APEC TEL58 Welcome Speech
Chair of APEC TELWG, Dr. Morris Lin, Distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen, Good morning!
It is a great honour for me, on behalf of Chinese Taipei, to welcome you all to have attended the 58th Meeting of the APEC Telecommunications and Information Working Group.
It has been 8 years since Chinese Taipei had the privilege of hosting TEL 41, and this is our 4th time hosting the APEC TEL meeting. Perhaps many of you have already visited Taipei over the past years, but this time we would like to invite you to experience the changes and progress that have been happening here prompted by the development of smart city and sharing economy.
In the past, telecommunications meant telephony, so the topics that were discussed at TELWG meetings focused mainly on communications technology and telecom market regulation. Now we are living in the digital era, and enhanced mobile broadband, artificial intelligence (AI) , Internet of Things (IoT) and other technologies have become the driving forces to further unleash the so-called “digital transformation”.
At the same time, telecommunications is a key enabler of the fourth industrial revolution with an essential role in supporting the development of various innovative applications and services in upper layers. A reliable, secured and borderless network connection is hence a must-have for all. This digital revolution has also imposed great challenges on the business model and infrastructure deployment that the telecommunications industry on its own right has built over the decades.
Just as Mr. Brahima Sanou, the director of ITU Telecommunication Development Bureau, said, “We are now living in a world of digital opportunities and with those opportunities comes a new set of challenges, requiring a new set of regulations.” More recently, our discussions at TEL have been shifting to cover a variety of emerging applications and issues that communication technology has brought to the digital economy.
Today, we are delighted to have this opportunity to deepen our discussions on these important topics, and sincerely hope that the programs and environments we have prepared will greatly assist the work of the TELWG in view of the challenges and opportunities we face together.
Being the host economy, Chinese Taipei has organized three roundtables to discuss key issues very much on our minds. Firstly, we are going to discuss how to facilitate the broadband so as to boost digital economy at the Regulatory Roundtable on “Promoting Universal Broadband Service”.
In addition to digital infrastructure, the digital literacy of the people is also a crucial factor for participation in the digital economy. Accordingly, the roundtable on Best Practices for Enhancing Citizens’ Digital Literacy has been planned to take place this afternoon.
And thirdly, turning to ICT applications, in order to enable our cities to become more sustainable, an upgrade of traditional living places to the so-called ‘smart city’ is expected to become a common trend. We will discuss what a future smart city looks like, identify specific challenges, and current progress at the DSG industry roundtable on Smart Cities Experience Sharing.
Moreover, we are glad that several member economies have also organized workshops related to ICT development and digital transformation during TEL58 to share their accomplishments and to foster the exchange of ideas. The topics of these workshops include disaster monitoring system, social network, strategies and measurements of digital economy, as well as digital government. I would like to express our sincere gratitude to all of you for making this TEL58 meeting more productive and diverse in its range.
Dr. Morris Lin, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen,
Throughout its history, the TELWG has demonstrated its great leadership in successfully coordinating the joint effort in the region to tackle all kinds of pressing issues facing us. The challenges arising from digital transformation today are too comprehensive to be done by one authority. That is why the spirit of “internet governance” should be instilled into our framework and that is why the TELWG shall take the lead again to promote and leverage the sound development of the digital transformation. .
By taking some time to focus our attention on the broader context for the dialogue over the coming days, I am confident much progress can be made during our discussions.
As a closing, I would like to thank all of you for your efforts and active participation for making this meeting possible. I wish you every success in your deliberations, and hope you find your stay in Chinese Taipei a culturally rich experience and can find some time to visit places of interest. Thank you very much for your attention.
Thank you, Mr. Chair!
