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Regional Thought

Leadership Forums

Fishing Boat

ASIA PACIFIC

Regional CTIP/IUU Thought Leadership Forum

18 November 2019

Lumpini Pathumwan, Bangkok. THAILAND

Roundtable Discussion led by GWF CEO David Hartshorn

Representatives of Geeks Without Frontiers were in the audience and approached IRC after the presentation because, together with NGOs and the private sector, their organization has been involved in work relating to Counter Trafficking in Persons (CTIP) and prevention of Illegal Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing in Thailand. IRC expressed interest in exploring whether their digital-ID capabilities could be extended to address CTIP requirements in Thailand and, perhaps, elsewhere in the region. 

Each participant shared their perspectives regarding the latest trends relating to CTIP and IUU fishing in Asia. Their insights suggested that there appears to be an opportunity to leverage gains made by current CTIP and IUU fishing initiatives with a combined effort to scale such localized successes as part of a comprehensive solution throughout Southeast Asia or, perhaps Asia. If implemented, the regional CTIP-IUU solution could also serve as a template for other regions throughout the world (e.g. Africa, South & Central America, etc.).

In this regard, some of the thoughts shared by the meeting participants included the following:

 

  • CTIP and IUU continue to be a major priority in Asia and in other regions of the world.
  • Important successes have been achieved in addressing CTIP and IUU in Asia.
  • Such gains have often been realized through projects that were targeted to address either CTIP or IUU.
  • These advances have often been targeted to address CTIP or IUU, one nation at a time.
  • There is an opportunity to build upon previous project successes through a coordinated effort to design and implement a regional initiative that would holistically address both CTIP and IUU fishing.
  • A comprehensive initiative would integrate systems, services and strategies that have been proven to be successful through previous programs.
  • A regional initiative would enable greater scale, which would strengthen sustainability whilst addressing cross-border dynamics.

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EUROPE

ECTA Regulatory Conference

10-11 December 2019

John Morris, GWF Co-Founder & Director led a Thought Leadership Forum Session at the ECTA Regulatory Conference #ectaConf19 and discussed "Technology and Policy Considerations for the Rural Narrow-to-Broadband-to-VHC Transition." 

During the Thought Leadership Forum at the ECTA Regulatory Conference the panel session discussed the promotion of connectivity and access, and take-up of very high capacity networks that the Code introduced as a new and explicit objective of EU sectoral legislation involved a universal ambition that networks extend to ‘all citizens and businesses of the Union’.  By bringing very high capacity to the population in every Member State, it involves many questions about network design and if financing is of universal relevance for deployment and business decision-making, and thus reverberating across national borders as well as continental shelves by creating the search for efficiencies in rural deployments that prompt the greatest possible diversity in terms of technological solutions. At the same time, the financing of these solutions may prove particularly risky when in borderline cases parallel deployments can invalidate the business case for either.

The panelists reflected on the practical problems of bringing very high capacity connections to the rural population and business communities evaluating the current EU toolset available, which included the Code, the Cost Reduction Directive, the Broadband Guidelines, forthcoming investment instruments, and international best practices.

Chair: John MORRIS, Co-Founder & Executive Director, Geeks Without Frontiers

Marie LAMOUREUX, Director Regulatory and Public Affairs, Altitude Infrastructure
Jean-Hubert LENOTTE, Chief Strategy and Resources Officer, Eutelsat
Dr Peter GRÜTER, CFO, Fastweb
Anthony WHELAN, Digital Policy Adviser, Cabinet (private office) of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Commission

View the Presentation by Geeks Without Frontiers from the Europe Thought Leadership Forum

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AMERICAS

Action on Disaster Relief 2020

5 February 2020

Panama City, PANAMA

Associate Manager of Innovation, Martin Dolan participated in a panel session discussing Communication Solutions & Their Impact

During the Thought Leadership Forum at the Action on Disaster Relief 2020 the panel session discussed the important aspects regarding disaster relief.  The Martin and the panellists deliberated on capitalising on new communication technologies, much-needed collaborations and of course, local development. This session will also discuss equality across urban and rural areas, aggregating demand to pool resources and therefore reduce financials, and developing collaborations before called upon.

Panel Chair: Simon Gray, Senior VP of Humanitarian Affairs of EUTELSAT

 David Meltzer, Secretary General of GVF

 Martin Dolan, Manager - Innovation of Geeks Without Frontiers

 Jose Luis German, Sub. Director of Information Management of COE - Emergency Operations Center; Dominican Republic

 Smith Barthelus, Technical Secretary Coordinator of Haiti Directorate of Civil Protection (DPC); Ministry of Interior

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