The first, he noted, was a loss of trust in global supply chains, which could inevitably lead to market fragmentation.

Today, Richard said the industry enjoys unparalleled economies of scale, underpinned by globally harmonised standards, 3G, 4G and 5G networks, as well as global competition all levels from chipsets and devices to infrastructure and service provision. That environment, however, could change.

“We are facing market fragmentation. Restricting market access to key components and products will reduce the addressable market size to everyone, decrease competition and increase costs,” he said. “At the same time, those market restrictions will lead to different solutions being applied in different markets, therefore leading to technical fragmentation and threatening globally interoperable standardised solutions we have today.”

Richard also highlighted privacy and personal data, cautioning that the dominate internet model of the last 20 years “has brought a fear of exploitation and manipulation by big businesses and governments”.

He noted “lack of trust can act as a barrier to growth in economies that are increasingly data driven,” adding “different issues are arising on privacy guarantees and legal interceptions for securities, as well as protection for customers against cyber-attacks.”

Finally, Richard said a loss of trust in businesses ability to deliver across all works of society was a major challenge, and called on corporations across the world to change their approach from a pure revenue driven mindset.