H. E․ Dr. Ali Al Shidhani, Undersecretary for Communications and Information Technology, Excellencies, distinguished Board Members, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the 4th Meeting of the Digital Innovation Board here in Muscat, in the mesmerizing and majestic Sultanate of Oman!
Let me first express my sincere gratitude to our host, His Excellency Engineer Omar bin Hamdan Al Ismaili,
Executive President of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Oman and a Board Member of the Alliance.
His Excellency and I met two years ago to discuss ongoing cooperation between his country and the Development Bureau,
and I have always been impressed by his steadfast commitment to advancing digital innovation.
Now, we gather today at a pivotal moment for the Digital Innovation Board.
Having laid the strategic foundations together, our focus now turns to operationalizing this vision.
Through the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Alliance for Digital Development, we are moving from intent to impact.
In the Dominican Republic last year, we agreed on a set of key strategic actions.
We will now take stock of the progress achieved, draw on the lessons learned, and chart a bold path forward.
But let me first take this opportunity to recognize the milestones achieved since we last met.
The Acceleration Centres have continued to make progress towards service delivery, while three more are soon to be inducted into the Alliance’s network.
At a meeting in Shenzhen, China, last June, the Centres shared experiences, addressed challenges and explored joint collaborations, while the DT Lab has continued to support Centres with training, workshops and hands-on guidance for service delivery.
We also continue to develop new courses, including a soon-to-be launched course on policy experimentation.
Last year's pilot testing of the Regional Initiative Accelerator contributed to the development of the RIA methodology,
and we are now gearing up for its deployment.
Meanwhile, the growing Global Expert Network of the Alliance now has more than 75 experts from over 30 countries.
Its members have co-designed projects to turn the collaboration area roadmap approved last year into concrete proposals.
You will have the chance to review these projects during the working group meetings tomorrow.
I am very pleased to announce that our 5 foresight studies for resilient, future-ready digital ecosystems are now on our website.
This compendium represents a major milestone in our Board’s journey and stands as a tangible testament to the achievements of our collective work.
This week, we will also review the findings of two upcoming foresight reports, on the tourism and retail sectors, respectively.
At WTDC-25, the membership requested that we scale up technical assistance in strategic foresight at the national level,
so I am pleased to report that we are already acting on this request, supporting Mozambique in developing a compendium of national-level sectoral foresight reports on ICT, education and agriculture.
Additionally, the three foresight reports approved by the Board last year have now been published online for wider dissemination. In short, we have had a busy year!
Ladies and gentlemen, our agenda over the next two days is inspiring in its vision, collaborative in spirit, and concrete in action.
The future we aspire to is closer than when we started with the Alliance, but it requires continued leadership, committed action and sustained resolve.
Let us proceed not only with agenda items, but with concrete outcomes that bring lasting value to innovation communities around the world.
I look forward to our work over these next few days,
and to shaping the future together.
Thank you!