Etisalat recently participated in the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) Forum’s special global virtual session. Representing the world's largest annual gathering of the ‘ICT for development’ community, the forum is taking place since June 22, 2020, and will continue till September 10, 2020. It is co-organized by UNDP, UNCTAD, ITU, and UNESCO, in collaboration with all WSIS action line facilitators.

Rayyan Alhashmi, Vice President, Regulatory Affairs, Corporate Strategy and Governance at Etisalat participated in WSIS Forum's virtual session focusing on the preparedness and resilience of the UAE for pandemics with its advanced telecom network and infrastructure which is fully-equipped to serve the 'new normal' such that businesses and individuals are able to continue working and studying from home in the post-pandemic process.

The forum focused on strengthening digital transformation and global partnerships with WSIS action lines with the aim of achieving sustainable development goals.

During the global event, multi-stakeholders come together, share their ideas and practices, and develop public/private partnerships to facilitate sustainable development goals. It also provides structured opportunities for stakeholders to connect, learn and participate in various discussions and consultations on efforts implemented by the WSIS. Notably, two special sessions take place concentrating on the initiatives taken by the UAE through various eGovernment projects by concerned government entities in the country as well as its readiness in dealing with pandemics.

Speaking at the session, Alhashmi spoke about the UAE and its telecom infrastructure's readiness towards facilitating a ‘New Normal’ in the post-pandemic process with one of the most advanced networks in the world. He added that UAE leadership has shown resilience and preparedness in countering the Coronavirus pandemic and Etisalat assisted the government's efforts throughout the process by providing necessary solutions and services.

"During the pandemic, the UAE government’s leadership and vision showcased the country’s resilience and readiness in dealing with this global crisis. Etisalat supported the government by enabling solutions and services that allowed consumers and businesses to study and work from home in the most efficient manner. This was made possible due to our continuous focus on innovation as part of the strategy ‘Driving the digital future to empower societies’ embedded within our DNA manifested across the business," Alhashmi said.

Amid the pandemic crisis, Etisalat focused on supporting the entire community in the country through its network and services such that business activities and learning process could effectively continue without any hindrance. Significantly, Etisalat’s network recorded a potential increase in traffic of more than 300 percent in communication and collaboration solutions during May-Feb 2020. Traffic on Internet gaming also touched 500 percent during the period. With the community widely working and studying from home in the wake of pandemic restrictions, nationwide video streaming and social media usage also witnessed a major surge in traffic of more than 90 percent.

At the same time, Etisalat worked closely with the Ministry of Education to provide free mobile data to students and zero-rate access to educational URLs such that the learning process continues without any disturbances. Madrasa platform on eLife and various remote learning apps were also given free access to the services.

For the enhancement of the healthcare sector, telemedicine platform was made available for hospitals and clinics such that remote healthcare services were easily accessible for the community. To foster disease containment, IoT/AI platforms were used which included advanced solutions like AI video analytics such as thermal cameras and wearable IoT solutions to boost the efforts of the healthcare sector in containing the pandemic.

WAM