WSIS Action Line C6: Digital Ecosystem Builders in action: Redefining the role of ICT regulators

Summary

This discussion focused on the evolving role of telecommunications regulators as digital ecosystem builders, held as part of the C6 Business Action Line on Enabling Environment during a broader telecommunications conference. The session was organized around the Global Symposium for Regulators (GSR) 2025 consultation question: “What does it take for regulators to become digital ecosystem builders?” Sofie Maddens opened by emphasizing that regulators must transition from traditional supervisors to proactive architects and facilitators of innovation, noting that the digital world has become the main platform for modern life and commerce rather than a separate sector to oversee.

The discussion featured representatives from various regional regulatory associations who shared their experiences and strategies. Ekaterine Imedadze from the Georgian National Communication Commission described how the EBUREC network of five Eastern European countries has strengthened collaboration through working groups focused on regulatory innovation, spectrum management, and roaming services. She emphasized how smaller markets benefit from joint projects and shared learning to become more agile regulators and enablers of digital development.

Xavier Merlin from France’s ARCEP highlighted Fratel’s approach as a French-speaking regulatory network, focusing on three key areas: addressing new regulatory issues like AI and cloud services, developing new regulatory tools such as data-driven regulation and sandboxes, and fostering national cooperation between different regulatory authorities. He stressed the importance of sharing experiences across markets with different maturity levels.

Omar Al Rejraje from Saudi Arabia’s Communication and Space Commission emphasized the regulator’s role in de-risking investment barriers for emerging technologies through regulatory sandboxes and “RegTech” solutions. He advocated for regulators to use emerging technologies internally to better understand and regulate them, while also promoting sustainability through green networks and data centers.

Petros Galides from Cyprus discussed how emerging technologies like AI and big data enable more proactive, evidence-based regulation through tools such as market observatories and geospatial intelligence platforms. He emphasized that cross-sectoral collaboration is essential for addressing complex digital challenges, requiring trust, interoperability, and shared objectives to overcome barriers like protectionism and resource limitations. The session concluded with a call for continued collaboration and contribution to the GSR consultation process, highlighting the collective effort needed to develop best practices for regulatory excellence in the digital age.

Keypoints

## Major Discussion Points:

– **Evolution of Regulatory Role**: The transformation of regulators from traditional supervisors to proactive “digital ecosystem builders” who facilitate innovation, manage cross-sector digital environments, and enable sustainable digital transformation rather than just overseeing telecommunications sectors.

– **Innovation in Regulatory Approaches**: The need for regulators to adopt new tools and methodologies including regulatory sandboxes, data-driven regulation, RegTech (regulatory technology), and agile frameworks that can keep pace with rapid technological change and emerging technologies like AI, 5G, and satellite communications.

– **Cross-Border and Cross-Sectoral Collaboration**: The critical importance of strengthening cooperation between regulatory authorities across regions and sectors, with regional regulatory associations (like EBERG, Fratel, EMERGE, ARGNET) serving as key platforms for harmonization, capacity building, and knowledge sharing.

– **Technology Integration for Regulatory Excellence**: How regulators can leverage emerging technologies like AI, big data, blockchain, and cloud computing not just as subjects of regulation but as tools to enhance their own regulatory processes, decision-making, and market monitoring capabilities.

– **Capacity Building and Institutional Development**: The necessity for regulators to develop new skills, mindsets, and organizational structures to handle the complexity of digital ecosystems, including cybersecurity expertise, data analytics capabilities, and collaborative frameworks with other authorities.

## Overall Purpose:

The discussion was part of the ITU’s Global Symposium for Regulators (GSR) 2025 consultation process, specifically focused on developing best practice guidelines for how telecommunications regulators can evolve into “digital ecosystem builders.” The session aimed to gather insights from regional regulatory associations and authorities to inform the GSR best practice guidelines and prepare for the broader digital transformation challenges facing regulators globally.

## Overall Tone:

The discussion maintained a consistently professional, collaborative, and forward-looking tone throughout. Participants demonstrated enthusiasm for sharing experiences and best practices, with a constructive focus on practical solutions and regional cooperation. The tone was optimistic about the potential for regulatory evolution while acknowledging the significant challenges ahead. There was a sense of urgency about adapting to rapid technological change, but this was balanced with confidence in the collective ability of regulators to meet these challenges through collaboration and innovation.

Speakers

**Speakers from the provided list:**

– **Ahmed El-Raghy** – Working from the Regulatory and Market Environment team in the ITU, session moderator

– **Sofie Maddens** – Chief of Digital Knowledge Society Department in BDT, delivered opening remarks on behalf of the BDT Director

– **Youlia Lozanova** – ITU colleague, provided foundation background on the GSR consultation process and best practice guidelines

– **Ekaterine Imedadze** – Commissioner of Georgian National Communication Commission and outgoing chairperson for the EBUREC (Eastern Europe Regulatory Association)

– **Omar Al Rejraje** – Deputy Governor of the Space Communication Commission of Saudi Arabia, representing ARGNET for the Arab region

– **Xavier Merlin** – Board member of ARCEP and representative of FRATEL

– **Petros Galides** – Deputy Commissioner at the Cyprus Regulatory Authority of Electronic Communication and Postal Service, chairing of the EMERGE (Euro-Mediterranean area)

**Additional speakers:**

– **Louis Sakala** – Director General of ARCEP Congo (mentioned as expected participant but unclear if actually participated in the discussion)

# Comprehensive Summary: Regulators as Digital Ecosystem Builders – GSR 2025 Consultation Discussion

## Introduction and Context

This discussion, held as part of the C6 Business Action Line on Enabling Environment during a broader telecommunications conference, focused on the evolving role of telecommunications regulators as digital ecosystem builders. The session was organised around the Global Symposium for Regulators (GSR) 2025 consultation question: “What does it take for regulators to become digital ecosystem builders?” The discussion was moderated by Ahmed El-Raghy from the ITU’s Regulatory and Market Environment team and featured representatives from various regional regulatory associations sharing their experiences and strategies for regulatory transformation.

The session formed part of the ITU’s GSR consultation process, which aims to develop best practice guidelines for regulatory excellence. As Youlia Lozanova explained, this year’s consultation uniquely focuses on the regulatory institution itself rather than just regulatory practices, representing a significant shift in approach. The consultation process welcomes contributions from governments, regulators, private sector, and civil society to develop annual best practice guidelines that serve as what Sofie Maddens described as “a dynamic chronicle of collective wisdom and global regulatory blueprint for digital development.”

## Opening Framework: The Transformation Imperative

Sofie Maddens, Chief of Digital Knowledge Society Department in BDT, delivered opening remarks on behalf of Dr. Cosmas Lakissan Zavazava, Director of the Telecommunication Development Bureau, establishing the conceptual framework for the entire discussion. She emphasised that regulators must fundamentally transform their approach, stating: “We must transition from being traditional supervisors into proactive architects and facilitators of innovation. Our task is to cultivate agile digital ecosystems where investment is secure, competition is fair, and development brings a truly sustainable digital world for all.”

Maddens highlighted that the digital world has become the main platform for modern life and commerce rather than a separate sector to oversee. This transformation requires regulators to move beyond traditional oversight roles to become enablers of innovation and digital development. She positioned regional regulatory associations as “engines of harmonisation and catalysts for capacity building,” emphasising their critical role in facilitating this transformation across different markets and regulatory contexts.

Youlia Lozanova provided foundational background on the GSR consultation process, explaining that there is “an innovation culture that regulators need to develop to approach regulatory challenges in a more efficient way.” She outlined the four main parts of the consultation: fostering innovation, regulatory capacity, technology integration, and cross-border cooperation. Lozanova emphasised that regulators need to proactively integrate new technologies into their core operations and adopt new tools for timely decision-making, noting the need for “new thinking around capacities, skills, and mindsets required for regulatory transformation.”

Lozanova detailed several collaboration themes emerging from the consultation, including making collaboration results-driven, establishing harmonisation priorities, building shared learning infrastructure, coordinating around data, tools, and standards, using cooperation for digital sovereignty, and integrating international perspectives into national work. She noted that 48 contributions had been received so far in the consultation process, with guidelines available in the six ITU and UN official languages.

## Regional Perspectives on Regulatory Evolution

### Eastern European Approach: Collaborative Networks and Agile Development

Ekaterine Imedadze, Commissioner of Georgian National Communication Commission and outgoing chairperson for EBERG (Eastern Europe Regulatory Association), described how the network of five countries – Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Ukraine, and Moldova – has strengthened collaboration through working groups focused on regulatory innovation, spectrum management, and roaming services. She explained that “the role of regulator has evolved from just watching the market to becoming enablers of digital development.”

Imedadze emphasised how smaller markets benefit from joint projects and shared learning to become more agile regulators. She noted that “small networks of interconnected countries can more quickly tackle emerging challenges through shared experiences,” highlighting the advantage of focused regional cooperation. The EBERG approach demonstrates how working groups with international experts provide “huge flexibility for innovation and benchmarking of regulators,” enabling rapid adaptation to emerging challenges.

### French-Speaking Network: Diversity as Strength

Xavier Merlin, Board member of ARCEP and representative of FRATEL, highlighted the French-speaking regulatory network’s approach across regions in America, Africa, and Europe, focusing on three key areas: addressing new regulatory issues like AI and cloud services, developing new regulatory tools such as data-driven regulation and sandboxes, and fostering national cooperation between different regulatory authorities.

Merlin made a particularly thought-provoking argument about the value of diversity in regulatory networks, stating: “I really don’t believe that difference of maturity in digital markets between members is really an issue. And on the contrary, I would even think it’s something very interesting and very rich in our exchange because if everybody were saying the same thing, there would be no purpose for exchange.” This perspective suggests that diversity rather than uniformity should be valued in regulatory cooperation.

He stressed that “the purpose of networks is to share questions, experiences, good practices and bad practices, and to anticipate future challenges,” emphasising learning over standardisation. Merlin advocated for “new regulatory tools like data-driven regulation and sandboxes” as necessary for fast-moving environments, suggesting these approaches may be more appropriate than traditional regulatory decision-making processes.

### Arab Region: Technology Integration and Innovation Promotion

Omar Al Rejraje, Deputy Governor of the Space Communication Commission of Saudi Arabia, representing ARGNET for the Arab region, provided a comprehensive vision for regulatory transformation. He argued that “regulators should evolve from normal regulators to ecosystem builders, experiment adapters, and innovation promoters,” outlining a clear progression of institutional development. Al Rejraje noted that Saudi Arabia has been “ranked number one in the G20 for the Digital Maturity Index.”

Al Rejraje emphasised the regulator’s role in de-risking investment barriers for emerging technologies through regulatory sandboxes and “RegTech” solutions. He mentioned launching “the third cohort of the sandbox solution” with expectations for graduation “by the end of this year.” He made a compelling case for internal technology adoption, stating: “You cannot regulate what you don’t understand, and you cannot enable what you don’t understand. So for us, if you want to walk the walk, we need to use this emerging tech. to be able to utilise and try this in our regulation, in our inside, let’s say, regulatory body in the market.”

His approach to RegTech was particularly innovative, describing it as “not just a tool but a strategic enabler for trust and speed to make regulation as fast as innovation.” Al Rejraje provided specific examples including “blockchain for sender IDs” and advocated for promoting sustainability through green networks and data centres. He mentioned that Saudi Arabia and DCO have developed a sustainability toolkit for digital development that could be shared globally.

### Euro-Mediterranean Perspective: Cross-Sectoral Collaboration

Petros Galides, Deputy Commissioner at the Cyprus Regulatory Authority of Electronic Communication and Postal Service, chairing EMERGE (comprising 27 members from European, EU and non-EU, and Mediterranean countries), discussed how emerging technologies like AI and big data enable more proactive, evidence-based regulation. He mentioned specific tools including “market observatory, numbering and licensing tool, learning management system, and geospatial intelligence tool.”

Galides provided crucial balance to the technology-focused discussion by emphasising that “technology enables smarter regulation, but it’s the human and institutional collaboration that ensures it is used wisely.” He stressed that cross-sectoral collaboration is essential for addressing complex digital challenges, requiring trust, interoperability, and shared objectives to overcome barriers.

He identified specific barriers that hinder collaboration between authorities, including “protectionism, defensiveness, silos, lack of trust, ignorance, legal obstacles, and resource limitations.” Galides argued that “cross-sectoral and global collaboration is essential as no single authority can tackle complex digital challenges alone,” emphasising that regulators are “co-creators of the healthy and innovative digital system we witness today.”

## Key Areas of Agreement and Consensus

The discussion revealed strong consensus among speakers on several fundamental points, despite their different regional contexts and regulatory environments.

### Fundamental Role Transformation

All speakers agreed that regulators must fundamentally transform from passive oversight entities to active facilitators and builders of digital ecosystems. This consensus was evident across all regional representatives, who consistently emphasised moving beyond traditional supervisory roles to become enablers of innovation and digital development.

### Innovation in Regulatory Approaches

There was strong agreement on the need for innovative regulatory approaches, including sandboxes and data-driven regulation, to keep pace with rapidly evolving digital technologies and markets. Speakers consistently emphasised that traditional regulatory tools are insufficient for fast-moving digital environments.

### Critical Importance of Cooperation

All speakers emphasised that regional cooperation and networks are essential for effective regulation, enabling knowledge sharing, capacity building, and collective problem-solving in the digital age.

### Technology Integration Necessity

Speakers agreed that regulators must actively use and integrate emerging technologies in their own operations to better understand and regulate these technologies effectively.

## Areas of Different Emphasis

While there was broad consensus on fundamental principles, speakers emphasised different approaches and priorities.

### Harmonisation Versus Diversity

A notable difference in emphasis emerged between Xavier Merlin and Sofie Maddens regarding the purpose of regulatory networks. Merlin emphasised that the value comes from diversity of experiences and sharing different approaches, while Maddens described regional associations as “engines of harmonisation” that create coherent landscapes for cross-border services. This represents different perspectives on how regional regulatory networks should balance standardisation with innovation.

### Methodological Emphasis Differences

While speakers agreed on the need for innovative regulatory approaches, they emphasised different methods and tools. Al Rejraje focused heavily on sandboxes and RegTech as primary solutions, Merlin advocated for data-driven regulation, while Galides emphasised AI and big data integration for evidence-based regulation.

## Technology Integration and RegTech Development

A significant theme throughout the discussion was the integration of technology into regulatory operations themselves. Al Rejraje’s concept of RegTech as “a strategic enabler for trust and speed to make regulation as fast as innovation” represented a particularly advanced approach to this integration.

Galides complemented this perspective by discussing how AI and big data enable more proactive, evidence-based regulation through various technological tools. However, he also emphasised the importance of ensuring that human and institutional collaboration guides the wise use of these technologies.

## Sustainability and Environmental Integration

Al Rejraje highlighted the integration of sustainability considerations into digital regulatory frameworks, mentioning promoting sustainability through green networks and data centres, and referencing a sustainability toolkit developed by Saudi Arabia and DCO that could be shared globally.

## Future Directions and Action Items

The discussion concluded with several concrete next steps:

### GSR Consultation Process

Participants were encouraged to continue contributions to the GSR consultation process until the end of August. The first draft of GSR Best Practice Guidelines will be published within two weeks of the session, with final guidelines to be adopted at the Heads of Regulators Roundtable meeting at GSR in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (1st to the 3rd of September with the 31st of August being dedicated to a master class).

### Integration with Broader Processes

The insights from this discussion will be integrated into the broader WSIS 20 review process, ensuring that regulatory transformation considerations are incorporated into wider digital development frameworks.

### Knowledge Sharing Initiatives

Several speakers mentioned specific tools and frameworks that could be shared more broadly, including Saudi Arabia’s sustainability toolkit and various regional network approaches to capacity building and collaboration.

## Unresolved Challenges and Implementation Questions

The discussion identified several critical challenges requiring further exploration:

### Balancing Agility with Coordination

How to balance harmonised approaches with the need for regulatory agility in fast-moving digital environments remains a key challenge for regional networks and international cooperation.

### Cross-Sectoral Collaboration Mechanisms

While speakers agreed on the importance of cross-sectoral collaboration, specific mechanisms for overcoming identified barriers require further development.

### Capacity Building Requirements

The discussion highlighted the need for comprehensive capacity building, including skills development and cultural change within regulatory organisations, but specific frameworks require further development.

### Inclusive Development Concerns

Questions remain about how advanced regulatory approaches can be adopted without overwhelming developing economies and ensuring regulatory transformation benefits all markets.

## Conclusion

This discussion demonstrated that the transformation of regulators into digital ecosystem builders is an active process being implemented across different regions and regulatory contexts. The strong consensus on fundamental principles, combined with innovative approaches to implementation, suggests that the regulatory community is well-positioned to meet the challenges of digital ecosystem governance.

The session’s emphasis on human and institutional collaboration alongside technological innovation provides a balanced foundation for sustainable regulatory transformation. As the discussion concluded somewhat abruptly due to room constraints, with Ahmed apologising: “Unfortunately, we have to leave the room for the next meeting. So I’m so sorry for no space for having questions from yours. My apology for that,” it highlighted the ongoing nature of these important conversations.

The ongoing GSR consultation process provides a valuable framework for continuing this work and developing practical guidelines for regulatory excellence in the digital age, building on what represents a quarter-century of collective wisdom in regulatory development.

Ahmed El-Raghy: Welcome everyone, and good afternoon, and maybe good morning, good evening for our online participants. Welcome to C6 Business Action Line Enabling Environment. I’m Ahmad Al-Rakhi, I’m working from the Regulatory and Market Environment team in the ITU, and pleasure to be with you today in this session. We are going to tackle a very crucial topic about ecosystem builder for regulation and shifting the mandate of regulatory authority for this new role. And in the beginning of our session, we wish to have an opening remarks, and I will deliver for Sufi Madness, the Chief of Digital Knowledge Society Department in BDT, on behalf of the BDT Director for his opening remarks. Please, Sufi. Thank you very much, Ahmad,

Sofie Maddens: and good morning, good afternoon, good evening to those who are following online. So I have the honor and pleasure to deliver these opening remarks on behalf of Dr. Cosmas Lakissan Zavazava, who’s the Director of the Telecommunication Development Bureau. Excellencies, distinguished colleagues, esteemed representatives of our regional regulatory associations, a very warm welcome to you all. It’s a pleasure to open this session of Action Line C6 on forging the enabling environment for our shared digital destiny. For nearly a quarter of a century, yes, a quarter of a century, the GSR best practice guidelines have served as the global regulatory blueprint for digital development. Far from being set in stone, the guidelines are a dynamic chronicle of our collective wisdom, forged through discussions like today’s, and guiding us through decades of profound change. This is the trusted foundation of tried and tested principles that we build upon today. And this brings me to the profound importance of our current focus, which is framed by the GSR 2025 consultation question, what does it take for regulators to become digital ecosystem builders, which in fact, we will discuss in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from the 1st to the 3rd of September with the 31st of August being dedicated to a master class. Clearly, this question is a call to action as much as a topic for discussion. The digital world is no longer a separate sector to oversee, but the main platform for all of our lives, for modern life, for commerce, for growth. And so regulators have a duty to ensure that it is fit for purpose. As regulators look to modernize and adapt to remain effective, we see all of you issuing consultations that address a broad range of digital issues, from online safety to AI governance, from digital content to intelligent platforms, from 5G networks to Leo satellites, as well as IoT and futuristic agile spectrum. We are seeing developed and emerging countries alike grappling with these issues simultaneously. And at the same time, they must continue to focus on a core mandate, which is universal and meaningful connectivity, together with sustainable digital transformation. So this means the role of the regulator is and must continue to evolve. We must transition from being traditional supervisors into proactive architects and facilitators of innovation. Our task is to cultivate agile digital ecosystems where investment is secure, competition is fair, and development brings a truly sustainable digital world for all. And that came up in the Knowledge Café we just had a while ago, talking about the C6 enabling environment action line. So these issues continue to be raised. Ladies and gentlemen, this vision cannot be raised from a single viewpoint. We must be inclusive. And the role of our regional regulatory associations is absolutely essential. Because you are the engines of harmonization. You create the coherent landscapes needed for cross-border services to flourish together with your membership. You are the catalysts for capacity building, sharing expertise that empowers every regulator to face the challenges of tomorrow. And you provide the critical voice of regional reality, ensuring the blueprints we design are practical, relevant, and effective on the ground. We at ITU, as a team, and as ITU as a whole, are committed to empowering you to lead this change through initiatives like the BDT’s digital regulation network. So we all look forward to a rich and interactive discussion today. And the insights will be shared, will be the bedrock, and enrich the GSR best practice guidelines, which we are actually drafting today, together with the inputs from the consultation. And it will resonate through the broader vision of the WSIS 20 review. Thank you, and looking forward to the discussions. Back to you, Ahmed.

Ahmed El-Raghy: Thank you so much, Sophie, for these insightful remarks. And ladies and gentlemen, as we discussed today, that our discussion will be about the digital ecosystem builder and how regulatory bodies could refine, could redefine their roles based on that. So we will have wonderful executives from the regulatory authorities and also from the regulatory associations, so they can share with us their insights about that. So I wish to introduce our panelists today. So I will start to my left. We have Mr. Omar Regraghi, Deputy Governor of the Space Communication Commission of Saudi Arabia, and also representing the ARGNET for the Arab region. We have Ms. Katrina Imadazi, the Commissioner of Georgian National Communication Commission and also the outgoing chairperson for the EBUREC as Eastern Europe Regulatory Association. We have Mr. Rafeer Merlin, the board member of ARCEP and also representative of FRATEL. And we have our dear friend, Mr. Petrus Gladius, Deputy Commissioner at the Cyprus Regulatory Authority of Electronic Communication and Postal Service and also chairing of the EMERGE, Euro-Mediterranean area. We’re expecting to have Mr. Louis Sakala, the Director General of ARCEP Congo, but I believe he will join us very soon. So ladies and gentlemen, before we start our discussion, we will go for a foundation background. And I wish to give the floor to my colleague, Yulia Lazanova from ITU to give us this foundation background about the discussion

Youlia Lozanova: topic for today. Yulia, please. Thank you very much, Ahmed. And good afternoon to everyone. It’s great to see so many faces in this small room. I think we could have used a bigger room for this discussion. That really is an excellent start for our conversation. And indeed, it is an excellent and very timely opportunity to have you here today to talk about the next chapter of regulation towards building our digital future together. The consultation process that is happening every year in the lead up to GSR is where we invite stakeholders, voices from government, from the private sector, from civil society to come together and to provide the views and the needs, the experiences of all of the different stakeholder groups towards improving regulation and making it more agile and more future facing. I’m seeing many familiar faces in the audience. And for those of you who are from a regulator, you’re very familiar with the Global Symposium for Regulators and the consultation process. For the sake of those who might not have been involved or engaged with this process to this point, I wanted to just give a little bit of a background to introduce that consultation, so we can make the most of the time together and you can understand the setup that we’re working in and the goals that we’re working towards. The open consultation of the Global Symposium of Regulators happens every year in the lead up to the annual event since 2003. And that’s an impressive longevity of the GSR as an event, as a platform, but also the stakeholder consultation. And really speaking to the very great importance that is given to the process itself, but also the outcome of that consultation, which are the annual set of best practice guidelines. And as I mentioned, contributions are welcome from governments, from regulators, from ministries, but also from private sector, from market players, and of course, civil society. And very relevant to this discussion today, we also receive contributions to the best practice guidelines from regulatory associations, from regional regulatory associations. And they’re important since they represent the use of several countries and really express that agenda that is common for region, for sub-region, for a group of countries. The GSR best practice guidelines are developed under the auspices of the chair of GSR and they’re adopted at the heads of regulators meeting which happens right at the start of the annual event. And this year at that meeting, the meeting is not only going to adopt the best practice guidelines, but heads of regulators are also having the very difficult but also very important task to start the conversation on operationalizing the best practice guidelines and really taking them one step further in shaping that enabling environment for their markets, for their ecosystems as we will see for the topic of this year’s consultation. You might be interested to see, I hope you will be, the collection of GSR best practice guidelines. We have more than 20 editions of the guidelines available in the six ITU and UN official languages those are available in a library on our website. And as Sophie mentioned, those guidelines, all of the editions that we have there, they provide a blueprint for regulatory excellence. This is something that is very important since what we’re doing in that process is really distilling the wisdom and the experience of many of you through those very complex processes that regulation and markets are evolving together. Moving on to this year’s topic of the consultation, it is quite unique in the history of GSR since we have every year until now focused on regulation. So what is a regulatory best practice approach instrument that would serve towards a goal? And in that very extensive collection of best practices, we have more specific guidelines on topics like universal access or infrastructure sharing, as we also have guidelines looking at more broadly how to improve connectivity, how to enable digital transformation, so those more complex and more overarching topics. But this time in 2025, we are actually focusing exclusively or almost exclusively on the regulatory institution, on the authority, on the people as well doing regulation. And as part of that lens that we’re having for this year’s edition of the best practice guidelines, we recognize that there are a number of shifts that are operating in the environment. One of the shifts is, of course, that shift from regulatory oversight to a more proactive shaping of the enabling environment. And I just wanted to clarify that when we say proactive shaping, we don’t necessarily mean that we will be regulating more or we will be regulating more heavily, but that’s simply to account for the fact that we will be engaging with many more stakeholders in that whole process. And we will be doing that on a continuing basis, not as a one-off exercise. And then another shift that we have been observing for a few years, of course, or over a decade maybe today, is from managing a sector, a vertical, to managing an ecosystem, really providing that foundation for digital societies, for digital economies to happen. And of course, we also need to recognize that regulators are changing operating models from reactive, reacting to change, to more forward-looking and anticipatory in view of that relentless change that we’re experiencing across the board. The question that we have formulated for this year in consultation is around the qualities or the capacities that are necessary for regulators to become an ecosystem builder. So, what does it take for regulators to become ecosystem builders? And as part of that reflection, we have four main parts of the consultation. One is looking at fostering innovation in regulatory approaches. So, of course, there is a lot of innovation happening in markets and that level of innovation regulators need to understand and then find the right response to react to. But that also speaks to the fact that there is an innovation culture that regulators need to develop to be able to approach that exercise in a different way, in a more efficient and more appropriate way in the current circumstance. And then the second pillar of the consultation or the second area that we’re looking at is regulatory capacity. So, of course, this is a very major, very traditional mainstay of the regulatory institution of regulators. We’re looking at mandates, how those need to evolve. We’re looking at capacities, resources from different angles. And really, again, in that bigger perspective of being able to make sense of the changes in the environment and being able to decide which ones of those require regulatory action and what kind of action and which maybe do not require any action. So, certainly, there is a whole new thinking around the capacities, the skills, the mindsets that are needed for that. And, of course, ICT regulators are also having to regulate technologies or certain aspects of those technologies in the market, but they should also proactively look for ways to integrate those technologies in their core operations, adopting new tools, adopting new ways of working in order to make available that data that they need on a timely basis to make various regulatory decisions. So, certainly, there is a lot around that discussion on what are the tools, what is the data, what are the new ways of integrating new technologies into the regulators’ work. And then, of course, the fourth pillar of this consultation is what is the most appropriate and the most relevant part of the consultation for this discussion, which is around cross-border cooperation and how to strengthen that. And we have received so far 48 contributions from governments, from private sector, from civil society, and it has been incredibly interesting and very insightful to discover all the various practical and strategic means that they have identified towards strengthening that cooperation. So, we wanted to provide some of the ideas or the general areas where we think we can provide a foot for thought for this panel. The first one is about making collaboration results driven. And, of course, we’ve been engaging in that discussion about orientation towards results. This time, we’re really engaging with that topic at the international level and at the regional level and recognizing that collaboration is good, but results are important, and this is something that should be driving that collaboration. Of course, we also have here the issue of harmonization. This is a very established, very longstanding area of international cooperation. In this day and time, it is also very clear that we cannot engage or harmonize on absolutely every topic. So, there is a sense of prioritization that needs to be operated also at that level to make sure that we address the issues that are the most important, that matter the most. And then, of course, there is a capacity building component, and I mean capacity building in a broader sense. We’ve formulated it here as building shared learning infrastructure, but that’s simply to recognize that we’re looking at learning at the regional or international level from the various experiences that various countries and regulators have been able to accumulate, but also sharing that experience with the community and making sure that we have a collective learning curve through that uncertain and very fast-changing environment. Coordination around data, tools, and standards also stands out as one of the topics potentially of interest and importance for international collaboration as well. And I think your experience might be speaking to that. Using specific indicators, specific tools at the national level does not really read the really offer the opportunity to aggregate trends or patterns or discussions at the regional level, so certainly there might be something to be done there, again, using those new technologies. One of the themes that have come also strong through the contributions was about using international cooperation and regional representation as a platform to assert the regional voice and stand up for digital sovereignty of countries, of regions as well. Forums like WSIS, platforms like ITU are certainly places where that conversation happens and where those regional positions can be elevated. And of course, there is, last but not least, really, a very strong component in that discussion that we have been able to identify, which is about integrating that international perspective into the rest of the regulators’ work, into the national perspective, so really understanding international cooperation not as an add-on, not as something separate or additional or accessory to the work on national priorities, but something that is really dynamically and organically linked to those national agendas. So certainly, we offer those thoughts for you and for your discussion, and I’m just going to give you a quick timeline so you know how that process is going to continue from now on before I wrap up. 48 contributions received today, we’re still open for contributions, so we are happy to hear your feedback here, your views, but we’re also happy to receive your contributions in a written format until the end of the consultation at the end of August. We will be publishing a draft, a first draft of the GSR Best Practice Guidelines in probably in the next two weeks, again, that would be a process done under the auspices of the GSR Chair, of the GSR25 Chair, and that draft is also going to be open for comments on our website until the Heads of Regulators Roundtable meeting at GSR, where the guidelines are going to be adopted. And I think I will stop here, we have just included in the online presentation a little slide on all of the various activities that are linked to regulatory work and best practices and experiences, and I wish you a very insightful panel.

Ekaterine Imedadze: Thank you so much, Julia, and I wish to go directly for our executive today and allow me to start with Katrina. So Katrina, from your experience and engagement in EBERG, how do you see the strategies, the main strategies to cultivate innovation as a culture for regulatory development? And also, how do you see the balance between harmonized approaches and agility at the same time? How to balance between the risk and opportunity in this innovative development? Please, Katrina. Good afternoon, dear colleagues, Excellencies, it’s a real pleasure that we have first physical meeting for the DRN board, and when we’ve learned about this opportunity or initiative, let’s say, I think that EBERG is one of the networks, quite a years we have as a network, it will count, so 15 years since establishing the partnership network, but it is always a great opportunity for the network of small markets, small countries to become part of a larger network, and DRN was called Network of Networks, I remember this motto. And I can tell, I can share that throughout the years of EBERG, let me give you a quick information for the audience that at EBERG, we are five countries, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Ukraine, and Moldova, so we have also motto, together we are stronger, and now we are becoming even stronger with global network participation as a DRN part, and our approach throughout the years, so we have three main pillars of work, which is a legacy, classical role of regulators, this is working on regulatory innovation, independence, story, and benchmarking, so you were mentioning actually the transforming regulations, so one of the our working groups is exactly about, it was called initially independence and benchmarking, so we work a lot about the institutional development, and we work with our international partners to understand where we stand as the participants of the network from organizational perspective, and where we can move from the best practices. Another group is about the spectrum, which is also the big topic everywhere, especially with evolving technologies, whether now we are moving to space and satellites, always the spectrum group is very important, before that spectrum group was working, engaged with 5G technology and all the advanced technologies, and the third one, it was specifically for our region, it is roaming working group, but it has a lot, it has done by now a lot of work with traditional telecom services, like interconnection, which always remains our primary role and legacy, so these three pillars helped us to find out what are the areas where we can develop, and as a small, some of us are quite smaller market, Ukraine is of course the bigger one, but actually doing the projects jointly helped us a lot to move forward, and to find like donor organizations who would help us with capacity building and transform ourselves, and what we’ve learned, what we understood quite quickly, and maybe this large exchange of the experience and support from the EU, which was always substantial, but also supporting each other with experience has helped us a lot to become more agile regulators, and what does it mean, that as you have mentioned, we understand that role of regulator is no more just watching the market, not just, but watching the market and regulating, it’s already for a few years or maybe always almost a decade, we need to become enablers, because market is transforming and digital is cross-cutting, it’s not anymore like the telecommunication and direct connection by phone, but this is a digital, this is enabler of digital development of the country, this was I guess the first understanding for especially maybe smaller countries, and this is that it’s quicker, you need to adapt to a new digital landscape, and regulator is a very good enabler, and can play very good role in this enablement process, so we were exchanging our experiences with 5G rollouts, how we are going to approach, how we are going to distribute frequencies, and through this working groups, it was, and in those working groups were not only five countries, but international experts included, so this gives a huge flexibility, for this is for the innovation, for the benchmarking of regulators, again we had international experts, and we could learn how regulators are changing, transforming their capacities, for example, I think, which is, was quite new few years ago, this cyber security capacities, we’ve learned how they are, I think, it’s a scarce resource to find security experts, and yeah, can you do it, or maybe it’s more wishful thinking, but still, so this was in another direction, then same with roaming, when we were discussing specifically EU roaming approach, we learned a lot about the interconnection, about the market, about the MVNO same, so this is how we are, and maybe being, maybe smaller network, but very much interconnected, helped us to quicker tackle, the same was with Starlink, for example, sharing how we gave the authorization, what were our, I mean, the satellite company, Starlink was one of the first entrants in our region, so this is our journey, and we are really happy to be now part of TRN network, where we can discuss with wider pillars of digital, so we’re still looking from the the perspective, which is still coming from our legacy roles, that I was mentioning now, but as far as digital is in every pillar of economy, it’s very important at the, this kind of the networks, and the boards, to understand what are other geographies and other sectors doing. Thank you.

Ahmed El-Raghy: Thank you so much, Ekaterina. That’s a very interesting journey and very interesting plan. And as you highlighted, many pillars needed for this cultivating of innovations in the regulatory framework. So I would like to go to Mr. Merland. Being a regulator in advanced digital market and also working with fratel diversified economies in that position, how do you see advanced regulatory approach be adopted to foster innovation without overwhelming developed economies? What be the crucial lessons from advanced markets as I said, working in France and to promote and help members and fratel to be more efficient digital ecosystem builders?

Xavier Merlin: Please, Mr. Merland. Thank you very much, Hamid, for your presentation and question. And good afternoon, everybody. First of all, I will start by recalling what fratel is because I’m not sure everybody knows about fratel. Fratel is a network of regulator which was created 20 years ago. And what those regulators have in common is not a regional area, but it’s a language. It’s French. And that is very specific because that means that not all members of fratel are, of course, located in the same area. There are members in America, in Africa, in Europe, notably. But the fact that they have French in common also means that they have, to some extent, their legal framework has something in common because they have common grounds. It’s not identical. They are not identical, but they are built on common principles. That’s, of course, important for the discussions we have. Regarding the issue of maturity, I’d like to address this very quickly. I really don’t believe that difference of maturity in digital markets between members is really an issue. And on the contrary, I would even think it’s something very interesting and very rich in our exchange because if everybody were saying the same thing, there would be no purpose for exchange. But we have common problems and different experiences. And that’s where it becomes interesting to share. It’s also interesting, as Ekaterine has recalled, to say that historically we’re all telco regulators and now we are moving in digital world, which is something a little bit different with different actors, different problems, different scopes. And of course, we’re all confronted to global players, global digital services and social concerns, which are more or less the same in all our countries. So, what are we doing at Fratel? I would say that the purpose of this network is absolutely not to harmonize. That would be nonsense. It’s really to share questions, to share experiences, to share good practices and also bad practices, and to anticipate. It’s really to have a step forward to be sure to understand what comes next because, as has been said before, our regulatory environment, our environment is moving very fast and we need to understand and have as many keys to address this. So, I would personally categorize the work that is done within Fratel in three parts. The first one would be new regulatory issues, which is about the content of our policy. What kind of policy do we need to implement to address new subjects like satellite, like digital services, like artificial intelligence, like cloud, which are objects that we didn’t know about a few years ago. Is there a need for regulation? What kind of regulation? And then, of course, France can share its experience as France and as a member of the European Union because you know that some of these issues are relevant for European regulation as well. So, that would be the first area, is new regulatory issues, new regulatory topics. The second issue I would underline is new regulatory tools. As has been said by Julia in her presentation, we are all facing the question of how to regulate in a moving environment, fast-moving environment, what kind of tools are pertinent and appropriate to regulate. Historically, the regulator took decisions, but that is a long process, it’s very complicated, it’s not always adapted to the situation. So, we try to identify new possible ways to regulate. I’ll just give one example, which we call data-driven regulation, which is not about providing decisions but providing data. And giving serious data to the market is a way of indicating what happens in the market, sharing this information between all actors and giving messages, encouraging them to move in the direction without imposing anything, which is very comfortable for a regulator because it has nothing to do, almost nothing to do. But that’s a way to move forward and that’s one of the new tools. There are also sandboxes, it’s something which many regulators have been using, which can seem very appropriate. And I would say that those tools are very useful in an environment where you don’t really know, you have new social concerns emerging, but you don’t really know how far your regulator can engage in this direction. That’s the case, for example, for RCEP in the environment issue, because we started to work on the question of the impact of digital environment before having any competence on this issue. So, that’s where we started to publish data and then we gained competence from the parliament. But that kind of thinking about how we can regulate is something very important. And last but not least is about cooperation, but not international cooperation. I would address national cooperation. Why? Because digital is a very complex universe with many issues. There are competition issues, there are technical issues, there are sovereignty issues, there are, as you said, security issues, there are privacy issues, and not a single regulator can have in his hands, at least not in France, all this competence. So, that means we need to start working with our fellow partners, regulators, or public authorities competent in this field, and then exchanging our experience at Fratel on this issue is very pertinent, because we see how in certain countries there are new ways of addressing issues, how certain regulators already have maximum competence on certain issues, etc. So, that’s a way of trying to address the very vast scope of competence that are required by digital competence and digital regulation. I will stop here just by saying that I think that the presentation that I gave of this scope is very much in line with the consultation you underlined, and we are very happy to contribute to this. Thank you.

Ahmed El-Raghy: Thank you so much, Mr. Murnau. Very interesting having these new ways of regulation that are driven one and also how to develop the regulatory framework to achieve this kind of new role for the regulators. So, I would like to go to Mr. Egraghi, representing the Argnet and coming from the Middle East region, Arab region, and having a leading and significant digital transformation initiative also in Saudi Arabia. From your perspective, how regulatory framework adopt to support this kind of huge investment in emerging technologies? How to ensure this kind of investment could be translated to more sustainable and inclusive digital ecosystem?

Omar Al Rejraje: Please, Mr. Egraghi. Thank you, Ahmed. It’s my pleasure to be here with the distinguished guests and everyone here in the room. Whenever we mention investment in the emerging tech, five things come to mind, always in the investor’s mind, whether scalability of the service or the solution, the innovation in that solution, the growth, the risk. And when I say the risk, always the risk lies under the regulators or the market dynamics. So, that’s why the purpose or the main object for the regulator is to de-risk these issues. Instead of regulating it and do, let’s say, rule enforcement, it should be de-risking all the elements that are not enabling the solution or the service or the technology to be adapted, to be launched, to be going forward in that direction. So, as you mentioned, maybe in the Arab region, there’s a lot of investment activities being done. There’s a lot of emerging tech, let’s say, solution being introduced. And you can see that even in CST, we just, let’s say, ranked number one in the G20. We are honored for that, for the Digital Maturity Index. And it’s not a badge for CST, it’s more into responsibility and that thing that we’re taking into consideration to share the experience and to engage everyone in the region, not to be left behind in this regard. When we say de-risking the factors of not enabling, let’s say, the emerging tech, it came through two different approaches. One approach is using the sandbox. We have just last week launched the third cohort of the sandbox solution in Saudi. We’re enabling space and even different sectors in Saudi to be able to experiment and to use their solution with less restrictions and to try their business models, their solutions in the country freely. So we are expecting that third cohort will be graduating by the end of this year. And also, the second thing we use is direct tech. And why we’re saying direct tech? You cannot regulate what you don’t understand, and you cannot enable what you don’t understand. So for us, if you want to walk the walk, we need to use this emerging tech. to be able to utilize and try this in our regulation, in our inside, let’s say, regulatory body in the market. Can we use cloud, blockchain? Can we use emerging tech in the country so we can see how to work in the regulatory sites? So we believe RIC tech is not a tool. It’s a strategic enabler for trust, for speed, to make regulation fast, as fast as innovation. And we have launched different solutions in the RIC tech in Saudi, such as blockchain for sender IDs, and hopefully by next GSR, we will launch some different solutions also in that event. When we say agility and the speed of innovation, speed of regulation, this creates another risk in the future. Are we catering for this future? Are we looking at that future? What will happen on that? And we have one subject that’s always raised in the future, which is sustainability. That’s why we have worked with the DCO, Digital Cooperation Organization, to make sure, and we have built a toolkit for sustainability, for digital sustainability, to make sure that the carbon footprint, green networks, green data centers being enabled in a toolkit way, an easy way to be adapted by different regulators worldwide. And we are more than happy to share even the experience with everyone and to enhance it more and more. And then I would like to say that to enable emerging tech investment, regulators should evolve. They should evolve from normal regulators to ecosystem builders, to experiment adapters, to innovation promoters. And thank you.

Ahmed El-Raghy: Thank you a lot, Engineer Omar, and really RIC-TEC, experimentation, regulation, are core for such development for regulatory framework. So I wish to go to Mr. Gladius. From your experience and engagement with European regulators, with eMERGE, how you see emerging technologies like AI, big data, and regulatory and cloud computing can be used as a tool for regulatory excellence? What are the most successful institutional mechanisms you have seen for enhancing cross-sectorial cooperation between ICT regulators and other stakeholders? So Petrus, please.

Petros Galides: Thank you. Thank you very much, Moderator, dear Ahmed. Just a few words about eMERGE, as my colleague said. So eMERGE is a Euro-Mediterranean regulators group for electronic communications. It comprises of 27 members, European, EU and not, and essentially all Mediterranean countries. So that’s the background to what eMERGE is. Now regulators are co-creators of the healthy and innovative digital system that we are witnessing today. Now as ex-ante regulators, technologies like AI and big data enable us to be even more proactive and evidence-based. The impact of regulatory measures can be tested in safe environments, as my dear friend Omer has mentioned, before implementation, and even after implementation, they can be monitored in near real-time and be continuously optimized. As was said before, it’s good to try and use these tools so that you are able to also regulate them. We have created some tools in our regulatory authority in Cyprus, like a market observatory, also a numbering and licensing tool, a learning management system, and a geospatial intelligence tool that help us monitor and regulate. All these have been combined on a big data platform, and the non-confidential data in that platform is open to the public. So it can be used by the public to enhance innovation, and of course for more transparency and to further improve trust. Of course for organizations to achieve this and develop, as again has been mentioned before by the colleagues, we require strengthening of institutional capacity and digital skills, and of course a change in culture that is needed as we are evolving and transitioning. And of course we need to ensure effective integration and ethical oversight of AI tools. Now the challenges of the digital age, like digital security and the enhancement of AI, the advancement of AI, are increasingly complex and intertwined. So no single authority or nation, however big or powerful or technologically advanced, can really tackle these challenges. Of course, luckily there is a simple answer, and that is cross-sectoral and global collaboration. This collaboration can be either in the form of loose informal collaboration, or a more official one, say in the form of MOUs, many of which are being signed in this venue during this week, and of course always the active participation in multilateral international platforms like the ITU and regional bodies like the ones represented on this table have proved extremely effective. Now at the national level, the best mechanism that we’ve seen is combined portfolios. So in an integrated structure like telecoms, postal services, digital security, maybe data protection, perhaps competition, any combination of those, or more. But generally, sort of beyond just discussing how important collaboration is, to achieve it in practice, we need to recognize and overcome barriers that really exist and hinder the collaboration between authorities. And this usually, I’m sure most of you have seen them, they are protectionism, defensiveness, introversion, what we call silos, perhaps lack of trust, even ignorance. There may also be legal obstacles, of course, and in many cases, a limitation of resources. So we need to address those and overcome them in order to achieve real collaboration. There have been, of course, many successes. The regional bodies we’ve mentioned before that are here on this table are sort of living examples of successes of collaboration. So trust, interoperability, and shared objectives have been and will be critical success factors for collaboration. So technology enables smarter regulation, but it’s the human and institutional collaboration that ensures it is used wisely.

Ahmed El-Raghy: Thank you so much. Thank you, Dr. Petrus. And very insightful remarks and technology really enable this kind of technology development. Unfortunately, we have to leave the room for the next meeting. So I’m so sorry for no space for having questions from yours. My apology for that. So by the end of this session, I really would like to thank you so much, our executives and leaders today in the regulatory field. And we look forward to your contribution for the consultation process. Please follow us in the GSR web page for that. And we look forward to see you all in the coming GSR in Riyadh to continue the discussion about the best practice for regulatory development. Thank you so much.

Agreement points

Fundamental transformation of regulatory roles from traditional oversight to proactive ecosystem building

Speakers

– Sofie Maddens
– Ekaterine Imedadze
– Omar Al Rejraje
– Petros Galides

Arguments

Regulators must transition from traditional supervisors to proactive architects and facilitators of innovation

The role of regulator has evolved from just watching the market to becoming enablers of digital development

Regulators should evolve from normal regulators to ecosystem builders, experiment adapters, and innovation promoters

Regulators are co-creators of the healthy and innovative digital system we witness today

Summary

All speakers agree that regulators must fundamentally transform from passive oversight entities to active facilitators and builders of digital ecosystems, moving beyond traditional supervisory roles to become enablers of innovation and digital development.

Topics

Legal and regulatory | Development

Importance of regulatory innovation and new approaches to address fast-moving digital environments

Speakers

– Youlia Lozanova
– Xavier Merlin
– Omar Al Rejraje

Arguments

There is an innovation culture that regulators need to develop to approach regulatory challenges in a more efficient way

New regulatory tools like data-driven regulation and sandboxes are needed for fast-moving environments

Sandbox solutions enable experimentation with less restrictions and allow testing of business models freely

Summary

Speakers consensus on the need for innovative regulatory approaches, including sandboxes and data-driven regulation, to keep pace with rapidly evolving digital technologies and markets.

Topics

Legal and regulatory | Infrastructure

Critical importance of cross-border cooperation and regional networks for effective regulation

Speakers

– Sofie Maddens
– Ekaterine Imedadze
– Xavier Merlin
– Petros Galides

Arguments

Regional regulatory associations are engines of harmonization and catalysts for capacity building

Small networks of interconnected countries can more quickly tackle emerging challenges through shared experiences

The purpose of networks is to share questions, experiences, good practices and bad practices, and to anticipate future challenges

Cross-sectoral and global collaboration is essential as no single authority can tackle complex digital challenges alone

Summary

All speakers emphasize that regional cooperation and networks are essential for effective regulation, enabling knowledge sharing, capacity building, and collective problem-solving in the digital age.

Topics

Legal and regulatory | Development

Necessity of integrating new technologies into regulatory operations

Speakers

– Youlia Lozanova
– Omar Al Rejraje
– Petros Galides

Arguments

Regulators need to proactively integrate new technologies into their core operations and adopt new tools for timely decision-making

You cannot regulate what you don’t understand, so regulators must use emerging technologies internally to understand how they work

Technologies like AI and big data enable regulators to be more proactive and evidence-based in their approach

Summary

Speakers agree that regulators must actively use and integrate emerging technologies in their own operations to better understand and regulate these technologies effectively.

Topics

Legal and regulatory | Infrastructure

Similar viewpoints

Both speakers emphasize the value of international expert involvement in regulatory networks and the importance of sharing diverse experiences rather than harmonizing approaches.

Speakers

– Ekaterine Imedadze
– Xavier Merlin

Arguments

Working groups with international experts provide huge flexibility for innovation and benchmarking of regulators

The purpose of networks is to share questions, experiences, good practices and bad practices, and to anticipate future challenges

Topics

Legal and regulatory | Development

Both speakers view technology as a strategic enabler that transforms regulatory capabilities, making regulation more responsive and evidence-based.

Speakers

– Omar Al Rejraje
– Petros Galides

Arguments

RegTech is not just a tool but a strategic enabler for trust and speed to make regulation as fast as innovation

Technologies like AI and big data enable regulators to be more proactive and evidence-based in their approach

Topics

Legal and regulatory | Infrastructure

Both speakers recognize that successful regulatory transformation requires comprehensive capacity building, including skills development and cultural change within regulatory organizations.

Speakers

– Youlia Lozanova
– Petros Galides

Arguments

There is a need for new thinking around capacities, skills, and mindsets required for regulatory transformation

Organizations require strengthening of institutional capacity, digital skills, and cultural change for effective transition

Topics

Legal and regulatory | Development

Unexpected consensus

Regulators as direct users and experimenters with emerging technologies

Speakers

– Omar Al Rejraje
– Petros Galides

Arguments

You cannot regulate what you don’t understand, so regulators must use emerging technologies internally to understand how they work

Technologies like AI and big data enable regulators to be more proactive and evidence-based in their approach

Explanation

The consensus that regulators should actively experiment with and use emerging technologies internally is somewhat unexpected, as it goes beyond traditional regulatory approaches and suggests regulators should become technology adopters and innovators themselves.

Topics

Legal and regulatory | Infrastructure

Moving away from harmonization as a primary goal of international cooperation

Speakers

– Xavier Merlin
– Ekaterine Imedadze

Arguments

The purpose of networks is to share questions, experiences, good practices and bad practices, and to anticipate future challenges

Small networks of interconnected countries can more quickly tackle emerging challenges through shared experiences

Explanation

There’s unexpected consensus that regulatory networks should focus on sharing diverse experiences rather than harmonizing regulations, which challenges traditional approaches to international regulatory cooperation.

Topics

Legal and regulatory | Development

Overall assessment

Summary

The speakers demonstrate strong consensus on the fundamental transformation needed in regulatory approaches, the importance of innovation and technology integration, the critical role of international cooperation, and the need for capacity building. All speakers agree that regulators must evolve from traditional oversight roles to become proactive ecosystem builders.

Consensus level

High level of consensus with significant implications for regulatory transformation globally. The agreement suggests a paradigm shift in regulatory thinking is already underway across different regions and regulatory contexts, indicating strong momentum for implementing these changes through initiatives like the GSR best practice guidelines.

Different viewpoints

Purpose and approach of regulatory networks

Speakers

– Xavier Merlin
– Sofie Maddens

Arguments

The purpose of networks is to share questions, experiences, good practices and bad practices, and to anticipate future challenges

Regional regulatory associations are engines of harmonization and catalysts for capacity building

Summary

Merlin explicitly argues that harmonization would be ‘nonsense’ for networks like Fratel, emphasizing that the value comes from diversity of experiences rather than creating uniform approaches. In contrast, Maddens describes regional associations as ‘engines of harmonization’ that create coherent landscapes for cross-border services.

Topics

Legal and regulatory | Development

Unexpected differences

Value of market maturity differences in regulatory networks

Speakers

– Xavier Merlin

Arguments

The purpose of networks is to share questions, experiences, good practices and bad practices, and to anticipate future challenges

Explanation

Merlin makes an unexpected argument that differences in digital market maturity between network members is not an issue but rather ‘something very interesting and very rich’ for exchanges. This contrasts with the typical assumption that similar development levels facilitate better cooperation, suggesting that diversity in experience levels actually enhances collaborative learning.

Topics

Legal and regulatory | Development

Overall assessment

Summary

The discussion shows remarkably high consensus among speakers on fundamental goals, with only one clear disagreement about harmonization versus diversity in regulatory networks. Most differences relate to emphasis and methodology rather than fundamental disagreements.

Disagreement level

Low level of disagreement with high implications for practical implementation. While speakers largely agree on the need for regulatory transformation and innovation, their different emphases on specific tools and approaches could lead to divergent implementation strategies in practice. The single clear disagreement about harmonization versus diversity represents a fundamental philosophical difference that could significantly impact how regional regulatory networks operate and develop their collaborative frameworks.

Partial agreements

Similar viewpoints

Both speakers emphasize the value of international expert involvement in regulatory networks and the importance of sharing diverse experiences rather than harmonizing approaches.

Speakers

– Ekaterine Imedadze
– Xavier Merlin

Arguments

Working groups with international experts provide huge flexibility for innovation and benchmarking of regulators

The purpose of networks is to share questions, experiences, good practices and bad practices, and to anticipate future challenges

Topics

Legal and regulatory | Development

Both speakers view technology as a strategic enabler that transforms regulatory capabilities, making regulation more responsive and evidence-based.

Speakers

– Omar Al Rejraje
– Petros Galides

Arguments

RegTech is not just a tool but a strategic enabler for trust and speed to make regulation as fast as innovation

Technologies like AI and big data enable regulators to be more proactive and evidence-based in their approach

Topics

Legal and regulatory | Infrastructure

Both speakers recognize that successful regulatory transformation requires comprehensive capacity building, including skills development and cultural change within regulatory organizations.

Speakers

– Youlia Lozanova
– Petros Galides

Arguments

There is a need for new thinking around capacities, skills, and mindsets required for regulatory transformation

Organizations require strengthening of institutional capacity, digital skills, and cultural change for effective transition

Topics

Legal and regulatory | Development

Key takeaways

Regulators must fundamentally transform from traditional supervisors to proactive digital ecosystem builders and innovation facilitators

Regional regulatory networks are essential for capacity building, harmonization, and sharing experiences across different markets and maturity levels

Innovation culture within regulatory institutions requires new tools like sandboxes, data-driven regulation, and RegTech integration

Cross-sectoral collaboration is critical as digital challenges are too complex for any single authority to address alone

Regulators must use emerging technologies internally to understand and effectively regulate them

The GSR 2025 consultation focuses uniquely on transforming regulatory institutions themselves rather than just regulatory practices

Sustainability and environmental considerations must be integrated into digital regulatory frameworks

Technology enables smarter regulation, but human and institutional collaboration ensures it is used wisely

Resolutions and action items

Continue contributions to the GSR consultation process until the end of August 2025

Publish first draft of GSR Best Practice Guidelines within two weeks of the session

Adopt final guidelines at the Heads of Regulators Roundtable meeting at GSR in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (August 31 – September 3, 2025)

Share sustainability toolkit for digital development developed by Saudi Arabia and DCO with other regulators globally

Integrate insights from this discussion into the broader WSIS 20 review process

Unresolved issues

How to balance harmonized approaches with the need for regulatory agility in fast-moving digital environments

Specific mechanisms for overcoming barriers to cross-sectoral collaboration (protectionism, silos, resource limitations)

Detailed frameworks for implementing RegTech solutions across different regulatory contexts and maturity levels

Concrete measures for ensuring inclusive digital transformation that doesn’t leave developing economies behind

Operational guidelines for transitioning from reactive to anticipatory regulatory models

Specific capacity building requirements and training programs needed for regulatory transformation

Suggested compromises

Focus on prioritized harmonization rather than attempting to harmonize on every regulatory topic

Use informal collaboration mechanisms alongside formal MOUs to enable flexible cross-border cooperation

Implement gradual technology integration through experimentation and sandbox approaches rather than wholesale regulatory overhaul

Combine traditional regulatory oversight with new proactive ecosystem building roles rather than completely abandoning legacy functions

Share both successful and unsuccessful practices among regional networks to enable collective learning

You cannot regulate what you don’t understand, and you cannot enable what you don’t understand. So for us, if you want to walk the walk, we need to use this emerging tech. to be able to utilize and try this in our regulation, in our inside, let’s say, regulatory body in the market.

Speaker

Omar Al Rejraje

Reason

This comment is profoundly insightful because it challenges the traditional regulatory approach of external oversight and proposes internal experimentation as a prerequisite for effective regulation. It introduces the concept that regulators must become practitioners of the technologies they regulate, fundamentally shifting from a supervisory role to an experiential one.

Impact

This comment introduced a new paradigm that influenced the subsequent discussion. It provided concrete justification for the ‘RegTech’ approach and sandbox initiatives, moving the conversation from theoretical frameworks to practical implementation strategies. It also reinforced the theme of regulators as ecosystem builders rather than mere overseers.

We must transition from being traditional supervisors into proactive architects and facilitators of innovation. Our task is to cultivate agile digital ecosystems where investment is secure, competition is fair, and development brings a truly sustainable digital world for all.

Speaker

Sofie Maddens

Reason

This comment is thought-provoking because it reframes the entire regulatory identity from reactive enforcement to proactive ecosystem design. The metaphor of ‘architects and facilitators’ suggests a creative, constructive role rather than a restrictive one, fundamentally challenging traditional regulatory paradigms.

Impact

This opening statement set the conceptual framework for the entire discussion, establishing the central theme that all subsequent speakers built upon. It shifted the conversation from ‘how to regulate better’ to ‘how to become ecosystem builders,’ influencing every panelist to address this transformation in their responses.

I really don’t believe that difference of maturity in digital markets between members is really an issue. And on the contrary, I would even think it’s something very interesting and very rich in our exchange because if everybody were saying the same thing, there would be no purpose for exchange.

Speaker

Xavier Merlin

Reason

This comment challenges the common assumption that regulatory cooperation requires similar levels of market maturity. It reframes diversity as an asset rather than an obstacle, suggesting that different experiences and challenges create more valuable learning opportunities than homogeneous environments.

Impact

This perspective shifted the discussion away from concerns about harmonization challenges toward embracing diversity as a strength. It influenced the conversation to focus on knowledge sharing and mutual learning rather than standardization, affecting how other speakers discussed regional cooperation.

Technology enables smarter regulation, but it’s the human and institutional collaboration that ensures it is used wisely.

Speaker

Petros Galides

Reason

This comment provides a crucial balance to the technology-focused discussion by emphasizing that human elements remain central to regulatory success. It’s insightful because it acknowledges technology’s power while asserting that wisdom and ethical application come from human collaboration, not technological capability alone.

Impact

This comment served as a synthesizing moment that brought together the technological and human aspects discussed throughout the session. It provided a philosophical anchor that reminded participants that despite all the technological innovation, the human and institutional dimensions remain paramount for effective regulation.

Regulators should evolve from normal regulators to ecosystem builders, to experiment adapters, to innovation promoters.

Speaker

Omar Al Rejraje

Reason

This comment crystallizes the transformation journey in clear, progressive stages. It’s thought-provoking because it presents regulatory evolution as a multi-faceted progression rather than a single shift, providing a roadmap for institutional transformation.

Impact

This comment provided a concrete framework for understanding regulatory evolution, giving structure to the abstract concept of becoming ‘ecosystem builders.’ It influenced the discussion by offering actionable categories that other participants could relate to and build upon in their own contexts.

Overall assessment

These key comments fundamentally shaped the discussion by establishing a new paradigm for regulatory thinking. Rather than focusing on traditional regulatory tools and approaches, the conversation evolved around the central theme of transformation – from supervisors to architects, from external overseers to internal experimenters, and from national authorities to collaborative ecosystem builders. The comments created a progressive narrative that moved from conceptual framework-setting (Maddens) through practical implementation strategies (Al Rejraje’s experimentation approach) to collaborative methodologies (Merlin’s diversity-as-strength perspective) and finally to philosophical synthesis (Galides’ human-technology balance). Together, these insights elevated the discussion beyond technical regulatory matters to address fundamental questions about institutional identity, purpose, and methodology in the digital age. The cumulative effect was a rich exploration of how regulatory authorities can reinvent themselves as proactive shapers of digital futures rather than reactive enforcers of existing rules.

How to operationalize the GSR best practice guidelines in shaping enabling environments for markets and ecosystems

Speaker

Youlia Lozanova

Explanation

This was identified as a very difficult but important task for heads of regulators at the upcoming meeting, suggesting it requires further exploration and practical implementation strategies

How to balance harmonized approaches with agility in regulatory development while managing risk and opportunity in innovative development

Speaker

Ahmed El-Raghy (directed to Ekaterine Imedadze)

Explanation

This addresses the tension between standardization across regions and the need for flexible, rapid regulatory responses to innovation

How advanced regulatory approaches can be adopted to foster innovation without overwhelming developing economies

Speaker

Ahmed El-Raghy (directed to Xavier Merlin)

Explanation

This explores the challenge of transferring sophisticated regulatory practices to markets with different levels of development and resources

How regulatory frameworks can adapt to support huge investments in emerging technologies while ensuring translation to sustainable and inclusive digital ecosystems

Speaker

Ahmed El-Raghy (directed to Omar Al Rejraje)

Explanation

This addresses the need to understand how regulation can facilitate investment while ensuring broader societal benefits

What are the most successful institutional mechanisms for enhancing cross-sectorial cooperation between ICT regulators and other stakeholders

Speaker

Ahmed El-Raghy (directed to Petros Galides)

Explanation

This seeks to identify proven models for collaboration across different regulatory domains and with various stakeholders

How to overcome barriers that hinder collaboration between authorities, including protectionism, defensiveness, silos, lack of trust, ignorance, legal obstacles, and resource limitations

Speaker

Petros Galides

Explanation

These were identified as practical challenges that need addressing to achieve effective cross-sectoral and international regulatory collaboration

How to ensure effective integration and ethical oversight of AI tools in regulatory operations

Speaker

Petros Galides

Explanation

This addresses the need for responsible implementation of AI technologies within regulatory authorities themselves

How to develop data-driven regulation approaches and determine their effectiveness compared to traditional regulatory decisions

Speaker

Xavier Merlin

Explanation

This explores alternative regulatory tools that may be more appropriate for fast-moving digital environments

How to prioritize harmonization efforts when it’s impossible to harmonize on every topic

Speaker

Youlia Lozanova

Explanation

This addresses the practical challenge of selecting which areas deserve harmonization efforts given limited resources and varying priorities