(This pre-event was by invitation only for regional regulatory associations, regional organisations and regulatory authorities)

The Regional Regulatory Associations / Digital Regulation Network (DRN) Meeting provides a unique platform for Regulatory Associations (RA) to share experiences and knowledge. The aim of the DRN initiative is to accelerate sustainable digital transformation through common approaches to collaborative digital policy, regulation and governance across economic sectors and across borders.

The meeting discussed the “Development of harmonized broadband mapping systems”.

Agenda

• 9h00-9h15 Opening remarks
  • Dr Cosmas Luckyson Zavazava, BDT Director, ITU
  • Dr Ally Yahaya Simba, Executive Secretary of the East African Communications Organization (EACO) and RA Chair
• 9h15-9h30 Presentation on the progress of the ITU Initiative “Digital Regulation Network (DRN) – A collaborative network of networks”
• 9h30-10h30 Discussion and interventions from the Regional Regulatory Associations
  • Way forward
• 10h30-11h00 Coffee break – photo
• 11h00-11h50 Development of harmonized broadband mapping systems
• 11h50-12h00 Closing

Regulatory Associations Website 

This Executive Roundtable was by invitation only

Transformative technologies (AI, big data, IoT, blockchain, robotics, nanotechnology, 3 and 4 D printing, quantum computing, etc.) are profoundly changing all aspects of our lives questioning our policy and regulatory models and governance approaches in an increasingly complex and fragmented environment. The discussion focused on reimagining regulation for positive social and economic impact considering contributions to the GSR-24 Best Practice Guidelines and guidelines presented for adoption.

• Best Practice Guidelines presentation and adoption – Mr George William Nyombi Thembo, Executive Director of Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) and GSR-24 Chair
• Discussion on reimagining regulation for positive social and economic impact

This session convened industry and private sector thought leaders who shared experiences, best practices and concrete proposals to address the complex regulatory and business landscape of the digital ecosystems. The meeting focused on dissecting the key regulatory challenges and opportunities of this decade that are influencing how industry operates, including, but not limited the following areas:

• Digital Infrastructure Development, with a focus on financing and fair share, digital public infrastructure and digital inclusion, security, and privacy, as well as ESG readiness
• Regulation of the future, including reforms required to achieve an equal playing field, and new domains such as AI
• Technologies for the Future:
  • Non-Terrestrial Networks & Terrestrial Networks complementarity to deliver connectivity everywhere.
  • IoT, Advanced 5G & the future 6G technology.
  • Policy, Standards, Technology & Spectrum considerations.

Limited Seats: Preference was given to ITU-D Sector Members. ITU Member States and Regulators were welcome to attend and seating was available on a first-come, first-served basis.

IAGDI-CRO Outcome Statement

This high-level session examined how to adjust the policy and regulatory pendulum to address today’s digital needs while preparing for tomorrow. The conversation started with a Ministerial exchange and continued with regulators and industry players.

• What win-win solutions exist?
• Addressing the financing gap to secure investments and achieve inclusive and sustainable digital development, what works and lessons learned
• How to better leverage from digital infrastructures and technologies to reduce costs for universal access ensure resilience and extend connectivity for all, including those on the move?
• From cross regulatory measures to innovation and collaboration, is it business as usual? Strengthening cross-border digital collaboration
• Mainstreaming collaborative approaches in the digital ecosystems, the role of governments and regulators in providing a coherent approach to complex challenges

The expansion of satellite networks have yielded new space-based applications that can aid critical economic, business and societal challenges.
This session explored regulatory measures and approaches for an inclusive, safe and sustainable space economy, demystifying future services such as mobile satellite direct to mobile end user devices services.

• Understanding the space-based infrastructure, what measures are needed to harness the opportunities and mitigate risks in terms of access (licensing), enforcement, and sustainability?
• The ecosystem comprising different space stakeholders is evolving towards greater complexity, how to address the different requirements?
• Preparing for the future, what services are coming next? Mobile satellite direct to mobile end user services, competing or complementing existing mobile terrestrial services?

The future of space depends on a sustainable framework to regulate and encourage responsible actions in the shared commons. For countries hoping to harness the power of space-based service as well as those hoping to grow their own space sector, this means setting appropriate expectations for safe space operations, and measures to ensure efficient spectrum use as more space-based services are deployed. This workshop discussed the foundational best practices and current debates in space safety, and the spectrum parameters for many space systems to co-exist and flourish and that could be included in a future Space Policy & Regulation Toolkit for step-by-step guidance to regulate new space systems and to enable the use of their services.

• Many soft laws, best practices and standards already exist – what additional policies and regulations will be needed to ensure a robust future of space?
• What behaviors can governments encourage or require for a safe space ecosystem with diverse space stakeholders?
• Earth Exploration Satellite Services are increasing in supply and demand; what regulatory approaches are needed?
• How is the ITU preparing for space sustainability and growth? Updates from WRC-23
• What key regulatory elements should be reviewed to ensure proper oversight to space-based systems and their associated ground networks?

This session examined new policy and governance approaches needed to make the digital economy more available at the national, regional and global level as neither everyone nor everything is connected everywhere.

• Can effective consultation using new tools (e.g. crowd sourcing) be the novel tool to identify black spots and performance of coverage obligations and set regulatory priorities for infrastructure deployment at national, regional and international levels?
• What are some of the approaches that will allow policy makers and regulators to fast-track the achievement of social, economic and environmental goals towards the digitally connected Future We Want for all?
• How can collaboration mechanisms for stakeholders’ engagement pave the way to resilient connectivity for everyone, everywhere, at all times?
• Leveraging alternative technology and infrastructure from other sectors to ensure connectivity and resilience and address the difficult to reach areas

The speed of tech evolution will continue to outpace policy makers and regulators.  The session examined how they can respond to challenges in digital regulation, focusing on:

• Affordability and access to digital public services, how to address the remaining barriers to digital inclusion?
• Digital public infrastructure: regulating the next layer requires bridging historical silos and strengthen collaboration to ensure safety, security, protection of data and privacy. What policy and regulatory measures apply? What works? What doesn’t work?
• Building trust in the transformation process, are we there yet? Deploying and maintaining open- source in government requires new skill sets and sustainable business plans for the maintenance of systems. It also necessitates engagement with open-source communities and local ecosystems. What are the solutions?
• Ensuring quality of service across digital infrastructures, services and applications, who is in charge?

A conversation to dissect barriers and explore mechanisms for greater participation of women in ICT-related fields at the highest levels of policy making, with a view to addressing leadership gender gap in the ICT sector.

Opening remarks and Group Discussions focused on key questions:

• Why is gender balance in the digital ecosystem leadership important and how can we break stereotypes?
• How can a gender perspective inform regulation for impact?
• What policy and regulatory approaches have been, and can be, employed to increase the participation of women in tech operations and leadership?
• Can you share three ITU-D meetings that you have participated in over the last four years and recommendations to increase women’s participation?

Closing

This session discussed regulatory approaches to an enabling safe, secured and inclusive digital financial ecosystem and the challenges of crypto-assets (digital currency) regulation, because of the complexity, anonymity, and online ubiquity of these assets across borders. Nascent regulatory approaches often build on the tradition of banking regulations.

• How to ensure inclusive access to digital financial services?
• There are growing calls to regulate cryptocurrencies. Is this the right approach and who is affected? Who is in charge? Who is responsible?
• How to ensure security of digital transactions? What safeguards exist? Who is in charge?
• Fintech: How to balance innovative regulatory approaches with traditional banking regulations?
• What regulatory measures can regulators and digital players put in place to strengthen consumer safety and trust in digital financial services?

Popular applications of AI include facial recognition systems, self-driving cars, neural networks, photo or object identification, translation and search software, and text chatbots. This session discussed how to meet the regulatory challenges brought by these technologies taking into consideration ethical aspects, standards development, and risk mitigation approaches for responsible AI and robotics.

• Preparing for the expanding AI and robotics economy, do the basics still apply? AI applications, what lessons have we learned so far? What governance model to apply? What role for regulators in this brave new world? How to mitigate risks?
• Leveraging innovative robotic technologies for social good, inclusion and accessibility, what policy and regulatory tools can support SMEs and start-ups in tech offering innovative solutions?
• Regulators need to monitor and consider the implications – present and future – of this fast-moving area, what strategies to adopt to mitigate risks and create trustworthy AI systems?
• How to collaborate with other stakeholders in the AI and robotic space and foster innovation and competition for positive impact?

In this session, young innovators could unveil their groundbreaking applications and solutions in AI and robotics to contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals. This session also delved into the transformative effects of AI across various industries, providing practical insights and success stories that underline the vast potential of AI-powered solutions

This session examineed agile regulatory tools that provide a safe space for digital regulatory experimentation to allow fine tuning of new business models and foster resilience of future networks and services and support evidence-based regulatory decision-making.

• Is Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA), sandboxes and test beds the key to effective regulation?
• What are the challenges and opportunities of regulatory sandboxing?
• How different are RIA and text beds, what other approaches and solutions exist?
• ICT regulators in Colombia, Mexico, France, Thailand and Saudi Arabia have set up sandboxes as an alternative to traditional initiatives. What are some key takeaways?

The ICT sector, a critical driver of global connectivity and technological advancement, stands at the forefront of efforts to combat climate change and tackle e-waste. However, the absence of regulated emissions reporting hinders effective policymaking and challenges our ability to set realistic targets and monitor progress. Recognising this critical gap, the ITU is leading an initiative to address the challenges in monitoring ICT sector Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions. This session discussed what is needed to undertake a comprehensive global GHG emissions data collection effort and to tackle increasing amounts of e-waste from the ICT sector.

• What role do ICTs and transformative technologies play in combatting climate change and fostering environmental sustainability?
• What measures can ICT regulators take to increase the reporting and monitoring of GHG emissions from the ICT sector? What are some of the barriers faced in collecting this data?
• How can ICT regulators support the harmonization of ICT-related GHG emissions data collection methodologies across the global community?
• How to strengthen public-private collaboration to monitor, track and analyze e-waste and GHG emissions reduction?
• How to foster environmental transparency of digital ecosystems?