IoT, digital transformation to take center stage at Futurecom 2016

Latin America's largest telecoms and IT conference Futurecom kicks off on Monday in São Paulo, where the region's top industry movers and shakers will meet to discuss the internet of things and other pressing issues through October 20.

IoT has been one of the main buzzwords of 2016 in the region's ICT sector. Machina Research has estimated that the total number of global IoT connections will grow from 6bn in 2015 to 27bn in 2025, a CAGR of 16%.

Some Latin American governments have taken initial policy steps to encourage development of the IoT ecosystem by assigning or considering assigning licensed and unlicensed spectrum for M2M.

IoT will be one of the morning keynotes on Day One of the conference, when Sinditelebrasil president Eduardo Levy will moderate a panel on how operators can monetize IoT, with the participation of local telcos Oi and TIM.

Smart cities is another topic that will be discussed, one closely related to IoT. During a Monday session, electrical and electronics engineers institute IEEE will coordinate a panel on how connectivity and energy are fundamental blocks for developing critical infrastructure and the development of areas including healthcare, education, and security.

Digital transformation has been another one of the hot topics this year, transcending not only technologies such as big data, but also calling into question the traditional structure of companies as a whole. IDC predicts that one in three Latin American CEOs will put digital transformation at the center of their strategy in 2017, but the level of regional companies that are at an advanced level is below the global average. The issue will be addressed by a panel of representatives from operators TIM and Vivo as well as OEMs Ericsson, Dell EMC, Nokia and Qualcomm.

The evolution of telecoms networks is essential to all of the above, as operators seek to leverage technological advances to gain more control over their networks and see faster time to market with new products. The adoption of new models including software defined networks and network function virtualization (NFV) will be addressed during the opening keynote on Monday and again over the four days.

Updates on the development of technology 5G will also be touched upon with the UMTS Forum's president Jean-Pierre Bienaimé giving an update on developments in Europe on Tuesday.

On Thursday, Facebook's new early stage mobile startup program will hold an all-day event with a full team from the social network providing advice throughout the day on building, growing and monetizing apps, engaging with your clients, investment, addressing emerging markets and more.

Also on Thursday afternoon, 5G Americas will hold a series of panels addressing Women in ICT, government regulation and policies for developing the wireless ecosystem as well as looking at IoT and LTE-A.

BNamericas will be providing coverage from the conference. You can also find further information on Futurecom at www.futurecom.com.br and http://agenda.futurecom.com.br.