GSMA Announces Winners of Mobile Innovation Grand Prix EMEA Tournament

BARCELONA, Spain - The GSMA, which represents the interests of the worldwide mobile communications industry, today announced the winners of the EMEA leg of the 2010 Mobile Innovation Grand Prix competition. The winners were announced at the GSMA’s Mobile Innovation EMEA Event, which was held as part of the inaugural HiT Barcelona World Innovation Summit that took place in Barcelona, Spain this week.

Thought leaders from across the entire mobile ecosystem attended the Mobile Innovation EMEA Event, including a strong line-up of headline speakers who created lively debate on how new mobile products and services are brought to market successfully. The speakers included Andy Zimmerman, Global MD, New Businesses, Accenture; Michael Crossey, CMO, Aeopona; Sean Kane, Head of Mobile, Bebo; Florian Seiche, VP, HTC Europe; Carlos Domingo, Director, Internet & Multimedia and Director, R&D Center, Telefonica; and Tim Attinger, Head of Global Innovation, Visa.

At the Mobile Innovation EMEA Event, innovator nominees competed in the 2010 Mobile Innovation Grand Prix, which is part of the GSMA’s prestigious Global Mobile Awards programme. During the event, companies from around the world competed in five categories and their innovative products and services were reviewed by a judging panel comprised of senior executives from mobile operators and venture capital firms.

The Global Finalists for the Mobile Innovation Grand Prix EMEA Tournament are: - IDENT Technology (Germany) - Electro Power Systems (Italy) The five Category Winners are: Most Innovative Consumer Application or Service - Multiplied Media (Canada) Most Innovative Embedded Mobile or Device-centric Technology - IDENT Technology (Germany) Most Innovative Carrier Infrastructure or VAS Platform - Novarra (USA) Most Innovative Enterprise Application or Service - DeviceAnywhere (USA) Most Innovative Product Enabling a Greener World - Electro Power Systems (Italy)

“This year’s Mobile Innovation EMEA Event has been a great success and we commend the enthusiasm and commitment shown by all those who competed this week,” said Bill Gajda, Chief Commercial Officer at the GSMA. “Driven by an impressive entrepreneurial spirit and a desire for technical excellence, it’s clear there are some outstanding opportunities ahead for these highly innovative companies. Our congratulations to the winners and all those who took part. The GSMA would also like to thank HiT Barcelona for hosting such a successful show and we look to forward to our ongoing partnership and next year’s event.”

As Global Finalists for the Mobile Innovation Grand Prix EMEA Tournament, IDENT Technology and Electro Power Systems have won the right to compete against other regional Mobile Innovation Global Finalists for the 2010 GSMA Mobile Innovation Grand Prix, and the winner will be named at the GSMA’s Global Mobile Awards ceremony at the Mobile World Congress, the leading event for the mobile communications industry, in Barcelona next February.

“IDENT and Electro Power Systems are addressing real pain points in the mobile industry. They are deserving winners across the categories and we look forward to seeing them compete again as Finalists at the GSMA’s Mobile World Congress next year,” said the judging panel.

“The Mobile Innovation EMEA Event provided us with a real challenge to sort out the most innovative companies across a very good crop of candidates. We congratulate the Category Winners for their clear and articulate plans and solutions to industry needs. We also thank the GSMA’s Mobile Innovation team for hosting such a competitive event.”

The judging panel included Frederic Schepens, EVP, Strategic Business Development, Belgacom ICS; Marcos Battisti, Sector Director - Mobility, Intel Capital; Steve Glagow, VP, Marketing Operations, Orange Partner, Orange; and Paolo Paganucci, VP, Innovation Plan, Telecom Italia.

For more information on the Mobile Innovation Grand Prix awards programme and the Mobile Innovation Exchange community, please visit www.mobileinnovation.org.

For the latest news on the GSMA’s Mobile Innovation initiative, please visit the Mobile Innovation Blog: mobileinnovationblog.com.

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 www.gsmworld.com

Source: GSMA

Daniel Lowther of GSMA, +44-7747-636-687, press at gsm.org