Mobile Codes Consortium Update

The initiators of the MC² held a meeting with operators and handset manufacturers in London on February 27, 2007.

The objectives were to gauge the market appetite for making the mobile codes ecosystem happen, and to strategically define the key tasks over the next months.

There was general positive acceptance: that this is a technology that marketing organizations will welcome, which in turn will encourage consumer adoption; that the current fragmentation of standards in the market threatens the potential of the technology, so this group must act quickly if the technology is to become adopted; and that this is a technology that should be adopted, if only the practical implementation issues can be sorted out. It was agreed to develop proposals over the next few weeks for (a) our group's remit and (b) options for carrying out those standards activities as a subgroup of an existing open standards body, or as a standalone body.

The Mobile Codes Consortium recently updated their website to include slides presented by Publicis Groupe at the London meeting to provide a unique view from an advertising perspective. As a founding member of the Consortium, Publicis Groupe is one of the UK's top four advertising agencies.

According to Hewlett-Packard's Tim Kindberg, "We appreciate that many other companies are keen to be involved as soon as possible. We ask for your patience while we establish this organization. In the meantime, we welcome your suggestions, comments and expressions of interest."