The Communications Regulatory Authority (CRA) represented by the His Excellency Mohammed Ali Al-Mannai, President of CRA has participated today in a high-level interactive policy session within the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Forum 2020, which is conducted this year in virtual format from June 22 – September 10, 2020 featuring a weekly programme, under the theme “Fostering digital transformation and global partnerships: WSIS Action Lines for achieving Sustainable Development Goals”.
WSIS is a multi-stakeholder platform to discuss, share experiences, showcase innovation, and foster partnerships in strengthening the impact of information and communications technologies (ICTs) for sustainable development. The high-level session was under the title “Building Confidence and Security in the use of ICTs”, the session discusses the importance of cybersecurity to digital systems, access to connectivity, and to the availability, integrity and confidentiality of information transiting on networks, in addition to the operations and functioning of critical infrastructure, digital and physical. Besides, it discusses the importance of enhancing cybersecurity and protecting critical information infrastructures. His Excellency Mohammed Ali Al-Mannai, President of CRA discussed the importance of developing and implementing policy and regulatory measures to build trust as a key principle of sustainable ICT sector and growing digital economy.
“The CRA ensures to participate in international conferences and forums to foster partnerships, exchange information and experiences with stakeholders and experts, and to check the current international best practices followed in the field. CRA’s participation this year in WSIS Forum that is conducted in virtual format is a sign of the key role that the ICT plays in terms of business continuity during crises, like the exceptional circumstances related to Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The CRA ensures to implement its mandate related to developing the needed regulatory instruments to regulate the ICT sector in Qatar, by ensuring sector development and encouraging the introduction of advanced ICT to meet the needs of customers and the public,” said His Excellency Mohammed Ali Al-Mannai, President of CRA.
It is worth to mention that this year all WSIS Forum related activities will be conducted in virtual format, such as, workshops, high-level policy sessions, a ministerial round table, as well as a series of WSIS Action Line facilitation meetings in addition to a Hackathon, an exhibition, and WSIS prizes ceremony, which aims to provide recognition to the projects that succeeded in implementing development-oriented strategies that leverage the power of ICTs as an enabler of the development.
WSIS Forum is marking 15 years of cooperation between all WSIS stakeholders to leverage ICTs as critical drivers of global development. It represents the world’s largest annual gathering of the ‘ICT for development’ community and is organized by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), in partnership with more than 30 UN sister organizations. WSIS provides the multi-stakeholders including government, civil society, private sector, academia and international organizations with an opportunity to foster partnerships, as well as exchanging information, experiences and best practices.
