OREANDA-NEWS. February 19, 2016. Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2016 opens next week amid a flurry of news about recent mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, and new regulatory rulings shaping the mobile industry – plus an inside look at some amazing new mobile gadgets that will be coming onto the market.

The event will be held February 22-25 in the Spanish city of Barcelona at the Fira Gran Via convention venue. Billed as the largest technology event for the mobile industry, MWC 2016 will likely surpass last year’s attendance record of 94,000 visitors, according to officials at the GSMA (Groupe Speciale Mobile Association), official host of the event.

Visitors to this event represent a broad range of technologies that relate in some way to the mobile industry – from telecommunications, mobile operators, device manufacturers of phones and wearables, and software and service providers – even makers of gadgets to put on your gadgets.

Mobile is Everything, IoT is Everywhere           

The MWC theme this year is Mobile is Everything. One topic dominates the agenda: Internet of Things (IoT). Along with IoT-related keynotes and seminars, there will be a new IoT Pavilion to showcase the latest technology developments. Adding to the discussion, the GSMA has just released its new IoT Security Guidelines, which will surely be a topic of interest at the event.

The MWC theme for 2016 is Mobile is Everything. One topic dominates the agenda this year: IoT.

Analysts predict that visitors this year will see more robots, drones, connected cars, and devices intended to help people in their daily lives – whether it be at home, in the workplace, or on the go. If that’s not future forward enough for some visitors, the GSMA Innovation City will offer a glimpse at even more avant-garde innovations, many still in prototype. For a closer look, watch the official MWC 2016 preview video.

SAP Presents the Future of Business in Five Interactive Showcases

The surge of interest in IoT presents a ripe opportunity for SAP – opening the way for the business software maker to present its vision for the future of business under the SAP theme: Leading Digital Transformation. This year the SAP stand will be located in Hall 3, a choice position with other big-name players in the mobile and telecommunications markets. Visitors won’t want to miss SAP’s five interactive showcases:

1. SAP Digital Boardroom: Built on the SAP Cloud for Analytics solution, SAP Digital Boardroom uses data from the SAP S/4HANA suite and SAP HANA Cloud Platform to provide a single source of truth about a company’s critical business metrics. To find out more, watch this video: Hasso Plattner introduces SAP Digital Boardroom at SAPPHIRE NOW.

2. The GigaPixel Wall: This immersive experience invites visitors to discover how Big Data technologies and analysis tools can transform their businesses.

3. The Digital Farming Experience using IoT technologies: This showcase presents visitors with a firsthand look at how a new generation of Internet-enabled devices in the cloud can change business and invites them to imagine how these technologies can transform their existing business processes. Visitors will see how field sensors transfer data directly to the farmer – with important information on water needs, fertilizer supplies, and the right time of harvest.

4. The Digital Customer Experience: This showcase demonstrates how retailers can deliver a seamless experience to each customer across multiple interaction channels based on the customer’s real-time context. Find out how to effectively connect personalized advertising and messaging to campaigns and community building.

5. SAP, SEAT and SAMSUNG, Connected All The Way: Among the many highlights this year, connected cars will be featured prominently on the show floor. Visitors to the SAP stand will get to see firsthand the early results of SAP’s collaboration with carmaker SEAT and electronics manufacturer Samsung. A SEAT car will showcase live how it increases driving comfort, auto-scans for driving readiness, searches for a parking space, and pays for car services, such as parking places or gas.

Young Talent Takes Center Stage

The SAP stand will also feature a Developer Zone with demopods to facilitate engagement. Visitors will find out the results of the European Space App Camp – SAP InnoJam to challenge young entrepreneurs and innovators to develop SAP industry use cases based Earth Observation data from the European Space Agency and SAP HANA Cloud Platform. Winners of the contest will be announced on center stage at the SAP stand on February 22 at 4:30 p.m. local time.

Visitors to the SAP stand will also have the opportunity to talk to members of SAP Next-Gen Consulting – an exciting collaboration of SAP University Alliances with tech accelerator RocketSpace to introduce the next generation of designers, developers, data scientists, entrepreneurs, and business leaders. Aimed at accelerating innovation adoption in business, SAP Next-Gen Consulting provides a pathway for executives to benefit from the digital know-how and creative energy of the Millennial generation. Young talent from leading universities, including the Hasso Plattner Institute, will be on site in the Developer Zone to demo their own IoT showcases.

On February 23, SAP announces the winners of the pre-conference SAP InnoJam Barcelona, sponsored by SAP University Alliances in cooperation with Universitat Autonòma de Barcelona. Students used SAP HANA Cloud Platform and SAP UI5 to solve the challenge to Run Simple in a Digital World with 5G. SAP University Alliances takes center stage at the SAP stand with a day of activities, including student presentations of winning concepts and prototypes, as well as speeches from leading academics.

Follow the Latest News from MWC

This is just a sampling of the activities planned for MWC 2016. To learn more, visit the SAP event site for Mobile World Congress 2016. To follow MWC 2016 news from SAP, check in daily with the SAP News Center.

Keynotes will be streamed live by Mobile World Live TV, broadcasting from Halls 3 & 4. The event hashtag is #MWC16. Follow SAP on Twitter @SAP_Telco.