Celebrating 30 Years
of the Best in Mobile Innovation
By Shaun Collins, GLOMOs chair of judges and executive chairman of CCS Insight
This year marks the 30th edition of the GLOMOs. Over the past three decades the awards have showcased the best innovations of the mobile industry, highlighting products and services that have pushed the boundaries of technology, improved people’s lives and brought about social change.
The Global Mobile Awards ceremony will take place on the Turing Stage in Hall 6 of MWC Barcelona at 5pm CET on 5 March and will also be broadcast on Mobile World Live. We hope you can join us in celebrating this year’s winners, with 33 awards in seven categories.
As chair of the judging process, I’m delighted to welcome another set of entrants vying for acclaim as the best that our sector has to offer. I’d like to thank the more than 250 judges who have made their assessments without payment and in their own time. The GSMA is rightly proud of this diverse set of industry experts. The reputation
of the GLOMOs is built on the judges’ efforts and fiercely held independence of thought. It’s been a privilege to chair such a remarkable programme for an eighth year.
The scope of the GLOMOs continues to expand, and this year sees the debut of a seventh category of awards that honours excellence in marketing. Bringing the best innovations to people’s attention is an underappreciated task, and I’m pleased to see the brightest lights in this area gain some recognition.
Involvement in the GLOMOs provides a boost to marketing efforts in another way, too.
Recognition on a world stage is the kind of exposure that would be difficult for many entrants to achieve without spending considerable sums on marketing and PR. I’m thrilled that the GLOMOs can raise the profile of so many innovative companies helping to make our world a better place.
The past three decades have seen hundreds of companies and projects receive GLOMO awards, illustrating the breadth of achievements in the mobile industry, and the rapid pace of innovation. For me, two examples highlight the variety and impact of award-winning initiatives.
The first is network operator Kyivstar, which in 2024 won the award for Best Mobile Innovation Supporting Emergency or Humanitarian Situations. The operator maintained network availability above 90% on average during the two years since the Russian invasion. Mobile connectivity is an essential service during conflicts and Kyivstar’s award recognised its efforts to maintain network infrastructure in extremely challenging conditions.
The second is the World Food Programme, which won a GLOMO in 2019 for its cloud-based application to manage data during malnutrition treatment programmes. The application gives a digital identity to clients and tracks nutrition and healthcare services, replacing pen-and-paper records, ration cards and reports in healthcare centres. It’s a good example of how mobile technology can help improve lives, sometimes in indirect ways.
As in previous years, I’m looking forward to seeing which entrant will be crowned this year’s CTO Choice. The “best of the best” among the nine winners in the Mobile Tech category is selected by a group of more than 20 chief technology officers from network operators on every continent.
Previous CTO Choice winners have included some of mobile’s greatest innovations, and the award is still an unrivalled opportunity to get in front of some of the most influential figures and decision- makers in our sector.
Finally, I’d like to issue my annual plea for companies of all sizes to consider taking part in next year’s awards and join us on the programme. The GSMA welcomes online submissions from individuals and businesses from mid- September, requiring only that applicants use mobile connectivity and technology to develop their products and services. There are discounts offering amazing value for start-up companies and GSMA members that apply.
There’s no better platform to commend businesses for their innovation and commitment to creating the next era of mobile technology. Here’s to another three decades of innovation and success!