With the theme of 'Digital Transformation for Digital Economies @COVID-19 South-Asia', the Asia Pacific Regulatory Roundtable co-organized by ITU, GSMA and TRAI (India) sought to highlight digital strategies and innovative solutions adopted in response to connectivity challenges emerging amid the COVID crisis. Organized as part of the UNESCAP Framework on Socio-Economic Response, the event welcomed a distinguished panel of speakers from across the region, who explored the challenges, opportunities and lessons learned, through an interactive discussion kicked off by BDT Director, Doreen Bogdan-Martin.
“What long-term impact will the current pandemic have on the countries of the Asia-Pacific region?" she asked participants in her opening remarks, noting that Asian countries were among the first, and in some cases, hardest, hit when the virus first emerged.
Observing that the digital sector will play a strong role Asia-Pacific's recovery, Ms Bogdan-Martin noted that that the region's strong commitment to ICT infrastructure and growing ICT sector could prove decisive, with the shift of economic activity to the cloud and the need for mobile track-and-trace and other tech solutions benefiting a great many Asian countries which already have a very strong presence in the digital economy.
Expert speakers participating in the event included Julian Gorman, Head of Asia Pacific for the GSMA; Dr R S Sharma, Chairman, TRAI, India; Dr Nagesh Kumar, Director, South and South-West Asia Office, UNESCAP; Ilyas Ahmad, Chief Executive, Communications Authority, Maldives; Purushottam Khanal, Chairman, Nepal Telecommunications Authority, Nepal; V. Raghunandan , Deputy Director General , International Relations, Department of Telecommunication, India; Omar Mansoor Ansari , Chairman ATRA , Afghanistan; and Jigme Tenzin, Director, Department of IT and Telecom, Bhutan
Ms Bogdan-Martin emphasized that although the region is well-positioned to take advantage of growth in demand for digital goods and services, not every country will be able to benefit from a surge in tech demand. “Many countries are still struggling to connect their own populations, in the face of enormous economic, geographic and demographic challenges," she said. “We need to help regulators, policymakers and industry better understand the digital transformation sweeping across the region, and to develop and implement a policy environment that enables their economies and societies to prosper in a world that is increasingly digital and data-driven."
The opening session was followed by an interactive debate moderated by ITU's Sofie Maddens, Head of Regulatory & Market Environment, and welcoming guest speakers including: S. K. Gupta, Secretary TRAI, India; Amir Azeem Bajwa, Chairman, PTA, Pakistan; Md. Jahurul Haque, Chairman BTRC , Bangladesh; Ahmad Reza Sharafat, I R Iran; Manoj Mishra, Country Director, GSMA; Bill Lan, Huawei; a representative from OpenSignal; and Dr Sanjay K Srivastava, Chief, Disaster Risk Reduction, UNESCAP.
