Archive for October, 2009

(It) Carte 2009 – Cards Revolution

2 years ago
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CARTE è la Conference Expo ABI sul mondo delle payment cards e dei sistemi di pagamento innovativi.

Roma – Palazzo dei Congressi

Promossa e organizzata in collaborazione con il Consorzio BANCOMAT, rappresenta da un decennio il grande appuntamento internazionale dove incontrare i principali protagonisti del mondo dei pagamenti, entrare nel vivo dei progetti di sistema, conoscere lo scenario internazionale, mettere a confronto esperienze e casi di successo, apprendere le ultime novità dal mercato, gli studi e le indagini condotti sia in Italia che all’estero. Il format articolato di CARTE, i molteplici temi di attualità trattati attraverso sessioni plenarie e sessioni parallele di approfondimento su temi specifici, la suggestiva serata di gala, fanno di questa manifestazione un’occasione unica e irripetibile per tutti i professionisti del settore.

Attraverso una continua attenzione alla qualità dei contenuti e alla scelta accurata dei suoi speaker, alla cura dei particolari e dell’area espositiva, CARTE ha consolidato in questi 10 anni la sua assoluta leadership.

GSMA Announces Keynote Speakers for 2010 Mobile World Congress

2 years ago
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GSMA Also Introduces App Planet, a New Mobile World Congress Event
Targeting the Mobile Application Developer Community

28 October 2009, London, UK: The GSMA today announced that the CEOs of the world’s leading communications companies, including Alcatel-Lucent, China Unicom, Ericsson, Google, Huawei, KDDI, Telefónica and Vodafone, will deliver keynote presentations at the 2010 Mobile World Congress, which will be held 15-18 February, 2010 in Barcelona. The GSMA also introduced App Planet, a new “event within an event” focusing on mobile application developers, which will be held at Mobile World Congress.

“The mobile communications industry continues to evolve at an unprecedented pace, creating new opportunities and introducing new participants across the entire value chain,” said Michael O’Hara, chief marketing officer for the GSMA. “More than ever, the Mobile World Congress truly reflects the broadening communications ecosystem and celebrates the innovation and ingenuity that are the hallmarks of our dynamic market. The CEOs who will be taking the stage at this year’s Congress will offer a unique view of the new mobile landscape, sharing perspectives and insights that serve to strengthen and advance the industry.”

Keynote speakers confirmed for the Mobile World Congress to date include:

  • Ben Verwaayen, CEO, Alcatel-Lucent
  • Chang Xiaobing, Chairman and CEO, China Unicom
  • Hans Vestberg, President and CEO, Ericsson
  • Eric Schmidt, Chairman and CEO, Google
  • Guo Ping, Chairman, Huawei Communications
  • Tadashi Onodera, President and Chairman, KDDI Corporation
  • César Alierta, Executive Chairman and CEO, Telefónica
  • Vittorio Colao, Chief Executive, Vodafone

Under the theme of “Vision in Action”, the upcoming Mobile World Congress will feature a premiere conference programme that will explore a range of complex issues and topics, such as: new business strategies and growth opportunities enabled through mobile; developments in key technology areas such as embedded Mobile Broadband, LTE, femtocells and cloud computing, among others; new mobile applications, services and content, as well as the associated business models and channels to market; and the benefit of mobile on society and the environment.

App Planet: Focus on Mobile Application Developers

The GSMA today launched App Planet, a major new “event within an event” that will be held at the 2010 Mobile World Congress. Solely focused on the rapidly growing application developer community, App Planet will bring together the many critical elements of the broad mobile application ecosystem together in one location. The inaugural App Planet event will feature:

  • Application developer conferences focused specifically on the most influential mobile platforms in the market;
  • An interactive exhibition where attendees can preview the newest and most innovative application technologies;
  • The “App Lounge”, where networking and business development will help to further define the future of this exciting mobile segment;
  • A dedicated, day-long track of thought-provoking presentations and panel sessions on industry trends in mobile applications; and
  • The “Apps Garage”, which will showcase cutting-edge GSMA initiatives in the mobile applications space.

Initial App Planet partners include Research In Motion (RIM), Wireless Industry Partnership (WIP) and the International Mobile Gaming Awards (IMGA), as well as more than 40 exhibiting companies who will be showcasing their technologies and solutions.

“Mobile application development is perhaps the most exciting and rapidly changing segment in the mobile communications industry today,” continued O’Hara. “The creation of App Planet, which provides dedicated exhibition and networking facilities, as well as focused content, squarely addresses the demand we see in the market for greater resources, information and business development opportunities for the mobile application developer community.”

For additional information on App Planet at the Mobile World Congress, visit http://www.mobileworldcongress.com/exhibition/app_planet.htm.

For additional information on the 2010 Mobile World Congress, please visit www.mobileworldcongress.com. For information on the 2010 Global Mobile Awards, please visit www.globalmobileawards.com.

-ENDS-

About the GSMA

The GSMA represents the interests of the worldwide mobile communications industry. Spanning 219 countries, the GSMA unites nearly 800 of the world's mobile operators, as well as more than 200 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, including handset makers, software companies, equipment providers, Internet companies, and media and entertainment organisations. The GSMA is focused on innovating, incubating and creating new opportunities for its membership, all with the end goal of driving the growth of the mobile communications industry.

For more information, please visit Mobile World Live, the new online portal for the mobile communications industry, at www.mobileworldlive.com or the GSMA corporate website at www.gsmworld.com.

Media Contact:

GSMA
Daniel Lowther: +44 7747 636 687
press@gsm.org 

Italy Not Ready for PSD, Says Industry Players

2 years ago
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Italy will not have fully transposed the Payment Services Directive (PSD) into law in time for 1 November launch date, according to key players in the Italian banking and payment services community at an industry event in Milan. Despite appearing to be on target according to the European Payments Council (EPC) website, the picture is “very patchy”, said Carlo Tresoldi, president of SIA-SSB, pinpointing contentious areas such as payment service provider (PSP) provisions (Title II), transparency of conditions (Title III), rights and obligations (Title IV), and final provisions (Title VI).

The delay of Italy and other national legislators in transposing the PSD is of great concern for industry players across Europe as they are suspended in limbo, to a degree, and this situation may not change in the near future. Tresoldi said that it would still take a long time for the directive to be fully adopted, adding that the EU regulators have indicated they will review the directive in 2012, with an eye to developing a PSD II the year after to fill the gaps.

Speaking to just over 500 participants at SIA-SSB’s fourth ‘Do You SEPA?’ conference entitled ‘Landing on the PSD Planet’, Tresoldi also highlighted the reality of implementing the directive heterogeneously, stating that Italy, for example, is still not clear on its national transposition path. “The current PSD implementation scenario is producing worrying forecasts in terms of the harmonisation objective,” he said.

Giampaolo Galli, director general of Confindustria, an organisation representing Italian manufacturing and services companies, agreed with Tresoldi’s points on the problems associated with differentiated national implementation. “Within the national implementation, we need to provide highly harmonised instruments because this will affect the benefits for corporates,” he said, adding that the main concern in Italy is that the industry will lose some its payments system functionality by moving to a European standard.

Issues plaguing the implementation of the single euro payments area (SEPA) schemes identified at last year’s event have continued this year, such as the lack of an end date for legacy instruments and the lag in public administration uptake. Implementing a ‘mini-SEPA’ is seen as a significant risk, particularly with a lack of effective commitment from the national governments, corporate and consumers, according to Tresoldi.

Franco Passacantando, managing director central banking, markets and payments system area, Bank of Italy, said that SEPA’s problems lie in the fact that the advantages have not yet materialised, mainly due to the lack of mass adoption. “The SEPA Credit Transfer scheme has only 4-5% uptake, which is far away from the 20% objective to be reached by December 2010,” he said. He also highlighted the slowness of public administrations to take up SEPA instruments, and added that the co-operation around common infrastructure was still very low.

“SEPA is no longer reversible, but we should be aware that it will take more time and cost more than originally thought,” he warned.

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