Mobile World Congress 2017 is officially over and the GSMA is celebrating record-breaking attendance numbers. MWC 2017 boasted 108,000 visitors this week in Barcelona, up 7 percent from 2016. The conference served up 11 keynote sessions over its four days, playing host to over 2,300 exhibitors, and Mobile ID World was there in-person, covering the identity and authentication news from the ground floor.
“On behalf of the GSMA, I would like to thank all our attendees, exhibitors, sponsors and partners who came together to make the 2017 edition of the Mobile World Congress our biggest and most successful ever,” commented GSMA CEO John Hoffman in a statement confirming the numbers.
In terms of digital identity and mobile biometrics, this year’s MWC was once again served as a high platform from on which the biometrics industry showcased its latest innovations in the mobile sphere. Fingerprint biometrics in particular had a prominent presence at the show, launching on new smartphones, embedded into smart cards, and even finally making their way into mobile device displays.
Of course, there is an industry-wide trend towards multimodality, and so face, voice, and iris biometrics shared the spotlight too, along with two-factor solutions and GSMA’s own Mobile Connect. Overall, MWC 2017 had a strong focus on 5G and the innovations new generation connectivity will bring about. Strong authentication, biometrics, and identity play a big role in the hyper-connected future, and we got an expert perspective on how and why in our audio interview with David Pollington, Head of Applications & Services, GSMA, recorded at the Innovation City exhibit.
As is usual, Mobile World Congress has set the stage for further conversations in mobile ID for the months to come. Stay posted to Mobile ID World to be a part of this ongoing, always dynamic discussion. And in the meantime, check out the following gallery of our MWC 2017 highlights:
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