Page 5 - SAMENA Trends - June-August 2021

EDITORIAL SAMENA TRENDS

Thriving in the Era of Digital Interdependence and

Sustainability Challenges

In times when focused recovery efforts are The fulfillment of these expectations and
required for mitigating losses and newness goals require security, predictability, and
brought forth by the Covid-19 crisis — sustainable investments and partnerships,
which almost took the world by surprise and fit-for-purpose collaborative policy
foreshadowed concerns that there could be and regulation, and targeted demand-
similar or worse crises situations to emerge side approaches, and to an extent, new
in the future, thus reinforcing the need for experimentation. Amidst these priorities,
solid, reliable and resilient communications notably, lie two daunting challenges,
networks more than ever — several urgencies however: first, filling three gaps — the
have been highlighted, including the need to broadband coverage gap, the network
reduce vulnerabilities for both humans and upgrade gap and the broadband adoption
ICT systems, and to build trust in digital gap; and, second, ensuring accelerated
technologies while ensuring protection and pace of adoption of 5G and its meaningful
privacy of data that flows across network use as well as well return on investments for
elements. These urgencies stand tall and Operators. This is not at all easy to do, as it
pronounced against the backdrop of an also involves re-thinking financing, funding, Bocar A. BA
Chief Executive Officer & Board
existing, complex digital ecosystem, which and investment models for sustainable Member
is highly interdependent and demands broadband development. And this is where SAMENA Telecommunications
sustainability, and with which many global innovation and really experimentation Council
as well as nation-level expectations and should be laser-focused at this age and
progress-making are directly linked. in time. Ongoing post-Covid-19 recovery
efforts and our overarching globally-agreed with, is the realization that while digital
All stakeholders in the economic value- goals demand consistency, coherence, transformation and the increasingly
chain are striving to contest negative collaboration, predictability, and enablement digitalized economy brings many
impact on revenues, decreasing ARPU at this critical juncture, the "final decade of benefits, the degree and sustainability
and profit, and a decrease in employment action". of such benefits heavily depend on
for impacted sectors and firms; revenue the local conditions at hand; whether
losses to governments; loss of a degree of As we near 2030, the necessity for digital digital infrastructure is available and
control of governments over non-traditional resilience, resilient networks and robust analogue complements exist; whether
digital communication service providers; connectivity, which are crucial for making services are inclusive and affordable;
and a host of technical issues that relate the most beneficial use of the Internet, whether relevant content and skills are
to Universal Service Requirements, data lie at the heart of how modern human present; and how value is generated
privacy or consumer protection regulations, civilization conducts itself and deals with and whether it is locally captured.
flow of data across borders, taxation, and so new challenges, while paving a path for
on and so forth. new opportunities. We need to ensure we Thriving in this era of digital
account for those opportunities, while being interdependence and sustainability
Expectations put forth by international ICT equally outcome-driven about addressing challenges requires a very coherent,
community, with our region's policymakers challenges and issues that require multi- collaborative action plan. SAMENA
and regulators at the forefront, have lateral approaches, dialogue, collaboration, Council has the privilege to make
conspicuously defined priorities attached and incentivization steps for the Private contributions on these necessary
to them, such as universal access and the Sector, so that sustainable investment and collaboration-building fronts
development of meaningful and affordable digital development happen at the required by building bridges among the
connectivity, which is foundational for pace, and desired benefits for the nations stakeholders, who have the vision to
ensuring digital inclusion and expediting and their governments are achieved. leverage interdependence as a means
digital transformation efforts, to achieve to achieve their own objectives.
human condition-enhancing outcomes. One of the changed realities we are faced

5 JUN-AUG 2021