The Executive Director of Uganda Communications Commission
(UCC), Godfrey Mutabazi, has identified careful regulation as key to risk
mitigation in this era of data revolution in Africa, reports ITRealms.
Speaking recently at the 2018 Global Symposium for Regulators
(GSR) in Geneva, Mutabazi, he pointed out that telecom space in the fourth
industrial revolution, hence driven by data.
“To plan and execute any program now, you need a lot of
data,” he said, stressing that regulators cannot afford to be heavy regulation
or light regulation.
“We have to look for a compromise,” he declared.
Data, he said, shapes planning in fields including
manufacturing, agriculture and education, is also behind everything from
national identity cards to passport registrations to birth registration.
He posited that given the prevalence of data in society,
regulators must address the issue of data protection to increase trust.
“Data protection, and the way it is expanding, is causing a
lot of problems now. It’s a big issue all over the world and in Uganda in
particular,” he said.
ITRealms gathered that Uganda currently has several agencies
that manage data but is working to harmonize these efforts with one data
communication bill that would regulate the use, collection and dissemination of
data.
On the 5G era, Mutabazi said Uganda is working to deploy 3G
within three to six months, and 4G by the end of next year, emphasizing that
the country is already looking forward to take advantage of the benefits of 5G
with regard to connectivity and employment.
“We’re going to open up the band, the spectrum, so that we
bring it into a reality in Africa,” Mutabazi said.
Nenye Dom/GEE
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