The meeting brings together top business and political leaders, concerned citizens and the world s most creative academic thinkers to address key economic, political and social issues. In previous years, information about events, conference goers and schedules had been delivered through a kiosk solution. Attendees could go to computer kiosks scattered around the conference center and use a PC terminal to look up information. For this year s Annual Meeting, conference organizers chose to offer a more personalized, mobile information system that features innovative wireless capabilities. Using the wireless LAN, the Davos Companion allows delegates to wirelessly send email to other attendees at the event through addresses specially created for the conference.
Delegates can also send and receive standard Internet email messages on the device.
The Davos Companion also is able to access a listing of all 2,200 conference-goers, with brief profiles that include a picture, biography and contact details. Using the device, delegates can access information about all 350 official sessions and activities taking place during the six-day WEF event. Conference-goers can use the device to build an itinerary and schedule preferred sessions and events, and can access practical information like maps, hotel and transportation information and useful phone numbers. Breaking news from Business Week and The Financial Times will also be broadcast over the LAN network every two hours, and will be automatically stored on the device. Future initiatives include plans to incorporate streaming video capabilities into the Pocket PC solution, as well as offer live language translation services for delegates.