Global Symposium for Regulators
Opening remarks
Doreen Bogdan-Martin
Director, ITU Telecommunication Development Bureau
Wednesday July 10, 9:00am
Honorable Charlot Salwai Tabimasmas, Prime Minister of the Republic of Vanuatu
Mr Brian Winji, Telecommunications, Radiocommunications and Broadcasting Regulator and Chair of GSR-19
Mr Houlin Zhao, Secretary-General of ITU
Mr Gerard Metsan, Chief Information Officer, Office of the Government of Vanuatu
Mr Mario Maniewicz, Director of ITU Radiocommunication Bureau,
Distinguished delegates,
Ladies and gentlemen,
What a great pleasure it is to join you all here in the beautiful Pacific island of Vanuatu, and to welcome you to the 2019 edition of the Global Symposium for Regulators.
I would like to extend an extra-special thank you to the Government of Vanuatu for so generously offering to host us, and for making us all so welcome.
A few days ago, I had the pleasure to grab some vacation days with my family to discover beautiful Vanuatu. We have been marvelled by your beautiful country, the underwater sea life and, most importantly, the kindness and cheerfulness of its people.
I would also like to take this opportunity to congratulate Mr Brian Winji, the newly-appointed Regulator of Vanuatu. I look forward to working with you and to embarking on the GSR-19 adventure together. Thank you for accepting to be the Chair of this edition of GSR.
Distinguished GSR-19 delegates,
Since the first edition of the GSR back in the year 2000, ICTs have been driving transformational change at an ever-more rapid pace. In just a few short years technology has become the fundamental cornerstone of each and every economic sector.
With ICTs now critical to every country's economic prosperity, ITU believes all regulators – from the largest markets, to the smallest – benefit from international dialogue and exchange.
As Director of the Telecommunication Development Bureau, and a member of the team that pioneered this event almost 20 years ago, I am extremely proud of the role ITU plays as a catalyst in promoting regulatory best practice and 'digital access for all', and dialogue.
At the heart of ITU's Global Symposium for Regulators is helping countries leverage the huge opportunities that connectivity brings.
GSR delegates might not spend their days laying cables or installing base stations. But make no mistake: our work this week will be just as vital to efforts to achieve truly 'inclusive connectivity'.
We all know, getting the ICT policy frameworks right is what ultimately creates the essential enabling environment for growth and development of communications services.
It is those services that now underpin the future of every economy.
We also know what a vital role ICTs can play in helping countries implement early warning, humanitarian response and disaster mitigation strategies.
This is an issue of enormous relevance to Vanuatu and other Small Island Developing States of the Pacific Rim.
Vanuatu is now ranked Number One as the country most at risk from catastrophic weather events, and we all know that the impact of such events can levy an extremely heavy toll on vulnerable nations, in both human and economic terms.
I had the pleasure to visit the Vanuatu National Disaster Management Office and learn how technologies are being used here for disaster preparedness, early warning and response. The country is a great example for climate action.
I am sure you will all remember that, in 2015, Vanuatu was hit by Cyclone Pam, a category 5 tropical storm.
The impact of that devastation can still be seen today. At that time, ITU deployed ICT equipment to support national relief efforts. Our cooperation with Vanuatu has strengthened since then, and today we are working together to prepare the national emergency telecommunication plan to promote communication and information sharing across all levels of government, within communities at risk, and between public and private organizations.
I am particularly pleased that this year's GSR programme will feature an emergency telecoms simulation exercise aimed at showcasing the potential of technology, as well as at highlighting the regulatory issues we need to address if we are to fully leverage that potential.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The release of the report of the UN Secretary-General's High Level Panel on Digital Cooperation last month leaves us in no doubt whatsoever that ICTs will play a pivotal role in helping each and every country attain the 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
At the end of last year, ITU announced to the world that we had passed the milestone of 50% global connectivity.
That gave us great cause to celebrate. But it must also give us pause.
Half the world connected also means half the world NOT connected.
And we know that connecting that remaining 50% isn't going to be quite so simple.
For tomorrow's digital opportunities to fully materialize, innovative approaches to policy and regulation are more urgently required than ever.
Achieving our goal of 'connectivity for all' means finding new ways of reaching out to remote and isolated communities.
It means reaching places where other basic infrastructure – like reliable electricity – may not always be a given.
It means reaching out to people who may struggle with literacy and numeracy; who may be surviving on very low incomes; or who may live with a range of disabilities caused by lack of basic healthcare.
It means finding ways of connecting people who, right now, lack the digital skills to fully leverage the power of ICTs to improve their lives.
The theme of this year's GSR, 'Inclusive Connectivity: The Future of Regulation', focuses on what we call '5th generation regulation'.
What does that mean? If I had to sum up the concept in one word, it would be this: COLLABORATION.
Regulation has entered a new age. As mobile phones become the portals to an ever-growing array of online services, you, as regulators, are having to grapple with a host of new challenges – from digital identity to data protection and privacy, blockchain, the implications of artificial intelligence, and much more.
Distinguished colleagues,
Business as usual, where stable, transparent regulatory frameworks were almost all that was required to ensure the market did the work of actually connecting people, isn't going to work in this new era.
But with ICTs so critical to economic growth, we know that getting the right regulatory frameworks in place is vitally important to every country's future.
ICTs are no longer just about communicating. Today's regulators have a crucial role to play in sustainable and inclusive social and economic development. In short, in creating a fairer, more equitable world where everyone gets his or her chance to shine.
Things have changed a lot since ITU launched this event back in the year 2000.
In the year 2000, there were 398 million Internet users; 6.6% of the world was connected.
738 million mobile cellular subscribers.
Broadband hardly existed.
Today, 51.2% of the world population is online. There are 8.2 billion mobile cellular subscribers, 1.1 billion fixed lines, and 5.3 billion mobile broadband subscribers.
We have to make sure this growth continues.
How many of you were with us at GSR in 2000?
A glance back at the agenda of that first-ever GSR reveals that the focus was on helping countries actually set up their own ICT regulatory frameworks; on the birth of the first regional regulatory associations; and on the impact of technological convergence. We even had a side-event on gender issues – an issue that is still a challenge in the ICT sector.
Since that very first GSR the number of regulators has increased by more than 6o entities to reach 168. We are pleased to have so many of them here with us today. The newest regulators are in Ethiopia – that regulatory authority was established last month – and in Somalia. Here in the region, the newest are in Nauru and in the Federated States of Micronesia. They have just been created and they are joining us for the first time.
Distinguished delegates,
Since the year 2000, the evolution of our industry has never ceased to accelerate. Every year brings major new developments, and with them, new challenges.
We live in exciting times, and I firmly believe that digital platforms represent our best opportunity EVER to close the development gap and drive global prosperity.
Let's use our week here in Vanuatu to:
- think outside the box,
- to be bold,
- to dare to dream up new ways of doing business that will create win-win-win scenarios that deliver rapid benefits to governments, industry AND, most importantly, ICT users. It is all about people.
The global spotlight is on us. Let's step up to the challenge!
