Mobile World Congress 2018

View of the new Fira when flying in to Barcelona

This week it is Mobile World Congress, the biggest event in the mobile industry calendar. If you’re interested in meeting for a chat or just hearing about mobile and IoT security & privacy, I’ll be at the following places!

Sunday 25th February
6th GSMA IoT Summit
13:00-17:30
NH Collection Barcelona Tower Hotel

Copper Horse annual security dinner at a secret location in Barcelona
21:00-late (tweet me or message if you want to come along)

Monday 26th February
4YFN – “Hidden Threats and Opportunities to my Business”
Panelist: “Spotlight – How Data and Cyber Security can make or break a new business?”
16:15-17:15
4YFN (at the old Fira), Fira Barcelona Montjuïc, Av. Reina Maria Cristina

Tuesday 27th February
IoT Tuesday, hosted by Cellusys, supported by JT Group and the IoT Security Foundation
17:00-late Cellusys event – I’ll be giving an opening talk on behalf of the IoT Security Foundation, which will be: “The Ticking Clock”: why security in IoT is critical to how you run your business.
Tweet me if you want to attend.

Wednesday 28th February
16:30-17:30
Why Should we Trust your Digital Security?
Me having a fireside chat in this session with Jean Gonie, VEON: Data, Consumer Protection and the GDPR
Auditorium 3, Hall 4 (on-site at MWC)

I’ll be at a few other events and will generally be around and about the MWC main site all week so please feel free to get in contact. Speaking of Barcelona, we’re holding our next training, “Foundations of IoT Security” in May in the city. More details and sign-up can be found on the IoTSF website.

 

Global Mobile Awards 2014

I’ll once again be judging in the Global Mobile Awards “Best Mobile Identity, Safeguard & Security Products/Solutions” category this year. The deadline for entry submissions is Friday, the 29th of November 2013 at 5pm (GMT). The shortlist will be announced in January 2014 and the awards will be presented at Mobile World Congress.

If you’re planning to enter, there’ll be a live Q&A on the awards on Friday, November the 8th. Follow the GSMA’s twitter account @GSMA and the hashtag #GMA14 for more details!

If you want to show off your organisation’s success and innovation in the world of telecoms, please enter at the awards page: www.globalmobileawards.com

Good luck!

Mobile Technology and Silicon Heaven

I’ve been thinking for a while about the number of technologies that get announced, don’t really do anything, then die rather quickly. It’s just over a month before I head over to Barcelona for Mobile World Congress and I’m expecting to hear about a lot of new things that are destined for a quick entry to the “electronic afterlife” of Silicon Heaven. For those of you who don’t know what Silicon Heaven is, I’ll let the web explain:

Silicon Heaven

From Red Dwarf “The Last Day”, Season 3, Episode 6:

Lister: How can you just lie back and accept it? 
Kryten: Oh, it’s not the end for me, sir, it’s just the beginning. I have served my human masters, now I can look forward to my reward in silicon heaven. 
Lister: [Stunned pause] Silicon WHAT? 
Kryten: Surely you’ve heard of silicon heaven? 
Lister: Has it got anything to do with being stuck opposite Brigitte Nielsen in a packed lift? 
Kryten: No, sir. It’s the electronic afterlife. It’s the gathering place for the souls of all electronic equipment. Robots, toasters, calculators. It’s our final resting place. 
Lister: I don’t mean to say anything out of place here, Kryten, but that is completely whacko Jacko. There is no such thing as ‘Silicon Heaven’. 
Kryten: Then where do all the calculators go? 
Lister: They don’t go anywhere. They just die. 
Kryten: Surely you believe that God is in all things? Aren’t you a pantheist? 
Lister: Yeah, but I just don’t think it applies to kitchen utensils. I’m not a FRYING pantheist. Machines do not have souls. Computers and calculators do not have an afterlife. You don’t get hairdryers with tiny little wings, sitting on clouds and playing harps. 
Kryten: But of course you do. For is it not written in the Electronic Bible, “The Iron shall lie down with the Lamp”. 


Source: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0684183/quotes?qt=qt0310031

So what mobile technologies do you think should qualify for the past year? Who is most worthy (if that’s the word!) of the Silicon Heaven prize? Answers in the comments please! I’ll let you know my own thoughts very soon.