The 2nd Meeting of ECO-ICT Working Group was held virtually on 27th June, 2022 in Tehran which was jointly organized by the ECO Secretariat and the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Dr. Montazeri, Deputy President, Strategy and Market Development, Communications Regulator Authority of Iran delivered his opening statement and welcomed participants to the meeting. He emphasized that for decades, information and communication technology (ICT) has been a key driver of economic growth and an essential infrastructure for continuous innovation across all industries.
Further, the Chairman highlighted that the Second ECO ICT Ministerial Meeting (Baku-2017) and decision of the First Meeting of the ECO Working Group on Information and Communications Technology (ICT) concerned the necessity for establishment of the ECO regional regulatory framework. Finalization of the regulatory framework for the ECO region will surely help creation of a suitable platform for further cooperation between members.
Dr. Sayed Yahya Akhlaqi, ECO Deputy Secretary General in his welcoming remarks appreciated the Islamic Republic of Iran for hosting this important meeting and noted that the role of ICT at the time of the COVID pandemic, has been strategically important and it played as a key means of both resolving challenges caused by the pandemic and also responding to the needs of the societies a new norm of life.
He further underlined that ever-increasing development of technologies requires an enduring need for more cooperation and collaboration among the telecommunication regulators of the ECO Member States to jointly address the challenged that are impossible to face individually.
The Meeting deliberated extensively the various topics, inter alia, the latest ICT developments, implementation of the “2025 ECO Regional Strategy for Information Society Development” and the “Draft Terms of Reference (ToR) for ECO High Level Working Group of ICT Regulatory Authorities”.
