Manama, 5 June 2014 – "At this GSR, we have acknowledged the importance of working together, of strengthening and extending our cooperation, of involving other stakeholders such as financial and banking institutions to work together in setting the conditions for connecting the unconnected," said Mr Brahima Sanou at the closing ceremony of the Global Symposium for Regulators (GSR).
"When it comes to collaboration, regional regulators' associations have increasingly played a key role in building a common understanding, strengthening cross-border cooperation and in designing a harmonized approach to regulation."
With the theme of 'Capitalizing on the potential of the digital world' the event was one of the best attended GSR events ever, attracting around 80 VVIPs and VIPs, including government ministers, heads of regulatory agencies and C-level industry executives.
It was officially opened on Tuesday, 3 June by HRH Sheikh Ali bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, Deputy Premier of Bahrain, HE Sheikh Fawaz bin Mohamed bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, Minister of State for Telecommunications Affairs, and ITU Secretary-General Dr Hamadoun I. Touré.
The conference heard how the fast-growing global store of huge data volumes generated by high-tech sensors, human interaction over web, email and social media sites, and machine-to-machine communications is creating a host of new business opportunities as well as concerns about privacy and the use of personal data by third parties.
The event concluded with a set of regulatory Best Practice Guidelines which emphasized the importance of flexibility and manoeuvrability for regulators, and of a holistic approach to today's converged environment to take into account the needs of a broader digital ecosystem, rather than traditional service categories like 'telecoms' or 'broadcasting'.
"As we all know, developing and using best practices is the best way to fast-track our efforts to adapting to change and embracing new technologies for development and business," said Mr Sanou. "We all agree that in this globalized and interconnected landscape, we need to work together to protect the rights of the consumers, especially those of vulnerable people, by encouraging the development of modern and effective regulatory tools."
