Connected City of the Future Coming Up in Barcelona

At Mobile World Congress 2013 in Barcelona, Spain, the global mobile industry association GSMA will unveil the Connected City, allowing attendees to experience first-hand the city of the future where everyone and everything can benefit from intelligent wireless connections.

Opening on Feb. 25, the Connected City will feature a complete urban environment, including a town hall, department store, apartment, electrical store, hotel, café and lounge, office, a car showroom and a street.

Each area will be filled with new products and experiences showing how a more connected future – powered by mobile – will improve people’s daily lives across automotive, education, health, homes, retail and more.

Launched with AT&T, Deutsche Telekom, KT, Telenor Connexion and Vodafone, the Connected City expands on the Connected House concept of previous years.

[ Also Read: Get Ready for the Connected Home of the Future ]

Mobile World Congress attendees will experience how mobile is transforming the way we live, through demonstrations of products such as the connected bike that monitors performance in relation to its environment, remote health monitoring that can link people to healthcare professionals from their own homes, intelligent logistics services that provide more efficient ways of transporting people and goods, smart technology that makes mobile the ‘brains’ of your home, and in-car services that change the way we consume information on the move.

“The possibilities of a truly connected world are limited only by our imagination,” believes Michael O’Hara, chief marketing officer, GSMA.

By 2020, according to GSMA, there will be 25 billion connected devices, and at least half will be connected by mobile technology.

At the Connected City, visitors can explore how this growth will impact vertical industries and the significance of fostering strategic partnerships to take advantage of this growing market.

Photo courtesy: GSMA