Page 3 - GSR-24 BEST PRACTICE GUIDELINES

Key policy and regulatory and civil society at the national, regional and
measures and guiding principles international level on developing harmonized
governance and regulatory approaches to ensure
for positive and inclusive impact that telecommunications/ICTs contribute to peace,
security, and sustainable development.
8. Regulatory harmonization: align regulatory
These regulatory measures and guiding principles aim frameworks with international best practices.
to maximize the benefits of telecommunications/ICTs for 9. Risk-based approach: consider employing risk-
transformative technologies while mitigating risks and based principles to enhance product safety and
ensure inclusivity in their application. They emphasize effectiveness. Implement risk management and
the importance of balancing innovation with responsible mitigation measures to address potential risks
regulation to create a positive impact on societies and associated with transformative technologies,
economies. By implementing these measures and including research and foresight capacity among
principles collectively, we, regulators, aim to create policy makers and regulators.
an environment conducive to positive outcomes for 10. Cybersecurity standards: enforce robust
all stakeholders, fostering innovation, trust, and social cybersecurity standards and regulations to safeguard
welfare.
against threats.
1. Proactive approach: adopt a proactive approach 11. Equitable access: ensure fair, affordable, consistent,
that balances innovation promotion with risk resilient and non-discriminatory access and use of
minimization and provide a controlled environment all digital technologies, resources and services to
that enables businesses to test and scale up their address the digital divide and ensure meaningful
products or services. This includes adopting agile, connectivity.
adaptive and anticipatory regulatory frameworks, 12. Market competition and openness: foster equitable
applying innovative regulatory approaches such market access and healthy competition among
as regulatory sandboxes, regulatory impact all players and technologies, including start-ups,
assessments (RIA), collaborative regulation, horizon-
scanning exercises, and evidence-based decision- ensuring sufficient availability of and ease of
making. access to limited resources (e.g.: spectrum) to
drive innovation and efficiency and encourage
2. Enforcement: adopt regulations that incentivize partnerships with local players.
ethical conduct and address misconduct, by 13. Regulatory incentives: foster regulatory and
establishing monitoring and supervision mechanisms
to prevent abuses and address risks. economic incentives as well as innovative financing
mechanisms that encourage investment and
3. Streamlining regulations and processes: reduce competitive pricing.
bureaucratic hurdles to streamline administrative 14. Consumer and data protection: ensure there are
processes (e.g., in licensing). personal data protection and privacy regulations
4. Stakeholder engagement: prioritize inclusive in place, as well as protect consumer interests and
stakeholder engagement and public consultation ensure accountability of service providers.
throughout the regulatory process by engaging 15. Data governance: develop appropriate data
industry and civil society collaboratively in the pursuit
of shaping competitive and inclusive markets. governance and transparency policies to strike
a balance between safeguarding individual and
5. Transparency and accountability in decision- organizational data privacy, security and integrity
making, based on data analysis: ensure and enable cross border data flows to operate
transparency, accountability and inclusive design in effectively.
regulatory processes. 16. Ethics and security: foster the creation of
6. Data collection and sharing: adopt effective ethical frameworks and secure standards for the
mechanisms for collection and use of data in order development and deployment of transformative
to increase the regulator's capacity for action. technologies in telecommunications/ICTs, including
7. Collaboration: foster collaboration among all AI, by incorporating considerations such as human-
stakeholders across different economic sectors, centered design and non-discrimination.
involving policy makers, regulators, regulatory and 17. Promotion of ethical practices: foster a culture
industry associations, private sector, academia of responsibility through industry-wide codes of

1-4 July 2024 | Kampala, Uganda 3 www.itu.int/gsr24