Global Standards Symposium
“Towards a better inclusion of the Arab region
in the international standardization process”
Khédija Ghariani – Secretary General – AICTO
Dubai, 19 November 2012
“Towards a better inclusion of the Arab region
in the international standardization process”
Social & economic growth is not possible
without ICT.
In spite of the positive numbers:
 6.3 billions of mobile subscribers (ITU, June 2012)
 2b,405,510,175 Internet users
(World Internet Usage and Population Statistics, June 2012)
Global Standards Symposium
- Dubai, 19/11/2012
“Towards a better inclusion of the Arab region
in the international standardization process”
 Digital divide is still a fact namely when its comes
to standardization.
 The gap is very important between developed
and developing countries.
 The weak representation of the Arab region
within the international standardization bodies.
due to the lack of the necessary skills
Global Standards Symposium
- Dubai, 19/11/2012
“Towards a better inclusion of the Arab region
in the international standardization process”
 It is a multi-stakeholder responsibility
(governments, private sector, academia, and civil society)
 Efforts should focus on Capacity building
Global Standards Symposium
- Dubai, 19/11/2012
“Towards a better inclusion of the Arab region
in the international standardization process”
AICTO, is committed to consolidate the current
efforts by leading further joint actions focusing on
capacity building and awareness campaigns.
To :
 Disseminate the standardization culture throughout
the Arab region,
 Focus on the importance of adopting international
standards through the Arab region.
Global Standards Symposium
- Dubai, 19/11/2012
“Towards a better inclusion of the Arab region
in the international standardization process”
Being an Arab technical organization, with main objectives :
 Promoting and enriching common strategies for ICT
development in the region,
 Identifying the Arab needs and skills in the field of ICTs,
Membership :
Is open to the public sector (regulators, ….) the
international private sector represented in the Arab
region, civil society, academia & research centers.
Partnership agreement with : ITU + IEEE
Global Standards Symposium
- Dubai, 19/11/2012
“Towards a better inclusion of the Arab region
in the international standardization process”
AICTO is full of will to coordinate efforts with all
concerned parties on the regional and
international level, namely :
The Arab Working Group for Standardization and
the International Telecommunications Union (ITU)
to :
Global Standards Symposium
- Dubai, 19/11/2012
“Towards a better inclusion of the Arab region
in the international standardization process”
 Raise awareness about the importance to
adopt local and regional strategies for the
development of practical (user-friendly) and
strong standards.
 Achieve joint actions aiming at :
Global Standards Symposium
- Dubai, 19/11/2012
“Towards a better inclusion of the Arab region
in the international standardization process”
Joint actions aiming at :
 Developing the required skills in the field of
standardization,
• A training session has already been scheduled
within AICTO action plan 2013, to be organized jointly
with ITU- T.
Global Standards Symposium
- Dubai, 19/11/2012
“Towards a better inclusion of the Arab region
in the international standardization process”
Joint actions aiming at :
 Promoting the use of Common/uniform standards
to reduce the cost of cloud services such as :
e-government, e-education, e-health,…
 Stimulating the debate amongst major players :
(Government +private sector and academia) how to boost
private investment in the field of standardization to
encourage innovation and scientific research.
Global Standards Symposium
- Dubai, 19/11/2012
“Towards a better inclusion of the Arab region
in the international standardization process”
Joint actions aiming at :
 Sharing knowledge about standards for cloud
computing which are playing a valuable role in
improving the quality of life,
 Contributing to the establishment of a global
network of regional conformance testing centres –
tasked with evaluation products’ degree of
compliance with ITU’s international standards.
Global Standards Symposium
- Dubai, 19/11/2012
“Towards a better inclusion of the Arab region
in the international standardization process”
 AICTO stongly supports Algeria’s proposal about:
Establishing a Regional Centre for standardization
based in Algeria.
(ITU Regional Workshop on Bridging the Standardization Gap for Arab and Africa Regions - September 2011)
Global Standards Symposium
- Dubai, 19/11/2012
“Towards a better inclusion of the Arab region
in the international standardization process”
Conclusion :
 Standards are developed for use in global
markets by experts from all parts of the world :
Technological innovation is essential and should be
given a priority through partnerships between
governments and the private sector,
 Collaborative work is a must to reduce the existing
digital divide in the field of standardization.
Global Standards Symposium
- Dubai, 19/11/2012
Thak you for your attention
Khédija Ghariani
Secretary General – AICTO
T : + 216 71 284 187
F : + 216 71 846 865
Website : www.aicto.org