After a series of meetings from September 30th, the 58th meeting of the APEC Telecommunications and Information Working Group (abbreviated as TEL58), hosted by NCC, came to a successful close on October 5th.
The aims of TELWG meetings are to advance the development of the information and communications technologies (ICTs), infrastructure and services in the Asia-Pacific region, and to facilitate dialogues and cooperation among member economies in promoting effective ICT policies and regulatory practices.
Several outstanding outcomes of TEL58 have been achieved. Firstly, delegates finished the midterm review of the TEL strategic action plan (SAP) 2016-2020 and set the priority for the future key areas for TELWG, such as promoting digital literacy of disadvantaged groups, facilitating digital economy and establishing a safe digital economic environment.
In addition, 340 delegates from 19 APEC member economies and 11 international organizations attended TEL58, making the participation of the APEC TEL meeting to a record high in recent years.
Moreover, the Plenary meeting of TEL58 endorsed the nomination of Mr. Chiang Liang-jun (江亮均), Vice CEO of Telecom Technology Center (財團法人電信技術中心), as the second deputy convenor of the Liberalization Steering Group (LSG). This is an achievement that will increase our presence in the international community and manifest our commitment to contribute to the APEC.
During the six-day meetings, seven workshops were organized to explore issues on digital literacy, Internet of Things (IoT) applications in disasters, social network governance, broadband universal services, smart cities, digital economy strategies, and emerging technology applications on digital government. The spirit of APEC was also strengthened through the cross-fora cooperation in the workshops.
The delegates also discussed Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA) with a view to streamlining cross-border trade procedures for ICT equipment.
In addition, the delegates visited T-Park and Wulai to experience our achievements in promoting smart cities and broadband universal services.
In the closing Plenary meeting, all member economies expressed appreciation and praise to NCC for the wonderful organization, hospitality and settings for this event. NCC is committed to making more contribution for the future TELWG meetings. The next APEC TELWG meeting (TEL59) will be held in Chile, while Malaysia and Thailand are also planning to host TEL61 and TEL65 respectively.
