CyberTech Africa 2023

The two-day event gathered business, innovation, tech, and leading decision-makers to cover topics most relevant to Africa  covered, including, fintech, IoT and 5G, AI, critical infrastructure, aviation and space cybersecurity, smart cities, capability building, and sustainability – not to mention the continent’s first Africa CISO Summit. Telecom was also discussed in-depth with professionals during the VON: Evolution Africa event, bankathon & hackathon.

Affordable Devices

A new report from the World Bank, Affordable Devices: Innovative Financing Solutions and Policy Options to Bridge Global Digital Divides, provides a guide for how governments and stakeholders can work together to make broadband-enabled mobile devices more affordable across the world. It also offers a comprehensive overview of supply and demand-side factors that impact affordability and device ownership in developing countries and emerging markets. 

Refugee Connectivity

UNHCR, the ITU and the GSMA are seeking to ensure all major refugee hosting areas have available and affordable connectivity by 2030, advancing the digital inclusion of over 20 million forcibly displaced people and local host communities.

They issued an urgent global call to action to increase investment and establish an enabling regulatory framework for providing connectivity to forcibly displaced and stateless people and the communities that host them.

Women Deliver 2023

The WD2023 program comprised plenaries, sessions, workshops, pre-conferences, side events, exhibitions, Global Dialogue events, and Regional Convening Partner events. Bringing together the most powerful voices within the feminist community – from heads of state to grassroots activists and youth including Broadband Commissioners and Leaders, H.E. President Paul Kagame, Ms. Sima Bahous, ED of UN Women and H.E. Dr. Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Former Deputy President of South Africa.

Benin paves the way for AI and big data with SENIA

For the second year running, the Digital Entrepreneurship and Artificial Intelligence Trade Show (known as SENIA in French) took place in Cotonou on 12 and 13 May. Attracting almost 1,000 participants, the event reflects Benin's drive to become a major player in artificial intelligence (AI) in West Africa. The debates and meetings aim at sparking high-impact initiatives that will benefit public administration, businesses and Benin’s society.  

UAE Government’s Unified Digital Platform “U.AE”

The Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority (TDRA) launched the generative AI-supported version of United Arab Emirates (UA) Government’s Unified Digital Platform u.ae, which is considered the interface of the government’s digital presence and the access channel to the services provided by the federal and local government entities in the UAE.

COP28

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has set out to work with all partners committed to action to ensure green and digital transitions for the benefit of everyone. ITU – the UN agency for digital technologies – is encouraging companies and organizations from around the world to join together for Green Digital Action at COP28.

Tallinn Digital Summit

The Tallinn Digital Summit 2023, an annual event hosted by the Prime Minister of Estonia, will take place on September 5th, with a key focus on refreshing the agenda of democracy and technology. The event will feature representatives from Nokia, as well as a keynote speech by Commission Co-Vice Chair and ITU Secretary General, Ms. Doreen Bogdan-Martin.