The GSMA is celebrating a successful and forward-thinking Mobile 360 Asia Pacific, the first in-person gathering of the mobile industry in the region since 2019. The two-day event attracted nearly 800 attendees from more than 260 companies, and they heard from 170 speakers on 5G, the future of the industry and the strategies to build digital nations.
The stellar speaker line-up was complemented by over 30 pioneering sponsors and exhibitors, 24 expert-led sessions and three dedicated networking receptions. More than 53% of attendees were Directors, VPs and C-Suite executives.
“This edition of M360 Asia Pacific inspired fresh thinking about the role of connectivity in building future society and showcased the very best of what the region has to offer,” said Julian Gorman, Head of APAC, GSMA. “I would like to thank our members for bringing the focus on digital nations to life, the Infocomm Media Develop Authority Singapore (IMDA) for their unwavering support, which was pivotal in the success of the event, as well as our key sponsors Singtel, Born2Global and Huawei.”
“We would like to thank the GSMA and our partners for making M360 Asia Pacific a significant success,” said Dr Ong Chen Hui, Assistant Chief Executive, IMDA. “Singapore will continue to push ahead and strengthen our 5G innovation ecosystem by enabling our businesses to experiment, innovate and commercialise their 5G solutions across the region and the globe.”
Announcing Winners from the Digital Nation Awards 2022
During the event, the GSMA ran the Digital Nations Award – which encompassed the contribution of mobile technology in driving the digital transformation of nations. Videos from 11 countries were received, including Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.
The Awards recognised two categories, the Best Digital Nation Video Award and Digital Nation Video Creativity Award were decided by an expert panel of judges including Acacia Leroy, Head of Trends & Strategy, Culture Group; Bruno Smadja, CEO and Founder, Mobile Film Festival; Chomaine Chai, Managing Director, Golin; and Gonzalo Olivera, Growth Director, MullenLowe.
Following a close round of judging, the winners were:
- Best Digital Nation Video Award: Grameenphone from Bangladesh tells the story of how 4G enabled one person to sustain his livelihood by moving his business online during the pandemic.
- Digital Nation Video Creativity Award: Jazz from Pakistan tells the story of how 4G gave them the platform to raise people’s voices on discrimination.
Start-up award from the GSMA, Born2Global and IMDA
The GSMA also partnered with Born2Global and IMDA on the Digital Nations Start-up Pitching Award to support industry innovation.
Twelve innovative start-ups – in their Series A and B rounds of funding – participated in the pitching award in the categories of Digital Transformation & Digital Cities and Fintech & Metaverse. Two winners and two runners-up were selected by an industry expert judging panel consisting of Mobile Network Operators (MNOs), Corporate Venture Capitals (CVCs), Venture Capitalists (VCs) and consultants involved in the innovation sector.
The winner and runner-up for the Digital Transformation & Digital Cities category were Rebellions and Vizzio, respectively. For the Fintech & Metaverse category, the winning start-up was 4DREPLAY, with the runner-up swIDch.
