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III Protecting consumers and suppliers: Chapter 5

Regulators recognized the importance of:

• Adopting cross-sectoral regulatory frameworks to provide for consumer protection and
freedom of choice, as well as the proper exercise of consumer rights.

• Educating and empowering consumers by various measures and initiatives.

• Retaining the ability to choose and switch between service providers.

• Encouraging the adoption of measures for enhancing the security of m-services and apps;
creating reliable digital identities; using subscriber identification and registration to protect
consumers; safeguarding consumer personal data…and promoting transparency of online
communications and transactions, in particular.

• Recognizing that multi-stakeholder collaboration is essential to ensure that the rights and
best interests of both consumers and suppliers are protected.

• Adopting privacy policy that includes measures to alert users and give them control over data
practices.

IV Roles of ICT stakeholders:

Regulators and policy-makers should work with government agencies, private-sector and non-
governmental structures to mainstream ICTs, and m-services and apps, into their national social
and economic strategies and design holistic policies and regulations allowing for synergies and
cross-pollination to occur between the m-services and apps economy and the other sectors.

ICT regulators should adopt targeted regulatory measures to promote the development
of broadband networks and services and provide for affordable and widespread access to
m-services and apps guaranteeing healthy competition. Meanwhile, regulators should also
promote innovation and ensure consumer protection. Cross-border harmonization of relevant
regulatory policies, as well as enhanced collaboration among national government agencies,
regional and global organizations, is essential.

Source: GSR-15 Best practices guidelines, available at: www. itu. int/ en/ ITU- D/ Conferences/ GSR/ Pages/ GSR2015/ GSR15- Consultation. aspx

5.5 Conclusion: setting new address the critical uncertainties present in this
regulatory objectives ecosystem.

The emerging digital ecosystem is generating Establishing an environment that fosters
many risks and challenges for government policies, creativity and innovation, enables competition,
even as it presents new opportunities to create promotes consumer choice, and fully exploits
social and economic value. Just as any healthy the transformative potential of digital technology
ecosystem enables its stakeholders to interact means finding a delicate balance that both
for the benefit of all, a healthy digital ecosystem stimulates and protects all stakeholders. Having
should enable investors to create economic value recognized the phenomenal opportunity that
and deliver well-being to society. But it will be diffusion of m-services and apps represents,
necessary to set new regulatory objectives to governments and regulators could consider
seeking technical assistance from specialized

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