Our World-Struck by the Pandemic

LEADERSHIP IN CRISIS & FRONTLINE HEROES
5G: A Backbone for Europe’s
Economic Recovery
By Afke Schaart
Afke Schaart
Vice President and
Head of Europe,
Russia and CIS
countries of the GSMA
- Former Member of
the Parliament of the
Netherlands
One of the biggest strengths
of the GSMA is our ability to
convene 110,000 people from
90 countries for the annual Mobile
World Congress in Barcelona – suddenly
became a challenge in the face of a fastmoving
new virus, COVID-19. We were
forced to cancel the trade show on
February 12, when many still said there
was no reason to fear.
Leadership in crisis takes guts.
In the weeks that followed, we have
cancelled other global events, examined
priorities and realigned resources to
help meet unprecedented challenges
confronting the mobile communications
industry and political leaders.
One of our first actions was to
coordinate the sharing of aggregated
and anonymised mobile data between
Europe’s largest telecom operators and
the European Commission to help track
COVID-19 and determine where medical
equipment is needed.
In April, we published our new
Privacy Principles for COVID-19 to
promote best practice for handling
mobile data to fight the spread of the
virus. Recognising the urgency with
which governments must act, the
guidelines provide a tool to address the
privacy issues that must be considered
to ensure public trust.
Our strength – more than 200
mobile network operators in Europe
and 750 globally – remains crucial in
an economic and political environment
responding to demands and concerns in
an evolving situation. The GSMA is more
committed than ever to governance of a
digital world based on common values
that underpin the single market.
As a non-profit association, the
GSMA works across industries to align
best practices around AI and technology
standards for electronic SIM cards,
for example. We coordinate industry
working groups to combat cyber
threats, and to promote the adoption
of international safety guidelines for
electromagnetic exposure.
That work has an urgent sense of
28 MAY 2020 | OUR WORLD