The mission team — comprising Task Team Leader Ms. Anna Metz (Senior Digital Development Specialist), Co-Task Team Leader Ms. Minita Mary Varghese (Digital Development Specialist), and former Task Team Leader Mr. Jerome Bezzina, met with the Communications Authority of Maldives (CAM) today.

Representing CAM were Mr. Ilyas Ahmed (Chief Executive), Ms. Zulaikha Ibrahim (Deputy Director General), and Ms. Fathimath Samha, Consultant for the Component on behalf of D’MADD project. Representing the D'MADD Project Management Unit (PMU) were Dr. Ibrahim Waheed (Project Manager), Mr. Ahmed Haleem (Communications Specialist), and Ms. Fathmath Shafa Hussain (Project Officer).

The meeting opened with an introduction of the new Co-Task Team Leader, Ms. Minita Mary Varghese, followed by updates on Component One. Dr. Ibrahim Waheed provided a status update on the ongoing procurement of quality monitoring equipment, which has entered its second round of procurement. He also noted that the Terms of Reference for a home broadband quality monitoring application were being finalised.

The teams discussed observations from the procurement process, noting that responses to the bids had been limited. The CAM team suggested that this may have been due to overly complex requirements and the difficulty posed to foreign vendors by the requirement for physical document submission.

Local capacity building around Quality of Service was also discussed. Participants emphasised the importance of establishing recognised certification programmes covering the sector from CAM through to internet service providers (ISPs). The meeting concluded positively, with the World Bank team agreeing to explore how the project could support capacity-building initiatives within the remaining implementation period.