Telecommunications leaders and experts from the region and across the world recently gathered at the SAMENA Telecommunication Council Leaders’ Summit to review plans for unleashing the potential of 5G networks to boost economies and societies in a post COVID-19 environment. Held virtually for the first time due to social-distancing requirements, the Summit was hosted by Huawei for the seventh consecutive year.
This year, the SAMENA Telecommunications Council Leaders’ Summit was attended by several prominent leaders including senior executives from telecommunications service providers, local regulatory authorities, global NGOs, and other ICT industry professionals representing decision makers for different verticals and government entities in countries from across South Asia, Middle East, North Africa, Asia, Europe and beyond.
The Summit was held under the theme: ‘5G-X: Harnessing 5G Across Industries for Investment Revival’ and highlighted how technology and ICT infrastructure play a significant role in our societies and economies. The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated the need to strengthen digital infrastructure to better prepare societies for future crises and to make systems more resilient and sustainable, guaranteeing a better and more effective outcome.
A shift to cloud, IoT and better integration of AI into the public health response was also spotlighted, in addition to harnessing of other technologies for smart service delivery, which should be a key priority moving forward.
The conference was led by You Qianwen, VP of Huawei Middle East and Wang Su, VP of Carrier Network Business Group Marketing at Huawei Middle East.
SAMENA Telecommunications Council Leaders’ Summit stressed on topics which are more societal in nature than business-focused, but are essential to industry dialogue.
Attending speakers shed light on the impacts of collaborative efforts when deploying technology in the Middle East region to overcome Digital Transformation challenges. The Summit also explored how ICT stakeholders can work together with industry verticals to turn their vision into reality at the local and regional level.
With more economies becoming digital today, the conference also explored business resilience strategies in a hyper-connected world.
Ryan Ding, Executive Director of the Board and President of Carrier Network Business Group at Huawei, noted that: “Despite the unprecedented challenges we are facing, governments, regulators and operators across the globe have spared no effort to maintain social stability, protecting peoples’ livelihoods and helping the entire society fight against COVID-19. The applications of 5G will speed up enterprise digitalisation in the Middle East and greatly stimulate the economy. The Middle East in particular is already expected to become a reference in 5G commercialisation around the world and together, we have ensured the normal utilisation of network services during the pandemic.”
Ding said looking ahead, Huawei has the responsibility and confidence to work with operators, partners and vertical industries to achieve 5G business success-promoting the development of the 5G ecosystem to help enterprises to improve their competitiveness.
Charles Yang, President, Huawei Middle East delivered the opening keynote and remarked that: “Although the pandemic has brought uncertainty to our lives, the advantages of 5G infrastructure are increasingly clear. The outbreak has led to increased demand for ICT solutions specifically in areas like 5G amid a boost in network usage and 5G 2B innovations. Meeting that demand will require new forms of public-private partnerships based on open collaboration, supporting strong industry policies that will enable social value, economic development and provide enhanced service experiences to consumers across the region.”
Anjian, President, Carrier Networks Business Group at Huawei Middle East, added: “The ICT industry is the foundation and cornerstone of socio-economic restoration today. Quite simply, 5G brings agility, productivity, security, and intelligence to all industries. Moving forward, stakeholders should work on five different aspects to realise 5G momentum for consumers, enterprises, and governments. This includes a focus on technology innovation, ecosystem amplification, standards unification, business exploration, and growth-oriented collaborative policy. In the post-pandemic era, multi-level collaboration will be the only way to navigate through tough times.”
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