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2017 Daily Highlights 2

Nigeria @ ITU Telecom World 2017

Today marked Nigeria Day, and the Nigerian Pavilion was lively with guests and media for its official opening. ITU Secretary-General, Houlin Zhao spoke warmly of the Nigerian support of ITU Telecom World events in this as well as previous years. The Nigeria Pavilion featured innovative products from SMEs and leading industry players driving the growth of Nigeria’s digital ecosystem. The Nigerian Communications Commission, which regulates the country’s high-growth telecoms sector, was also present to network and engage with participants to showcase developments and opportunities in the sector. The pavilion also hosted top government officials from the Ministry of Communications to engage at a high-level on flagship national projects and initiatives to deepen connectivity for better socio-economic impact.​

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2017 Daily Highlights 2

Memorandum of Understanding: ITU and Korea Institute of Finance

A Memorandum of Understanding was signed today to formalise the intentions of ITU and Korea Institute of Finance to work together with research and study into digital finance.  The use of digital finance could boost the annual GDP of emerging economies by US$ 3.7 trillion by 2025. The reliance on Fintech brings with it a need for policy and technical standards for digital finance.  Dr Cheasub Lee, Director of ITU’s Telecommunication Standardization Bureau and My Myong Hwal Lee, Vice President of Korea Institute of Finance signed respectively.

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2017 Daily Highlights 2

Memorandum of Understanding: ITU and CRMS

ITU Telecom World is renowned as a place to collaborate and commit to future goals.  Today saw the landmark signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the ITU and the CRMS of the Ministry of Science & ICT of the Republic of Korea on Space Radio Frequency Monitoring.  Mr. Francois Rancy signed on behalf of ITU and Mr. Moon, Director General of the CRMS signed on behalf of Rep. of Korea.

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2017 Daily Highlights 2

Huawei Press Conference

Mr. Veni Shone, Vice President of Wireless Solution from Huawei addressed the media at a press conference that outlined Huawei’s commitment to work with ITU to connect the unconnected.  Over 50 million families are using 4G and it is expected that 1 billion will connect through wireless broadband by 2030.  Huawei’s White Paper “4G Wireless Broadband Industry” gave insight into the initiatives that have impacted communities across the world.

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New Trends in Spectrum Management

Smart cities are becoming a reality around the world – we are moving towards a seamlessly, wirelessly, connected society, whereby the Internet of Things (IoT) and 5G are revolutionizing our lives, and innovative solutions such as TV White Space (TVWS) are helping to connect the most remote, rural, and densely populated places on earth. Yet during this evolution, somewhere along the way, billions of people have been left behind.

Four billion people, to be precise, are living without Internet access globally. This is causing a digital divide, which will only widen unless it is tackled head-on. Connecting the unconnected is an ongoing process – it won’t happen overnight. There are numerous challenges that must be solved and overcome to improve global connectivity. One such challenge of the digital divide is spectrum management.

Around the world there is a perception that spectrum scarcity is a barrier to connectivity. But in real terms, most spectrum is unused most of the time in most places – spectrum is abundant if utilized and managed appropriately. The use of spectrum sharing, through unlicensed and lightly-licensed spectrum, has the potential to alleviate at least some of the issues faced by the unconnected around the world.

The unprecedented, and ever-growing, demand for spectrum that we are currently witnessing requires new approaches to spectrum management and new tools to drive much more intensive and efficient use of spectrum compared to what we have seen before.

Dynamic spectrum management is an under-utilized approach that has the potential to revolutionize connectivity as we know it. When used effectively, it enables an understanding of what spectrum is used at any given location, and the protection requirements of the incumbent user, and an opportunistic use that does not interfere with the incumbent services.

This approach should not be viewed as a stand-alone technique, but as one of many complimentary solutions that can work in harmony, with the same end goal. There should be a balanced approach to spectrum management, which encompasses unlicensed, lightly-licensed, and licensed spectrum to get the most out of the spectrum we have available.

This approach is already being implemented around the world through TVWS technology, which is enabled through broadcast spectrum and is currently being trialled in the United States, Africa, and in parts of Scotland and Wales in the UK. The Citizen’s Broadcast Radio Service (CBRS) in the US is taking dynamic spectrum management to the next level by coordinating incumbent, licensed, and lightly-licensed users, to drive a much more intensive and efficient use of spectrum.

This kind of unifying approach will be crucial to the future of connectivity around the world, as we attempt to connect the remaining four billion, while also reducing the current digital divide and ensuring this kind of inequality does not gain momentum.

The demand for spectrum, for future data-hungry services including 5G, the IoT, and ‘smart’ applications, will be significant and there is no realistic chance to displace the number of incumbent services necessary to clear that spectrum in the traditional manner – particularly in the timeframe necessary to provide these services. Dynamic sharing provides the most efficient way to make new spectrum available because it starts by protecting the incumbent services. Sharing and co-existence must be part of the solution going forward.

I look forward to attending ITU World Telecom in September (25-28, Busan, Republic of Korea) and participating in a lively discussion on ‘New Trends in Spectrum Management’, which will cover aspects of this blog post in more depth.

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2017 Daily Highlights 2

Innovative Corporate Strategies in the Era of the 4th Industrial Revolution

Representatives from KT, Nokia, Huawei joined together to discuss the huge potential for socio-economic development in terms of building and delivering personalized products and services, in the session sponsored by the host country, Republic of Korea’s Ministry of Science and ICT.

The 4th industrial revolution offers huge potential for socio-economic development in terms of building and delivering personalized products and services at scale, dramatically increasing productivity and revenue, and creating new business models, competitors and markets.

Hossein Moiin, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer for Nokia Mobile Networks was optimistic that efficiency will be improved in the coming networks that enable the 4th industrial revolution. As he said, we could see a “30% productivity increase with ICT in all sectors by digitizing services.” While optimistic, he noted that investments are needed along with the right regulatory frameworks – to foster investments and ensure that the right resources are allocated.

“In the 4th industrial revolution, digitization is a must,” said Marcelo Motta, Digital Transformation and Big Data Market Management, VP of Marketing, Huawei Technologies. He discussed the ways that 5G is will allow faster speeds, enabling download of an 8G Byte movie in 6 seconds. He also alluded to the dramatic increase in connections per square kilometer. As he said, right now approximately there are 3-6 devices per person nowadays and, in the future, + 100 sensors per person with IoT.

Dongmyun Lee, CTO & Head of the Institute of Convergence Technology, KT Corporation discussed their plans for the upcoming 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang to premiere 5G and other new services, such as personalized viewing at the games. “Unlike current media experience, where we just view it. We want interactivity in services. You can choose the place and time you want to see in great detail…” he said. The old broadcast concept will be gone within several years. Personalized viewing will become more relevant. That is just one service that the revolution will enable.

In addition to new services, the 4th industrial revolution may dramatically change the way we manufacture, connect, analyse and operate, creating new opportunities and new business models in the years to come.

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2017 Daily Highlights 2

Global SMEs pitch innovative solutions

Entrepreneurs from countries around the world continued pitching their creative ideas and innovative solutions in the SME space at ITU Telecom World 2017. In the presence of H.E Rudiantara, Minister of Communication and Information Technology, Indonesia, the SMEs shortlisted for the prestigious ITU Telecom World Global SME Award pitched to a jury, comprising social entrepreneurship and tech experts.

Pitches spanned areas including drones, tech financing, location-based grocery shopping, multilingual robots, health monitoring, prenatal telemedicine, IoT-enabled poultry incubators, disaster recovery, face recognition and secure payment services, featuring:

Poland

  • FlyTech UAV

Indonesia

  • Kampung UKM Digital Belimbing
  • Modalku
  • Tukang Sayur

 

United States of America

  • AKA Intelligence
  • InvestED
  • KonoLabs

Sudan

  • Nile Centre for Technology Research

Azerbaijan

  • Healthy Living Support

Japan

  • Melody International

Benin

  • Belle Imagerie
  • BTech
  • GO Incubator

China

  • Shanghai Terjin Radio Technology co. ltd

Korea

  • ESE co. ltd.
  • Man Technology
  • Neosecu
  • Nexpay co.ltd.
  • Opus One
  • Rsupport co. ltd.
  • Security Platform inc.
  • Stealien

During each 10 minute pitch, SMEs were grilled by the jury on business and pricing models, competitive advantage, USP, competitors and projected revenues. You can find out who the ITU Telecom World Award winners are at the ITU Telecom World Awards Ceremony on 28 September!

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2017 Daily Highlights 2

Enter the ICT Olympics at the Korea Pavilion

To a backdrop of high-speed luge, real-life ski jumps and figure-skating- and the background soundtrack from “Frozen”- the Korea Pavilion highlighted the state of the art technologies which will power the upcoming PyeongChang Winter Olympics, delivering a truly immersive experience for visitors. Technologies on show and to experience included 5G, AI, IoT, VR, UHD and UWV.

A VR ski jump simulator, constructed with a similar angle to an actual ski jump and using images based on a ski jump centre gave delegates a real-life experience of ski jumping. Delegates were also invited to join an interactive game copying cute Olympic mascot, Soohorang, as he skis, bobsleighs and prances his way round the world- even in 3D (no glasses even required!)

The IoT zone showcased an IoT luge performance analysis tool, which will be used to measure the tensions of athletes when they descend, by collecting heart rate data.

UHD (Ultra high definition) broadcasts will provide a viewing experience with 4 times the resolution of current terrestrial television, helping viewers capture the real adrenaline rush of winter sports. The UWV zone treated ITU Telecom World 2017 delegates to a spectacular wider angled (120-180 degrees) view of sporting events such as speed or figure skating, showing numerous UHD panoramic videos which have used stitching technology to converge videos, filmed separately using several cameras.

Multiple ‘time sliced’ cameras using 5G features will help track the position of fast-moving players, skaters, even a bobsleigh run, delivering a true winter sports experience and the chance to experience high-adrenaline sports even from the perspective of the competitors.

With only 5 months to go until the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics action gets underway, it’s clear that the innovatively used technologies showcased at ITU Telecom World 2017 will ensure that Olympics visitors will experience a cutting-edge ICT Olympics in 2018 too.

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2017 Daily Highlights 1

Pitching begins for Global SME Award!

Pitching got underway today in the SME theatre as the SMEs shortlisted for the prestigious ITU Telecom World Global SME Award began pitching their innovations and creative ideas to the jury, comprising social entrepreneurship and tech experts.

Pitches included SMEs working in machine learning, augmented reality smart solutions, digital data analytics, software development & maintenance, ed-tech, B2B medicine selling, voice-recognition based diagnostics, m-payment and peer-to-peer lending and savings. The pitching companies included:

South Africa

  • South Africa
  • BIIS pty ltd
  • Simplus Innovation
  • Letstati ICT

Nigeria

  • Mavis Computel
  • Medsaf
  • MyQ
  • Nicademia
  • Ubenwa Intelligence Solutions

Rwanda

  • uPlus Mutual Partners
  • Vugapay

During each 10 minute pitch, SMEs were quizzed by the jury on a host of areas including forecast revenues, markets, projected performance, number of “eyeballs” (subscribers) and more. The action continues tomorrow and you can find out who the ITU Telecom World Award winners are at the ITU Telecom World Awards Ceremony on 29 September!

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2017 Daily Highlights 1

Leadership Summit: Building a resilient digital future

Dealing with current regulatory challenges, planning for an advent of new technologies which cross verticals and keeping systems secure were some of the challenges of building a resilient digital future shared by a diverse, international set of panelists at the second Leadership Summit session, moderated by Euronews Jeremy Wilkes.

“It’s all about the people” explained H.E Siyabonga Cyprian Cwele, Minister of Telecommunications and Postal Services, South Africa. In building a resilient digital future, everything must focus on the people. They need the right skills and to be supported by the right infrastructure and policies, in order to be fully empowered.

Malaysia has in place a baseline infrastructure, thanks to its national broadband initiative, according to Yasmin Mahmood, CEO, Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation, but a key concern in building an infrastructure which is supportive to start-ups is not just getting policies in place but also changing mindsets. People need to be truly ready to embrace the digital transformation and ready to move to the future.

To help build the right skills in young people, Malaysia is putting computer science into the curriculum, although establishing regulation can be challenging if one is unsure about what future direction technology will take. “How can we develop talent, train our children for skills when we don’t even know what they are?” asked Mahmood.

And it’s not just skills training. “As we move forward the key is to understand the behaviour of future consumers. Those who can master what will be the need of the future smart consumer will be master of the future,” said South Africa’s Minister Cwele.

Sharing their experience in regulating new technologies, Sébastien Soriano, BEREC Chair and President of Autorité de Régulation des Communications électroniques et des Postes (ARCEP), explained how they were asked to regulate IoT by prospective users, and after consultation with the relevant stakeholders published a white paper. Its main conclusion was – somewhat radically – that no specific regulation is needed for IoT. “A bazaar is a better system than a cathedral,” he explained. In the case of IoT, this means that entrepreneurs will find their own solutions, so “we need to leave the door open for new business models.”

 

Looking at the future of IoT and vast numbers of interconnected devices, we could reach the limits of scalability and ability to cope with security issues, according to Ammar Alkassar, CEO, Rohde & Schwarz Cybersecurity. “We need to change the mode of how we look at cybersecurity,” said Alkassar, to cope with this vast influx of online transactions and activity. “Digital payment infrastructure without security does not work, it needs security,” he added.

“We need to get in place a system to ensure that policy and regulatory frameworks address the infrastructure of the future,” said Shola Taylor, Secretary-General, Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO). CTO is also trying to encourage more cooperation between operators and regulators, as well as international cooperation, particularly through ITU, which is essential in building cybersecurity and helping keep users safe.

Regulatory challenges

Minister Cwele explained how they are faced with a conundrum: on the one hand they are encouraging citizens to use new technologies yet on the other, governments may not necessarily have the regulatory capacity to deal with these new technologies, particularly as the internet does not respect borders – a challenge echoed by other delegates. The Minister also raised the question of ethics; do we always understand what all the IoT developments will mean, particularly in terms of security?

The advent of 5G also poses a number of challenges as well as opportunities for players across the ecosystem. For a regulator such as ARCEP, preparing for 5G involves the concrete task of assigning frequency as well as defining exactly which areas the regulator can or should cover, as 5G technologies span so many different areas from railways to roads and cars. Regulatory bodies are being defined through existing horizontal industries but going forward so many regulations will need to cut across different verticals, echoed Mahmood.

Don’t lag behind

Nevertheless, we should not wait for technology, according to Soriano. End users who want to use IoT in areas such as smart maintenance should not wait, but use the technology available today and “go to IoT, as it would be a pity for our continent to be lagging behind” he added.

In the 1990s, explained Soriano, Europe was a leading continent in the telecoms field, although it has now lost the battle of the smartphone and internet platforms to other world regions. How will the European region attain a competitive edge in the next wave of innovation? In IoT terms, this could mean, according to Soriano, having to “support people that don’t exist today ”- the entrepreneurs of the future. To help empower and guide future innovation and foster a climate in which it can flourish, France has created an innovative regulatory sandbox allowing for a legislative relaxation, under certain conditions, to enable the development of technically or commercially innovative technology or services. Unlicensed spectrum is to be opened and available to everyone under certain obligations of usage.

Future concerns

Although regulation is needed where there is vulnerability, Alkassar asked if people should also be forced to take responsibility – after all, house owners are responsible for securing their systems so should it be the same in the digital world? He also drew attention to the changing nature of the crimes which regulation needs to take into account; although Germany has experienced a recent decrease in bank robberies, there has been a surge in cybercrime stealing from banks. Our systems need to be based on security and design, or a “security by design” approach, explained Alkassar, to help vendors improve systems be more resilient.

With increasingly large numbers of objects becoming connected, should we build in resilience? asked Jeremy Wilkes. We need to work with ITU, according to Taylor, as it already has experience in emergency and disaster mitigation. According to Minister Cwele, having a critical infrastructure is key. Echoing Taylor, he commented that partnerships here are vital as governments cannot deal with the challenges of building a resilient digital future alone.

 

Moderator

Jeremy Wilks, Producer, Euronews, France

Panellists

Yasmin Mahmood, CEO, Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation, Malaysia

Siyabonga Cyprian Cwele, Minister, Ministry of Telecommunications and Postal Services, South Africa

Shola Taylor, Secretary-General, Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation, United Kingdom

Ammar Alkassar, CEO, Rohde & Schwarz Cybersecurity GmbH, Germany

Sébastien Soriano, BEREC Chair and President, Autorité de Régulation des Communications électroniques et des Postes (ARCEP), France