By Shaun Collins, Executive Chairman – CCS Insight & Chair of Judges, GLOMOs
Recognising Three Decades of Innovation
As the GLOMO Awards enter their 29th year of honouring the most notable advances in the connected world, I'm delighted to again chair the group of mobile industry luminaries who have selected this year's award recipients.
The Global Mobile Awards ceremony will take place on the Debate Stage, Hall 6, at 17:30 CET on 28 February, and will be broadcast globally across Mobile World Live TV. We hope you can join us in celebrating this year's game-changers, with 30 awards in six categories.
The GLOMOs present winners and nominees with an enormous opportunity to be recognised on a world stage, and by a group of more than 200 independent experts who read, assess and judge every entry on its merits. It's the kind of exposure that would be impossible for many entrants to achieve without spending a small fortune 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.
This year, we received a record number of submissions, reflecting the quickening pace of innovation in the mobile industry. Our industry has seen certain technologies come to the fore recently. Artificial Intelligence is high on everyone's agenda, and is set to disrupt many aspects of the connected world; fresh advances in satellite communications are poised to bring mobile connectivity to even the remotest regions and communities; and private mobile networks offer whole industries the benefits of dedicated airwaves and the latest 5G technology.
The 2024 GLOMOs include new awards that acknowledge these advances. In the Mobile Tech category, we have introduced awards for the best non-terrestrial network solution, the best dedicated network solution and the GSMA Foundry Innovation Award. Artificial Intelligence is covered by a new GLOMO for best deployment of generative AI. In addition, two new awards, the GSMA Open Gateway Challenge and an award for the best mobile innovation that enhances the lives of children and young people, reflect the changing dynamics of the mobile industry.
As always, 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 chief technology officers from the world's leading network operators, such as MTN, Deutsche Telekom, NTT Docomo, Orange, SK Telecom and Vodafone. Previous CTO Choice winners have produced 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.
I'm also eager to see the winners of the six awards in the Tech4Good category, which showcases how connecting people can change society, be that in helping nascent economies, alleviating man-made or natural crises, in making society more inclusive, tackling climate change and sustainability, or in improving the lives of young people. I'm heartened to see how entrants in this category — some of them tiny start-ups — are using mobile technology to solve real-world problems.
Assessing hundreds of entries is a huge undertaking. I'd like to thank this year's judges. Each of them brings considerable knowledge and experience to the process, carrying out their work without payment and in their own time. The GSMA is rightly proud of this diverse set of judges. The reputation of the GLOMOs is built on the judges' efforts and fiercely held independence of thought. It's been a privilege to again chair such a remarkable programme.
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. The GLOMOs offer an opportunity to supercharge their success.
Live ceremony! Join us at our winners ceremony to see who has won a coveted GLOMO Award from our shortlisted entries, live at MWC 2024. 17:30 CET Wednesday 28 Feb, Debate Stage, Hall 6.