Thank your for the invitation to speak today.
Each new generation of technology brings with it opportunities and challenges.
Australians have earned a reputation for being early adopters of each new wave of communication innovations. In the Australian market, our latest figures from 2016–17 show that nine out of 10 of households are connected to the internet. Eight in 10 Australians own a smartphone. Data downloads increased by 43 per cent between the June 16 and June 17 quarters to 3.1 million terabytes.
So clearly, the communications sector is now central to the work, home and social lives of all Australians.
It is also clear that expectations of the sector are only likely to increase.
This symposium is a timely opportunity to reflect on how we can deal with the challenges we collectively face in regulating the fast-moving communications environment.
In Australia, we are already planning for the roll out of 5G services (including the forthcoming auction of the 3.6 GHz band).
The promise that 5G will accelerate a ‘fourth industrial revolution’—already underway through the IoT—and be able to deliver to sectors including health, transport and agriculture, are all contributing to the unprecedented government-wide attention being paid to 5G.
5G will not only offer the capability to accommodate high bandwidth/low latency applications such as lower cost robotics, but also high latency/low bandwidth applications, such as water sensors, and every possibility in between.
And it will facilitate human centred applications and communications as well as machine-to-machine (M2M) applications.
It will also advance machine learning such as AI, which will be critical for such things as automating the management of network traffic and the immense flows of data.
This will also bring new threats and challenges to personal security. Certainly there is an increased risk to cybersecurity, particularly where adequate protections have not been built into underlying software.
And while AI is likely to pose a risk to cybersecurity, and it can also be a possible solution for protecting security of networks and the data and applications used on them.
As the regulator, we need to be careful that we don’t get ahead of the technology by trying to regulate a threat that we can’t really define, let alone understand.
It is important to set the right regulatory landscape to encourage investment in the infrastructure needed to support innovative development of new services, as well as protecting consumers and promoting competition.
Of course, we don’t want to be caught behind the curve, playing catch-up. So, as the regulator we need to be well-informed, as well as flexible enough to address issues in the communications sector as quickly as we can when they present to us. Fast-moving times require fast-moving regulatory responses.
And that means we may not be able to wait for a perfect regulatory framework to be developed but, rather, use the tools we have, perhaps in innovative ways to address problems.
Some of the questions that we have to ask ourselves when considering how to both maximise opportunities for innovation and economic benefits, as well as look after the rights of the consumer, include:
- Will spectrum sharing and infrastructure sharing policies work and be fit for purpose?
- Will security be more complex with a massive increase in connected network infrastructure?
- What are the security implications of a wide array of applications operating over very dense networks?
- When network slicing and AI algorithms offer opportunities to deliver a wide range of service outcomes, such as network quality, speed and access, will there be enough transparency for consumers?
- Do policy and regulatory agencies have sufficient understanding of the technology, the environment and market conditions to create the right policy and regulatory settings? What staff capability and resources do they need?
Exponential shifts in technologies, markets and consumers, are a significant disruptive force for governments, as much as they are for business and individuals. They lead to new expectations and a need for shifts in thinking and approach.
The Australian Government took a step toward planning for the disruptive power of AI when it allocated of $30 million in its recent Federal Budget to fund the development of an AI ‘technology roadmap’ as well as a national AI Ethics Framework. These are designed to ‘help identify opportunities in AI and machine learning for Australia and support the responsible development of these technologies’.
I hope that we can share with you what we learn, to shape a responsible direction for international approaches.
In Australia, we know from our experience dealing with off-shore gambling sites that we cannot act in isolation, particularly when the threats are similar and global. Collaborating with international partners and sharing information is critical when we face the same challenges.
Certainly, our local cyber security is strengthened when a dynamic domestic cyber security industry is reinforced by international partnerships.
This symposium presents a perfect opportunity to share and learn from each other about issues we all face, and the approaches we are taking to address future challenges.
I look forward to the discussions over the coming days and again thank the ITU for the opportunity to address you this morning.
Thank you.