The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority, TRA, has held its sixth 'ICT Development Forum', in the presence of the UAE’s telecommunications service providers and a multitude of stakeholders and professionals.
The forum, chaired by Abdul Rahman Al Nasser, Sr. Director of Infrastructure and Standards at the TRA, discussed various trends in the sector, relevant international developments, and results of the consultation on TRA’s project to keep pace with technology and development. The forum also assessed the status quo of services based on the level of impact to the infrastructure and political landscape in the UAE.
Commenting on the event proceedings, Al Nasser said, "We, in the UAE, are proud to have one of the best infrastructures in the world. The UAE has been at the forefront of Arab countries in the World Economic Forum's Networked Readiness Index 2016. This reflects the robust state of the telecommunications sector in the country and the government's success in reaching key milestones in the ICT sector to drive social and economic growth."
"The UAE has also made great strides in the Telecommunication Infrastructure Index, TII, moving from 25th to 2nd in the world. The sixth edition of the Technology Development Forum comes to discuss issues related to infrastructure and the impact of OTT audio visual media services on infrastructure, and other telecom sector related issues," he added.
During the forum, the TRA gave a presentation on the impact of OTT on infrastructure development and services provided to consumers. Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company, du, also gave a presentation on the vision of OTT service providers in 2020.
The forum included a workshop on new trends and challenges in OTT, bringing together a number of companies such as Microsoft, Google and others working in the same industry. The workshop resulted in a number of recommendations that will be studied with relevant departments and entities, the TRA noted.
The TRA launched the ICT Development Forum in 2015, with an aim to drive innovation in the UAE ICT Sector. It began as a platform to share ideas and knowledge and witnessed the launch of a joint working mechanism to overcome challenges and obstacles.
The forum also aims to promote the concepts of innovation and foresight in the ICT sector at the UAE level by fostering a culture of cooperation at the sector level, thus providing a supportive environment to ensure development of rules and legislation that allow leveraging the great and promising potential and opportunities in this area.