The RDF and RPM brought together regulators, policy makers and experts from across the region in order to identify key areas of development that are of interest for the region.
A group of speakers from across the Arab countries and different countries in the world discussed, during the RDF and RPM, a number of topics leveraging telecommunications in various sectors.
Dr. Mohammed Ahmed Al Amer, Chairman of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) said that TRA pays a particular attention to the development of the uses of information technology and employment of such uses in solving the increasing number of the existing problems in Bahrain and the Arab countries, emphasizing the importance of such meetings in stimulating the development of electronic content, contributing to enabling the advanced use of technology by various vital sectors.
Mohamed bin Hamad Bubashait, General Director of TRA said that the RDF has provided a number of initiatives encouraging the development of Arabic content, including the contest which was launched by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) on the first day of the Conference as well as the five joint initiatives proposed from most of Arab Countries.
The discussions covered the issue of broadband in terms of providing support to the Arab countries, especially the least developed countries, in implementing and developing the broadband infrastructure in rural and urban areas and the development and facilitation of access to broadband in addition to making it available in the Arab countries, strengthening cyber security and building confidence and security in the use of and access to telecommunications/ICT which means to build confidence and security in the use of telecommunications/ICT and e-commerce in the Arab region and work to eliminate all forms of cybercrimes, including the misuse of telecommunications and information technology, use of telecommunications/ICTs for smart and sustainable development and protection of the environment which aims to raise awareness of the importance of issues of sustainable development and protection of the environment and the development of legislation and regulatory frameworks to achieve smart and sustainable development, smart learning which aims to transit from the traditional approach in education in schools and universities, i.e. the use of books and reference papers, to smart learning by using smart tablet devices and the latest software and technologies in the field of telecommunications/ICT to obtain information, references and various academic subjects, and finally accessibility to telecommunications/ICTs for persons with disabilities which means to secure the right for persons with disabilities in the Arab region to access telecommunications/ICT.
It is worth mentioning that the RDF and RPM aimed at identifying key areas of development that are of interest for the region and developing the regional policy positions which will be discussed at the WTDC 14 in order to establish the ITU’s development activities for the coming years.