[Digital Business Africa] – In response to the circular consultation letter from the Director of BDT (ITU) concerning best practice guidelines on the general theme “Fast forward digital connectivity for all”, on the occasion of the Global Symposium For Regulators 2019 (GSR-19), the Telecommunications / ICT Regulatory Authority of Ivoiry Coast (ARTCI) submitted some proposal. Didigat Business Africa share those proposals with its readers.
« In the light of the fundamental principles and benchmarks proposed above, the following new regulatory tools and approaches should be considered:
. To have a more flexible regulatory framework through framework laws that promote innovation; innovation is an essential lever for the long-term growth of a sector. The
possibility of decentralized innovation in networks is essential for the emergence of digital
tools and services with innovative business models.
• To enable the regulator to exercise its powers in a proportionate, impartial and
transparent manner: As a key player in the digital economy ecosystem, the regulator must
have the powers to promote effective, fair, transparent, non-discriminatory and
sustainable competition for the benefit of other stakeholders (operators, users);
moreover, traditional regulatory principles must be versatile and geared towards the
digital transformation.
• To take into account the need for technological neutrality in regulation.
• To harmonize regional regulatory policies with those of the telecommunications/ICT
sector on emerging issues such as OTT and matters relating to GAFAM, infrastructure
sharing, IoT, number portability, rules for access to scarce resources (frequencies,
telephone numbers, IP addresses etc.).
• To promote the deployment of next-generation backbone and access networks and the
adoption of broadband applications and services by all.
• To modernize and redefine universal service and access to include broadband, encourage
public-private partnerships and extend universal service beyond network deployment
alone by stimulating services uptake and access to online services and applications.
• To promote digital financial inclusion: Ensuring digital financial inclusion is of the highest
importance in a digital world. The absence of or limited access to financial services
presents a barrier to socio-economic development in particular for developing countries.
It would also be desirable to expand access to financial services for unbanked or
underbanked people, particularly in rural, remote and disadvantaged areas. This should
enable users in these areas to play a role in the global digital economy. In this context,
digital financial inclusion must be the cornerstone of national financial inclusion strategies.
• To devise measures to protect data, privacy and personal freedoms.
• To establish guidelines to ensure that technological innovation is always for the benefit of
humanity’s well-being and not at its expense.
• To develop national and regional collaborative approaches to address all due diligence
matters related to digital trust.
Digital Business Africa
