Global Standards Symposium “Towards a better inclusion of the Arab region in the international standardization process” Khédija Ghariani – Secretary General – AICTO Dubai, 19 November 2012

“Towards a better inclusion of the Arab region in the international standardization process” Social & economic growth is not possible without ICT. In spite of the positive numbers:  6.3 billions of mobile subscribers (ITU, June 2012)  2b,405,510,175 Internet users (World Internet Usage and Population Statistics, June 2012) Global Standards Symposium - Dubai, 19/11/2012

“Towards a better inclusion of the Arab region in the international standardization process”  Digital divide is still a fact namely when its comes to standardization.  The gap is very important between developed and developing countries.  The weak representation of the Arab region within the international standardization bodies. due to the lack of the necessary skills Global Standards Symposium - Dubai, 19/11/2012

“Towards a better inclusion of the Arab region in the international standardization process”  It is a multi-stakeholder responsibility (governments, private sector, academia, and civil society)  Efforts should focus on Capacity building Global Standards Symposium - Dubai, 19/11/2012

“Towards a better inclusion of the Arab region in the international standardization process” AICTO, is committed to consolidate the current efforts by leading further joint actions focusing on capacity building and awareness campaigns. To :  Disseminate the standardization culture throughout the Arab region,  Focus on the importance of adopting international standards through the Arab region. Global Standards Symposium - Dubai, 19/11/2012

“Towards a better inclusion of the Arab region in the international standardization process” Being an Arab technical organization, with main objectives :  Promoting and enriching common strategies for ICT development in the region,  Identifying the Arab needs and skills in the field of ICTs, Membership : Is open to the public sector (regulators, ….) the international private sector represented in the Arab region, civil society, academia & research centers. Partnership agreement with : ITU + IEEE Global Standards Symposium - Dubai, 19/11/2012

“Towards a better inclusion of the Arab region in the international standardization process” AICTO is full of will to coordinate efforts with all concerned parties on the regional and international level, namely : The Arab Working Group for Standardization and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) to : Global Standards Symposium - Dubai, 19/11/2012

“Towards a better inclusion of the Arab region in the international standardization process”  Raise awareness about the importance to adopt local and regional strategies for the development of practical (user-friendly) and strong standards.  Achieve joint actions aiming at : Global Standards Symposium - Dubai, 19/11/2012

“Towards a better inclusion of the Arab region in the international standardization process” Joint actions aiming at :  Developing the required skills in the field of standardization, A training session has already been scheduled within AICTO action plan 2013, to be organized jointly with ITU- T. Global Standards Symposium - Dubai, 19/11/2012

“Towards a better inclusion of the Arab region in the international standardization process” Joint actions aiming at :  Promoting the use of Common/uniform standards to reduce the cost of cloud services such as : e-government, e-education, e-health,…  Stimulating the debate amongst major players : ( Government +private sector and academia) how to boost private investment in the field of standardization to encourage innovation and scientific research. Global Standards Symposium - Dubai, 19/11/2012

“Towards a better inclusion of the Arab region in the international standardization process” Joint actions aiming at :  Sharing knowledge about standards for cloud computing which are playing a valuable role in improving the quality of life,  Contributing to the establishment of a global network of regional conformance testing centres – tasked with evaluation products’ degree of compliance with ITU’s international standards. Global Standards Symposium - Dubai, 19/11/2012

“Towards a better inclusion of the Arab region in the international standardization process”  AICTO stongly supports Algeria’s proposal about: Establishing a Regional Centre for standardization based in Algeria. (ITU Regional Workshop on Bridging the Standardization Gap - for Arab and Africa Regions - September 2011) Global Standards Symposium - Dubai, 19/11/2012

“Towards a better inclusion of the Arab region in the international standardization process” Conclusion :  Standards are developed for use in global markets by experts from all parts of the world : Technological innovation is essential and should be given a priority through partnerships between governments and the private sector,  Collaborative work is a must to reduce the existing digital divide in the field of standardization. Global Standards Symposium - Dubai, 19/11/2012

Thak you for your attention Khédija Ghariani Secretary General – AICTO T : F : Website :