Developing countries to participate in ICT standards process

This was announced on Monday, 20 October, at the Global Standard Symposium at Emperor's Palace in Johannesburg.

The fund will assist in facilitating the participation of developing countries in the standards development process and allow them to profit from access to new technology developments, according to International Telecommunication Union (ITU-T) director, Malcolm Johnson.

"The Bridging the Standardisation Gap Fund is one of our tools that will be used in the industry to make sure that the requirements of the developing countries were taken into account in the development of standards," he said.

Minister of Communication, Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri, who was speaking at the conference, said the standardisation development gap was creating disparity between developed and developing countries.

"The ability of developing countries to influence and contribute to international standards setting is almost non-existent while the ability to access and implement the standards further widens the digital gap between them and the developed countries," she said, adding that growth in the ICT sector will come mainly from the developing countries of the world.

Among the issues discussed at the conference were global ICT challenges, such as accessibility, climate change and collaboration among standards development organisations to overcome these challenges.

The minister said she expected the leading figures in the ICT field to help developing countries develop a vision for the future.

She further hoped that stakeholders would adopt policies that will address the standards gap and of increasing the involvement of developing countries in the development and implementation of the sector's standards.

In her presentation, the chief executive officer of Sentech, Sebelitso Matabane said the continued shortage of human resources in the standardisation field in developing countries resulted in a low participation by developing countries in the standards-making process.

This has in turn contributed to a standardisation gap between developed and developing countries which adversely affected the ability of representatives from developing countries to access, implement, contribute to and influence international ICT standards.

She said the standardisation gap contributes to the persistence of the wider digital divide, however, bridging the standardisation gap programme by the ITU-T was vital to enhancing competitiveness and provide the basis for consumer protection, health and safety.

The conference, which will be addressed by various communications ministers from around the world, will end on Tuesday.

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