Attend MEF’s roundtable session on Privacy & Mobile Apps at MWC

In response to the current media focus on privacy and industry concern, MEF will be hosting a roundtable next week at MWC in Barcelona on ‘Privacy & Mobile Apps’ on February 28th.

MEF Chair Andrew Bud said “Trust between mobile consumers and the apps that they use is inevitably sensitive but absolutely vital to the development of the industry. Sustaining consumer trust is a task not just for the app store but for the whole ecosystem. We have essential work to do as an industry to make that practical.”

Open to members and invited VIP guests, the session brings together companies across the value chain to tackle this timely issue.

MEF Roundtable: Privacy & Mobile Apps
Date: Tuesday, 28th February 2012
Time: 3PM – 4PM
Venue: Gild International

The open door session is supported by SNR Denton in association with the Mobile Fringe, and is being held at Barcelona’s exciting new member's club, Gild International.

MEF, as the global community for content and commerce, is holding this session to drive thought leadership and plan next steps on this vital issue. If you are interested in participating or attending the roundtable please contact initiatives@mefmobile.org, but be quick as space is limited! For more information on MEF’s activities in Privacy & Security please contact MEF Deputy Director, Vildan Hasanbegović.

Member Event: Join Nielsen at MWC for an Uncommon Sense of the Consumer

MEF member Nielsen will be hosting a full day of panel sessions at this year's MWC in Barcelona, and you're invited. With a packed schedule on Tuesday 28th, attendees can expect powerful insights and networking firmly focused on today’s digital consumer and how best to seize the enormous opportunities.

Sign up now to get access to all of the sessions throughout the day.

Nielsen presents: An Uncommon Sense of the Consumer - Tuesday February 28th, FIRA Hall 2, Mezzanine Level, Theatre D

10:00-11:00 - The Mobile Media Revolution

13:00-14:00 - The Mobile Mynd: Nielsen NeuroFocus Live Demonstration Event
15:00-16:00 - When Mobile Meets Retail
17:00-18:00 - Strong Signals: Best Practices for Mobile Operators and Device Manufacturers

To sign up and leave any questions for the panels, hop over to the Nielsen website to log your details - of course you need to be registered for MWC..

Candidates announced for MEF EMEA Board Elections 2012 at MWC

MEF has announced the first round of candidates for the MEF EMEA Board Elections, to be held at the end of the month at MWC in Barcelona.

Full MEF members are eligible to vote and stand as a candidate, and will be instrumental in creating thought leadership, sharing knowledge and addressing the critical issues facing the mobile commerce and content industry today and in the future.

The current standing is as follows:

• Diane Alphonse, Head of Marketing, Communications & PR, Barwa Bank
• Ben Tatton-Brown, Co-Founder & Regional SVP, EMEA, Amobee
• Emma Kaye, Board Director, Mira Networks
• Volker Hirsch, Head of Business Development, Games, RIM
• Daryn Wobur, Managing Director, Global Business Development, Perform Group
• Daniel Prieskel, Co-Founder, Prieskel & Co.
 
Rimma Perelmuter, executive director MEF, said: “We are delighted to announce such an exciting line-up of candidates for the MEF EMEA board elections which reflects both the diversity of mobile content and commerce as well as MEF’s active regional breadth across Europe, Middle East and Africa.”

Board members for MEF EMEA have a crucial role in defining the mobile agenda for the Europe Africa and the Middle East, and help to shape & define the mobile content and commerce market. Meanwhile, the MEF EMEA AGM presents an opportunity for all members to hear the latest on MEF's activities and initiatives in the region and worldwide, contribute to planning and priority-setting while connecting with other members. 
 
You can check out the candidate biographies in full on the MEF Website

A final list of confirmed candidates will be announced prior to the AGM, and submitted profiles will be posted on the MEF website and distributed at the meeting. There are absentee/proxy ballots available for any full members who cannot attend in person - check the election rules for details.

MEF EMEA AGM and Board Elections: Monday, February 27, 2012 6pm

Museu Picasso
c/ Montcada, 15-23
08003 Barcelona
MAP

To register your attendance at the EMEA AGM & Board Elections - visit the MEF website and fill in a short form, or you can contact MEF Events Coordinator Georgia Aarons for further information on how to run.

Indonesian VAS Update – Join us in Jakarta, February 16th

MEF has announced a special one-day event co-hosted by Indosat on February 16th in Jakarta as a follow-up to on-going regulatory action to discuss the future of the Indonesian VAS market.

As you may recall, following concerns of widespread consumer harm in October last year all VAS subscription billing services were shut down on the direction of the Indonesian Ministry of Telecoms. As a global regulatory champion and independent intermediary, MEF has been proactively supporting collaboration between the local regulator BRTI and the industry ever since to actively resolve the situation and attempt to rebuild confidence in the VAS market. Indonesia is one of the world’s largest mobile markets with more than 250 million subscribers.

A detailed response to the draft regulations governing the Indonesian VAS market has been prepared with input from MEF members, and will be used to frame a discussion with BRTI on how new regulation might better protect consumers while allowing responsible businesses to thrive.

To this end, MEF is also co-hosting a one-day event in Jakarta with Indosat to clarify the BRTI rules around VAS and to discuss with other affected members best practises in ensuring compliance.


Global Strategies for Content Compliance

Date:     Thursday 16th February, 2012
Time:     9.30am to 4.00pm
Venue:   Indosat Office Building 4th Floor,
              Jl.Medan Merdeka Barat no 21,
              Jakarta, 10110,
              Indonesia

All global members interested in participating in this important forum are invited to join us in Jakarta and take advantage of MEF’s valuable global perspective. It promises to be a significant step in securing the long term future of the VAS market in the SEA region.

You can see the details on the MEF website, to confirm your attendance contact MEF Asia GM Linda Ruck.

Quick Poll! The most significant advancement for mobile content & commerce in the last 10 years was...?

So this month MEF will be at MWC for our 10th amazing year, and we're asking the question, in that whole time, what was the most significant advancement for mobile content & commerce? It's a mighty long time in the mobile world, so we've boiled our favourites down to five suggestions (we didn't include the iPhone, sorry) - let us know what you think! And if you're coming along to Barcelona this year, be sure to sign up for the party!

MEF TV: Tom Daly, Coca Cola at MEF Americas 2011

Next up in our series of video interviews from MEF Americas 2011, Rob of UNTETHER .tv speaks to Tom Daly, Director of Mobile and Search, Global Connections for Coca Cola. In this short but sweet chat, Tom describes how mobile has essentially been a part of Coca Cola's philosophy since the 20's and how he sees it only becoming increasingly central in the near future. A fascinating perspective on how this super brand  is leveraging mobile to not only engage with customers but also within their own B2B value chain.

Let's watch..

MEF Connects MWC 2012 - Save the Date!

MEF has announced the return of its legendary party held annually at MWC in Barcelona - mark the date in your diary now; Monday the 27th February (8PM) for MEF's return to the Picasso Museum, in association with Timwe.

The exclusive MEF party, open only to MEF members and their invited guests, has in its time become the sought after ticket of the congress, and is in fact this year celebrating its 10th anniversary! So be sure to join us for an exciting night of cocktails, tapas, art, and of course, some seriously top-level networking. Although the tickets are still under lock and key for the moment, you can let everyone know where you will be on Monday night via the Linkedin Event page, and be sure to follow @MEF and @MEFblog on Twitter to stay abreast of the latest developments.. stay tuned for more announcements..!

MEF TV: Marco Argenti, Nokia at MEF Americas 2011

More fascinating insights from MEF Americas and MEF TV; in this video Marco Argenti, SVP of Developer and Marketplace for Nokia speaks to Rob Woodbridge of UNTETHER.tv. In it he expands on the topic of his keynote speech from MEF Americas 2011 "Creating Hyper Local App Economies" and discusses the opportunities for monetizing apps presented by leveraging the nuances of highly localised content.



Hit the jump for more from Marco and MEF TV at  MEF Americas 2011: Mobile Content and Commerce.

MEF Asia Webinar - What Crisis? Operators embrace the OTT Challenge

MEF Asia is kicking off 2012 with a fast-paced thought leadership webinar on the 30th January on the challenge to mobile operators of OTT content and services.

Date: Monday 30th January, 2012

Time: 4pm (Singapore)

Register for this FREE MEF Webinar now

With the advent of the Smartphone, Asia-Pacific mobile connections is set to reach 4.2 billion in 2016, while the region’s mobile voice revenues will start to decline by 2014, says Ovum research. Mobile Operators face major challenges from the so called “over-the-top” players competing with traditional business models. As Telcos attempt to defend their core revenues, the need to adapt, innovate and seek new revenue streams has become essential. Adapt or die, what is the future of Mobile Operators?

We've secured a truly stellar lineup for this free MEF Webinar:

• Mark Liversidge, Chief Marketing Officer, CSL Limited, Hong Kong
• Farid Maruf, Country Technology Manager, Grameen Foundation, Bangladesh
• Gio Bacareza, Head of Broadband and Internet Data Services, Smart Communications, Philippines
• Stephen Lee, Asst VP, StarHub Advanced Multimedia Services, Singapore
• Nathan Bell, Director, Products and Marketing, Telstra International, Australia
• Wing K. Lee, Chief Executive Officer, YTL Communications Sdn Bhd, Malaysia

The Webinar will be moderated by Colin Miles, MEF Asia Chairman & EVP InternetQ South Asia Pte Ltd.

Space is limited, reserve your place now!

Check the MEF website for more details or contact MEF Asia General Manager Linda Ruck for further information.

MEF reveals Top 10 Predictions for 2012

Welcome to 2012!

If there's one thing everybody loves come January, it's a top 10 list of predictions for the year ahead. MEF is no exception, and the mobile gurus have looked into their crystal ball apps to bring us foresight of the big things to come in 2012. MEF has a good track record with it's predictions for the mobile world - in 2011 among other things, it accurately forecasted that the proliferation of Smartphones would drive consumer engagement in mobile. Check out last year's predictions to see how well we did on the rest..

Of this year's list, Rimma Perelmuter, MEF Executive Director said: “2011 has been a stellar year for the industry. With competition continuing to intensify and the increasing prevalence of mobile as a new screen for content, commerce and consumer engagement, 2012 is shaping up to be another significant year for the sector. As the global community for the ever-expanding mobile ecosystem, representing the interests of members as diverse as Coca-Cola, Turner Broadcasting and Telefonica, MEF is well placed to help its members to capitalise on the ever-increasing opportunity which the channel presents.”

So without further ado, let's check out MEF's top 10 mobile trends for 2012 - hit the jump to see the list in full..