The annual SAMENA (South Asia – Middle East – North Africa) summit was held at the Atlantis Hotel in Dubai, with the active participation and sponsorship of the Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority (TDRA). The event was attended by Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Tolerance and Coexistence, as a guest of honour, and a group of decision-makers and workers in ICT from the public and private sectors in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. In his opening speech, Majed Sultan Al Mesmar, Director-General of TDRA, emphasised the importance of regional cooperation to advance the telecommunications sector and promote digital transformation in order to contribute to creating a sustainable digital economy that serves the region. He noted that advanced digital ecosystems have had a significant impact on society, the economy, and government operations. Emerging technologies are a powerful driver of the transformation process toward a sustainable digital economy, whether in the UAE, the region, or the world. Al Mesmar acknowledged that the journey toward a sustainable digital economy has challenges that must be overcome by working together and turning them into opportunities. One such challenge is the legislative issue, as technology is constantly evolving, and to keep pace with it legislatively, we must be highly innovative. TDRA launched the first experimental legislative environment for the ICT sector, the ICT Regulatory Sandbox, on the sidelines of the World Government Summit held in Dubai last February to help meet this challenge. Al Mesmar also called for concerted efforts to support countries that are not connected to submarine cables, which deprive them of broadband internet services, and offered the UAE’s assistance in this context based on the country’s global trends. He said, “The UAE is ready to provide the necessary advisory and technical support to those countries to achieve the noble global slogan raised by the United Nations in the context of its development goals (Leave no one behind).” Mohammed Al Ramsi, Deputy Director-General for the Telecommunications Sector, participated in the activities of the 5.5G session. Al Ramsi presented the TDRA’s efforts to enhance the infrastructure of 5G and 5.5G, and the role of this technology in promoting innovation and increasing the speed of communication between devices and stations, which support the establishment and development of smart cities in education, health, transport, logistics, industry and others. Al Ramsi indicated that the TDRA had taken many necessary steps to facilitate the development of 5.5G, including allocating spectrum at 6GHz and mmWave scales. Among the TDRA’s participants in the summit sessions, Adel Al Mehairi, Director of CERT, participated in a discussion session on enhancing digital trust to reach a sustainable, connected and smart world. Khalid Al Awadi, Manager of Broadcasting and Space Services, also participated in a session on the integration of terrestrial and non-terrestrial networks and space platforms. The TDRA also saw active participation in the discussion session “Creating Digital Value and the Internet”, where Sultan Albalooshi, Manager of Spectrum Policy, touched on the importance of infrastructure in enhancing the role of the Internet in digital life and the digital economy. On the summit’s sidelines, the TDRA participated in the collective launch of the 5.5G open lab in partnership with Etisalat by eand and Huawei. This launch reflects the stakeholders’ keenness on the principle of partnership in preparing for the future and dealing smartly with new technologies.

Source: Emirates News Agency