The theme of the 2025 edition of the Mobile Century is DIGITAL HUMANISM, which acts as both a logical consequence and a summary of the two previous year’s themes: Digital Metamorphosis in 2023 and Digital Generation in 2024.
The core aim of Digital Humanism is to balance technological developments and human values, as well as to ensure that technological progress is truly human centric. It is the belief that instead of a mad dash of science, of innovation for innovation’s sake, technology should instead be seen as what it always has been: a tool to improve – and protect – the human condition.
Digital Humanism is not a new concept: if we look at the past, we can see that every time that there has been a profound change in society due to the emergence of a new cultural outlook – as in the Renaissance – or of new technologies and tools – as during the Industrial Revolution, human society has been obligated to deal with the effects of such changes on its individual members. Regardless of whether they were positive or negative, peaceful or violent, liberating or oppressive, humans have hadtoadapttotheimpactoftechnologicalchange on society, work environments, and relationships between individuals.
Digital Humanism’s increasing importance today, compared to its salience in past eras, comes as a result of the speed by which technology is developing. In particular, the emergence of ever-more sophisticated AI technologies and applications poses a challenge that, if not handled properly and with due care, could lead to a humanity overshadowed by artificial beings, instead of being supported and complemented by them.
The articles included in this edition focus on different industries and themes, investigating how Digital Humanism can make a positive impact on the course of technological progress by being adopted in sectors such as Health Care, Telecommunications, and Quantum technologies, just to name a few.
The common question which all of these articles aim to interrogate is singular: how can human beings (whether they are in the form of businesses, Governments, agencies, etc) make sure that technology is used to support and to serve the people, instead of vice versa?
The same goes for individuals: each and every of us is responsible for the use of technology in our daily life. We alone have a choice: do we want to become slaves of technology, idly automating away greater and greater segments of our lives in the name of convenience, or do we challenge ourselves to imagine how technology can not only make our lives easier, but make our lives greater, fuller, and more complete?
This year’s edition includes also a series of articles as a tribute and thanks to Mats Granryd, who is departing his position as GSMA CEO and Board member. Mats has been a strong supporter of GTWN and an advocate for the inclusion of women in the Tech world.
We would like to express deep thanks to all our contributors, respected leaders and learned experts in their respective fields, who have taken the time from their busy agenda to make this edition a success and challenge all of us to ponder whether we truly understand the technology we take for granted.
Special thanks to Rosalia Gitau, Coordinating Editor; Andrew Bullen, Editor; and Marge Salem, Designer, of this edition of The Mobile Century. We would also like to thank Vusion Group and TMCell, the gold Sponsors of this year’s GTWN Welcome Cocktail, at which a special hard copy limited edition of our magazine is being published.
Furthermore, thank you to the CMS experts for their contribution, as well as for making possible, in addition to the Magazine, the realization of a series of podcasts on Digital Humanism which complement the content of this edition’s articles.
Last, but not least, thank you to our dear readers who continue to support the work of the GTWN. We are proud to continue our work to support the transfer of competencies and knowledge from generation to generation.
Carla Cico
The Mobile Century 2025 Edition Editor-in-Chief
GTWN International Board Member
