The grand opening of the 4th Global Standards Symposium (GSS-20), organized by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), took place on February 28, 2022 in Geneva.

The Global Standards Symposium is a high-level discussion and coordination forum open to both ITU members and non-members. The theme of GSS-20 is International Standards for Digital Transformation and Achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.

For the first time in two years, during the pandemic, delegates were able to participate both online and in person.

The opening ceremony was attended by Bilel Jamoussi, Head of the Study Group Division, TSB-ITU, who, with words of gratitude to the conference participants, brought information about the history of the Global Standards Symposium (GSS).

Ms. Nele Leosk, Ambassador-at-Large for Digital Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Estonia, opened the GSS inaugural meeting and spoke about Estonia's success in digital transformation and how Estonia's digital transformation process has progressed over the past 25 years. Nele Leosk's attention was drawn to the impact of the coronavirus infection on digital transformation processes.

Nele Leosk expressed her hope that the measures taken at the Global Standards Symposium (GSS) contribute to sustainable development.

ITU Secretary-General Houlin Zhao delivered a welcome speech to the GSS participants, pointing to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, which by their nature are an ambitious set of targets. Mr. Houlin Zhao pointed out that sustainable development efforts are on the right track. In the solemn part, the ITU Secretary-General wished a successful symposium to the participants of the event.

The keynote speaker was Nizar Ben Neji, Minister of Communication Technology of Tunisia. In his speech, the Minister noted the importance of holding a symposium in an effort to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

The GSS program included the following sessions:

Session 1: Update on collaboration on global standards for sustainable digital transformation to achieve the SDGs.

Session 2: High-level dialogue on unlocking the full potential of digital transformation to achieve the SDGs in line with international standards.

Session 3: Towards People-Centered Cities and Communities: Driving Cross-Sectoral Digital Innovation and Transformation.

Session 4: How to make digital transformation sustainable?

Session 5: Artificial Intelligence for Road Safety.

Session 6: Digital Health Technologies for Equal Access to Health Services.

Session 7: Expanding financial inclusion for all through digital transformation.

Session 8: Adoption of the GSS report and closing.

Representatives of the Regional Commonwealth in the field of communications of the Communications Administrations of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Republic of Armenia, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Russian Federation and the Republic of Uzbekistan took part in the work of the Global Symposium on Standards in a hybrid format.

The RCC Executive Committee was represented by General Director Mukhitdinov Nurudin Nasretdinovich and his deputy Zorya Natalia Evgenievna.

As part of the work of the GSS-20, the first Coordination meeting of RCC delegations at WTSA-20 was held.

The participants of the meeting considered the following items on the agenda:

- on the interaction of RCC CA participants at WTSA-20 through the Telegram instant messaging program,

- on the possibility of promptly appointing coordinators and co-coordinators to promote the RCC OP at WTSA-20, taking into account the hybrid format of work,

- on the preparation by the RCC Executive Committee of the work schedule of the RCC delegation, taking into account the agenda and distribution of documents by committees during the entire period of WTSA work.

On the eve of the opening of WTSA-20, an informal meeting of heads of delegations to WTSA-20 was held, at which candidates for the leadership positions of WTSA-20 and the governing bodies of ITU-T were presented by the Director of the ITU Standardization Bureau Chae Sub Lee.

The work of the RCC delegation at WTSA-20 continues.