Celebrating 25 years of the Glomos


This is a particularly special year for the Gomo Awards as it celebrates 25 years of recognising the best of the best in the mobility and connected worlds. Chair of Judges Shaun Collins (@ShaunCollins) previews plans for this milestone edition.

The Glomos go from strength to strength, and are regarded as one of the premier awards programmes in the world. This year's awards ceremony, which will take place on 25 February in Hall 4, Auditorium 1, will be a celebration of this prestige. We hope you can join us there.


The Glomos present a unique opportunity to nominees. Every entry is considered by a group of leading influencers in each category, who will read, assess and judge the quality of the entry. For many companies, this kind of exposure would be impossible to achieve without spending a small fortune on marketing and PR.


MWC is the gathering place for the mobile industry and offers the perfect audience for winners. Beyond gaining recognition from the industry, companies will also have the chance to spend the next 12 months promoting their accolade in their marketing campaigns and with their partners.


I know from discussions with past winners that gaining an award has had an enormous impact on the success of the service, product or application, and for many, starting out with a limited budget and profile, it has also had a very positive effect on their business and their credibility.

In 2020, we have again refreshed the categories and introduced new awards to better align with the ever-changing face of mobile connectivity and the areas being shaped by it. We'll be giving out 37 awards under nine categories including Mobile Tech, Industry X, Tech4Good and Outstanding Achievement. All the categories offered the judges an opportunity to recognise mobile innovations for greater diversity in tech, enhancing children's lives, building trust in the digital age and for advancing the vision for smart cities.

New awards


One of the new awards that's particularly exciting is for Best Mobile Innovation for Climate Change, which will be presented at the Our Planet Summit on 27 February. The award is a prime example of the impact that mobile technology can have on educating people and influencing behaviour toward one of the most pressing challenges the world faces.


It's also vital that we recognise how digital technology can make the world a smarter, fairer place. In that context, the Tech4Good category and the six winners in it are fascinating. Awards such as Best Mobile Innovation for Emerging Markets and Women4Tech Industry Leadership bring the spotlight to important topics of conversation, such as the gender gap in the mobile industry. They are a promising sign of the work that the industry is doing to cultivate diversity and be more inclusive.


Jewel in the crown


Unquestionably, the jewel in the GLOMOs crown is the CTO's Choice award. Here, the winners of each category in the Mobile Technology section are put forward to be judged by more than 26 CTOs of the world's leading telcos, including NTT DoCoMo, Orange, SK Telecom, Vodafone and Verizon. It's an unrivalled opportunity to get in front of some of the most influential leaders and decision-makers in our industry regardless of the size of the business. It's worth the entry fee alone.


I'd urge companies of all sizes to consider taking part in next year's awards. The GSMA accepts online submissions from all individuals and businesses; its only requirement is that they have to use mobile connectivity to develop their products and services.


I'm excited to see what advances the nominees and winners in the next three years will deliver. There's no better platform to commend businesses for their innovation and commitment to creating the next era of mobile technology.


Attend the Glomo Awards Ceremony!

Join the big event onsite – this year’s event is open to all MWC attendees. The ceremony takes place in Hall 4, Auditorium 1 at 16.30-17.45 on Tuesday 25 February. Be there in person to experience the milestone edition!