Page 5 - SAMENA Trends - December 2023

SAMENA COUNCIL ADVOCACY SAMENA TRENDS

M360 MENA

SAMENA Council's Active Participation Reinforces Need for Continued
Stakeholder Dialogue & Resolve in Tackling Universal Connectivity &
Emerging Technology Issues

Focused on the transformative power of Universal connectivity and co-operation in digital
AI, IoT and edge computing, cybersecurity
threats and approaches, digital inclusion development go hand in hand. Therefore, it is
and future opportunities for 5G, M360 imperative to bring hundreds of millions of people
brought together members of the Telecom/
ICT community, with SAMENA Council as a within SA-ME-NA closer to digital prospects, bridge
key contributor of views and insights in the varying digital gaps in both coverage and usage as
discussions.
well as affordability, while also addressing emerging
Bocar BA, CEO of SAMENA Council, during issues in technology deployment, such as data bias
his talk in the universal connectivity panel,
emphasized on the need for infrastructure challenges in AI implementations.
investments, affordable technology, and
balancing regulatory objectives. ture is available for the increasingly band- Universal connectivity and co-operation
width-hungry and complex services and in digital development go hand in hand.
SAMENA Council has consistently drawn content, especially in a highly inter-con- Therefore, it is imperative to bring hundreds
attention to the need to equip Operators nected and cyber-threat prone environ- of millions of people within SA-ME-NA
to invest in infrastructure development in ment. Thus, SAMENA Council believes, closer to digital prospects, bridge varying
order to fulfill the global vision for universal the Industry needs to adopt a multi-prong digital gaps in both coverage and usage as
connectivity, which involves ensuring that collaboration and incentivization strategy well as affordability, while also addressing
everyone is connected, remains connected, among Operators and Governments. emerging issues in technology deployment,
and that adequate and secure infrastruc- such as data bias challenges in AI imple-
mentations.

SAMENA Council observes that future
network deployment, including 6G, would
greatly require attention to fulfilling environ-
mental, social and economic sustainability
requirements, as well as supporting the
goals of the Paris Agreement of the United
Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change. On the latter front, SAMENA Coun-
cil contributed by bringing Mobility-sector
and Telecom-sector stakeholders together
in a discussion, held during COP28 in Dubai.

Global policy development for new digital
technologies is a formidable challenge, and
thus requires extensive policy, regulation,
and governance-centric dialogue among
the stakeholders, which should help gener-
ate both nation-specific as well as collec-
tive, global benefits.

5 DECEMBER 2023