It is my pleasure to be here today with you at this Regional Regulatory Association and Digital Regulation Network meeting.
Firstly, I would like to thank Dr. Ally Simba, Executive Secretary of the East African Communications Organization (EACO), for accepting to Chair the Regional Regulatory Associations' /DRN Meeting. I also want to convey my appreciation to all the representatives of the Regional Regulatory Associations and their members, for joining us today physically and virtually.
As we gather here today, we stand at the intersection of regulation and innovation, recognizing the pivotal role that collaboration plays in shaping our regulatory landscape for the better.
It is a reality that national approaches can only be effective if regularly reviewed, and renewed underpinned by consistent regional and global strategies.
To this end, and to support Regional Regulatory Associations in their key role of disseminating policy and regulation information, tools, and guidelines among their country members, last year I launched the Digital Regulation Network (DRN) at GSR. The aim remains, to accelerate sustainable digital transformation through common approaches to collaborative digital policy, regulation, and governance across economic sectors and borders, working directly with Regional Regulatory Associations (RAs) and their members at the regional and global level.
Under this initiative, we work to achieve our shared goals and priorities through three main building blocks of the DRN Initiative: Capacity Development, Thought Leadership, and Regulatory Experimentation and Innovation.
I am pleased to share that over the past year, the Digital Regulation Network has successfully channeled multistakeholder efforts towards upgrading regional regulatory capacity. It has sparked cross-sector collaboration for accelerating the sustainable digital transformation.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Let me highlight some key DRN activities, which will be presented in more detail later in this session:
- Firstly, DRN members will benefit from the work of the joint Broadband mapping project for Africa under a partnership between ITU and the European Commission.
- Secondly, DRN members continue to pro-actively share experiences in regional and global meetings and ITU-D study group meetings.
- Thirdly, through the DRN capacity building continue to be delivered through workshops and online training on Digital Regulation.
But we must scale up our efforts. I count on your expertise and your commitment to help drive further the work of this Digital Regulation Network of Regional Regulatory Associations to include twinning between regulators. I am sure that working together, we will be able to achieve impact and accelerate sustainable digital transformation through common approaches across economic sectors and across borders.
Within this context, we will be launching a new call for DRN Board members to accelerate and broaden engagement in the initiative and scale up the scope of work undertaken to date. Through this call we will be seeking interested candidates from Regional Regulatory Associations to become DRN Board members and provide strategic direction, knowledge, and support. This is in line with our objective of accelerating sustainable digital transformation through unified approaches to collaborative digital policy, regulation, and governance across economic sectors and borders.
Let us uphold the spirit of collaboration. Our collective strength lies in exchanging knowledge, harmonizing regulatory approaches, and coordinating actions for maximum impact.
I strongly believe that it is only through our collective efforts and shared commitment to collaboration, that we will be able to chart a course toward a more resilient, inclusive, and digitally empowered future.
I look forward to hearing your experiences and tapping into your collective wisdom in our discussions.
Thank you for your attention.
