Page 45 - SAMENA Trends - May 2025

ARTICLE SAMENA TRENDS

With five years remaining to evaluate of a sustainable digital future.
the delivery of the 17 promises made Digitalization is being driven as much Human-Centric, AI-Driven Devel-
by humanity in 2015, making progress by what’s happening within the digital opment Goals of Direct Relevance
direly requires both human intelligence communications industry as it is by to Telecom Operators
and artificial intelligence working what’s around it. Healthcare, education,
together to empower each other…via the manufacturing, and even space, among 1. SDG 1 (No Poverty): By enabling access
digital infrastructure. other sectors, are directly influencing to digital tools and AI technologies,
Operators can empower individuals as
Operators should prioritize helping their human well as Small, Micro, Medium Enterprises
customers be humans and enable their business to scale and succeed, helping reduce
betterment
in
poverty
through
customers to be human-centric. Operators should not livelihoods.
be thinking about the revenues, per se, but about the 2. SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic
Growth): Operators can utilize AI to
value they can continually create – whether through foster entrepreneurship by supporting
strategies, new services and applications, including digital tools that reduce the barriers to
entry for new businesses, especially in
“SuperApps”, or both. In the techco days, the norm UN classified Least Developed Countries
should be experience, empowerment, and reclaiming and the emerging markets. AI can be a
catalyst for growing SMMEs and SMEs.
humanness. 3. SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation, and
Infrastructure): AI can help optimize
Making progress also requires what lies ahead. There is so much going Operators’ network performance,
understanding some key realizations, on, and it needs to be accounted for. enabling faster and more reliable
which could dramatically change connectivity for businesses and
many things for Operators and the ICT While legacy issues remain in some consumers, giving Operators a further-
Industry, at large: known or evolving forms – i.e., solidified edge as the builders of
performing amidst competition, the infrastructure that sustains cross-
First, people, by increasingly leveraging need for a level-playing field, new industrial growth. In this context,
the digital infrastructure to feel more disruptions, monetization and revenue 5G-Advanced offers a compelling case.
equipped with information, inspiration, pressures, new service models, and 4. SDG 10 (Reduced Inequality): Digital
and by peer association, are now transformational pressures, overall – services powered by AI can direct more
wanting to live more consciously. That these realizations lead us into a new opportunities in healthcare, education,
is, end-users are now more attuned to opportunity landscape, ruled over by and employment to underserved
being value-driven, experience-focused, intelligence…and subservient to the communities, which makes Operators
and on deciding for themselves, human interest. a direct contributor in overcoming
intelligently. inequalities and filling the opportunity
Humanness as a Repositioning Oppor- gap.
Second, Operators are uniquely tunity for Telecom Operators 5. SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and
positioned to expand their already Operators should differentiate Communities): Operators can use AI to
well-established role by leveraging themselves not by data speeds alone create smarter, more sustainable cities
the power of artificial intelligence (AI) but by how well they protect humanness; by enhancing urban mobility, energy
within their core networks, at the edge, a natural inclination of people to be, management, and disaster response
and through innovative digital services. and to remain, human. Considering, systems.
With demonstrated infrastructure- Telecom Operators have historically 6. SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption
level prowess, growing expertise, and lacked an emotional connection and Production): AI can help optimize
increasingly more AI-driven capabilities, with their customers. This is a major resource usage, leading to more efficient
Telecom Operators can now contribute repositioning opportunity, which can be production and consumption patterns.
more directly across multiple areas a great compliment to the evolving telco 7. SDG 13 (Climate Action): Operators both
and transform their value-creation and business model. affect and are agents of effect in the
revenue profiles. climate contexts. By harness the power
The premise for this repositioning of AI in energy-efficiency solutions for
And, third, prevailing policy debates, opportunity is that end-users now think the digital infrastructure, Operators have
regulatory approaches, evolution of beyond just using systems. In a world a direct contribution to make in reducing
networks, device designs, or continually where visibility and being respected at carbon footprint and enhancing the
improving modulation techniques, scale are the new currencies, what end- world’s sustainable
no longer suffice as predictors users need is more reclaimed time for

45 MAY 2025