ITU Telecom World

How can governments, regulators, companies and civil society re-appropriate technology for society, rather than letting it run wild with undesirable effects? How can we overcome the feeling of being overwhelmed by the pace of change in technology and powerless to respond – a backlash against technology, or “techlash”?

This was the question posed by moderator Philippe Defraigne, Founding Director, Cullen International to a panel of experts from across the regulatory spectrum. International cooperation is ever more important, according to Danielle Jacobs, CEO, Beltug and founding member euro.digital (representing business ICT users), as most companies, whether large or small, work cross border and face the challenge of digital ubiquity. Regulations do not just come from differing national telecommunications authorities, but also from verticals such as health and banking; citizen approval is also often needed; the complexity means making decisions compliant with all laws and regulations is not easy.

Trust in digital media is critical, said Esteban Redolfi, Director of Digital Future Society, Mobile World Capital, as there is no recourse to the inappropriate use of personal information provided to industry or the state. “As an individual, I have no clear way of defining my rights in front of a government agency or a big corporate,” he said. It is difficult to juggle the new roles and responsibilities of government, the ICT industry, society and individuals in the digital society – and even in more developed societies such as Europe or the US, citizens are way behind in terms of digital skills. Cooperation and debate should take place not just in UN or intergovernmental events, but also in schools, families and amongst ourselves, so we can come together from different backgrounds, discuss and find common ground to build trust.

Director of Consumer Policy at GSMA, Jade Nester focused on the importance of ensuring customer privacy and establishing responsible data practices across the ecosystem to establish trust. Smart privacy laws need to balance data protection against enabling innovation. But “developing guidelines, principles and legal frameworks is not enough to get people to understand how their data is used.” The solutions to mobile privacy are not clear-cut and the digital economy can be very complicated – but we need to break down what is happening, to understand and better manage it, because “powerlessness leads to fear, and this is not a good scenario for people and government.”

Sophie Maddens, Head, Regulatory and Market Environment Division, ITU urged a balance: there is a natural fear around the new and unknown, but we must not forget the goldmine of wonderful possibilities opened up by connectivity, the potential for inclusive education, health, financial services, better lives. The industry has evolved from a public service to a liberalized, competitive private sector, with the regulatory role adapting to each stage. Now we are in a new era of collaborative regulation, where we can see how ICTs can be leveraged to meet the UN Sustainable Development Goals on a previously unimaginable scale, but where the regulatory challenges are also new and complex. Data research and analysis, peer exchange on practices and ideas, publishing and sharing knowledge – collaboration at this level will reduce the fear of the unknown and help regulators build institutional capacity and knowledge.

“Connectivity is an arms race at the moment,” said Jason Harle, Assistant Manager, Deloitte in terms of getting product out that is always on, always available, smart and on demand. Perhaps we should back to the consumer base, to see what we actually need to improve lives, finding out the value of new propositions rather than adopting a top-down regulatory approach. Engaging with the industry, public bodies and consumer groups will enable the regulatory landscape to be defined upfront, rather than leaving regulators playing catch up.

Echoing his fellow panelists, Marcin Cichy, President, Office of Electronic Communications, Poland urged knowledge and transparency to build trust and counteract fear. The value-added chain is complex and difficult for regulators to penetrate, understand, investigate and impose obligations.  In the past, regulating the pipe was easy; but now it is impossible to regulate what is going on inside, the huge variety of content and complicated devices. Synergy between different vertical sectors and telecoms makes for an additional layer of complexity, as do privacy initatives and cybersecurity authories, which often combine military and technology bodies. Add in the regional and international regulatory regimes and “It’s a bit of a mess,” he admitted.  

The soup of regulatory regimes, rules, and industries is complicated by growing end user awareness of privacy and data protection, multiple stakeholders and competition between systems. There are horizontal global laws, and vertical laws in each sector. It is not easy to know with which regulator or regulations a business should comply in any give instance – or if, indeed, there is any relevant regulation. Overlaps and gaps characterize the system.

And those overlaps often lead to turf wars between competing authorities, a lack of understanding and awareness that can only be resolved through a collaborative approach – and an investment in increasing human capacity.

We need dialogue between regulators, the public sector, the private sector, tech and legal experts, said Esteban Redofi, Director of Digital Future Society, Mobile World Capital. Only by talking to each other can we become aware of the consequences of technology in the round – and work to resolve those issues of trust with the potential to cripple innovation and development by providing legal clarity and certainty for business and consumers alike.

How can governments, regulators, companies and civil society re-appropriate technology for society, rather than letting it run wild with undesirable effects? How can we overcome the feeling of being overwhelmed by the pace of change in technology and powerless to respond – a backlash against technology, or “techlash”?

This was the question posed by moderator Philippe Defraigne, Founding Director, Cullen International to a panel of experts from across the regulatory spectrum. International cooperation is ever more important, according to Danielle Jacobs, CEO, Beltug and founding member euro.digital (representing business ICT users), as most companies, whether large or small, work cross border and face the challenge of digital ubiquity. Regulations do not just come from differing national telecommunications authorities, but also from verticals such as health and banking; citizen approval is also often needed; the complexity means making decisions compliant with all laws and regulations is not easy.

Trust in digital media is critical, said Esteban Redolfi, Director of Digital Future Society, Mobile World Capital, as there is no recourse to the inappropriate use of personal information provided to industry or the state. “As an individual, I have no clear way of defining my rights in front of a government agency or a big corporate,” he said. It is difficult to juggle the new roles and responsibilities of government, the ICT industry, society and individuals in the digital society – and even in more developed societies such as Europe or the US, citizens are way behind in terms of digital skills. Cooperation and debate should take place not just in UN or intergovernmental events, but also in schools, families and amongst ourselves, so we can come together from different backgrounds, discuss and find common ground to build trust.

Director of Consumer Policy at GSMA, Jade Nester focused on the importance of ensuring customer privacy and establishing responsible data practices across the ecosystem to establish trust. Smart privacy laws need to balance data protection against enabling innovation. But “developing guidelines, principles and legal frameworks is not enough to get people to understand how their data is used.” The solutions to mobile privacy are not clear-cut and the digital economy can be very complicated – but we need to break down what is happening, to understand and better manage it, because “powerlessness leads to fear, and this is not a good scenario for people and government.”

Sophie Maddens, Head, Regulatory and Market Environment Division, ITU urged a balance: there is a natural fear around the new and unknown, but we must not forget the goldmine of wonderful possibilities opened up by connectivity, the potential for inclusive education, health, financial services, better lives. The industry has evolved from a public service to a liberalized, competitive private sector, with the regulatory role adapting to each stage. Now we are in a new era of collaborative regulation, where we can see how ICTs can be leveraged to meet the UN Sustainable Development Goals on a previously unimaginable scale, but where the regulatory challenges are also new and complex. Data research and analysis, peer exchange on practices and ideas, publishing and sharing knowledge – collaboration at this level will reduce the fear of the unknown and help regulators build institutional capacity and knowledge.

“Connectivity is an arms race at the moment,” said Jason Harle, Assistant Manager, Deloitte in terms of getting product out that is always on, always available, smart and on demand. Perhaps we should back to the consumer base, to see what we actually need to improve lives, finding out the value of new propositions rather than adopting a top-down regulatory approach. Engaging with the industry, public bodies and consumer groups will enable the regulatory landscape to be defined upfront, rather than leaving regulators playing catch up.

Echoing his fellow panelists, Marcin Cichy, President, Office of Electronic Communications, Poland urged knowledge and transparency to build trust and counteract fear. The value-added chain is complex and difficult for regulators to penetrate, understand, investigate and impose obligations.  In the past, regulating the pipe was easy; but now it is impossible to regulate what is going on inside, the huge variety of content and complicated devices. Synergy between different vertical sectors and telecoms makes for an additional layer of complexity, as do privacy initatives and cybersecurity authories, which often combine military and technology bodies. Add in the regional and international regulatory regimes and “It’s a bit of a mess,” he admitted.  

The soup of regulatory regimes, rules, and industries is complicated by growing end user awareness of privacy and data protection, multiple stakeholders and competition between systems. There are horizontal global laws, and vertical laws in each sector. It is not easy to know with which regulator or regulations a business should comply in any give instance – or if, indeed, there is any relevant regulation. Overlaps and gaps characterize the system.

And those overlaps often lead to turf wars between competing authorities, a lack of understanding and awareness that can only be resolved through a collaborative approach – and an investment in increasing human capacity.

We need dialogue between regulators, the public sector, the private sector, tech and legal experts, said Esteban Redofi, Director of Digital Future Society, Mobile World Capital. Only by talking to each other can we become aware of the consequences of technology in the round – and work to resolve those issues of trust with the potential to cripple innovation and development by providing legal clarity and certainty for business and consumers alike.

Emerging technologies such as AI, blockchain, 5G, renewable energy and big data have a critical role to play in raising awareness of climate issues – and mitigating the impact of climate change. But the real source of optimism in the fight for sustainability is not the technology alone, according to this panel of experts from industry and international organizations. It is the combination of technology with the skill, awareness and passionate environmentalism of the young people of the world.

Frontier technologies can help enormously in mitigating climate change across all sectors from health to transport, education and manufacturing, explained Orange’s Philippe Tuzzolino, Vice President, Environment, but “we have to be exemplary ourselves”, reducing carbon footprint in the ICT industry itself by ensuring that products and services are produced with lower emissions. The company has committed to net zero emissions by 2050, an ambitious target it hopes to reach through putting innovation into its factories, networks and data centres, including cooling systems, monitoring systems and shared transport and mobility solutions.

Orange is also working to fight climate change through its biodiversity monitoring in Mont Blanc and other mountains around the world, in partnership with academia, NGOs and the general public. Accurate and actionable data make it easier to make environmentally conscious decisions and reduce carbon emissions.

Until now, big data and AI have all too often been limited to buzz words, creating excitement and interest, but little action, according to Joel Alexander Mills, Chief Executive Officer, Augment City AS. It’s important to start changing the interfaces in tech and design, moving away from text to the visual, to a technology that works better for humans – allowing the differing skills of humans and machines to complement each other. “Take data, analyze at a high level to help decision making and make those decisions transparent,” he urged, so people can understand how and why decisions have been made. The holistic use of big data analysis can solve policy issues here and now, not in the distant future – such as halving the traffic flow through a city by mapping the pain points of peak flow against factors such as weather, school opening hours or tourism.

Mills expanded on the possibilities of digital twinning and digital simulation as a two-step process using technology to understand data. “Humans are very good at making decisions based on facts, but not good at making decisions based on intuition. Technology allows us to understand facts and make it as transparent as possible.” Using data to create a digital twin of a smart city involves a top down approach, overlaying a geographical map of the city with data from multiple sources to provide a complete overview.

Once we can see what is happening, we can make choices and changes to combat climate change based on transparent, visible and understandable data. Sometimes low-hanging fruit – small changes requiring relatively few resources – can have a major impact on quality of life and climate change mitigation, such as the Norwegian city dramatically reducing emissions and poor air flow by providing cruise ships in its harbor, with renewable energy.

The second stage is simulation, not just benchmarking data but using the tools of machine learning and AI to allow for proactive initiatives, solving problems before they reach a crisis point. This can have a dramatic effect on climate change by reducing emissions and managing peak flows of water, electricity, traffic and people. “We can use technology to simulate the future and make decisions before issues arise,” continued Mills. “It is an incredibly exciting time as technologies are developing so fast we can’t keep control, and we also have a population, especially the young, who are so keen to make a difference. We have much on our side, but we must push forward together.”

Greener energy sources are key, stressed Mohammed Traoré, Digital and Innovation Advisor, Organisation internationale de la Francophonie, and the move from centralized power plants to decentralized smart city solutions and local smart grids is increasingly important. New technology in renewable energies and storage are key in the easing the complexity in managing sustainable smart cities.  AI, blockchain, IoT and virtual reality can find real use cases in the energy field and have a real impact on climate mitigation – but connectivity is the foundation of any new sustainable initiatives, locally or globally, in developed and developing markets.

Connectivity is also critical to tackling the effects of climate change, as Faizal DjoemadiChief of Digital & Innovation Officer, PT. Telekomunikasi Indonesia pointed out. Indonesia is particularly susceptible to natural disasters, given its topography and position on the ring of fire. As changes in the climate cause mountain snow to melt and forest fires to burn, technology is essential to monitor, warn and mitigate. A partnership platform with startups is focused on creating solutions to protect from disasters, leveraging the power of IoT, data centres and cloud services to outsource innovation, building capacity, skills and awareness.

“The role of technology in climate change is fundamental and undeniable,” said Salem Avan, Director, Policy, Governance, and Strategy Division, United Nations Office of Information and Communication Technology. Technology in the widest sense has a role in enabling us to be more effective, efficient and climate-responsible all that we do. It is also important to use tech not just to solve problems, but to advocate, connect and engage, especially with young people.  We are at a climate inflection point now where we are concerned about what will happen and trying to reduce emissions, but the issue is “whether we can be smart enough fast enough.”  

Huawei’s Paolo Gemma, also Chairman, ITU-T Study Group 5 Working Party 2, ITU focused on the need for partnerships working to develop strategies to reduce waste energy and improve efficiency through technology. Knowledge, expertise and best practices in sustainability should be shared to enable developing markets to benefit from the mistakes of early adopters. In developing countries in particular, solar solutions for power stations can reduce carbon emissions, and a hybrid approach using energy from the grid at night and green solar power during the day could have a major positive impact.

Avan added that climate change will have an increasing impact on social and political security, as we see more and more changes in the physical world resulting in migration, displacement and increased poverty. Up to 80% of those affected by climate disruptions will be women and the vulnerable, with the potential to profoundly alter the fabric of society. We need to engage technology to work on these challenges, increasing inclusiveness, changing behaviour, and catalyzing humanity. Of all the emerging technologies, AI is fundamental – not in and of itself, but in what it may open up for us in these difficult times.

Ghana’s Minster for Communications, Ursual Owusu-Ekuful, welcomed a busy group of dignitaries and visitors to the Ghana Pavilion for the On Digital Spotlight today.  She spoke about the important links between Ghana, Africa and the world and said that Ghana’s success is built on digital infrastructure, skills and connectivity.  She invited the world to take a closer look at Ghana.  ITU Secretary General, Houlin Zhao congratulated the Minister for her support and input into many ITU events and said that Minister Owusu-Ekuful was the African Minister he had met most often this year.  He said that the Minister’s mission to raise the voice of Africa should be applauded.  Following impressive presentations from Ghana SMEs, a Ghana video captivated the audience as they learned about the country’s digital achievements across education, healthcare and connectivity. ​

Continuing their busy programme of activities, the EQUALS delegation today enjoyed a full day of masterclasses and workshops as part of the SME programme of ITU Telecom World.  Topics from Impostor Syndrome, How to Access to Finance, Impact investment and Intellectual property were the core of the programme during the day.  In addition, a mentoring session was offered to the delegates with the participation of Belinda Exelby, Head of International Relations, GSMA; Juan Hoyos, Capacity Building Expert, ITC; Enrique Alvarado, Fund Manager, Bamboo Capital Partners; Carla Walker, Investment Manager, Bamboo BLOC.

The mentoring session was closed with remarks from BDT-Director Doreen Bogdan-Martin and the Secretary-General Houlin Zhao, who confirmed the commitment of ITU towards gender equality in ICT.