• ​To disseminate information on the relevant international and regional standardization work on Internet of Things (IoT), digital twins and smart sustainable cities and communities (SSC&C), covering ITU-T Study Group 20 (SG20), and other relevant standardization activities conducted by other ITU-T study groups, standards development organizations (SDOs), industry forums, and consortiums;
• To facilitate the participation of member states and sector members of the African region in ITU-T Study Group 20 and related meetings, at least when these meetings are held in Africa;
• To encourage the active participation of African administrations, regulators, academia and operators in the work of ITU-T Study Group 20 and in the implementation of ITU-T Y.4000 series Recommendations;
• To strengthen standard-making capabilities within the region in accordance with Resolution 44 (Rev. New Delhi, 2024) on “Bridging the standardization gap between developing and developed countries", and boost the standard development ecosystem with a view to improve the safety, security, interoperability, and sustainability of IoT, digital twins and SSC&C systems, applications, and services;
• To encourage substantive contributions from the African region to traditional and emerging areas of interest for ITU-T Study Group 20;
  
• To identify the relevant priorities of the region as they relate to the mandate of ITU-T Study Group 20;
• To work towards the development of new or revised Recommendations, Supplements, technical reports, and guidelines, on topics including (but not limited to):
• Requirements, capabilities and architectural frameworks of Internet of Things (IoT) and smart sustainable cities and communities (SSC&C) across verticals;
• Evaluation and assessment of smart sustainable cities and communities and digital services;
• Human-centric digital services enabled by Internet of Things (IoT) and smart sustainable cities and communities (SSC&C) related to digital health, accessibility and inclusion;
• Interworking between smart city platforms including digital twins;
• Architectures, functionalities and protocols in applications of verticals and infrastructures of Internet of Things (IoT) and smart sustainable cities and communities (SSC&C);
• Terminology and definitions, study and research of emerging digital technologies;
• Internet of Things (IoT) solutions for effective energy management in smart sustainable cities and communities (SSC&C);
• Data analytics, sharing, processing and management, including big data aspects, of Internet of Things (IoT) and smart sustainable cities and communities (SSC&C);
• Security, privacy, trustworthiness, and identification of Internet of Things (IoT) and smart sustainable cities and communities (SSC&C);
• Decentralized/distributed Internet of Things (IoT);
• Digital Public Infrastructure in cities and communities; and
• IoT for the development of smart communities with a focus on holistic rural development.
• To support the sustainable digital transformation agenda in the region, in collaboration with relevant regional telecommunications organizations, smart city stakeholders, industry partners, and academia, where appropriate, by engaging in activities:
• To explore and study the citiverse to enhance urban planning, sustainability and citizen engagement;
• To promote the use of open source in the development and implementation of IoT and digital twins standards in SSC&C;
• To provide support and accelerate the implementation of U4SSC KPIs;
• To provide support and accelerate the implementation of U4SSC digital public infrastructure for cities related policies, guidelines, specifications and other relevant U4SSC deliverables;
• To contribute to the development of implementation guidelines based on ITU-T SG20 deliverables.
• To identify and study forward looking technologies and key trends for the region with a view to contribute to relevant standardization work in SG20 and other relevant industry development activities in the region;
• To coordinate and promote the development of Recommendations, specifications, industry best practices, and guidelines that address key challenges, close relevant standardization gaps, and unlock new market opportunities, with a particular focus on the African region.
• To establish partnerships and relevant standardization development programmes, foster the active participation of the Group's members in these programmes, forums, events, and activities—including those related to ITU-T SG20—and to mobilize the necessary resources to support their implementation. To act as a liaison between the region's administrations, regulators, operators, manufacturers and academia in matters as per the SG20 mandate;
• To support any initiatives/activities leading to the Group's evolution;
• To collaborate with the African Telecommunication Union (ATU) and other regional telecommunication organizations (RTOs) to build synergies and support the region's holistic development plans in areas related to IoT, digital twins, and smart sustainable cities and communities (SSC&C), including associated systems, applications, services, and ecosystem development efforts.​

Working Methods

Study Group 20 Regional Group for Africa Mailing List