Category: Blog

How Zimbabwean SME Purple Signs are bringing ever more Africans the benefits of affordable, accessible sign language tools – thanks in part to ITU Telecom World

Purple Signs is set to impact the lives of at least 300 000 deaf adults and children, and enable up to 10 000 front office service providers to communicate with the deaf without prior expensive training in the sign languages of multiple African countries. We asked Dominic Tinashe Tapfuma, Founder and CEO of the Zimbabwean SME about his innovative solution, how his experiences at ITU Telecom World 2018 have helped drive his success – and what the future holds for Purple Signs.

 

What is Purple Signs all about?

Purple Signs (Private ) Limited seeks to capture the wave of digital innovation and Africa’s lead as a technology adopter by democratizing communication and socio-economic participation for the deaf or hard of hearing – and eliminating the reinforcing nature of exclusion the deaf community suffer from due to communication barriers. Purple Signs equips hearing and deaf people with affordable, accessible sign language live translation and interpretation tools. We eliminate language barriers between the deaf and the hearing to allow seamless the deaf to integrate seamlessly into society and give on demand insights, visualizations and motivation of deaf culture.

Why did you decide to take part in ITU Telecom?

ITU Telecom World was a unique opportunity to learn best practice in the telecommunications space and then improve our product offering, as well as opening up Purple Signs to new world markets. As the leading UN tech event for governments, corporates and SMEs, the event gave us a platform to help accelerate our ICT innovations for social and economic development across the globe. Purple Signs joined ITU Telecom World 2018 to draw insights on emerging trends and the future of communications, and to interact and gain experience from world-renowned administrations of ITU member states, national regulatory authorities and ITU corporates sector members, with help from the Postal &Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe and Zimbabwe’s Ministry of ICT and Cyber security.

Tell us about your experience at the event – what did you take part in, who did you meet, what did you learn?

Purple Signs uses technology to enable the deaf to communicate with the hearing by means of mobile wireless technology, emerging new technologies and the scale offered by Mobile Network Operators (MNOs). So our team targeted forum discussion sessions in line with this. We took part in the exhibition within the Zimbabwean Pavilion. Visits and feedback from influential leaders in the ICT innovation space inspired the need to scale our innovations to new countries across Africa and the globe.

The ITU Telecom World 2018 networking mobile application helped Purple Signs identify potential partners even before even arriving at the event. The influential leaders we met at the event included the Minister of  ICT from South Africa, the CEO of MTN, the Minister of ICT from Ghana, regulatory authority officials from Ghana, Cameroon, Namibia, Egypt and Nigeria, as well as SME founders from multiple countries whose vision and drive continue to inspire our future work.

Key learnings included understanding the importance of product quality, designing solutions for scale and impact, franchising and access to investor finance. We also learnt about the importance of collaboration, and of understanding the digital strategies and policies that shape the administration of technologies for a connected, inclusive, sustainable future. Appreciating how fellow SMEs solve socio-economic community challenges using technology and building capacity through collaboration were some of the highlights of the ITU Telecom World experience.

How has taking part in the SME Programme benefited Purple Signs?

The SME programme has helped put Purple Signs on the world map of companies driving ICT solutions with high social impact. Since then, we’ve met with several Zimbabwean government ministries, as well as representatives from UNICEF Zimbabwe. The experience of taking part has had a massive positive impact on the quality of our Purple Signs solutions. On returning to Zimbabwe, senior management hired a team to revamp our branding. Internal employment opportunities have been created for deaf employees with the Purple Signs business model. A new website and applications in line with international best practice have since been developed.

We have also engaged with the Zimbabwe Medical Association and Pharmaceutical Association of Zimbabwe to offer communication solutions to health care service providers and deaf patients in the health sector, and expanded into tourism and legal services. After ITU, Purple Signs initiated consultations with the Standards Association of Zimbabwe which have led to a new national standard to be created in Zimbabwe for customer services offered in Zimbabwean Sign Language for deaf customers across all industries. ITU helped us to understand the need and importance of shaping policies which drive the development of sustainable inclusive multi-purpose technological solutions. The standard is now at draft phase, and will have a direct impact on customer service delivery in sign language in Zimbabwe for generations to come in financial services, pharmaceutical, public utilities, education, entertainment, health care services, legal services, mass media, telecommunications, tourism and hospitality.

And what are your plans for the future?

The future of Purple Signs is global. We want to reach IPO on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange by 2025. Franchising and re-arranging operations in preparation for IPO has become an exciting daily focus. Plans for the year are to drive investor engagement and engage new governments to offer similar solutions in their countries in sectors where needs are greatest – including the finance and tourism sectors, where we want to show how more can be done to engage people with disabilities, and grow products and services to be disability-inclusive in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development goals on fostering inclusion and equality.

Despite being a formidable challenge, the global pandemic presents an enormous opportunity for the information and communication technology (ICT) sector.

The invaluable role of digital technologies in the response to the COVID-19 crisis is universally recognized, and now is the time to use that momentum to fast-track digital transformation, drive economic recovery, promote social inclusion and tackle the digital divide.

This was the finding of the three Ministerial Roundtables held at ITU Virtual Digital World 2020, bringing together ministers, regulators and private sector leaders from around the world to share their experiences and strategies in the digital sector in the COVID-19 era.

Co-organized by ITU and the government of Viet Nam, this was the first high-level ministerial meeting to be held online since the start of the pandemic.
Read on to discover the top five takeaways from the discussions – also available as videos and session summaries here.

1. Networks stood up well to the challenge of providing uninterrupted connectivity.

With traffic soaring by between 30 and 70 per cent at the height of the initial lockdown, network resilience was critical. Short-term government actions to support operators included regulatory relaxations on spectrum, infrastructure sharing and licencing, as well as recognizing telecom engineers as key workers able to move around to support and maintain critical infrastructure – all measures which could be introduced longer-term, too.

“The outbreak forced digitization at scale on society, so everything related to ICT took year-long leaps in a matter of months. We now need to make sure that pre-COVID regulations don’t hinder the potential of technology and communication in real time.”
– Konstantinos Masselos, President, Hellenic Telecommunications & Post Commission (EETT), Greece

2. Healthcare and education have been the big winners.

Digital has played an enormous role in healthcare, from track-and-trace to remote diagnosis, delivery of medicines by drones, and predictive tools using AI and big data. Education has turned digital at scale and at speed across the globe, with dedicated satellite channels, government subsidies to schools and end users and free access to learning platforms and websites.

The countries most successful in the fight against the pandemic are those who have already integrated digital technologies into policy and healthcare, according to Isias Barreto da Rosa, Chairman of the Board at ARME, Cape Verde. But accelerated digitization in both sectors has underscored the dramatic inequalities between the digital haves and have-nots.

3. Temporary fixes for government and businesses will continue post-pandemic.

Much of the day-to-day functioning of government and delivery of services to citizens moved online at pace – and is likely to stay there as the benefits of cost-effectiveness, efficiency and convenience have become clear.

As Isa Ali Ibrahim, Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Nigeria, pointed out, digital technology has sustained government services and operations throughout the crisis with such success that “virtual engagement in federal government activities is now institutionalized.” The same leapfrog effect is true for large corporates, SMEs and growing numbers of e-commerce retailers.

4. Investing in digital skills is critical to recovery.

Human capacity development must be at the centre of policies and strategies on social inclusion and economic recovery. Digital literacy and a mindset open to digital transformation will allow people to survive and thrive; public private partnerships for skills development in the workforce now will build the foundation of sustainable economies in the future.

Ensuring the population all possess the correct skillset is a priority, explained Frédéric Genta, Country Chief Digital Officer of the Principality of Monaco: “We want every company to move to digital, and to make sure every person has the right opportunities to live in the digital world.”

5. The time for operating in silos is gone.

Governments and the private sector must collaborate to drive economic growth and close the digital divide. Administrations need to create the right enabling environment for investment, including revisiting taxation and regulatory frameworks; technology providers from satellite, mobile, fixed and emerging tech sectors must work together; and the creative innovation of tech SMEs should be supported and embraced within the industry ecosystem. Collaboration and cooperation between public and private, all industry stakeholders and across national and international boundaries is key to building back better – together.

“The most important lesson from COVID-19 is that the best resource we can retain is public private partnerships working together.”
– Rosa Nakagawa, Vice Minister of Communications, Ministry of Transport and Telecommunications

See all the highlights from ITU Virtual Digital World 2020, including photos, video sessions and session summaries, at digital-world.itu.int – and find out more about next year’s physical event, ITU Digital World 2021, taking place in October in Ha Noi, Viet Nam.

 

This blog was originally posted on ITU News.

There’s only one news story dominating all outlets, social and mainstream media, online and offline conversations these days: COVID-19, the novel, highly infectious and potentially lethal coronavirus.

The situation is new to us all and changing so quickly that by the time you read these words, you will probably have experienced the impact of new restrictions, new statistics and new – if perhaps temporary – ways of working and living. International borders are closing, states of emergency are declared in more and more countries, schools close, cities empty, and, as lockdown is imposed, colleagues, families and friends are separated in isolation.

It is dramatic, fast-paced, confusing and frightening to many. As the epicentre of the outbreak moves westwards through Europe to the Americas and Africa, the power and extent of globalization becomes ever clearer. The ease and speed of international travel we have grown used to in recent years has left few countries unaffected as the virus voyages invisibly around the world.

Previously unimaginable confinement measures such as self-isolation, curfew, lockdown, strictly-enforced social distancing -these are truly unprecedented times. And there’s one thing that’s becoming increasingly evident: the critical importance of digital technologies in today’s societies is heightened in a time of crisis such as this.

Digital communication is vital as an effective tool for governments to share rapidly changing updates, directives and essential information. Platforms such as WhatsApp, WeChat, Alibaba Facebook, Skype, Google Hangouts and Zoom (to name just a few) connect colleagues, friends and family as never before – across streets and towns, as well as countries and continents. Social isolation, and the very real danger to mental wellbeing that ensues, can be combatted through email, SMS, messaging and video applications. Businesses of all sizes can communicate efficiently details of revised opening hours and the availability (or not) of products and services.

Digital entertainment is also hugely important in combatting mental distress in extended periods of isolation. Who would wish to be closed up indoors for days on end without digital television, streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney + or video games – especially if you share a house with children or teenagers?

As schools shut, education is moving more rapidly online than could ever have been envisaged mere weeks ago – including by many teachers, adapting and adopting curricula and classes on the hoof. Phones, tablets, laptops and desktop devices are operated by children from primary school to university ages, with large numbers of online platforms offering services for free or expanded options for educational institutions. Meanwhile, the adults whose work permits it are teleworking: discovering the joys and challenges of virtual team meetings and conference calls, adjusting to new rhythms, working patterns and environments through digital technology.

At a time where physical proximity, let alone actual contact, is moving from social norm to signifier of irresponsible, antisocial behaviour, virtual is virtuous. The coronavirus has no power in our virtual worlds: video calls are not contagious – and digital truly can deliver us from the danger of pandemic.

But there are challenges. Will the networks be able to cope with such huge increases in traffic and demand? Will teleworking and e-education now prove unstoppable, or will this massive, sudden change in behaviour turn out to be a temporary blip? Will the digital divide deepen into a COVID-19 digital divide, cutting off millions from the opportunities and basic realities of a new digital society? What can be done to avoid such a scenario, to ensure equitable, fair access to digital technology in all sectors?

And what of digital health? The enormous potential of remote diagnosis and treatment has been evident for many years, hampered in its realization by issues such as data protection, supporting infrastructure, coordination between medical institutes and digital education for medical professionals and patients alike. Can we use the COVID-19 experience to invest in developing more efficient digital health options that protect frontline medical staff in future contagions or outbreaks through the power of the virtual?

How will the COVID-19 crisis change our use and appreciation of digital technologies? What lessons will we learn as individuals, societies and governments? Can we already start to draw on best practices in differing industry sectors, government approaches or individual companies? How can we protect the most vulnerable in society through digital tools and technologies – including the sick and the elderly? Should our right to digital connectivity be openly acknowledged by governments, enshrined in law and action?

These are not issues that can be solved by individual governments or entities by themselves. Now, more than ever, a cooperative approach is needed to solving these urgent questions, bringing stakeholders from across governments, industry and international organizations to the table to find mutually beneficial solutions.

Collaboration is key. Which is why ITU, the UN specialized agency for information and communication technologies (ICTs), is leveraging its broad and diverse global membership and reaching out to the tech community at large to use the full potential of ICTs during the COVID-19 crisis, including the launch of the Global Network Resiliency Platform (REG4COVID) and. And why international events such as ITU Digital World 2020, ITU’s leading tech gathering for governments, major industry stakeholders and small and medium businesses from around the world, are more important than ever. The event combines exhibition, high-level debates and knowledge-sharing, networking and awards ceremony for the best innovative tech solutions with social impact. And the debates at the event will be addressing just such questions on the future of digital technologies and the nature of digital transformation around the world.

We’d love to hear your opinions on all the questions raised by the role of digital technology in the age of COVID-19, both right now and in the weeks and months to come – and in tackling or mitigating future global crises of public health or natural disaster as well.  Let us know your thoughts!

Stay up to speed to ITU’s COVID-19-related initiatives by visiting this dedicated webpage.

Today’s connected world offers infinite possibilities. The rapid pace of technological change and the impact of market forces are driving the evolution of the digital economy.  By the end of 2018, 5.1 billion people around the world subscribed to mobile services, accounting for 67% of the global population. In 2018, almost 300 million people connected to mobile internet for the first time.  With an average annual growth rate of 1.9% between 2018 and 2025, this will bring the total number of mobile subscribers to 5.8 billion (71% of the population).

In 2018, mobile technologies and services generated 4.6% of GDP globally, this amounts to $3.9 trillion of economic value added. The mobile ecosystem also supported almost 32 million jobs and made a substantial contribution to the funding of the public sector. By 2023, mobile’s contribution will reach $4.8 trillion (4.8% of GDP) as countries around the globe increasingly benefit from the improvements in productivity and efficiency brought about by increased take-up of mobile services.

Clearly access to mobile – and equally importantly, the mobile internet – is one of the key drivers of economic growth.  This is a huge and transformative evolution in the way in which we live, interact, create, do business; providing individuals with the means to communicate instantly and respond quickly in any given situation.

We are not, however, at a point where we have universal mobile access, and many obstacles exist to its availability, some of which reside in the legal and regulatory frameworks that govern the functioning of the telecommunications sector.  It is important, therefore, that as we acknowledge the powerful impact that mobile plays in delivering economic growth and opportunity, we take stock of the role of government in encouraging and enabling further investment from service providers, ultimately supporting innovation and digital inclusion.

Firstly, to enable economic growth, mobile has to be available, which requires significant investment in networks and infrastructure. In my opinion, there are a number of steps that government can take to encourage this investment, including:   

• the provision of technology neutral spectrum licences;
• the production of a spectrum roadmap that outlines when spectrum will be released to help operators plan investment;
• the assignment of additional mobile spectrum, particularly in the digital dividend bands;
• the reduction of spectrum costs and coverage obligations on sub-1GHz assignments; and
• allowing service providers’ full scope in passive and active infrastructure sharing.

All of these steps promote efficiency, encourage quality, and incentivise service providers to deliver the widest possible mobile broadband coverage.

Secondly, with price remaining one of the biggest barriers for consumers in low and middle-income countries, services have to be affordable.  However, as mobile consumers and operators are subject to a substantial tax burden increasingly driven by sector‑specific taxes, reforming sector-specific taxation and fees should be considered, including:

• the removal of sector-specific taxes on both consumers of mobile services, on devices and on mobile operators; and
• aligning mobile taxation with that applied to other sectors and with the best practices recommended by international organisations such as the World Bank and IMF.

Thirdly, the consumer needs the skills to engage with mobile technology and must have full trust in its safety and security.  In particular, there is a need for smart data privacy laws that provide effective protection for individuals, whilst at the same time providing organisations with the freedom to operate, innovate and comply in a way that makes sense for their business and can create positive outcomes for society.

Finally, relevant and local content plays a hugely significant role in boosting participation and adoption. Giving users the necessary skills to become digitally engaged and providing digital training and facilities to promote the development of a local content ecosystem, will enable local entrepreneurs to set up websites or develop apps that meet local needs.

As we strive towards a more connected world, governments and regulators have to put in place policies that address these enabling factors and help realise greater mobile adoption.  If network operators, regulators and policymakers can work together, this will create a positive framework for investment, and make significant steps towards enhancing the mobile experience of those already connected and extend mobile access to the unserved. 

I look forward very much to discussing these points, and hearing the opinions of my fellow panellists from across the industry, in the Forum debate “Bridging digital divides through an integrated approach” at ITU Telecom World next week!

Note: this blog post is part of a series of opinion pieces from the speakers of the Forum programme at ITU Telecom World 2019. Join the conversation onsite in Budapest or via twitter by #ITUWORLD.

Freedom of speech research nowadays mainly concentrates on issues around communication processes on social media platforms  – with special regard to finding a legal solution to the phenomenon of social media platforms uniquely affecting the plurality of democratic discourse during their activities.

The most fraudulent promises stemming from publicity expanding intensively due to the technology of the internet were that the end of infrastructural scarcity would result in unlimited access,  and that internet publicity, which is more democratic than any previous platforms, would be unlimited in material terms i.e. free of charge. As of today we need to accept that online publicity is not free of charge – or in other terms, everything has a price.

The great hope that the service providers playing a key role in information distribution (intermediaries) would multiply the offer has been partially fulfilled, yet due to the multi-channel paradox – the arbitrary content selection and personalized offer – the notion of plurality gets inverted. This has led to the emergence of an online filter bubble.

Search-engine providers, social networks and video sharing platforms tend to use IT solutions (such as cookies) that monitor the online activities of users and gather data. Based on the digital footprint of the user, the service providers create a digital profile that is used to predict the type of content the user is interested in, the news and opinions the user might like to read, and the products and services to offer for purchase. Their aim is no less than to personalize the content based on the user’s preference. The autocomplete user interface of search engine providers does exactly the same, according to the providers, to increase the wellbeing of their users. This, despite the sonorous promise of personalization, mainly causes the fading and imperviousness of online discourse. Service providers aim to maximize their profit, degrade citizens to mere consumers and offer them on a plate to the market players they’re associated with – the market players who can then offer products and services on the basis of those consumer habits.  

The arbitrary selection activity of the intermediary service providers constitutes one of the main arguments in the debates about net-neutrality. This is because the operators of electronic communication networks and infrastructures have a growing interest in sorting the content flowing through the virtual bottleneck while cutting the costs of infrastructure development. This selection is mainly realized through the use of algorithms that are able to consider both general and specific user habits.

The online identity shaped by the algorithms has a self-fulfilling effect when it comes to the functioning of democratic public opinion. The users of the service eventually get isolated from any opinions and information different from their own because the provider constantly monitors their activities and generates content related to it.  Usually, users get into an “online opinion-ghetto” regardless of  – or in opposition to –  their choice; or as Sunstein put it, ’cybercascades’ are developing.

This phenomenon was first described by Pariser, who called it a filter bubble. The filter bubble is an artificially created virtual information sphere, where the user’s chance of finding opinions and information differing from their own views constantly decreases until they get trapped in a false perception of reality, where democratic discourses lose their ’democratic’ nature due to their polarization.

The scarcity that emerged as a technological result of the filter bubble phenomena, rather than from technical necessity, makes the revival of the constitutional arguments developed during the era of the scarcity of frequencies a current need. Finding new routes to ensure the state’s activities to protect certain institutions is yet to come. The regulatory environment is completely different than in the era of frequency scarcity of national media markets, and state regulation of the internet as a global market is an impossible undertaking.

To break free of the filter bubble is – in my opinion – a shared responsibility. The citoyen and those vested with legislative power (typically not a state, but a plethora of states within the merits of global, regional cooperation, or the EU within Europe) are capable of jointly defeating the effects of the filter bubble eroding public debates, even if it means cutting back on consumer well-being. The conscious attitude of users and responsible legislation together can contribute to finding our way back to the plurality of online publicity.

We are well past the point of speculating about the consequences of unchecked use of technologies like automated decision-making systems, biometrics, facial recognition or blockchain on our lives and societies. Loss of privacy and autonomy, digital exclusion and the widespread erosion of trust in democratic institutions are only some of the unintended consequences with social repercussions that are becoming more apparent every day.

Yet every time these questions and conversations about our collective digital future come up, a chorus of voices demand better regulation sooner. While better regulation is an essential part of global technological governance, several key ingredients must be in place before we can get there.

First, we need to come up with new roles, institutions and forms of collaboration. Figuring out what that new ecosystem looks like and how it could work will provide the infrastructure we need to create better policies and regulations. It seems clear that regulators and their policymaker counterparts have a role in filling the gap between the principles and practice of responsible technology governance – but they can’t do it alone.

Digital cooperation underpinned by a digital commons architecture offers a promising way forward. Defined by the United Nations as “ways of working to address the social, ethical, legal and economic impact of digital technologies in order to maximize their benefits and minimize their harm”, digital cooperation can support the advancement of Agenda 2030 and the UN Sustainable Development Goals while ensuring a safe, connected and inclusive digital future for all.

This sounds nice on paper, but what does digital cooperation look like in practice? After a deep exploration of what is possible in terms of funding models, modes of collaboration, regulatory environments and metrics, a digital commons architecture is not only among the most exciting of those possibilities, but also the most feasible.

One reason is because we already have successful examples of transnational cross-sectoral approaches to governing assets that belong to all: think the Law of the Sea, which imposes a duty to protect marine resources for future generations. Or in the digital world, common protocols like HTTPS that make the internet work come to mind.

So, what happens when we apply a digital commons approach to the elusive “how” of global technology governance?

You get something that looks a little like Digital Future Society, a transnational programme led by the Spanish Government and Mobile World Capital Barcelona with the mandate to convene experts from all over the world to share experiences and insights that enable us to build common assets. Digital Future Society provides the much-needed space to undertake iterative, multilateral learning on digital governance through practice.

Our commons approach to digital cooperation persistently seeks to test efficacy and develop the necessary procedures and solutions in real-world environments together with partners such as the Inter-American Development Bank, GSMA, and the World Economic Forum. One example of this type of experimental, cross-sectoral common asset might be the creation of a sandbox that ensures data is free from bias before it can be used to train algorithms. Other projects seek to advance a global metric for digital inclusion, build a global repository of digital business models that promote privacy and transparency, and map emerging govtech ecosystems around the world.

The apparatus of the government itself is a sort of commons, and regulation is the means by which we maintain the commons. But we need to establish strong collaborative mechanisms, institutions and partners with clearly defined roles to ensure that regulatory maintenance can be carried out in the first place. If “a better collective digital future for all” is the “what”, I very much look forward to discussing the potential of a digital commons approach as the “how” of regulating a safe, connected and inclusive future at ITU Telecom World 2019. See you this September in Budapest!

The first move towards the creation of a digital nation is to provide every citizen, institution, company and government with the chance of having an active participation in the digital economy and in developing digitally-driven social interactions.

According to the World Bank, globally 1.7 billion adults remain unbanked. In this sense, Her Majesty Queen Máxima of the Netherlands, Special Advocate of UNGSA, stated during the World Bank/IMF Spring Meetings that, “Digital ID systems can positively impact KYC compliance for account openings. More precisely, they help 20% of financially excluded adults in low- and middle-income countries who are unable to access financial services because they lack the required documents to prove their identity”.

Consequently, digital identities are without doubt an enabler for private remittance recipients and also for government-to-person aid, fostering easier payment reception and thus contributing towards  improved financial access.

As a result, GVG has identified one of the central issues for the creation of trusting digital nations as being precisely the ability to store data securely and locally. In order to achieve this, it becomes an essential duty to build safe National Data Centres to store critical and sensitive data for governments and citizens. These centres should be further promoted across different regions in Africa. The stronger the technology-based security means to protect them (5G or Internet of Things), the bigger the trust in the digital ecosystem.

Global Voice Group’s solutions promote trusted digital identities as the cornerstone of digital inclusion. They assist governments in their decisive role in improving and fostering financial inclusion. This commitment will certainly come up in ITU Telecom World 2019, in the context of the upcoming session on 10th September, Universal financial inclusion access through innovative FinTech and Digital Currency.

Drivers of Digital Identities

Across the globe, a series of countries, including Estonia, have pioneered the race towards the creation of digital nations. A growing number of emerging countries are also taking the lead in building more inclusive economies.

For instance, the Government of India has saved more than $9 billion from fraud elimination in its beneficiary lists across multiple programs after they leveraged their unique ID system for government-to-person payments.

In addition, as Rwanda President Paul Kagame stated recently, digital identities are the starting point of a long and valuable chain of capabilities that empower citizens in their participation within the regional and global economy. However, these digital systems can only succeed on the basis of trust. Kagame also pointed out that there is an urgent need to protect information from unauthorised access. So tools should be implemented to identify the source of data and its use, always putting user privacy first.

Moreover, the African Union (AU) has recently recognized digital identification systems as the essential means to open up new gateways for new social and economic opportunities, including education, employment, financial services, mobile communication, travel, and voting.

Trust as a precondition for Financial Inclusion

An ID4Africa survey highlighted that 60% of Africans believe their governments will introduce new identity systems in the next two years, in part to support the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and to deliver public goods and services more effectively.

However, fostering more inclusive financial systems through digital identities can only be undertaken with trust as a prerequisite. If this requirement is not met, users will not feel their data is protected and, as a result, countries will fail to promote financial inclusion, as this lack of trust will prevent many transactions from being carried out.

Does digital transformation even exist without the personal digital transformation?

I recently came across an interesting imaginary dialogue in relation to the labour market transformation. During the late-stage industrial revolution when automobiles took over the place, one said:

• You see? We don’t have to worry about that much. In the past, we had carters and carts and today we have cab drivers with automobiles. The market generates new opportunities.
• Okay, but what happened to the carters’ horses?

The trends we see today imply that the daily work-practice of the last two decades in the field of administration, process management, manual data controlling and so on will be outdated very soon, and only a few years remain for people working in these fields to adapt from the labour perspective. This is what we call digital transformation.

The question that every manager should ask from themselves is how can we not write-off the best and most loyal team members as collateral damage of the digital transformation? We can rephrase the question like this: how are we going to successfully conduct digital transformation with analog staff?

Reflecting back to the imaginary dialogue: Analog staff are the horses and digital-ready skillsets are the cars with internal combustion engines. 

We have several good examples when employees could be upgraded for digital-ready skills and find their place in the new digital economy. Just to name one remarkable example: at a big German multinational company a group of manual software testers were retrained as automated testers. Why was it worth for the management to invest in to such expensive training? 

Because otherwise they would have instantly had to realize the loss of all the experience, domain and market knowledge as the collateral damage of laying-off the manual testers. Not to mention the reality that finding even 20 good IT people today is a significant and expensive challenge considering around 600k IT experts are missing from the EU job market.

We believe that if someone is motivated enough to move out of their comfort zone, then it makes sense to invest in them to acquire digital and IT skills. All other solutions are just way too expensive from the company perspective. Of course, not everyone is ready for the personal digital transformation journey but with the right encouragement and approach, we can select the most fitting candidates, train them and make them an engine of the company’s digital transformation.

I’m looking forward to discussing this and other key topics in the panel session “Future skills for a future world” at ITU Telecom World 2019 in Budapest next month.

Electronic waste, or e-waste, is often seen as one of the telecom industry’s biggest global challenges. But what if it’s actually a huge opportunity for business and society?

Buying Green

It’s on the agenda for just about any large organisation: green procurement. Ecovadis’ research in 2017 mentioned that some 97% of all corporates, municipalities and national governments aim to buy stuff in a (more) responsible way. One year later, Accenture concluded that our industry is not doing great on ‘sustainable consumption’; delivering products and services that move away from good old ‘take-make-waste’.

One for One

Two problems? Or one opportunity? Several organisations in the telecom industry are trying out a circular service now commonly known as ‘One for One’. It is explained in this short video, and is quite straight forward: the material footprint of a new phone is offset by recycling one old ‘scrap phone’. The latter is collected in the emerging world, where electronic waste is abundant.

Companies like T-Mobile and Samsung see the service as a simple, transparent way to offer green services – or ‘circularity’ – to their customers. These customers, such as the Dutch government, are able to procure phones in a green, ‘closed loop’ way.

‘Circularity as a service’

So, how does this work? When a customer purchases a new phone, a small fee is added to the purchase price. That fee is used to pay for an ‘offset’: the collection of an end-of-life scrap phone in a developing country, such as Ghana. The scrap phone is bought through small phone repair shops or other informal channels – thus creating jobs and income, while reducing pollution. Next stop: Europe, where this ‘waste’ can be recycled and over ten – increasingly scarce – precious metals are extracted and made fit for re-use.

This service thus offers an easy, practical form of circularity – without the normal side-effect of a complicated procurement process.

Future proof industry

We can be quite proud to be part of the telecom industry. Let’s be honest; no product is more iconic than a phone, as it symbolizes innovation and advancement. But most of all, the telecom industry is really good at telling great stories. But that strength and marketing power could also be used for a green purpose; to create an appealing story of how we can all contribute to more recycling — not because you have to, or by stating it’s ones responsibility. But by proclaiming the beauty of working together to make this industry waste-free and sustainable.

That’s how we can make telecom future-proof. I look forward to discussing this more in the panel debate “Strategies to boost climate action in the ICT sector” at ITU Telecom World in Budapest this September.

Encouragingly, ICT investment across the world, and especially amongst emerging nations, remains positive and is growing fast. This investment is made in the hope and expectation that nations will benefit economically. However, it is not without risk.

Whilst internet access is the foundation of economic growth in the digital era, economic growth is not directly driven by access alone – and certainly not at the base of the pyramid. It is driven by digital PARTICIPATION. This subtle difference is the most critical factor in shaping ICT policy away from a wasteful and even detrimental one towards an economy-building one. Here is the evidence from the UK.

The UK is the 5th economy in the world. It has over 90% high speed broadband access, 77% of its consumers shop online and 84% of people have a smartphone. Looking at its digital profile at face value, one assumes that digital access equates to GDP performance. But at the base of the pyramid, it does not.

The UK is an economy disproportionately reliant on the financial sector (which accounts for around 40% of its GDP) and its service sector capabilities. At the base of the pyramid, digital access does not equate to digital participation amongst businesses in the UK. After 25 years at the forefront of the internet revolution, it has one of the most advanced internet infrastructures and one of highest digital access rates in the world.

And yet only 10% of business sell online in the UK, according to the Office of National Statistics, and only about 2% of small UK businesses have a high-performing website according to the Federation of Small Businesses.  In fact, it is estimated that every 1% increase in digital PARTICIPATION amongst SMEs in the UK has the potential to contribute £30billion to the UK economy annually.

Therein lies some important national lessons. Whilst internet access will rapidly increase economic activity in countries, it will result in a significant outflow of capital to companies and countries better equipped to sell to their citizens online unless nations directly empower their businesses to participate in global trade.

Technology has a significant role to play in accelerating development. Digital access and access to ICT infrastructure is important. But it is not enough to drive economic growth in countries. Digital access opens countries up to the world. But on its own, it turns citizens into online consumers, ideal targets for companies and nations with the know-how to capitalise on digital channels.

As new entrants to the global digital space, their businesses are less technologically mature. Many poorly-informed advisers will suggest leaving their businesses to the natural forces of the market.  This is ill-advised. Looking at the experience of the UK and other advanced economies, we estimate that left to their own devices, it will take well over 20 years for businesses and communities in emerging nations to take advantage of their nations’ internet infrastructure investment to boost grassroots economic performance, given that 99% of them are at the foot of the technology curve. And as technology accelerates humanity into the 4th industrial revolution, the digital gap between businesses in emerging nations – most of which are small businesses – and those from advanced economies will widen and, as a result, so will the trade disparity.

Emerging nations investing in ICT infrastructure should aim to compress the technology maturity curve of their small businesses and digitally disadvantaged communities and short-cut their road to selling online. In other words, they must create an alternative path to effective online presence for technology-poor businesses in their country. They should strive to put this priority on a par with their ICT investment if they are to maximise and accelerate the return on their investment.