with member-led Work Groups dedicated to resolving standards and technical issues to promote end-to-end services and accelerate business opportunities. The WBA Board includes AT&T, Boingo Wireless, BT, Cisco Systems, Comcast, Deutsche Telekom AG, GlobalReach Technology, Intel and KT Corporation.
