The pain in Spain

On Monday night, about 10 delegates attending the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, were robbed of their valuables while outside the conference facility.

Victims were from various countries, including SA, Canada, the US and Japan, as well as from some major ICT companies.

We met at the police station, not far from Fira, in Barcelona, waiting for consultation with the police so we could report the crimes perpetrated against us.

The stories were very similar, with minor variances. I was robbed while waiting for a couple of colleagues outside the main entrance of the conference facility, at the Mobile World Congress.

The thief snatched my bag, which contained my two-year-old laptop, a notebook, journal, my passport, credit cards and some cash.

One member of our group was eating dinner with his boss in one of the up-market restaurants near the conference facility, when it happened. After dinner, he reached for his bag, which had been laying at his feet and it was gone, along with a brand new laptop.

By some strange twist of fate, another victim was chatting with the colleagues I was waiting for when he was robbed. They were approached by a beggar who distracted them, while her accomplice stole his bag.

This guy is a researcher and inside his bag was $300 cash, $300 in travellers' cheques, and a notebook full of research notes accumulated over 18 months.

While we can't deny that cash, which was the probable reason for the robberies, has strong value, the researcher was most upset about the loss of his notes. As he tells it, one moment of being distracted by a beggar cost him 18 months' worth of work.

What was even more frustrating for him was the knowledge that the notebook would end up in a garbage bin as soon as the robbers understood what it was.

I generally type my notes into my laptop, so I don't understand how one small notebook can be the reservoir of 18 months' work. The guy is attending an ICT industry conference, for goodness' sake, so clearly he's tech savvy. So how could he not have something saved on his laptop, too?

But I'm with him when it comes to the value of intellectual property stolen versus cash or the financial value of the machine. The most valuable items in the laptop were my contact list, my old e-mails and other documents, not the laptop, which I was planning to replace anyway. Thankfully, my contact list and schedule is synchronised with my smartphone, so I will be able to retrieve some of that data.

I also have a lot of ICT research reports, an extensive digital album, covering interview subjects and family members. These items will be very difficult, if not impossible to replace.

The most valuable items in the laptop were my contact list, my old e-mails and other documents, not the laptop.

Damaria Senne, senior journalist, ITWeb

I'm told the robbers will probably mine my laptop for information, scrape it clean and sell it second hand. Or they might sell it for parts.

That leaves me feeling exposed and uneasy, and I guess by the time they are done with the machine, they will know me extremely well.

I'd also like to offer my sincere apologies to all contacts and people who sent me information about their companies by e-mail.

I'm not sure how valuable the robbers will find the information if they break through the password blocks in my laptop.

Ironically, the person least concerned about his stolen laptop was the chap with a brand new machine, which had a greater value in the market than my old clunker.

The theft inconvenienced him, especially considering that he was supposed to prepare a presentation for the following morning at 8.30, and another presentation for his company's CEO for a Friday meeting. "The company insured the laptop, so I'll just get another machine," he said.