Global Tech TrendsTop 10 trend news August 2021

South Africa’s privacy law comes fully into effect

First enacted in 2013, South Africa’s Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) came into full effect on 1 July 2021. However, even with this final step full enforcement of the POPIA will still require some extra time.

Japan prepares for

flying taxis

Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLITT) is working on draft safety standards and other rules related to putting flying cars into commercial use. The ministry plans to establish standards on required performance and safety, as well as a licensing system, by the end of 2023.

Vietnam tightens rules on

advertising on foreign

social media platforms

The Vietnamese government adopted on 20 July 2021 a new decree regulating digital advertising activities. The decree tightens control over the sale of advertising in Vietnam by foreign platforms such as Google and Facebook.

Korea prepares for

6G

Korea’s Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) announced the country’s 6G implementation plan until 2025, which will encompass US$191m in government R&D investment until 2025.

China breaks Tencent’s monopoly

over online music

streaming

China’s State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) ordered on 24 July 2021 the Chinese tech giant Tencent to end its exclusive music licensing deals with record labels around the world.

Wholesale-only FTTH networks

on the rise in South America

Brazil, Chile and Colombia recently announced fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) network initiatives, involving significant investment and corporate restructurings, including among others by telecommunications group Telefonica.

Digital euro project moves

forward

The Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB) announced the launch of the investigation phase of the digital euro project. Lasting 24 months, the investigation phase will examine the use cases that a digital euro should accommodate as a matter of priority to ensure a low-risk, accessible, and efficient form of digital central bank money.

Middle East operators join

forces in support of open RAN

Five telecommunications groups, including Etisalat, Saudi Telecom Company (STC), Zain Group, Mobily, and du (the Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company, EITC), signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to implement open radio access network (open RAN) solutions in their respective mobile networks.

US$18bn plan to build more data centres

in Saudi Arabia

The Saudi Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) has launched an US$18bn plan to build a network of large-scale data centres across the country.

More Innovation

Zones in the US

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is considering establishing two new Innovation Zones (IZs) and to increase the coverage of an existing one. IZs support research on new advanced technologies, such as open radio access networks (open RAN) and 5G outside a traditional laboratory setting. The first two IZs were established by the FCC in 2019.

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