By Claus Hetting, Wi-Fi NOW CEO & Chairman
You will often hear from event organisers – including from us here at Wi-Fi NOW – that running industry events has become a lot harder compared to what it was like during the BC (‘Before Covid’) era. And that is the truth, although there’s nothing like bucking a trend by bringing the Wi-Fi industry together once again in numbers to share ideas and explore opportunities. In the end perhaps the Wi-Fi industry’s strongest asset is this: An unshakeable sense of community based on friendship and a shared vision for the connected future.
Decentralised, free of spectrum fees, unruly, innovative, opportunistic, community-driven. Many will recognise these as central tenets of what today can only be described as the most successful standardised technology of all time: Wi-Fi. And all of the above were on display in copious quantities at last week’s Wi-Fi World Congress USA held in Sarasota, Florida.
It is impossible to offer a fair summary of the huge amount of excellent information and insight shared at WWC Sarasota so here comes just a few woefully incomplete comments: We’re enormously grateful to our local partners in Sarasota including Mayor Liz Alpert, who opened WWC by proclaiming April 23 ‘Wi-Fi Day’ in the city. As always we’re grateful to our all our amazing sponsors and supporting organisations including the Wi-Fi Alliance, IEEE 802.11, and many, many more – you can find them all here.
Our Wi-Fi NOW Masterclass training on April 22 was packed and as always there were plenty of world-class presentations during our main congress days on April 23 and 24. We feel that WWC is an exceptional community also because it is an open and unpolitical forum for debates and discussions including the opportunity to ask questions freely and engage with the industry’s most influential executives and experts. There was plenty of that at WWC Sarasota. See the photos here.
Managed Wi-Fi for MDUs, next generation tech for Wi-Fi IoT, Wi-Fi 7, monetizing public Wi-Fi, the use of AI for connectivity and beyond – these were all core themes. There was also focus on Wi-Fi for large public venues including stadiums, auto-connect services for indoor mobile coverage, innovations in RF technology, the latest on Wi-Fi sensing, and much more. Presentation packs are available here.
Last but not least we were delighted to honour former FCC Chairman Ajit Pai as our latest inductee into the Wi-Fi NOW Hall of Fame. This was awarded as a heartfelt thanks for his leadership in making the 6 GHz band available to Wi-Fi. Thanks to all who participated. We’ll be back in the US next year, location & date to be announced. In the meantime you’re of course invited to joins us for WWC Europe in beautiful and historic Geneva, Switzerland on September 23-25.
/Claus.
