- Natalia Mochu
Intermediate
Event Organizer(s)
Description
This two-day training course is designed to strengthen the capacity of policymakers, regulators and relevant public institutions in the CIS region to address key policy and regulatory challenges related to digital transformation.
The course is based on ITU approaches and tools for digital regulation and digital transformation, including the ICT Regulatory Tracker, the G5 Benchmark, the Digital Readiness Framework, the ITU Digital Regulation Platform, and relevant ITU tools for connectivity, digital infrastructure planning, investment assessment and data-driven connectivity planning.
The training will focus on the transition from traditional ICT regulation to broader, collaborative and evidence-based digital regulation. It will examine how regulatory frameworks, governance mechanisms and policy tools can support inclusive, trusted and sustainable digital transformation.
The course will combine instructor-led presentations, peer learning, country reflection exercises and practical discussions. It will enable participants to assess national strengths, identify regulatory and institutional gaps, and define priority actions for further capacity-building and regulatory reform.
The training will be organized by ITU in collaboration with the Digital Regulatory Academy (DRA) of the Communications, Space and Technology Commission (CST) of Saudi Arabia, as part of ITU-Saudi Arabia Project on Assistance in telecommunication/ICTs to ITU regions. The training will be hosted by the Information Communication Technologies Agency (ICTA) of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
This training will be conducted in English and Russian with interpretation.
Target population
The training is designed for senior government decision-makers, ICT policymakers, senior managers from ICT and telecommunications regulators, and other relevant public authorities involved in digital regulation in the CIS Region:
- Government officials responsible for digital transformation and digital development
- ICT policymakers and regulatory specialists
- Representatives of ICT and telecommunications regulators
- Officials from ministries responsible for communications, innovation, economy or digital development
- Experts and officials working on connectivity, digital infrastructure planning, investment and data-driven connectivity planning
Kindly note this course is restricted to users who meet the following criterial:
Entry requirements
Participants should:
- have professional responsibilities in national ICT/digital policy, regulation or transformation; and
- have sufficient proficiency in English or Russian to participate in the training. Interpretation will be provided.
Cohort size: 40 participants.
Learning objectives
Participants will gain practical policy and regulatory insights into digital transformation, including collaborative and evidence-based regulation, national digital strategy design, regulatory benchmarking, AI preparedness, digital infrastructure planning, investment assessment and data-driven connectivity planning. The course will also help participants understand how ITU tools and benchmark frameworks can support evidence-based regulatory reform, national digital strategy design and the development of country-specific follow-up actions.
Upon completion of this course, participants will be able to:
- Describe the evolution from traditional ICT regulation to broader digital regulation and identify key regulatory challenges arising from digital transformation and the changing digital ecosystem.
- Identify key elements of national digital transformation strategies and explain how ITU approaches and tools, including meaningful connectivity, the Digital Readiness Framework, G5 collaborative regulation and relevant digital policy tools, can support national digital strategy design and implementation.
- Identify key components of collaborative digital governance, including inter-agency coordination, institutional roles, whole-of-government approaches and stakeholder engagement.
- Explain the role of evidence-based regulation, including regulatory impact assessment, public consultations, ex-post review, enforcement and accountability.
- Use ITU benchmark frameworks, including the ICT Regulatory Tracker, the G5 Benchmark and the Digital Readiness Framework, and apply the Actionable Core Toolkit (ACT) self-assessment to reflect on national regulatory maturity, identify gaps and define priority areas for reform.
- Develop a preliminary country-level map of national strengths, regulatory and institutional gaps, priority actions and follow-up capacity-building needs.
- Explain how the ITU AI Preparedness Diagnostics Tool can support the assessment of national preparedness for AI governance and help identify priority areas for capacity development and policy reform.
- Explain how the GEMS (Global Economic Model and Study) Tool can support evidence-based digital infrastructure planning by assessing investment needs, financial viability, economic and social impact, and relevant policy and financing options.
- Apply GEMS through practical exercises to explore digital infrastructure investment and planning scenarios.
- Explain how infrastructure data, broadband mapping and the Connectivity Planning Platform (CPP) can support data-driven and evidence-based connectivity planning, and apply the CPP through practical exercises.
- Define country-specific needs, priority actions and follow-up areas based on the regulatory, digital transformation and infrastructure planning approaches and tools introduced during the training.
Methodology
The training will apply a practical and interactive methodology, combining instructor-led presentations, structured discussions, peer exchange and country-based exercises. Participants will relate the course content to their national contexts, reflect on regulatory and institutional challenges, and identify practical follow-up actions for further capacity-building.
- Instructor-led presentations
- Structured discussions
- Peer exchange among participating countries
- Practical exercises
- Country reflection sessions
- Group work
Assessment and grading
Participants’ performance will be assessed through participation in sessions, the ACT self-assessment and practical exercises, including country-based activities.
- Active participation in sessions: 25%
- Completion of the ACT self-assessment and taking of the online courses: 15%
- Participation in practical group exercises: 25%
- Country exercise: 35%
- Total: 100%
A total score of 70% or higher is required to obtain the certificate of completion.
Certificate of completion
Upon completion, you will receive an ITU Academy certificate confirming that you have met the course requirements and achieved the learning outcomes.
Training details and instructional approach
Day 1: Digital Regulation and National Digital Transformation
09:30-10:00 | Opening and objectives
- Learning outcomes: Participants understand the purpose, structure and expected outputs of the training.
- Activities: Opening remarks; overview of agenda
10:00-10:30 | Session 1: Introduction to digital regulation
- Learning outcomes: Participants understand the evolution from ICT regulation to digital regulation.
- Activities: Presentation; short discussion
10:30-11:30 | Session 2: ITU digital transformation approach and national digital strategy design
- Learning outcomes: Participants identify key elements of national digital transformation strategies and understand how ITU approaches, including meaningful connectivity, digital readiness, G5 regulation and digital policy tools, can support strategy design, implementation and monitoring.
- Activities: Presentation; country examples; discussion
11:30-12:00 | Coffee break
12:00-12:45 | Session 3: Collaborative digital governance
- Learning outcomes: Participants identify inter-agency coordination needs and institutional roles, discuss the opportunities of the whole-of-government approaches and applicability of Digital Readiness Framework.
- Activities: Presentation; guided group discussion. Evaluation based on active participation in the session
12:45-13:30 | Session 4: Evidence-based regulation and regulatory improvement
- Learning outcomes: Participants understand regulatory impact assessment (RIA), public consultations, ex-post review, enforcement and accountability.
- Activities: Presentation; practical examples; discussion. Evaluation based on active participation in the session
13:30-14:30 | Lunch break
14:30-16:00 | Session 5: ITU benchmark frameworks and G1–G5 regulatory maturity pathways
- Learning outcomes: Participants are able to use the ICT Regulatory Tracker, G5 Benchmark and Digital Readiness Framework to reflect on national regulatory maturity, benchmark progress, identify institutional and regulatory gaps, and define priority areas for reform.
- Activities: Presentation; live demonstration; country reflection using ITU benchmarks. Introduction to the Actionable Core Toolkit (ACT) self-assessment. Participants are encouraged to complete the self-assessment before the training. The findings will be used during the session to discuss and identify country-specific priority actions. Evaluation based on active participation in the session and completion of the ACT self-assessment.
16:00-16:30 | Coffee break
16:30-17:30 | Session 6: Mapping the digital journey
- Learning outcomes: Participants identify national strengths, gaps and priority actions. The session will also introduce the new ITU AI Preparedness Diagnostics Tool. This would provide participants with a practical framework to assess their national preparedness for AI governance and identify priority actions for capacity development and policy reform.
- Activities: Country exercise; guided discussion; plenary feedback. Evaluation based on active participation in the session, group discussion and country exercise.
Day 2: Digital Infrastructure Investment and Connectivity Planning
09:30-11:30 | Session 1: GEMS (Global Economic Model and Study) Tool for Digital Infrastructure Planning, Investment and Impact Assessment
- Learning outcomes: Participants understand how the GEMS Tool can support evidence-based digital infrastructure planning by assessing investment needs, financial viability, economic and social impact, and policy or financing options for broadband deployment.
- Activities: Presentation; live demonstration; practical discussion. Evaluation based on the group discussion
11:30-12:00 | Coffee break
12:00-13:00 | Session 1 (continued): GEMS tool hands-on exercise
- Learning outcomes: Participants can apply the GEMS tool in a guided exercise to explore digital infrastructure investment scenarios and interpret the results.
- Activities: Guided hands-on exercise; live demonstration; examples. Evaluation based on participation in the practical group exercise
13:00-14:00 | Lunch break
14:00-15:30 | Session 2: Infrastructure mapping and data-driven connectivity planning: Connectivity Planning Platform (CPP)
- Learning outcomes: Participants understand how infrastructure data, broadband mapping, the Connectivity Planning Platform (CPP) and reporting mechanisms can support evidence-based connectivity planning.
- Activities: Practical demonstration; discussion. Evaluation based on the group discussion
15:30-16:00 | Coffee break
16:00-16:45 | Session 2 (continued): CPP tool hands-on exercise
- Learning outcomes: Participants can use the Connectivity Planning Platform (CPP) in a guided exercise to explore connectivity planning scenarios and interpret the results for their national context.
- Activities: Guided hands-on exercise; interpretation of results; group discussion. Evaluation based on participation in the practical group exercise
16:45-17:30 | Session 3: Discussion and reflections on country needs, priority actions and follow-up areas, based on training received. Summing up and closing of the training
- Learning outcomes: Participants define country needs, priority actions and follow-up areas.
- Activities: Closing reflections; identification of follow-up actions; closing discussion
Instructors
Registration information
Unless specified otherwise, all ITU Academy training courses are open to all interested professionals, irrespective of their race, ethnicity, age, gender, religion, economic status and other diverse backgrounds. We strongly encourage registrations from female participants, and participants from developing countries. This includes least developed countries, small island developing states and landlocked developing countries.
