Top 5 highlights from MWC24

[MattQuirk]

This blog was written by George Loizou, OEM Business Development Manager, who attended MWC 2024.

My brain is still buzzing from everything at this year’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. I was fortunate to attend this four-day conference, see an impressive array of leading-edge technologies, and meet and hear from so many smart and interesting people. Here are my top highlights and takeaways from MWC24.

1. Keynote with Antonio Neri and Rami Rahim

The keynote discussion began with HPE CEO and President Antonio Neri joining PwC’s Global Chairman Mohamed Kande to talk about how HPE’s hybrid cloud strategy is helping telco enterprises reinvent their businesses. Among Neri’s many insights, he noted that the inflection point we’re experiencing with AI adoption will accelerate the need for flexible hybrid clouds and solutions such as HPE GreenLake to optimize them.

Juniper Networks CEO Rami Rahim later joined the stage to discuss how HPE’s announced acquisition of his company will give HPE the combined expertise, products, and IP to transform the networking layer and unleash the full potential of enterprise AI.

One smaller side comment that really struck me, given that company data now ranks among HPE’s most valuable assets, was Neri’s prediction that enterprises will soon need to include data on their balance sheets as a business asset. Definitely an interesting side effect of the AI boom.

You can view the full keynote video here.

2. Joby Aviation’s air taxi

While I didn’t get to fly in it (nobody did), it was exciting to see Joby Aviation’s electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft on display. The company expects that, as soon as next year, four passengers and a pilot will be able to quietly fly over busy traffic at speeds of up to 200 mph (321 kph) in some cities. The future of the Jetsons has never felt so close!

3. HPE technology in space

Speaking of innovations that seem like science fiction becoming real, there was also a demonstration of how the HPE Spaceborne Computer-2 brought the power of AI and ML to the International Space Station (ISS). Now that’s computing at the edge!

 

4. Private 5G networks take off

2024 looks to be a breakthrough year for private 5G networks. HPE Aruba Networking and HPE Services highlighted several key telco opportunities and showcased applications that use private 5G technology to advance logistics, manufacturing, robotics, and more.  

5. Meeting (current and future) OEM partners

I truly enjoyed meeting and talking with potential customers and OEM partners at the HPE booth. I was also pleased that more than 80 visitors attended my presentation, where I shared how important it is that OEMs choose the right technology partner when developing future-proof solutions. I found the lively Q&A session that followed it quite rewarding as well.

I’m already looking forward to MWC25!