Page 9 - SAMENA Trends - December 2023

FEATURED SAMENA TRENDS

With well-crafted regulations, we can Cybersecurity policy and regulation should
ensure that digital technology is used to be concerned with the welfare of society.
bring benefit to the public, not exploit it, and Moreover, in the interest of the society,
to help support the creation of a secure, Policymakers and Regulators need to view
sustainable, and a bright digital future for the Private Sector as the enabling engine of
both businesses and the society, at large.” ICT-driven nation-building and sustainable
development.
SAMENA Council has been vocal about
having good regulation at the foundation Speaking at GCF 2023 in
of industry development and sustainability. Riyadh, SAMENA Coun-
“Good regulation would help set incentives,
sustain investments, and would guarantee cil, represented by CEO
level-playing field for businesses and varied & Board Member, Bocar 5G EVOLUTION AND USE-CASES
choices for the end-user. The values we Following 5G investments in the region,
want to promote, such as safety, privacy, BA, called for greater the path to 5G and 5.5G growth appears
and security, all require regulations. inclusion, greater inte- to be relatively clear. Treading it, however,
Thus, the role of regulatory authorities is requires critical and timely decisions on all
tremendous, and it requires to be driven gration of technologies parallel fronts, ranging from technology,
by an industry-enablement mindset that and industries, and a lot resources, use-cases, investments, policy
supports digital infrastructure development more collaboration on and regulation, carbon control, and both
for all people.” social and business value-creation.
multiple fronts, includ-

The Best Practice Guidelines adopted at the ing cybersecurity. In efforts to exploit true potential of 5G
GSR-23 International Telecommunication and achieving cross-sector 5G business
Union's Global Symposium for Regulators Speaking at GCF 2023 in Riyadh, SAMENA successes, and building adjacent
(GSR-23) in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, define Council, represented by CEO & Board Mem- vertical ecosystems to reconnect,
regulatory and economic incentives ber, Bocar BA, called for greater inclusion, rebuild, and reimagine a fully-connected,
to stimulate the deployment of digital greater integration of technologies and in- intelligent world powered by 5G/5.5G,
infrastructure for all people everywhere, dustries, and a lot more collaboration on SAMENA Council emphasized on digital
and further adding to SAMENA Council’s multiple fronts, including cybersecurity. transformation, technology integration, and
voice. The complexity of the ecosystem, access economic diversification as being the three
to the network, and numerous uses of the main pillars of inclusive progress for the
SAMENA Council observes that regulatory communication infrastructure, inherently SA-ME-NA region.
agility in the 5G era is more likely to be make network and data security a daunting
achieved in markets where regulators and challenge. Therefore, new priorities need to The Council empha-
governments are already treading the path be defined to ensure a safer, securer, and
to G5 collaborative regulation. sustainable cyberspace. sized on maximizing the
true potential of 5G and
SAMENA Council highlighted the
imperative of elevating cybersecurity to implementing real-life
an important business strategic value. In use-cases across Ports,
his intervention at GCF, SAMENA Council
linked sustainability and future network Education, Healthcare,
deployment, including 6G. He added: “If we Manufacturing, etc.
look at the work being done on 6G, we note
that one of the key targets for developing
6G includes cutting the average power The Council emphasized on maximizing
consumption of 6G networks in half as the true potential of 5G and implementing
compared to 5G, while still supporting peak real-life use-cases across Ports, Education,
SOCIETAL WELFARE & CYBERSECURITY speeds 100 times higher than today’s 5G Healthcare, Manufacturing, etc. Such
Given that the Internet or the cyberspace networks. We are talking about dramatically use-cases, some of which can show
or the information space is central to reducing per-bit energy consumption and strong direct impact of advanced digital
the existence of digital economy and to carbon emissions. Companies such as technologies on the livelihood and well-
new digital capabilities, experiences ,and Nokia and Huawei, both of which are valued being of those working in those industries.
possibilities, we have no choice but to members of SAMENA Council, are making Moreover, SAMENA Council correlated 5G
protect cyber assets. tremendous contributions on future advancements with the ability to connect
network development and deployment.” digital divides around the region.

9 DECEMBER 2023