Organizers planning ‘boldly but cautiously for in-person’ MWC21

Last year’s Mobile World Congress was the first major event in the city of Barcelona to be called off due to the impending coronavirus pandemic, foreshadowing months of lockdowns and restrictions that have flipped life as we knew it upside down. 

The mobile industry fair attracts dozens of thousands of visitors and exhibitors every year from around the world, displaying the latest technologies, discussing future industry trends, and networking among each other to make business deals. 

At first, exhibitors pulled out of participating one by one, before the fair was called off entirely by its organizing body. the GSMA. A month later, the entire population of Catalonia and Spain would be confined to their homes and allowed out only for essential reasons.

A year on, not only the medical community but the whole world knows a lot more about the disease that has been named Covid-19 than compared to when last year’s congress was cancelled. The 2021 edition of the fair is currently scheduled to take place in the summer, and John Hoffmann, CEO of the GSMA, tells Catalan News that “extraordinary steps” are being taken in preparation for hosting the event from June 28 to July 1 in the safest possible manner. 

Hoffmann took the time to speak with Catalan News about the Mobile World Congress, the logistics of the next edition, and the difficulties of cancelling in 2020. 

This time last year, you had to suspend Mobile World Congress 2020 (MWC20) due to the coronavirus pandemic. Looking back, how do you remember those days?

We were all disappointed that MWC Barcelona 2020 was impossible to deliver and know now that while it was a difficult decision it was the right decision. We cancelled the event because of mounting global concern regarding the coronavirus outbreak, including travel concerns, which made it impossible for the GSMA to hold the event. 

Was it a difficult decision to cancel in 2020? 

100,000 people from around 200 countries would have arrived in Barcelona, so we are confident that we saved lives when we cancelled the event. At the time, it’s also important to remember that we didn’t know then what we know now about the virus.

How did suspending the congress affect the GSMA?

Due to the cancellation of MWC Barcelona 2020, it has been necessary to examine our priorities and to make some difficult choices regarding how we work and where we invest. The GSMA was affected by the loss of revenue from events, we’ve adjusted accordingly, striking a balance to deliver value to our members and represent an industry that has shown remarkable resilience through this pandemic. As an industry, our work has never been more salient.

Back then, did you expect that MWC 2021 would also have to be rescheduled to July? 

MWC20 taught us to remain flexible and to pivot quickly to emergent information. We introduced a brand new platform, GSMA Thrive and engaged thousands, virtually, around the globe. Many organisations had to adapt, we are just one.

What lessons have you and the GSMA learned from this process?

It is important, now more than ever, for the GSMA to convene the industry as we work together to address global financial recovery. In person-events are key to this recovery and we know the value of people being together. So, we are working to ensure we deliver a safe MWC in July. We will have more to share on that in the coming weeks.