After weeks of planning, announcements, and general excitement, the 2015 Wi-Fi Global Congress officially got underway yesterday. With over 600 attendees from all corners of the globe and our ecosystem converging upon the San Jose Convention Center, the first official day of the event certainly lived up to expectations!
WBA Chairman and VP of Partnerships & Alliances for AT&T Mobility JR Wilson kicked off the day with his opening address to a packed house in the main theater. JR was followed by Sam Liccardo, the Mayor of San Jose, who welcomed all attendees to the city, and praised everyone in the room for their dedication to making our industry and ecosystem more accessible for users, cities, and the world.
WBA Chairman JR Wilson delivering his opening address.
From there, the robust conference program got underway. Comprised of presentations and panel discussions that touched on a wide variety of topics, there was no shortage of things to see and do. A few highlights:
What’s Next for the Connected City – this riveting panel discussion featured representatives from San Jose, New York City, San Francisco and Dublin. WBA Chairman JR Wilson also participated, and Reza Jafari, Chairman and CFO of e-Development International, moderated the discussion. The four represented cities are part of the recently-formed Connected City Advisory Board (CCAB), and attendees listened to the various challenges and learnings that each city has faced as they move towards the true vision of a Connected City.
Vijay Sammeta, CIO of San Jose, and Miguel Gamino, CIO of San Franciso, taking part in the Connected Cities panel.
In the afternoon, the main theater was split into two sections: the Wireless Covergence stream, and the IoT and Smart Cities Innovations stream. With subjects ranging from Wi-Fi Calling, Connected Cars, Smart Cities, and LTE/Wi-Fi Aggregation being discussed by several key players from the industry (including Rajat Ghai of Benu Networks, Khanh Russo of the City of San Jose, and Gary Griffiths of iPass), it was undoubtedly difficult for attendees to decide which stream they wanted to spend more time in!
Another fascinating panel discussion took place in the afternoon – The Juncture of Licensed and Unlicensed Spectrum. Participants included Peter Smyth of CableLabs, Masafumi Masuda of DOCOMO Pacific, Neville Meijers of Qualcomm Technologies Inc., Dan Rabinovitsj of Ruckus Wirless, and Howard Wright of Intel. Joe Madden of Mobile Experts was the moderator, and he did a fantastic job of overseeing a lively and, at times, fiery discussion over one of the most controversial and fascinating topics in our ecosystem.
The 2015 WBA Wi-Fi Indsutry Award Winners!
In the evening, the 2015 WBA Wi-Fi Industry Awards were handed out during a lavish gala dinner at the Corinthian Grand Ballroom. Adam Johnson, former Bloomberg TV personality and current connector of CEOs and investors, was the Master of Ceremonies for what turned out to be an unforgettable evening of celebration for all in attendance. (Click here for a complete list of Awards winners)
Be sure to check back in the next day or so for a round-up of the final day of the Wi-Fi Global Congress!
