Futurecom registers record of visitors

The 20th edition of Futurecom – the largest and most important technology and telecommunications event in Latin America – held in São Paulo from October 15 to 18, saw more than 29,000 visitors. During the event, more than 300 brands had the opportunity to expose their news and show what is most innovative and disruptive in this market. Numerous opportunities for business generation, content and knowledge were provided at the time, as the congress brought together big names in the industry, as CEOs and operators of the market.

Completely renovated, Futurecom innovated with spaces designed to expose applications that directly involve connectivity, with the Internet demonstration area of ​​Things (IoT), bringing applications of technology from Agro to Health; the Telco Transformation space, in which Brazilian operators and technological leaders brought the state-of-the-art of 5G applications to communicate large data latencies with low latency, enabling disruptive solutions and technologies; and Espaço Redes – exhibition of companies focused on networks, services, integration and infrastructure and auxiliary equipment suppliers.

With a focus on Technology, Futuretech Day, the biggest stage of the digital transformation, brought representatives such as Oscar Castellano, CEO Americas of France’s Deezer, the company responsible for audio streaming service, which has as competitors Apple Music, Spotify, Google Play Music . Castellano stressed the importance of valuing more solutions in video, of future social collaboration, or, for example, payment company in crypto-coins, technologies that have been constantly evolving.

One of the themes explored in the Innovations and FutureTech Spaces, focused on the development of technology and business, was how startups can improve their chances to become future unicorns, investing more in creativity and diversifying business. Another highlight at the Brazil Auditorium was the talk about TechD, which presented firsthand the announcement for technology companies and startups. TechD is a program supported by the Ministry of Science, Technology, Innovation and Communications (MCTIC), and management of Softex with the mission of bringing together entrepreneurs, startups and the universe of research, aiming to leverage the development of innovative solutions.

Futurecom and consultancy Teleco presented, on the second day of this event is a study that shows the evolution of ICT technologies in Brazil in the last 20 years and how this history is directly linked to Futurecom’s trajectory, and has also pointed out future topics such as 5G, IoT, Artificial Intelligence and Digital Transformation of Operators. “All the technologies that have gained importance over time have been debated at Futurecom,” says Hermano Pinto Junior, explaining that it is difficult to separate the history of the industry from the history of the event. The study details this evolution and parallels the event.

Nokia, for example, has announced a partnership with Brazilian electricity distributor Elektro, part of the Neoenergia / Iberdrola group, to deploy a private LTE wireless broadband network that will increase the reliability and efficiency of the power grid in the city of Atibaia and outskirts of São Paulo.
Ericsson’s expectation for the 20th edition of Futurecom was fully achieved and was related to presenting the news to the market, as well as finding new partners who share the same creative and innovative thinking that guides the company’s business. “Our participation was in showing the market how we see the arrival of the 5G and how this is already a reality for Ericsson. Overall, we already have 41 pre-agreements and 6 contracts signed in the US and Europe for the launch of the new technology and in Brazil the more than 130 thousand radios delivered since last year are already ready to operate in 5G when it is approved for use , requiring only a software upgrade, “says Georgia Sbrana, vice president of Marketing, Communication, Institutional Relations and Government of Ericsson Brazil. “By talking about 5G, we are encompassing hundreds of thousands of solutions that are directly connected to it (virtualization, business, network),” adds Georgia.
Agribusiness was a recurring theme in this 20th edition, which had the Chinese Huawei present in the IoT Applications space with a solution focused on Intelligent Agriculture. It is a device that is fixed by a collar to the body of the cows, serving to monitor their activity in the pasture and send the information via cellular network to a server that stores the behavioral data of the animals and that can be accompanied by the manager of the farm to determine more precisely when, for example, a cow enters the fertile period in order to optimize the procedure for artificial insemination.

Solutions to make companies efficient and competitive have also been featured in this Futurecom 2018 as the arrival of the fifth generation of mobile telephony, which will be instrumental in driving even more innovative technologies such as blockchain, artificial intelligence, machine learning, IoT and augmented reality. An example is the NEC NeoFace Express system, facial identification technology that has the same efficiency of the locally known NeoFace Watch, with the advantage of having the compact format.

Several sectors of the economy were represented in the Innovation largest and most important technology and telecommunications event in Latin America. Among them, Startup Farm, which has already accelerated more than 290 startups, since 2011, which have aggregate market value over $ 1 billion. In order to support the participation of the startups of the program during the event, NEMP Space was also present, an initiative of the Business Incubator and the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation of the National Telecommunications Institute (Inatel). On the other hand, InovAtiva Brasil, a program of acceleration of startups of the federal government, registered participation in order to share innovative ideas and guide entrepreneurs. Also present was the Wow Accelerator, designed by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs, the initiative has more than 170 investors and 60 startups invested since the beginning of its activities in 2013.

Among the various entrepreneurs present in this edition, the Bahian startup Maqhin celebrated its participation. For nine years, the company has been operating in Salvador delivering products and solutions that impact the local economy, for logistics and distribution of water, gas and energy. “Being at Futurecom was a unique opportunity for entrepreneurs like us,” said Igor Fonseca, CEO of All Saints Bay (a tribute to the slogan “Bahia de Todos os Santos”) and Advanced de startups in Bahia. “We had significant results in our clients, Light and Energisa, where each of the companies increased their receivables operations by 20%. Futurecom was a great showcase for us. We are very grateful to the organization that has bet on our potential and, with this, we have been able to show our project and give visibility to our work. This has led us to explore other Brazilian regions. Soon, we will contribute our business in São Paulo. And we want to be in the next Futurecom again, “says Rafael Câmara, CEO of Maqhin.

Topics of the most discussed of the event, Artificial Intelligence (IA) had among its highlights the robot humanoid Anny, developed by Realbotix. The company had the opportunity to show how AI can be used to help in several areas such as health. “We’re moving fast on the robot talk so they can develop a more fluid and continuous conversation. The trend is for Anny’s upcoming units to recognize people and goals, as well as speaking Portuguese. We are going through a great revolution in artificial intelligence and communication and I believe that, in the near future, we can train robots to do good and rescue what is best in the essence of the human being, “said the company’s director of artificial intelligence, Guile Lindroth.

The AI ​​was also discussed by the Digital Law Specialist Patricia Peck, who discussed in her talk the future of jobs, cybersecurity and the machine’s responsibility in making decisions. “Will the creation of the robot be protected in the future?” Asked the expert, speaking about Intellectual Property.

Social inclusion

Futurecom also awarded solutions that promote the inclusion of people with disabilities. The Alma, Aroma and Amor teams won first, second and third place, respectively, the Challenge PcD Almaroma, a creative marathon with the mission to find solutions to reduce the barriers to participation of people with disabilities in society, facilitating access to the through training and entrepreneurship. Promoted in September by Futurecom in partnership with the Faculdade de Informática e Administração Paulista (FIAP), marathon participants gathered for solutions to the question “How can we increase the participation of people with disabilities in the labor market and in the society?”. The goal was to think of better ways to apply new technologies to Almaroma’s existing Bicycles-Café, created to promote inclusion.

Presence of authorities

The opening of the 20th edition of Futurecom was attended by Gilberto Kassab, Minister of Science, Technology, Innovation and Communications (MCTIC); Marcos Jorge de Lima, Minister of Industry, Foreign Trade and Services (MDIC); Juarez Quadros, president of the National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel); Luiz Augusto de Souza Ferreira (Guto Ferreira), president of the Brazilian Industrial Development Agency (ABDI), among other authorities. Among the international leaders were Gabriel Contreras, president of the Federal Institute of Telecommunications (IFT) of Mexico; Gabriel Lombide, president of the Communications Services Regulatory Unit (URSEC) of Uruguay; Jorge Mora, director and presidential advisor at the Ministry of the Presidency of Costa Rica, and Gilbert Camacho, member of the Board of Telecommunications Superintendence (SUTEL) of Costa Rica.

The next edition of Futurecom will take place from October 28 to 31, 2019, at São Paulo Expo.