Adoption of the GSR best practice guidelines

Panel discussion: Collaborative regulation for digital transformation

• A whole of governance approach - the voice and role of sectoral regulators (energy, competition, broadcasting, digital content, data protection, financing)
• Empowering stakeholders - from consultation to co-regulation – every voice counts!
• Moving the regulatory cursor to adapt to a changing ecosystem
• Impact of regulatory tools - evidence based regulation

This joint ITU-USTTI event provided regulatory officials with information and insights on how emerging technologies can accelerate the digital transformation process, and how such smart technologies and innovation have strengthened digital resilience. This training session saw subject matter experts further discuss how these emerging technologies interact with key policy and regulatory trends.

This webinar came at a time when COVID-19 has highlighted the strategic importance of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) networks and services for society and economies around the globe.

This session of the Road to Addis series focused on Leadership as a driving force to achieve digital transformation and universal connectivity.

The session was part of the Global Symposium of Regulators (GSR) 2021 core sessions programme. It featured leaders from different disciplines who can share valuable lessons about their own experience accomplishing the unimaginable, providing insight and inspiration to Symposium delegates around the world.

The session aimed to answer the following questions:

• What constitutes a great leader today and what skills will be required for the leaders of the future?
• What kind of leadership is needed to enable the digital transformation of an entire planet?
• What leadership lessons can be applied to solving the universal and inclusive connectivity challenge by 2030?
• What does it take to help people accomplish the unimaginable?

Session Objectives:

• Identify the leadership principles that are required to achieve universal and inclusive connectivity and the accomplishment of the SDGs.
• Inspire attendees of the GSR and the global online community with real life examples of global leaders from different spheres that have accomplished the unimaginable.
• Share leadership lessons from different sectors and assess how they can be applied to connectivity for sustainable development.

Learn more about the event agenda and speakers Here

The Regional Regulatory Association Meeting (RA) focused on the role of regional and international organizations in promoting Broadband mapping tools to foster investment and competition for inclusive and sustainable connectivity.

The Regional Regulatory Associations Meeting provides a unique platform for Regulatory Associations to share experiences and knowledge, to discuss how they can collaborate, and to identify means to bring affordable, safe, secure and trusted connectivity and online access and use to people in their respective regions.

RA Website and Final Report

• The importance of sharing: spectrum, networks, infrastructure co-deployment, etc
• How to balance affordability, RoI and technologies innovation? Why regulation matters
• Fair competition in a globalized digital world: a dream? lifting the remaining regulatory, commercial and business anticompetitive practices
• Building digital resilience: Lessons learned from the pandemic and addressing urgent challenges (climate change, emergency, etc)

A Conversation between youth and regulators/industry

Financing Universal Access to Digital Technologies and Services

The ITU World Bank Digital Regulation Platform

• Reviewing the USO concept to address the digital ecosystem
• Innovative funding approaches and financial solutions, lessons from the other sectors
• Do traditional financing models still apply? Reforming approaches to USF
• Regulation as an enabler

• REG4COVID website
• Publication Pandemic in the Internet age
• Publication Economic Impact on Digitisation, ICT Regulation Series

• Driving digital deepening across infrastructure and the platform value chain (from satellite to terrestrial, wireless services, cloud services and digital platforms)
• Fostering emerging technologies uptakes: a case for regulatory sandboxes, co-regulation, self-regulation to enhance digital for economic and social development
• Regulatory innovation driving local development and entrepreneurship
• Cross sectoral regulatory incentives to foster local and young entrepreneurs to contribute and benefit from smart digital transformation

The Network of Women for WTDC (NoW4WTDC) is a platform for collaboration and exchange of information to increase the number of women participating in ITU-D meetings . It is also a platform to encourage more women to take up leadership roles, such as committee chairs, working group chairs in the conference structures, and other management roles in the preparatory processes for the WTDC itself, and beyond. It provides the opportunity to share important lessons in a supportive community including mentorship.

The objective of the side event was to spark conversations that infuse diverse perspectives from experiences to help build capacity of potential women leaders in National Regulatory Agencies, ICT policy agencies and in the industry in general.

The topic of discussion at the side event during GSR 2021 were: “Promoting women leadership in the ICT regulatory and policy space.” The session featured three female leaders in a fireside chat. It allowed these leaders to share their perspectives and journey in leadership in the ICT industry, and also share experiences helpful in encouraging appropriate measures that will enable more women to ascend into executive roles.

In addition to the launch of the mentorship programme and the call for mentors in May 2021, the call for mentees was made at this 24 June side event. The ITU Telecommunication Development Bureau (BDT) also released the results of the survey on the call for mentors, as well the survey carried out to seek views of members on preferred communication platforms.

Learn more about the Network of Women for WTDC (Now4WTDC)

• Achieving safe child digital inclusion – a coordinated policy response
• Child empowerment - the role of the regulator
• Fostering child online safety (COP): a regulatory and industry perspective
• How to keep everyone safe during times of crisis

Some of the highlighted tools will be:

• G5 Benchmark Fifth Generation Collaborative Regulation COMING SOON
• ICT Regulatory Tracker
• Global ICT Regulatory Outlook Series

How can collaborative regulation help?

• Moving the regulatory cursor to adapt to a changing ecosystem
• Driving transformation: setting a platform for partnership fostering a whole of governance approach in the digital ecosystem
• Extending partnerships to non-traditional stakeholders: the regulator as a cross sectoral, collaborative partner
• Driving digital investment for sustainable development (linked to SDGs)

  (15h40-15h50) ITU-FCDO partnership for school connectivity and digital inclusion