The UAE Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (TRA) celebrated the World Telecommunication & Information Society Day under the theme “Bridging the Standardisation Gap”, in a special event at the TRA’s office in Dubai. The event aims at raising awareness about the international practices in bridging the standardization gap, as well as the international cooperation to keep up with the rapid ICT developments.
The celebration started with a speech by Eng. Majed Al Mesmar, the Deputy Director General of the Telecommunications sector at the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA), who welcomed the attendees and extended his congratulations on the holy month of Ramadan. Al Mesmar said: “I would like to describe our relationship with our strategic partners as the same one of family members. In our culture, the family is the strongest example of mutual support, cooperation and partnership. We, in the UAE, believe that cooperation and solidarity work miracles. Our joint journey has embodied this spirit of cooperation for decades. Today, we meet on another occasion to revive this spirit. We meet today to celebrate the 50thanniversary of World Telecommunication and Information Society Day, which has been celebrated annually since 1969 to mark the founding of ITU on 17 May 1865.”
Al Mesmar emphasized that the International Telecommunication Union was successful in choosing the theme of this year, bridging the standardization gap, to be highlighted in this event. He said: “Gaps in areas such as standardization are one of the challenges we must urgently address in order to shape the future on basis of sustainable development, and contribute to the well-being of our peoples and societies. It is no longer possible to deal differently with things going on in the developed world and the developing world. We live in one world and have the necessary tools, convergent concepts and similar goals and challenges.
During the event, there was a message from the ITU Secretary-General Houlin Zhao. He talked about the importance and symbolic value of the World Telecommunication and Information Society Day. Zhao touched on the role of the ITU to develop different service standards since it was established.
The TRA presented its staff’s experiences in standardisation process and its vital role as achair of the Study Group 20, Internet of things (IoT) and smart cities and communities. It also presented the UAE’s practices in standardization, which include chairing the ITU ST20 on Internet of Things and Smart Cities and participating in work of other study groups. Participants touched on the role of the UAE to highlight the importance of capacity building and enable developing countries via smart learning.
Public, private and academic partners of the TRA participated in the event and highlighted the importance of standardisation to link research and development with the market needs. The attendees agreed on the importance of enhancing awareness of standardisation and cooperation of different sectors to contribute effectively in standardisation activities.
The event included a discussion about the importance of enabling local experts in standardisation at the national, regional and international levels and encouraging developing countries to apply international standards. The discussion called for highlighting the role of standards in achieving two sustainable development goals: quality of education and sustainable cities.
The UAE, represented by the TRA, is always supporting the ITU in its efforts to enhance the ICT sector in developing countries. The UAE provides logistic and technical support to developing countries to improve their ICT infrastructure and achieve sustainable development, which is the basis for economic growth and society happiness.