The GSMA unveiled the final details of its upcoming Thrive North America event, which brings together 150 speakers across 30 hours of content to discuss emerging opportunities around the deployment of 5G, IoT and AI technology.

Running from 27 October to 29 October, the week originally scheduled for MWC Los Angeles 2020, the keynote agenda features senior executives from the US’ three major operators, key vendors, and the world of sport and entertainment, who will offer viewpoints on the impact mobile is having on their industries.

The agenda is focused on four core themes: 5G; IoT, AI; and disruptive innovation, an area exploring the environmental and societal role of mobile.

GSMA director general Mats Granryd; CTIA president Meredith Attwell Baker; IBM SVP hybrid cloud Howard Boville; and Ericsson’s North America head Niklas Heuveldop are all among the keynote speakers.

Senior chiefs from the big-three US operators will make separate presentations across days two and three, discussing their views on the industry’s progress and future priorities.

Verizon CTO Kyle Malady, T-Mobile US president of technology Neville Ray and AT&T Business CEO Anne Chow will all present keynotes.

The event’s strong link to the city of Los Angeles is evident from the agenda, with the second keynote session featuring speakers from basketball team LA Clippers, international airport LAX and the LA Sports and Entertainment Commission (LASEC).

And, just a week before the US presidential election, security specialist McAfee is presenting a keynote on the issue of deepfake technology (chief data scientist Celeste Fralick).

CTIA Summit
Running parallel to the Thrive agenda is the CTIA’s 5G Summit 2020, which is also keynoted by Attwell Baker alongside a top lineup including Qualcomm president Cristiano Amon; FCC chairman Ajit Pai; AT&T Mobility EVP and GM David Christopher; Verizon Consumer CEO Ronan Dunne; and US Cellular CEO Laurent Therivel.

There are a wide number of specialist tracks and networking roundtables across the three days, including 5G manufacturing; edge computing; the role of private wireless networks; eSIM; and open RAN.

Samsung executives told Mobile World Live they expect a particular emphasis on 5G cloud, private networks and network slicing at the summit, noting the latter is an increasingly sought-after technology. They also highlighted an expected focus on how AI can be used to help optimize network performance.

Thrive North America follows the GSMA’s other online events held during the pandemic including Thrive Africa and Thrive China.

The full agenda is available here. Register for the free event here.