At MWC25 Barcelona, our Mobile for Development (M4D) team once again showcased its commitment to unlocking the potential of digital and mobile innovation to address the inequalities of our world. Building on nearly two decades of impactful work, we convened valued partners and stakeholders, shared insights, discussed global socio-economic topics, and showcased the impact of our work on underserved populations.
This year’s event theme was Converge. Connect. Create. – positioning MWC as the intersection of social policy, business leadership and technological innovation – uniting on a mission of sustainable progress.
For the M4D team, this event presented an opportunity to convene valued partners and stakeholders, and lead critical discussions addressing topics such as agriculture, climate resilience, digital and financial inclusion, gender, humanitarian innovation, emerging technology and startup innovation.
Our activities and content spanned across the GSMA Knowledge Zone, the GSMA Ministerial Programme and the GSMA Pavilion.
Here is a summary of our presence at MWC25 Barcelona:
The opening keynote speech
During the opening keynote speech, Director General, Mats Granryd, shared the enormous opportunity that closing the #UsageGap presents, explaining that, “Closing the usage gap would add $3.5 trillion in total additional GDP between 2023 and 2030, and more than a third of that will come from closing the Mobile Gender Gap in mobile internet adoption.”
The GSMA Knowledge Zone
Artificial Intelligence was prevalent throughout MWC25 this year. Our ‘Behind the Scenes of AI: Shaping the Deep Tech Ecosystem for Impact’ session was at the forefront of this topic and explored how deep-tech innovators are shaping AI solutions tailored to local contexts.
Supun Weerasinghe of Dialogue Axiata Plc shared his industry perspective on AI for impact in Sri Lanka and the APAC region: “AI is enabling health tech, customer care and supporting the transformation of agriculture and fisheries sectors”.
Our team also announced two exciting launches:
- Our new Emerging Tech programme
- The GSMA Innovation Fund for Impactful AI
Go behind the scenes of AI, and explore our new releases:
Our other GSMA Knowledge Zone sessions were thriving with engagement and focused on key global discussions.
Two thirds of the world’s population is expected to live in cities by 2050 and 90% of urban growth from now until then, will occur in Africa and Asia. This session highlighted the transformative potential of digital technologies in urban services. Smart city solutions provide a promising path for mobile network operators (MNOs) to leverage their capabilities and drive urban transformation – particularly through AI, IoT, and payments. Find out more:
With over a decade of experience in the digital agriculture space, the GSMA AgriTech team discussed farmers’ needs and those directly expressed by the them and examined the critical role of Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E) to track usage trends and behaviours. Explore how we are supporting the scaling and impact of digital solutions for smallholder farmers and value chain actors:
The GSMA Ministerial Programme
The opening session of the GSMA Ministerial Programme included a fireside chat hosted by Max Cuvellier Giacomelli, Head of Mobile for Development, with Dr Jakob Granit, Director General, Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), where they reflected on the successes, challenges and opportunities in global digital policymaking.
As the centre of the policy debate at MWC25 Barcelona, the GSMA Ministerial Programme is attended by ministers, telecom regulators, data protection authorities, industry CEOs, and senior representatives of international organisations.
On the Ministerial Stage and Focus Stage, keynotes and panel discussions addressed today’s most pressing digital policy topics, including digital inclusion, humanitarian response, financial inclusion, and climate. We also launched the ClimateTech Horizons report which explores how to unlock the power of digital technology for a more climate resilient future.
The digital divide was a recurring theme throughout the Ministerial Stage; as for 3.4 billion unconnected people, mobile service is available where they live, and currently 265 million fewer women than men are using mobile internet in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). GSMA analysis estimates that closing the gender gap in mobile internet adoption in LMICs will add $1.3 trillion in additional GDP by 2030.
To bring these people online, a range of challenges must be addressed, including making devices more affordable, building up relevant content and services, and ensuring people have the skills to use them. We were at the forefront of these discussions.
The GSMA Pavilion
We took visitors on a journey through the personal stories that lie behind the numbers. Teaming up with the wider Connectivity for Good team (External Affairs, Policy and Regulation and Spectrum), we contributed an unforgettable interactive experience to visitors. Using film, soundbites and storytelling, we highlighted and brought to life the best of our research, insights and data, and revealed the transformative impact of connectivity on underserved populations all over the globe.
The key Connectivity for Good themes, sustainability, climate, AI, emerging technologies, digital and financial inclusion, policy, regulation and spectrum captivated visitors at the Pavilion.
To date, M4D has reached 260 million people and counting… learn more about our work.
We look forward to the next event and hope we’ll see you there.
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