2022 has been marred by war and the post-pandemic impact continues. In 2023, public policy will take on new dimensions due to challenging geopolitical, economic and technological conditions. Understanding our environment, taking action to address challenges, and improving strategies for economic and business growth, digital inclusion, or green sustainability will be critical.
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Discover the top 10 trending topics for 2023 on public policy issues related to technology and communications.
Provides wide-area and high-bandwidth connectivity
Digital infrastructure is the lever of global competitiveness. High-capacity, resilient, and wide-reaching networks are essential to enable the digital transformation of society and the economy and improve the quality of life for citizens. The European Commission presents his European Digital Decade 2030 goals, bringing fiber to everyone his gigabit connectivity and her 5G everywhere. Accelerating the rollout of 5G in Europe is essential, but the right conditions must be met for investment.
Accelerating high-bandwidth deployment requires simplification of civil engineering procedures, access to spectrum on reasonable terms, investment promotion regulations, legal certainty, and access to rural and underserved areas. support is key.
In Latin America, digital inclusion is a dream that can come true. To connect and engage the unconnected, Telefónica’s Rural Manifesto proposes engaging public and private efforts under a collaborative approach. And it focuses on new models that revolve around his three main axes: innovation, cooperation and sustainability of investment models. And, as the “golden egg-laying goose” fable reveals, given spectrum delivery on the right terms ultimately improves consumer and corporate welfare.
Consolidation, discussion of market structure, new market dynamics
A strong and resilient telecommunications industry is the foundation for driving digital and green transformation and harnessing the benefits it brings for all. In contrast to other regions, the sector is highly fragmented in Europe. Its market structure also undermines investment and innovation capacity, jeopardizing its ability to achieve its digital leadership vision on time.
New mergers will take place in the telecommunications and technology sectors, and competition policy practices will need to be updated in line with new market dynamics.
These new market dynamics in the technology market have been recognized in Europe with the approval of the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which will come into force in May 2023. Andreas Schwab, a member of the European Parliament, has said that opening up digital markets and creating a level playing field would “end the growing dominance of tech giants”.
Fair share for network sustainability and broadband cost recovery
Last year generated a global debate on broadband fair cost recovery and the sustainability of network investments. The telecommunications sector shares a commitment with governments to maximize connectivity potential. But in order to do so, the industry is pushing for policies that create a sustainable environment for network investments rather than imposing upgrade costs on every end user. Policies that promote a more balanced digital ecosystem and enable the development of two-sided markets.
In fact, the Internet has changed dramatically over the past decade, increasing asymmetry in the bargaining power of large content providers and preventing carriers from negotiating on a level playing field.
Accelerating the Twin Transition: Digital and Green Sustainability
Digital technology is changing people’s lives and the competitiveness of businesses. The EU’s Digital Strategy sets out the goals of his Decade of Digital, making this digital transformation work for people and businesses, while helping to reach the goal of making Europe climate neutral by 2050. We aim to The European Commission’s latest Digital Economic and Social Indicators (DESI) region’s digital indicators are showing gradual improvement.
The telecommunications sector is an indispensable ally in overcoming global challenges and driving the digital transition in all regions. Digitization is key to driving the green transition in many areas.
Shrinking the Digital Gap and Exploring Comprehensive Transformation
The world is living in a society of digital transformation where the digital divide is widening. What is digital inclusion in this context? Sharing knowledge of all kinds, supporting entrepreneurship and small businesses, increasing productivity, promoting access to basic services, enhancing freedom and social justice. are some of the benefits digitalization brings to society.
Technology companies and government agencies must work to achieve digital inclusion. Efforts on education, digital literacy and re-education of young and old are also essential if no one is to be left behind.
Strategic autonomy and industrial policy
Economic interdependence is challenged by geopolitical tensions and economic uncertainty. This has led to the emergence of new policy approaches to strengthen the economy’s strategic autonomy and productive capacity. Beyond energy, the focus needs to expand into the digital world. In the digital world, deploying high-speed connectivity (5G/fiber) and leading future technologies (AI, quantum, etc.) or industries (chips, green tech, etc.) are becoming the center of intense competition. geopolitical competition. The US Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which provides subsidies for US production and purchases, is beginning to be recognized as undermining the multilateral trading system.
In this context, Europe “Enhancing digital sovereignty and setting the standard, not following others – with a clear focus on data, technology and infrastructure”. To do this, policymakers and businesses must focus on revitalizing the European Union’s broad international competitiveness and promoting economic growth and living standards. Designing a forward-looking industrial policy built on promoting investment and innovation is a key success factor for increasing Europe’s competitiveness and strategic autonomy.
The telecom sector is a strategic ally in achieving digital and green transition strategies in any region. To this end, the sector seeks regulatory and policy frameworks adapted to the evolving digital ecosystem and competitive dynamics in the market.
Promote network, technology and business model innovation to strengthen competitiveness
Technology cycles are getting shorter. With 5G and 5G standalone connectivity fully rolled out, we are already talking about the arrival of 6G. Also, in order to take full advantage of today’s technology, the industry encourages network innovations such as edge computing, open interfaces (such as open RAN), and exposing network functions to third parties through APIification. I am proposing.
Promoting innovation to enhance the competitiveness of the region is one of the main priorities of industrial policy, making operators one of the key partners of business and government.
Finally, as artificial intelligence (AI) and new technologies become more sophisticated, there are concerns about their potential impact on employment, privacy, and other areas. Governments are considering ways to regulate its development and use to ensure that it is used responsibly and ethically, with the added aim of not stifling innovation. GPT is one of the most important and impactful technologies to hit the market in 2022.
Build trust, protect digital rights and privacy, and enable international data flows
As the amount of personal data collected and stored by businesses increases, there are growing concerns about the privacy and digital rights of this data. Data protection regulatory frameworks are proliferating. We need a horizontal, flexible and technology-neutral regulatory framework that is a level playing field for privacy and data protection.
And convergence is the solution for moving towards a framework that ensures effective protection of people’s privacy in the digital world. Europe has begun the process of adopting an adequacy decision on the EU-US Data Privacy Framework for data transfers in December 2022, but a third attempt could face mode legal challenges. I have. Also on the agenda are discussions on strategic autonomy and data localization, particularly European cybersecurity certification schemes and US precedents. Legal certainty regarding cross-border data flows is paramount.
Finally, in relation to misinformation, harmful and illegal content, the Digital Services Act (DSA) adopted in Europe with a new transparency and accountability framework will come into force on 1 November 2022 and Applies to
Cybersecurity in an increasingly digital world
With the risk of cyberattacks and data breaches increasing, cybersecurity is a public policy priority. Many factors are impacting the cybersecurity landscape, including pandemics, rising geopolitical tensions, supply chain challenges, and the emergence of new connected technologies. Organizations need new, more collaborative approaches to defend against evolving cyber risks. Old concepts such as Zero Trust need to be revisited, based on the idea that devices and users cannot be trusted to embrace the new.
Government efforts to improve cybersecurity measures to protect against these threats and to seek engagement between the public and private sectors will be key. As an example, the European Union recently announced a political commitment to strengthen the security of its ICT supply chains and proposed a new plan to expand and strengthen cyber defense capabilities across the EU.A risk-based approach and incidents International and multi-stakeholder cooperation, with a particular focus on a coordinated response to
Strengthening cooperation in a fragmented world
The pace of innovation has outpaced the pace of politics and institutions, and the world is becoming increasingly fragmented. In this context, the importance of multi-stakeholder approaches through public-private and international cooperation is increasing. His work in organizations such as the OECD, which is committed to the digital economy, his B20, the business voice to G20 leaders, Techaccord on cybersecurity, the Internet Governance Forum, the European Roundtable (ERT), CEPAL or SEGIB are of paramount importance. It turns out there is.
International partnerships are essential in this context. The results of the Global Gateway in Africa, as stated by the European Commission President, should give the EU a strong push to expand the initiative to other regions, especially Latin America, in 2023.
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