The World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly (WTSA-20) was organized by the International Telecommunication Union’s Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T), on March 1-9, in Geneva, Switzerland.
Egypt, represented by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) and the National Telecom Regulatory Authority (NTRA), have participated in WTSA-20.
WTSA is held every four years. It defines the next period of study for ITU-T and aims to refine its strategic direction. The Assembly reviews ITU-T structure, working methods and mechanisms for collaboration with other standards bodies, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), open-source communities, and the many vertical sectors applying ICTs as enabling technologies.
On the sidelines of WTSA-20, NTRA and the Saudi Communication and Information Technology Commission (CITC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to cooperate and exchange expertise on several areas, including smart cities, radio spectrum management and capacity building in digital transformation.
The MoU was signed in line with promoting international cooperation between the Arab Republic of Egypt and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, with respect to telecom regulation. The MoU is in line with Egypt's policy to accelerate digital transformation, improve relevant services, and reinforce the competitive environment of investments in Egypt’s telecom market.
As part of WTSA-20, MCIT participated in the Second Women in Standardization Expert Group (WISE) event, organized by ITU-T, on March 8.
WISE involved a ceremony recognizing entities (individuals, organizations and administrations) that have made remarkable contributions to the ITU-T standardization works in gender equality and the empowerment of women in terms of impact, continuity and leadership.
The ceremony was followed by a panel discussion on “Why gender matters in setting standards,” which tackled how frontier technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning can be used to understand gender bias and fairness.
The event served as an opportunity to continue promoting gender equality within the standardization sector and to advocate women in leadership roles in the telecommunication/ICTs and standardization industry.
WISE brought together delegates and ITU staff attending WTSA, with a focus on heads of delegations and CEOs /leaders of national standards bodies/organizations, to learn, connect and celebrate the continued efforts towards gender equality in standards development processes.
