MEF Global Board Elections reflect growth and diversity of the mobile ecosystem

Last week, MEF held the annual Global AGM in London where members gathered to elect the new Global Board for the 2014/2015 term. Candidates representing MEF’s regional chapters (EMEA, LatAM, Asia and NA) contested four seats on the Board, reflecting the organisation’s diverse membership and key focus areas in an expanded mobile ecosystem, which captures publishing, content, engagement, consumer trust, education and mobile money. The four newly elected board members are: Judith Bitterli – CMO, AVG Technologies Mark Harding – Media and Digital Content Director, KPMG Thomas Chevanne – …

#MEFGF13 Round-up: Photos and highlights

The inaugural MEF Global Forum 2013 took place last week in San Francisco. Over 350 senior execs attended during the three day event which delivered a unique showcase and platform for  international mobile content & commerce. In the coming weeks we will share some of the sessions, interviews and opinion pieces from #MEFGF13, but for now here’s a quick snapshot of the highlights and a selection of photos from across the three days. MEF Global Forum has been 12 months in the making after the move to Silicon Valley was announced by MEF NA Chair Ron Czerny last December at MEF Americas in …

MEF Launches Research on Mobile Content and Commerce Trends in Africa

MEF Africa General Manager Jo Crawshaw writes... It’s no secret that Africa is an incredibly exciting place to be involved in the mobile industry. Contributing 3.5% towards to continent’s total GDP and home to some of the world’s fastest growing economies, the African mobile market is forecast to quadruple in seven years, growing from a combined value of US$60 billion in 2013 to around US$245 billion in 2020. Despite the impressive growth and countless innovations coming out of Africa, barriers to market entry still exist. Challenges for those navigating the various regulatory …

MEF Global Webinar Series

With speakers from the UK VAS Regulator PhonepayPlus, MEF members Silverstreet and KPMG, the recent MEF Asia Webinar sought to explore whether pre-emptive positive action by the industry is the best form of defence against reputational harm, and what form such action might take. The recording and slide deck is available to download now from the MEF website. MEF North Americas also hosted a fascinating webinar exploring the phenomenon of Patent Trolls and Patent issues within the Mobile ecosystem. Moderated by MEF North America Chair Gary Schwartz, the North America webinar was led by guest …

M-Commerce in SE Asia: Understanding the opportunities of today and tomorrow

Interested in the mobile media market in SE Asia? Thinking about expanding your mobile entertainment product into the area? Want to find out the rising trends and how to tap into the potential of the market?Join MEF’s webinar on Wednesday 25 August and gain insight into the m-commerce opportunities available in the SE Asia mobile media market. The mobile device combines an innovative payment platform with the power to fuel impluse purchasing and is changing the way consumers pay for content, goods and services. The panel is made up of brands with real experience in the market, including Maxis, …

Mobile Entertainment Forum’s fourth Business Confidence Index suggests economic recovery and growth

Mobile Entertainment Forum’s (MEF) fourth Business Confidence Index (BCI), compiled by KPMG, points to signs of recovery and a clear trajectory of revenue growth of 28% for the coming year.The latest BCI survey of the MEF Membership, representative of the whole mobile media entertainment value chain, demonstrates a fourth consecutive growth prediction since January 2009 and a clear trend that the industry consistently projects growth in the region of 25-35% for the next 12 months.Andrew Bud, the Global Chair of MEF commented: “Our industry has faced a difficult period, but these latest …