 Welcome to ITU telecom world 2018 here in Durban, South Africa where I've got the great pleasure of being joined in the studio today. I'm Patrick Nureshema who is the director general of RURA in Rwanda, the regulatory authority there. Patrick, welcome to the studio. It's a pleasure to be here. Now I'd like to start off by asking you a little bit about smart digital development. What does smart digital development mean to you and what does it mean to Rwanda? Smart digital development to me and to Rwanda is one that solves the problems about owning a citizen. What technology comes to bear and helps improve people's lives, people at the very grassroots level. Not just people who are living in cities, not just the hubs but really everyone all inclusive and solving the real problems of the people. And what single innovation do you think is going to be the most transformative? I think that the biggest drive right now that is most transformative is artificial intelligence driven by the explosion of data. Today there is data on almost everything and everywhere which creates opportunities for machine learning and helping to improve what artificial intelligence can do. So I think it's probably the biggest transformative technology today in my opinion. Now RURA has a responsibility for regulating a whole load of different range of public utilities. What advantages does this cross sectoral approach bring? The cross sector approach I think brings a lot of efficiencies, primarily because there are synergies between different sectors. And today technology is the unifier. So if you're talking of for example public transport, we're talking of smart transport. So that is transport driven by information communication technology. If you're talking of energy, you're talking of smart energy. And so technology becomes a unifier and having a single cross sector regulator brings all that together, builds synergies and ensures that you have development that cuts across sectors and not just one single sector developing as a silo. Let's talk about universal communication coverage. What efforts is RUanda making in terms of providing that and bridging the digital divide? RUanda has been pushing for universal coverage for the last several years. In fact as we speak today, we have more than 95 percent coverage of 4G in RUanda, the largest coverage on the continent. And we continue to drive forward. We're now preparing for 5G. And so as a country, we have been working both to ensure that there is universal coverage but also universal access, which now goes into the socioeconomics and affordability of devices and the service. But we've made a lot of headway in terms of access, in terms of affordability and we're on our way to universal service. Now you've not come alone. RUanda has several SMEs here at the exhibition. I wanted to ask you how are you fostering innovation here? How are you encouraging technology and digital entrepreneurship? Three things really. One is focusing on the young people, because then you're investing into the future. Secondly is to create conditions, both policy and regulatory conditions that encourage and foster innovation, to make sure that there are no hurdles in terms of the regulatory environment for people who are trying to innovate and go with the latest technologies. As a regulator, for example, we have advisory services. We don't just regulate and license telcos but also have advisory services for young people who are trying to do startups and build innovative solutions. So as a country, we're all focused on to building the young people today to make sure that RUanda can be the forefront in the future. And you've got some great projects going there. You've got drones delivering medicines to hospitals. You've got all sorts of different innovative technologies that are happening in RUanda. So obviously you're doing something right there. I think RUanda, we were fortunate that in some respects, we're a startup country. From 1994, really, we've been a completely different path than before then. We've had the benefit of having a president who is so passionate about technology, who provides the leadership in RUanda, across the continent. And so we, I think, a very good place for anybody out there who wants to try technology, come to RUanda. And that's how we got into the drones, because everybody was afraid to, you know, to put them to commercial use. And then we said, why not? So that's how we got into the drones. And this applies to all technologies of the country open. And anybody out there who would like to try a new innovative technology, please come to RUanda. That's great. Finally, I'd like to ask you about the value of being here at ITU Telecom World. You're no stranger to ITU events. And I know you've been a regular attendee, in attendance here regularly. I just wanted to find out what's, what does it mean to you? And what, how does it pay in terms of investment for you to be here? Great value, great value. The only downside is that I'm being overworked. It's a great networking platform, you know, from the private sector to government, ministers, regulators. So I think for me, the biggest value, really, is that a working great sessions happening here, great conversations happening here. So I always look forward to the ITU Telecom every year. And I look forward to even the future ones. Patrion, we look forward to catching up with you again in the future. And thanks so much for being with us again today. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. Great pleasure indeed. Great stuff.