RIYADH — One of the ICT sector’s most significant events for spectrum policy kicked off Tuesday with words from Abdullah Alswaha, minister of Communications and Information Technology, Houlin Zhao, International Telecommunication Union (ITU) secretary-general, Mohammed Altamimi, governor of the Communication and Information Technology Commission (CITC), and Mario Maniewicz, director, Radiocommunications Bureau, ITU. The webinar was opened by Alswaha, who highlighted the need for a global standard in spectrum management, "It is so critical for us to come together as the greatest thinkers and doers in the world in the spectrum arena. Digital infrastructure was the backbone for our resilient economies to succeed in a post-COVID world and spectrum is the lifeline." Zhao thanked CITC for their support in facilitating such an important and timely event. "We at ITU recognize CITC as one of the most developed regulators in the world and Saudi Arabia as one of the largest ICT markets in the Middle East." He went on to say, “I call on all ITU members, governments, and the private sector, to join us and make the most of this historic moment as the deployment of technologies like 5G promise to improve people’s lives on a scale never seen before.” Altamimi gave his thoughts on the road map to a global, digital society. “The way to unlock our digital future is to make spectrum data, AI, and blockchain databases accessible to spectrum users through good governance." To achieve this, he added, “Based on our National Frequency Spectrum Strategy 2025, CITC will release over 10 GHz of spectrum for commercial and innovative use over the next five years." Today marks the first day of the three-day event, “Radio Spectrum for IMT-2020 and beyond: Fostering Commercial and Innovative Use”, co-organized by ITU and CITC of Saudi Arabia. Dozens of industry experts from over 20 countries will give their thoughts on the latest spectrum innovation and best practices for policymakers. Speakers at the event include Ajit Pai, chairman of the FCC, Sunil Bharti Mittal, chairman of OneWeb, Mats Granryd, director general of GSMA, Jon Peha, professor of Electrical Engineering and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University, Rupert Pearce, chief executive officer of Inmarsat, Asha Keddy, corporate VP of Intel, Bocar Be, CEO SAMENA Telecom Council, Ibrahim A. Kadi, member of the board of directors for STC, Martin Cave, chairman UK Gas, and Electricity Markets Authority, Philip Marnick, Ofcom’s Spectrum group director and others. — SG The sessions will cover issues such as “Spectrum usage and property rights: privatization and trading of the resource” and “Developing a sustainable national spectrum strategy: Meeting the demand of all sectors and radio services” and much more. The event covers three days from December 8th to 10th, starting at 14.30 (GMT+3) each day.