More than 600 participants from over 120 countries, including government ministers, regulators, representatives from the private sector and academic institutions, met from 9 to12 July in Geneva, Switzerland, to attend ITU's 2018 Global Symposium for Regulators (GSR-18).

GSR, the world's largest specialized gathering of information and communication technology (ICT) regulators and policy specialists from the public and private sector, was chaired this year by Sorin Grindeanu, President of the National Authority for Management and Regulation in Communications (ANCOM), Romania.

Under the theme "New Regulatory Frontiers," the symposium offered participants the opportunity to explore how digital transformation is today impacting all aspects of our daily lives and extending regulatory frontiers.

"Ensuring that digital transformation benefits everyone, everywhere is a defining challenge of the twenty-first century," said Houlin Zhao, ITU Secretary-General. "ITU's Global Symposium for Regulators plays an important role in this process. It supports regulators to identify policies that create strong enabling environments where ICTs can be leveraged for the maximum benefit of all – and attainment of the UN Sustainable Development Goals."

A key output of GSR each year is the document, Best Practice Guidelines on New Regulatory Frontiers, adopted by participating regulators, which aids to:

• Foster the potential of emerging technologies for digital transformation
• Promote business and investment models to support digital transformation
• Enable policy and regulatory approaches for continued innovation and progress

"The Best Practice Guidelines document is the the golden nugget that regulators from all regions shape together every year, and through which are established international benchmarks," said Mr Grindeanu. "The newly adopted guidelines will allow us to respond to the changing landscape, to address the continuing need for secure and reliable ICT infrastructure and affordable access to and delivery of digital services – as well as to protect consumers and maintain trust in ICTs."

The symposium focused on a wide range of issues, including: emerging technologies for digital transformation, artificial intelligence for development, new regulatory frontiers, digital identity across different platforms, the protection of personal data in a smart data-driven economy, and new sustainable investment models.

"We live in an era of digital transformation that is fundamentally changing our economies and societies, and improving service delivery in many sectors," said Brahima Sanou, Director of the ITU Telecommunication Development Bureau. "The message that resonates from this GSR is that innovative policy and regulatory measures are needed to respond to the changing ICT landscape and to address the need for affordable and secure access and use of digital services. Regulators need to keep pace with advances in technology and address the new regulatory frontiers."

Also during GSR-18, a meeting of the Private Sector Chief Regulatory Officers was held in conjunction with the first meeting of the Industry Advisory Group for Development Issues (IAGDI). It was designed to facilitate discussion and information sharing on emerging digital technologies.

The IAGDI meeting, moderated by Bocar Ba, Chief Executive Officer of the SAMENA Telecommunications Council and Chair of the Private Sector Chief Regulatory Officers' meeting, called for action to facilitate access to connectivity in a sustainable manner by fostering inclusiveness, enabling broad deployment of infrastructure, driving up broadband adoption and creating an environment where innovation can flourish.

GSR-18 also hosted a meeting of regulatory associations, chaired by Johannes Gungl, CEO of the Austrian Regulatory Authority for Broadcasting and Telecommunications (RTR) and Chair of the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC). At the meeting, delegates had the opportunity to share information with regulatory colleagues from different regional regulatory associations and other organizations, and to discuss potential areas of information exchange with a particular focus on infrastructure sharing.

A thematic "Global Dialogue on Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things and Cybersecurity – Policy and regulatory challenges and opportunities," was held on 9 July. Participants noted that the positive impact of artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things and other emerging technologies needs to be harnessed to empower individuals and communities for the attainment of sustainable development. Participants also called for the prioritization of the detection and prevention of cyber threats.

During the symposium, a new "AI for Development Series" of publications was launched. The first issue of the series aims to promote further discussion, collaboration and understanding among policy-makers and regulators on the significance of artificial intelligence – as well as the policy and regulatory issues that are emerging from its development.

The next ITU Global Symposium for Regulators will be held in Vanuatu from 9 to 12 July 2019.

Background information, including high-level participants' speeches, is available in the GSR-18 Newsroom and on the GSR-18 Website.

View the GSR-18 Highlights video and GSR-18 Photos.

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