The International Electronic Communications Regulators Conference, held for the 12th time this year, took place with intensive participation from guests from different countries. In his opening speech at the program, BTK President Dr. Ömer Fatih Sayan stated that information and communication technologies are advancing at a dizzying speed.
The International Electronic Communications Regulators Conference, traditionally held since 2006, was organized this year under the theme “Technologies Shaping Social Life: Opportunities and Threats.” Representatives from countries such as Tunisia, Albania, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Azerbaijan, Japan, Niger, Lithuania, Sweden, Moldova, Kosovo, Mauritania, Uzbekistan, and India attended the program.
Emphasizing that the “International Electronic Communications Regulators Conferences,” held for the 12th time, are important for addressing current issues in the sector, Sayan began his speech by saying, “This year, together with the regulatory and policy-making institutions of friendly and brotherly countries, as well as valuable representatives from our sector, academia, and civil society organizations, we will discuss technologies that shape social life. We will discuss the opportunities these technologies offer us and the threats they pose.”
Expressing that the extraordinary developments in the information and communication sector enable goods and financial markets to transcend national borders, leading the world toward economic globalization, Sayan said, “Classical development models are giving way to a different development model based on possessing information resources. Undoubtedly, one of the most important actors—even the locomotive—of this great economic transformation process is Information and Communication Technologies, thanks to which a brand new lifestyle, economy, social-cultural life, and work style have emerged worldwide today. It is evident that information and communication technologies, especially the internet, have become an indispensable necessity in our daily and social lives.”
Drawing attention to the increasing share of the internet economy in GDP, Sayan said, “The internet is present in our lives in areas such as e-government applications, education, commerce, health, banking, communications, gaming, entertainment, and many more. Not only in individual use but also in critical infrastructures, production, industry, design, R&D, and every stage of innovation, the internet stands out as the most important infrastructure. Of the world's population exceeding 7.5 billion, nearly 4.5 billion use the internet, and the number of internet users will double within five years. Excluding mobile phone usage, no other technological development worldwide has reached such high usage rates in such a short time.”
Noting that traffic and diversity in information and communication technologies are also constantly increasing, Sayan said, “In the world, on the internet in one minute, over 150 million emails are sent, 4 million videos are watched, 3.5 million searches are conducted on a single search engine (Google), 350 thousand new tweets are posted, 30 million messages are sent instantly, over 265 thousand sales are made on the largest e-commerce site (Amazon), and hundreds of millions of people are on social media platforms simultaneously. These activities in one minute are steadily increasing every year compared to the previous year.”
International Cooperation is Mandatory for Rapidly Advancing Technology
Drawing attention to the fact that the field of information technologies, advancing at a dizzying speed, necessitates the establishment of consultation and cooperation mechanisms among governments, regulators, and international organizations, Sayan said, “In such a picture, policies to be formed and regulations to be made can only meet needs if this reality is taken into account. We foresee that the most priority topics in the information and communication technologies sector in the coming period will be the Internet of Things, smart devices, blockchain, artificial intelligence, big data analysis, cloud computing, and cybersecurity. All of these are closely related to technical, administrative, legal regulations, and the possibilities provided by access and infrastructure technologies.”
Reminding that as stakeholders of the information and communication technologies sector, it is essential to closely monitor developments in this field, Sayan said, “I also want to state that I believe every platform we come together, as today, creates important synergy. Especially due to the rapid increase in mobile data traffic, limits have been pushed in existing 3G and even 4G technologies, and additional bands for 5G have begun to be sought. Meanwhile, the technological structure has changed significantly, and with 4G technologies, ‘IP-Based’ usage has started. Thus, the Mobile Computing Infrastructure has completely changed, and with the use of IPv6, it has become possible to assign ‘Domain Names’ to all objects and reach them in the internet environment. We foresee that this change will continue in 5G and subsequent generations,” thereby drawing attention to the importance of technology.
The Internet of Things is Entering Our Lives More
Stating that the size of information carried over the internet is also of great importance, President Sayan said, “It is estimated that the digital content volume, around 8 billion terabytes at the end of 2017, will reach 50 billion terabytes by 2020. Today, IT companies increasingly need Cloud Computing solutions to not be overwhelmed by this large data pile called ‘Big Data’ in the digital universe. As you know, while communication initially took place between people, it has increasingly occurred between machines and then between ‘objects.’ Therefore, the ‘Internet of Things’ is entering our daily lives more and more every day. It is predicted that by 2032, an individual will connect to around 3 to 5 thousand objects in a single day. This figure may seem unbelievable today. However, considering that the concept of the ‘Internet of Things’ did not exist in our lives ten years ago, it is inevitable that many situations we do not find possible today will face us as reality tomorrow.”
Emphasizing that alongside the innovations offered by the digital age, there are many problems, President Sayan said, “The proliferation of mobile devices, the internet, and smart devices resulting from their combination, along with technological advancements and increasing diversity of usage areas, facilitate our lives but also bring certain difficulties. One of the most important of these problems is cybersecurity. Malicious uses and cyberattacks have increased, diversified, and spread parallel to technological development. These attacks now target not only individuals or companies but also states, damaging their reputations and causing economic and defense vulnerabilities—extremely serious issues.”
Cybersecurity Concerns All Segments Closely
Stating that internet security and cybersecurity issues concern not only individuals but all segments, Sayan said, “Therefore, I want to underline once again that international cooperation in this regard must be started without losing any time. The rapid developments and changes in the information and communication technologies sector show that the path to success and not falling behind in this field passes through innovation. In Turkey, we attach great importance to R&D, especially in the field of information and communication technologies. Because it is clear that businesses that keep up with change will continue to grow, while those that cannot will disappear. Based on this reality, we wholeheartedly believe in the importance of supplying all needed resources through domestic and national production in science, technology, and innovation—software, hardware, and infrastructure—without being dependent on imports, and we continue our efforts in this regard at full speed.”
Underlining that Turkey is taking big steps for peace and stability in its geography, Sayan said, “I think this conference also constitutes a great opportunity to serve cooperation among the friendly and brotherly countries present here. Over the two days, in the 12th International Electronic Communications Regulators Conference, where opportunities and threats of technologies shaping social life will be discussed, I sincerely believe we will benefit to the maximum from the sessions bringing together different actors of our sector and the experiences of each valuable speaker.” With these words, he concluded his speech.
After President Sayan, Azerbaijan Deputy Minister of Transport, Communications and High Technologies, Elmir Velizade, who spoke, also drew attention to the increasing machine-to-machine communication in recent days. Emphasizing the importance of producing high-tech products worldwide, Velizade concluded his speech, in which he talked about his country's efforts in this regard, by thanking BTK, the organizer of the event.
After the program interval, the session continued with Regulation and Technology – II Session. Moderated by BTK President Dr. Ömer Fatih Sayan, the session was attended by Rossen Jeliazkov, Chairman of the Communications Regulation Commission of Bulgaria,
Alyar Tamirov, Head of the Communications Regulations Department at the Azerbaijan Ministry of Transport, Communications and High Technologies, Takahiro Ueno, Deputy Director at the Information and Communications Bureau of Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, Bety Aichatou Habibou Oumani, Chairman of Niger's Telecommunications and Postal Regulatory Authority-ARTP, and Ola Bergström, Director of International Relations at the Swedish Postal and Telecommunications Authority-PTS.
At the beginning of the session, Dr. Sayan made evaluations regarding the session's theme. “Technology” expresses an innovation or development in any field for all of us. We all feel the need to benefit from the latest technological developments in every area of our lives and try to facilitate our lives with technology,” said Sayan, adding, “In other words, when considered universally, technological developments emerge as a result of people's search to meet their own needs more easily. This situation necessitates the development of technology under certain rules. For this purpose, countries make their own national regulations, and in areas where national regulations are insufficient, they try to guide technology through international cooperation. Of course, at this point, we must not forget that technological developments also guide national or international regulations. Therefore, we can say that technological developments and regulations are two inseparable elements.”
Emphasizing that technological developments should not be considered independent of regulation, Sayan said, “At the core of technologies shaping social life lie internet technology and services provided over the internet. Ten to fifteen years ago, ‘mobile phones’ were the first technological development that came to mind, but today, fixed or mobile internet has taken its indispensable place in our lives, independent of infrastructure. Thanks to the regulations of international organizations such as the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (ICANN), the internet can be used regularly today. At the same time, the pains experienced in regulation areas such as personal data and crime definitions against the rapid development in internet technology today can be evaluated as a result of technology advancing ahead of regulations.”