Page 14 - SAMENA Trends - May-June 2023
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LEADERS' SUMMIT 2023 SAMENA TRENDS
"Trust is to meet and exceed user’s Notable Developments during the
expectation. TDRA established Leaders' Summit 2023
cybersecurity unit in 2008, to secure • During the SAMENA Council Leaders' Summit 2023, the
the digital environment for every users. WSIS panel explored how to maximize the potential that
It also developed new initiatives to lead accelerated digital transformation can bring to emerging
markets as well as how best to foster and entrench
to a trust from end-users. It’s like a coin multi-stakeholder digital trust. Best experiences and
has two side, one side is the users, and practices were shared, to identify actions that could be
undertaken to build trust and best realize the use of ICTs
the other side is the government, the for a sustainable, connected, intelligent future for all.
digital service provider, and the telecom • At the Leaders' Summit 2023, led by the UAE
and vendors... All these different roles Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory
Authority, Etisalat UAE by e&, Du Telecom, INFRAX,
needs to be responsibly carried out, with Quanray, HTC, Lierda Science and Technology Group Co.
good governance, policies, procedures Ltd, and Huawei jointly launched the 5.5G OpenLab. The
lab is dedicated to building a 5.5G ecosystem alliance,
and good technology use." testing ecosystem interoperability, and developing
advanced use cases for consumers, homes, and industry
- Eng. Adel Rashed Almehairi sectors.
Director, aeCERT • During the Summit, the cybersecurity-focused
discussion drew attention to lack of diversity in the
cybersecurity workforce as being a pressing issue,
with women representing only 24% of the global
cybersecurity workforce. To address the talent shortage,
organizations need to take a multi-faceted approach.
This includes increasing investments in cybersecurity
education and training programs, creating new pathways
into the cybersecurity profession, promoting diversity
and inclusion in the workforce, and adopting new
technologies and practices that can help automate some
of the routine tasks currently performed by cybersecurity
professionals.
• The SAMENA Council Leaders' Summit 2023 also
brought together stakeholders to discuss IMT spectrum
in new light. Given the rate of 5G expansion, with the next
5 years expected to see GCC achieve 85% penetration
rate, consequential 5G traffic will rise exponentially,
further contributing to data pressures on mobile
networks. Having undergone testing, 6GHz spectrum
has proven to provide suitable coverage, comparable
to C band, and to enable contiguous deployment, thus
dramatically ensuring better mobility. Moreover, due
to coverage and capacity balance achievable through
6GHz, sustainability and carbon neutrality imperatives
also appear to be more achievable with this frequency
range if dedicated fully for IMT use. Given this rationale,
6GHz for public mobile network use cannot only
accelerate digital transformation across urban and far-
flung areas, it can improve ROI on 5G investments and
thus enable more capital flow in meeting the overarching
goal of universal connectivity. It would be more practical
to reserve 6GHz for IMT use instead of allocating it to
Wi-Fi use. It is critical that regional decision-makers take
at least preliminary decisions on this front in the wake
of WRC-23.
14 MAY-JUNE 2023
