Mobile World Congress 2019

2Mar 0

Mobile World Congress 2019

Generation Arm 2Z at MWC Barcelona 2019

I arrived in Barcelona on Sunday 24th February. I’d been invited by ARM, along with 3 other Generation Arm 2Z ambassadors,

to attend the Mobile World Congress, to share our views on technology and the technology of the future. Mobile World Congress is the world’s largest exhibition for the mobile industry. It is an event to share innovation, explore trends and hear from today’s influencers and leaders.

Not everyone is aware of ARM, but ARM’s technology is almost everywhere. ARM evolved from the company that was behind the BBC micro when my parents were at school. Nowadays, “ARM designs are at the heart of the iPhone and nearly every other modern smartphone. It has fingers in almost every other area of technology” Guardian.com

Generation Arm 2Z is a programme which gives kids a chance to talk to tech leaders and provides an opportunity to make an impact on how technology is being shaped for the future.

The other Generation Arm 2Z ambassadors that joined me in Barcelona were:

Emma Yang invented the app timeless, which enables people with Alzheimer ’s to stay connected with their families.
Reuben Paul is a cybersecurity expert and the founder of a not-for-profit cybersecurity awareness and education organisation called CyberShaolin, whose mission is to educate, equip and empower kids with cybersecurity knowledge.
Samaira Mehta, the creator of a STEM/coding board game called coderbunnyz with the goal of teaching coding to kids aged 4 to 104 and has led more than 75 workshops with her board game.

After settling in to our apartment, my mum and I decided to visit La Rambla. It was an enjoyable walk, we got to see loads of interesting people and stuff while experiencing the early evening buzz. During my stay in Barcelona, I made time to explore the mix of nature and architecture at Parc Guell. I also toured more of the city and got to see the famous unfinished Roman Catholic chruch: La Sagrada Familia.

Before I knew it, it was Tuesday. I was really excited because this was a chance to meet all of the other ambassadors and the team from ARM in person, including Simon Segars (CEO of ARM), Melanie, Elizabeth, Eliza, Andy, Dean & Cass. It was also a chance to look around ‘Mobile World Congress’ and familiarise myself with the stage that me and the other ambassadors would be on. At the end of the day, everyone – the ambassadors, parents, Simon & the rest of the ARM team had a fantastic evening meal in a really cool restaurant. The food was amazing!

Finally, the day came where I would be among the on-stage panel of young ambassadors, speaking up for our generation. Initially, when greeted on stage by Simon Segars, it felt a bit nerve-racking, but then as I started to introduce myself I became more and more relaxed. After introducing ourselves to the audience, we were all asked several questions on topics such as 5G, cybersecurity and social media. My favourite question was “what do you want to tell the developers, engineers & researchers in the audience, about how they shape and build technology”. This question gave me the opportunity to talk about accessibility issues. It was really encouraging to hear the crowd clapping in response to our answers. When I came off stage I felt proud of myself & the other ambassadors, for going out there at sharing our views with such a massive audience. I will never forget that feeling! It was also nice to be congratulated by members of the audience after the keynote!

After the keynote, we were invited by MWC Live to do a video interview. It went all very well and later on the interview was broadcasted on the screens inside the Mobile World Congress. It was funny to see our faces on the screens, on our way out!

We managed to have quite a few laughs. The funniest situation was when the security guards wouldn’t allow me and the other young ambassadors to enter the event. They thought that we had just found our security passes somewhere & were trying to bluff our way into the event. They just weren’t expecting to see kids trying to get into the Mobile World Congress; in fact there weren’t any other kids to be seen anywhere throughout the event… at one point the security guards were all on their phones making calls, trying to find out if we were genuinely supposed to be there. It was hilarious!

We have had some free time after rehearsal and after the keynote. This gave us the opportunity to explore and to spend time together.

I would like to say a big thank you to Simon Segars and to the team at ARM for giving us the opportunity to share our views on technology, to deliver our message and hopefully to inspire other young people. I am very happy I met Emma, Samaira, Reuben and their parents. We got along really well, I felt at home. I hope it will be the beginning of a long journey together! And like Reuben said so well, “I just feel like flying”.

VIDEOS – Some moments from the Keynote
https://www.instagram.com/p/BuZ4NssB9zP/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=2q02pqxk8ei8

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Event

Mobile World Congress 2019