The 2023 edition of the Mobile World Congress (MWC) and its ministerial programme, digital leaders roundtable, was held in Barcelona, Spain, on Feb 28 local time.

Ren Xianliang, secretary-general of the World Internet Conference (WIC), attended the meeting and delivered a speech.

Ren said that it has become an important consensus of all countries to promote more inclusive and people-centered digital transformation that empowers sustainability. Innovative breakthroughs in the digital sector will continue to provide vital driving force for speeding up digital transformation.

Ren Xianliang (L2), secretary-general of the World Internet Conference, attends MWC 2023 and its Ministerial Programme in Barcelona, Spain, on Feb 28, 2023. [Photo/wicinternet.org]

Over the years, the WIC has, with focus on such leading fronts as the 5G, cloud computing, big data, blockchain, and artificial intelligence, actively held a series of activities including the WIC Wuzhen Summit, Release and Presentation of Outstanding Cases of Jointly Building a Community with a Shared Future in Cyberspace, Release Ceremony for World Leading Internet Scientific and Technological Achievements, "Light of Internet" Expo and “Straight to Wuzhen” Global Internet Competition. It facilitated exchanges and dialogues among governments, enterprises, research and financial institutions, as well as universities, and their pragmatic cooperation, in an effort to work together to create good policies and development environments for the tremendous growth of innovative breakthroughs and give better play to innovative achievement in the global transformation featuring digitalization, networking and intelligence.

Ren stressed that historical experience has shown that innovative breakthrough is a double-edged sword, therefore, it should be advanced in a more inclusive way while adhering to win-win cooperation, with both development and governance coordinated.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the WIC Wuzhen Summit, the WIC will continuously promote the building of a community with a shared future in cyberspace, deliver more internet-based benefits to people around the world, and contribute China's strength to the progress of human civilization. He extended invitation to all the attending guests to attend the 2023 WIC Wuzhen Summit to be held in the river town of Wuzhen, East China's Zhejiang province, where they can exchange views on the future development of digital innovation.

The meeting was hosted by John Hoffman, CEO of the Global System for Mobile Communications Alliance (GSMA). Member representatives, including 21 leaders of international organizations from over 10 countries, senior government officials, leading officials of global communication enterprises, and leaders of industry organizations, were invited to participate in the meeting.

The attendees held in-depth discussions on topics such as cross-region and cross-industry cooperation between digitalized countries, future outlook of innovative breakthroughs and driving force for digital innovation and transformation.

The MWC 2023 is held in Barcelona, Spain, from Feb 27 to Mar 2. As one of the most influential expos in the mobile communication field globally, it has attracted over 80,000 participants from more than 200 countries and regions this year.