Sonia Hernandez’s role as CEO of Vodafone Malta has been a long time in the making. She has certainly had a varied career, which began when she studied electrical engineering in Madrid and has since seen her work in Darmstadt, Munich, Sao Paulo, Munich, Rome, Madrid and Luxembourg, before bringing her here to Malta.

“I am now six countries, eight relocations, two large international companies, a husband and two children later,” she says with a smile. “It’s been quite a journey! And while it hasn’t always been easy, every time you move you get stronger, better, and more confident. I feel so blessed to have come to Malta, because my family has settled beautifully, and we really like being here.”

Vodafone Malta, subject to regulatory approval, has been sold to Monaco Telecom. While the telecommunications company confirmed it would not be bringing in its own people, the fate of current Vodafone Malta employees remains to be seen.

Sonia has found the local business scene to be very positive. “Malta is one of those progressive countries that on-boards innovation and disruptive technologies very well, which, for me, is transformative,” she continues.

“It makes the business environment so much more attractive when compared to other, much more traditional and conservative countries. I am impressed by how local family businesses have grown over the years, and how they have expanded their portfolio despite the fact that scale is limited. I am also happy to see that there is interest from international companies that are considering Malta as a country that embraces digital innovation and disruption.”

Asked to describe her role today, Sonia says it’s all about strategy. “Firstly, I set up the right long-term vision for the company, to ensure it fits well with the country’s economic and innovation outlook. Then, I make sure I have the right talent to execute and deliver that strategy and vision. And, finally, I inspire my people to implement it.”

Sonia enthuses about how much she loves her role – and especially the impact and contribution that she can make through it. “Primarily, I love working with our people to help them to grow their talent in our company,” she says.

“Then there’s the impact we have on society, by helping to improve people’s lives overall. I am very passionate about this side of our role in Malta, and I love meeting our stakeholders and customers to understand their needs and how we can best contribute to, and improve, their business.”

Vodafone has long been seen as one of the leading tech visionaries on the island, and this was something that Sonia was keen to develop when she took the helm in the latter half of 2018. That year, the company launched the next generation of the Internet of Things for the first time in Malta, pushing the boundaries of connectivity even further through Narrowband IoT.

Now, Vodafone is in the process of transforming its IT systems, as well as expanding to fibre broadband internet for the first time. And, on top of that, the company also recently demonstrated the country’s first live holographic concert using 5G at the Delta Summit, giving a glimpse of what the future in Malta could look like. Vodafone was the first mobile operator to go live with a 5G demo.

“Innovation is key to the strength and success of our brand,” Sonia goes on to say. “This is why we are taking technological innovation in Malta to the next level, having signed a memorandum of understanding with the Government to promote and harness the very latest disruptive technologies.”

Disruptive technologies are those that displace established technologies and overturn traditional business methods and practices. “Current examples include blockchain, IoT, artificial intelligence and big data,” she details.

And while technology is very much at the crux of so many of her daily decisions and long-term goals, the wider Vodafone purpose is equally important for Sonia. This, she highlights, rests on three main pillars: digital society, inclusion for all, and the planet.

“We’re optimistic about a digital society, new technologies and better products,” she continues. “But we also need to play our part in reducing our environmental impact, which is why ‘planet’ is one of our key pillars.

We were the first to bring Narrowband IoT technology to Malta with the launch of iBins for intelligent waste management, for instance. iBins have the capability to monitor waste levels and feed information back to a central system, which enables GreenPak’s recycling service to prioritise and customise collection routes in the localities it serves across Malta and Gozo.”

Vodafone also launched a smart parking pilot project in Luqa recently, which seeks to improve energy efficiency in transport, better travel awareness among road users, and reduce journey times. “The installation of sensors in parking spaces will be connected to an app and will be accessible for everyone through their phones,” the CEO says.

“On top of that, we want to make sure everyone is included in everything we do and that our technology doesn’t leave anybody behind. The power of technology in people’s hands is something we can use to help bring amazing change to the world.

The Vodafone Malta Foundation, which has been in existence since 2003, has worked on numerous projects that combine charitable giving and technology to make a difference, particularly among the more vulnerable sections of the Maltese community. We call this the ‘Connecting for Good’ programme.

“The Foundation’s flagship project, which will be launched in 2021 in collaboration with the University of Malta, centres on developing cutting-edge technology involving virtual reality to reduce pain, without the use of medication, in children undergoing painful, high-stress hospital procedures.

“In what will be a first in the medical field, the project will combine virtual reality with ‘affective gaming’, meaning that the specially-designed game will be intelligent enough to also determine the user’s emotional and physical state, and adjust the game accordingly in real time so as to distract the child from feeling pain.”

All of this was very much in line with Sonia’s focus for 2019 to ‘connect Malta to a better future’, and she believes the company is very much aligned with its three pillars. “Anything we do at Vodafone – any product we launch, any service we provide – has to be part of this vision,” she says.

As for 2020, Sonia has made it her mission to transform Vodafone Malta into one of the innovation test labs for the Vodafone Group internationally. “My vision is to be able to develop disruptive technology projects in Malta and pilot them fast for the rest of our Group.

"This country is very small compared to other Vodafone markets, but is very progressive and embraces constant innovation. After all, disruption is moving incredibly fast these days, with rapid technological, regulatory and customer behaviour changes. So, embracing disruption is a must and digital transformation is a pre-requisite. I intend to use all this in Malta’s favour.”

Whoswho.mt is proud to be serialising MaltaCEOs 2020, a high-profile publication consisting of 50 in-depth interviews with leading CEOs in Malta.