Page 69 - SAMENA Trends - December 2020

REGULATORY & POLICY UPDATES SAMENA TRENDS

ITU And UN-Habitat Partner to Accelerate Digital Transformation of Cities

and Communities

Cities are home to 3.5 billion people, half of humanity, and this and UN-Habitat, building on initiatives such as United for Smart
figure is projected to rise to 5 billion by 2030. Government, Sustainable Cities (U4SSC), an initiative supported by 17 United
industry, academia and civil society are working together to Nations partners with the aim of achieving SDG11: ‘Make cities
accelerate the digital transformation of cities and communities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable’.
to meet today’s challenges and challenges to come. A new This shared experience is now supporting a UN system-wide effort
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the International led by UN-Habitat to develop an Urban Monitoring Framework to
Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the United Nations Human strengthen the links between the national and local monitoring and
Settlements Program (UN-Habitat) highlights their mutual reporting processes supporting sustainable urban development.
commitment to collaborate in support of the innovation required The effort benefits from cities’ experience with U4SSC Key
to achieve the New Urban Agenda and the United Nations Performance Indicators for Smart Sustainable Cities based on
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). ITU is the United ITU standards, indicators that have been adopted by more than
Nations specialized agency for information and communication 100 cities to evaluate their progress towards smart city objectives
technologies (ICTs). UN-Habitat is the United Nations program and the SDGs. The world’s three leading standards bodies ITU,
for human settlements and sustainable urban development. The the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the
MoU supports the collaboration of ITU and UN-Habitat to advance International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) have established
human rights, promote social inclusion and achieve sustainable a Joint Task Force to coordinate international standardization for
urban development. It supports the organizations in encouraging smart cities. The Joint Task Force will engage all stakeholders to
responsible investment and financing for smart city projects as ensure that standards bodies capitalize on synergies to develop
well as inclusive dialogue around the support offered by digital comprehensive standardization solutions for smart cities. ITU
technologies and related standards and guidelines. The leadership standardization work for ‘Internet of Things (IoT) and smart cities’
of ITU and UN-Habitat welcomed the new MoU at a Virtual Forum is led by ITU-T Study Group 20. The standards developed by the
on the Digital Transformation of Cities and Communities, co- group provide technical foundations for smart city innovation,
organized by ITU and UN-Habitat on 7 December 2020. “From helping cities to innovate efficiently and at scale. An important
climate change to the COVID-19 pandemic, ICTs offer new aspect of this work is the development of standards supporting
solutions to the challenges facing cities and communities across sustainable urban development.
the world,” said ITU Secretary-General Houlin Zhao. “With this new
collaboration agreement, ITU and UN-Habitat are committed to
reducing spatial inequality and poverty in communities - as well as
strengthening climate action in urban environments - to promote
social inclusion and achieve sustainable urban development.”
UN-Habitat Executive Director Maimunah Mohammad Sharif
observed that: “Digital technologies and data offer new ways
for urban managers to make informed decisions and strategic
choices. We need to build digital capacity and digital public
infrastructure to ensure that the benefits of the digital revolution
leave no one behind. By bringing together UN-Habitat and ITU, we
have the potential to build the real people-centered smart cities
of the future.” The MoU is a new step in the collaboration of ITU

ITU Calls for Rural Coverage Action

International Telecommunication Union infrastructure is “one of the most urgent skills and affordability as other obstacles
(ITU) Secretary-General Houlin Zhao and defining issues of our time”. He noted to “meaningful participation in a digital
pointed to connectivity gaps in rural areas the pandemic had made the issue more society”. This was found to be especially
as one of the most pressing global issues pressing, given a large portion of people true in developing markets “where mobile
in the wake of Covid-19 (coronavirus), are working and studying from home. ITU telephony and internet access remain too
calling for accelerated network data showed rollouts of mobile networks expensive for many”. The ITU revealed 19
infrastructure deployments to address the have been slowing gradually since 2017, per cent of people living in rural areas in the
problem. Commenting on an ITU report with the body stating coverage this year least developed countries were covered by
on mobile connectivity in developing is “only 1.3 percentage points higher than a 2G network only, while 17 per cent lacked
nations, Zhao said swifter deployment of 2019”. It cited a gender divide, lack of any access to mobile coverage.

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