As we prepare to close the year of 2020, a year that has been full of global challenges matched with global solutions, the need for universal connectivity has never been more apparent. From opening the online classroom to providing virtual healthcare services, broadband has proven to be the hidden hero of the COVID-19 pandemic. Closing the digital divide is of the utmost importance to build back a sustainable and inclusive world.
Nearly half the global population aged 10 years and over – equating to some three billion people – has never used the Internet. Many of the unconnected live in rural and remote areas, where connectivity remains a challenge. A disproportionate number are women, particularly in Africa and South Asia, where the digital gender divide is particularly marked. And of course, most are poor, lack basic literacy and, with only limited digital exposure, see little value in getting online.
With just ten years remaining to meet the SDGs, this timely new report asks: What will it take to connect the world? How much investment is needed, where are the global ‘pain points’, and how can we mobilize the unprecedented levels of financing needed to extend networks to unserved communities?
Digital applications now permeate all aspects of the economy and society, enabling us to access government services, make mobile payments, play games, listen to music, watch movies, travel more efficiently, and so on. With digital transformation affecting every aspect of our lives, this also poses new challenges for regulatory structures that have traditional been organized on a sectoral or domain basis. The ITU World Bank Digital Regulation Platform and Handbook aims to provide practical guidance and best practice for policy makers and regulators across the globe concerned with harnessing the benefits of the digital economy and society for their citizens and firms.
The Digital Regulation Platform provides an update and revised version of the ICT Regulation Toolkit. The 2020 Digital Regulation Handbook, originally published as the Telecommunication Regulation Handbook, and now updated to mark the 20th anniversary of the publication and provides more detailed guidance and case studies of best practice in regulation of the digital economy.
Thematic areas include:
Please visit the Digital Regulation Online Platform for more regulatory analysis and approaches!
Broadband Commission member Nokia continues its commitment to reaching universal connectivity. This year they have published an e-book entitled, How do we create inclusivity in a digital future?: Building a better world with broadband technologies. The book defines the digital divide, bringing light to the considerable impact broadband can have in developing communities and suggests solutions through alternative technologies and policy reform.
The ITU’s World Telecommunication Development Conference, known as WTDC, sets the strategies and objectives for the global digital development agenda. Held every four years, it represents a unique opportunity for the international community to gather and discuss the future of the tech sector and its contribution to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. The next WTDC will be held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from 8 to 19 November 2021. Hosted by the Government of Ethiopia, WTDC-21 will be preceded by a Youth Summit.
On 9 November, a special virtual session, hosted by ITU, formally launched the WTDC-21 countdown and the Road to Addis series and introduced the role of WTDC in helping to advance connectivity for all. The session presented today’s global digital development challenges and opportunities and proposed solutions for discussions at WTDC.
The Road to Addis is building momentum towards WTDC, strengthens partnerships and engagement and helps to shape with key stakeholders the WTDC agenda. The events focus on specific issues relevant to digital development and feature the participation of key stakeholders.
Published by the Web Foundation, the Women’s Rights Online report — Closing the digital gender gap for a more equal world — illustrates barriers that prevent women from accessing and using the internet, as well as the challenges limiting their experience online. It calls for governments and companies to embrace policies that can bridge this divide and help make the internet a driving force for equality.
We are excited to highlight the work of the Working Group on AI & Health as an example of “best practices” for Working Group communications and continued outreach. We hope that this example can provide both inspiration as well as a template for organization of future communications.
Since its publication this September, we have seen active promotion from Working Group Members as well as links to related events!
The very nature of the Internet – a layered architecture, a common protocol, a global routing system, and an architecture that supports innovation – has proven its importance. The Internet has become a lifeline for those that have it, and it no longer is an option. the Internet Society has been deploying efforts over the years to grow the Internet and make it stronger.
The new pandemic, COVID-19 has been spreading all around the world, causing a huge impact on economic and social crisis. While the world is still fighting against the COVID-19 over the past few months, find out why South Korea has been touted as one of the most successful countries in responding to COVID-19.
A lot has happened since the launch of the Microsoft Airband Initiative in 2017. This case study highlights important progress and lessons learned, including in facing a pandemic. These experiences have reinforced Microsoft’s belief that the rural broadband gap can be eliminated by 2022.
The government of Japan has promoted various strategic plans for broadband deployment since 2000. As a result, as of March 2019, the coverage of high-speed fixed broadband capable of delivering at least 30 Mbps download had reached 99.5%, and wireless broadband had reached 99.9%. This was achieved by developing a competitive environment in the telecommunications business field with the private sector’s investment as the main principle. In addition, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, in partnership with local governments, has supported broadband deployment in disadvantaged areas in order to bridge the digital divide. Japan believes that these achievements could contribute towards progress for No.1 and No. 3 of the Broadband Commission’s 2025 targets.
AI platform in São Paulo, Brazil helps diagnose COVID-19 patients faster. See how the Novartis Foundation is partnering with the local government and University Hospital of São Paulo to help develop a national ecosystem for innovation, data science and AI in health.
The ORANGE strategic plan called Engage 2025 renews its environmental and societal commitments and formulates ambitious engagements (1) to fight global warming by achieving carbon neutrality in 2040 – 10 years before the mobile industry commitment through GSMA – and (2) to reduce the digital divide by expanding network coverage, providing inclusive offers and affordable smartphones, offering training and coaching.
The availability of advanced digital communication infrastructure and advanced digital services is integral to preparedness for embracing a sustainable future. Likewise, building a sustainable 5G ecosystem, in which Telecom Operators have a significant role to play, is critical for driving digital transformation in any given economy, and for meeting national socio-economic transformation objectives. See how the SAMENA Council is approaching the implementation of broadband and 5G in this region.
The SMART Broadband 2025 Strategy led by the republic of Senegal is an ambitious initiative to deliver increased affordability and access to broadband connectivity by 2025 to Africa that will unleash opportunities of emerging digital economy and position Africa as a player in the 4th Industrial Revolution. It achieves this by enhancing broadband interconnectivity in Africa, breaking cross border barriers and being a foundational building block to realize a Single Digital Market by 2030. This case study details this strategy’s initiatives in addition to their COVID19 Response
It is now irrefutable that access to the internet is an essential public service. While most vulnerable countries have made progress towards increasing access to ICTs, particularly mobile service, the majority have no access to the Internet. The gap in Internet usage between more developed countries and the vulnerable countries is very stark. Most people in vulnerable countries, especially LDCs, do not fully benefit from the rapid expansion of digital technology and the opportunities it offers. This study explores barriers and solutions to closing the digital divide.
The Equals in Tech Awards are given every year to organizations and individuals working to help girls and women gain equal internet access, digital skills and opportunities in the tech industry.
Congratulations to all of the winners and finalists of the 2020 Equals in Tech Awards!
Tue, Nov 24, 2020 9:00 AM – 10:00 AM EST
Ask UNICEF Fund: Child Online Safety Register Now!
The Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development’s 2020 State of Broadband report, released at the Commission’s 10th anniversary meeting earlier today, includes a rallying call to world leaders and heads of industry to place universal broadband connectivity at the very forefront of global recovery and sustainable development efforts.The State of Broadband 2020: Tackling Digital Inequalities, A Decade for Action, highlights stark disparities in access to high-speed connectivity that have prevented billions of adults and children from benefiting from remote working, learning and communication. The report also takes stock of progress made in expanding access to and adoption of broadband infrastructure and services, and achieving the Commission’s seven 2025 advocacy targets.
The Commission Manifesto calls on the global community to recognize digital connectivity as the foundational element of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The Manifesto affirms the commitment of the Broadband Commission to mobilize efforts to achieve the ‘Global Goal of Universal Connectivity’ in support of the UN Secretary-General’s Roadmap for Digital Cooperation and other connectivity initiatives.
Finally, it calls on all stakeholders to collaborate to:
The @UNBBCom Manifesto calls for collaboration in the #broadband community. “We, the members of @UNBBCom reaffirm our commitment to help achieve #UniversalConnectivity as a fundamental element of an inclusive and sustainable world” #digitalcooperation ➡ bit.ly/BBManifesto2020
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This week is the online edition of Mobile Learning Week 2020 hosted by UNESCO and co-hosted by ITU. This year’s theme is Beyond Disruption: Technology Enabled Learning Futures. Mobile Learning Week 2020 is set against the backdrop of COVID-19 education disruption and response and will shine a light on prospects for technology-enabled futures of learning.
The program began on October 12th with high-level representatives of UN agencies, ministers, and experts sharing knowledge about ‘What worked?’ with regard to distance learning policies and specific policy advice on the way ahead. Broadband Commission Executive Director Doreen Bogdan-Martin delivered the opening remarks highlighting that, “at ITU, the critical importance of skilling present and future generations is driving an increased emphasis on digital skills development and capacity building” adding that “because school connectivity has never mattered as much as it does now, building on the work of the Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development Working Group on School Connectivity, which we were pleased to chair with UNICEF, and UNESCO, ITU has also added a bold new initiative to our digital skills portfolio. The Giga partnership between ITU, UNICEF and others has the ambitious goal of connecting every school on the planet to the internet, and every young person to information, opportunity and choice.”
The programming continues on October 13th, as the focus shifts to innovative technology solutions with featured solutions from event sponsors and members of the Global Education Coalition. Finally, Day 3, October 14th, is an opportunity to take stock of what still needs to be learned and explore how education systems can emerge from the crisis stronger and more resilient to future disruptions.
To join the rest of Mobile Learning Week click here!
On 2 October 2020, the High-Level Security Council Arria Formula Meeting entitled, “Access to education in conflict and post conflict contexts: Role of digital technology and connectivity” took place as part of the 75th UN General Assembly. With participation of Executive Director Doreen Bogdan Martin, and Commissioners Henrietta Fore and Paula Ingabire, speakers shared lessons learned and best practices in relation to expanding connectivity to children in conflict, post-conflict and post-disaster situations; and discussed how the Security Council and the UN System can support the implementation of resolutions aimed at expanding access to education to children in conflict and post conflict situations and affected by other major shocks.
To watch the complete meeting video click here.
This timely new report is a carefully curated collection of the best strategies to strengthen the capacities and skills needed to help everyone benefit fully from digital transformation, no matter where they live and no matter what their level of digital skill development.
Click here to access the ITU Digital Skills Insight Report 2020 page or here for direct PDF download.
For more information, please also see
On 30 September 2020, the Child Online Safety Webinar hosted in Brazil and moderated by famous Brazilian TV reporter, Sandra Annenberg was broadcasted live on YouTube and Facebook. This event included the participation of ITU Regional Director Bruno Ramos, UNESCO Brazil Representative, Marlova Noleto, Childhood Brazil President, Roberta Rivellino and Queen Silvia of Sweden.
Queen Silvia took the “stage” focusing on the importance of protecting our children and teenagers online and the difficulty of speaking about sexual abuse, stating that the abuse suffered by our children is real, not virtual or imaginary.
Followed by ITU Regional Director Bruno Ramos, who in his opening speech, explained in detail the origins and work of the Broadband Commission, highlighting the objective of defending empowering regulatory environments in ICTs, capacity building in ICTs and online safety, especially for children. Quoting the BDT Director, Ramos reiterated,
“What this data shows us is that there is a clear and urgent global need to work together to ensure that connectivity embellishes our children’s experience of the world, rather than impairs it.”
After opening statements, speakers debated the issue of education and the importance of teaching children and teenagers to protect themselves online, and adults to better understand what online safety entails to guide the children around them was mentioned several times. With Director Ramos highlighting the role of industry taking on responsibility by creating safe products from the design stage.
The Broadband Commission’s Working Group on Child Online Safety was launched in September 2018, it has since published a report to help guide a coordinated and global approach to combating the harms and risks associated with internet usage and children. The team continues to make sure the report is available across all UN languages, and is officially available in English, Spanish, Portuguese and Arabic.
To read the report click here
The UN Broadband Commission Working Group on Freedom of Expression and Addressing Disinformation, co-chaired by UNESCO & Dr. Hessa Al Jaber was launched April 2019 to provide insights that stimulate creativity and innovation in tackling problems in broadband use while reinforcing freedom of expression and sustainable development, as well as help set agendas for future research. In addition to providing useful resources for stakeholders.
On 29 September 2020 UNESCO hosted a webinar to discuss the impacts of online disinformation on universal access to information, and join with UN Broadband Commissioners Dr. Hessa Al Jaber and Piotr Dmochowski-Lipski, authors and experts to highlight key findings and practical uses of the new Broadband Commission Working Group report.
To watch the full meeting click here – https://youtu.be/Po5xodEgfT0
Azerbaijan: A glimpse into the experience of Azerbaijan in broadband internet development, past achievements, current work and future plans.
Carlos Slim Foundation: An overview of the Carlos Slim Foundation’s response to COVID-19 including, digital education initiatives, employee trainings and emergency healthcare responses.
Digicel: How Digicel has developed experience in providing immediate assistance and support for Governments and providing sustainable aid, support and care for the citizens of countries experiencing natural disasters.
Ericsson: Addressing the key socio-economic challenges the world faces in reaching universal connectivity; identifying barriers, proposed solutions and an Australian case study.
Facebook: A look at Facebook’s commitment to advancing connectivity through its mission to give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together.
GSMA: GSMA’s role in supporting and amplifying the vital work of the technology sector and contribution to the Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development 2025 Targets like gender equality in access to broadband, expanding digital financial services and providing youth with digital skills.
Huawei: A brief overview of the State of Broadband and how the COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated how full-fiber and 4G/5G networks, will be the indispensable cornerstone for propelling the digital economy forward.
Infocomm Media Development Authority of Singapore: An explanation of the oversight and coordination of Singapore’s digitalization push and examination of how Singapore’s COVID-19 initiatives align with the three pillars of the Commission’s Agenda for Action.
Intelsat: The Role of Geostationary Satellite Networks in Meeting the Rural Connectivity Challenge. An argument for integrating satellite backhaul into strategies to deploy mobile and Wi-Fi networks into rural and remote communities to close the digital divide.
“The last 75 years have brought fundamental changes in the human condition. The global community has achieved a level of prosperity unimaginable a mere two generations ago. Global poverty has declined substantially, particularly since the dawn of the twenty-first century, and people everywhere are living longer and healthier lives. Democratic institutions have been strengthened around the world and become more efficient at delivering effective public services. The concept of universal human rights has evolved from an aspiration to the guiding principle of most societies and governments. “
Building on the last 75 years and looking forward to how we will shape the next 75, the Report of the UN Economic Network for the UN 75th Anniversary: Shaping the Trends of Our Time, has four key recommendations for effective policymaking to steer megatrends – like climate change, environmental degradation and aging populations – in the right direction. 2. Interventions with regressive effects in another area should be avoided.
The Annual Meeting brings together Broadband Commissioners – leaders across ICTs sectors to discuss the newly released State of Broadband Report 2020 (#SoBB2020): “Tackling Digital Inequalities: A Decade For Action” and to devise a plan to deliver on the 2030 Agenda. In this milestone report Commissioners confront the realities of the year as the world faces a pandemic disrupting Global and local economies, healthcare and education systems. Working Group Chairs will present publications bringing to the forefront the crucial role that broadband plays in connecting the world and keeping societies safe, strong and healthy. Together we will continue our work towards universal connectivity, making sure to leave no one behind.
In the wake of the global health pandemic, and with less than ten years remaining to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, now is the time to make digital the fundamental foundation of our shared Global Goals. Digital has emerged as the hidden hero of this unprecedented global crisis – for those who have access. The crisis and its widespread serious socio-economic impacts have underscored the urgency of concrete and coordinated actions across sectors and geographies.
The Commission passionately believes that achieving universal digital connectivity will be essential for achieving the 17 SDGs and making good on our pledge to Leave No-one Behind.
Stay tuned for more information on the 2020 Broadband Commission Manifesto
The report of the Working Group for AI & Health, entitled “Reimagining Global Health through Artificial Intelligence: The Roadmap to AI Maturity” holds that while low- and middle income countries may have the most to gain from the radical potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to transform health systems, they may also have the most to lose.
The report of the Working Group on School Connectivity, entitled “The Digital Transformation of Education” identifies a set of core principles, which aim to help governments and other interested stakeholders to develop more holistic school connectivity plans. It focuses on school connectivity and introduces a methodology and framework for connecting primary and secondary schools to the Internet based on a four pillars approach: map, connect, finance and empower.
The report of the Working Group on Freedom of Expression and Addressing Disinformation on the Internet, entitled Balancing Act: Responding to Disinformation and Defending Freedom of Expression” focuses on how States, companies, institutions and organisations around the world are responding to the disinformation phenomenon, broadly conceived. The work includes a novel typology, making holistic sense of the disinformation crisis on an international scale, including during COVID-19. It also provides a tool to assess disinformation responses, including their impact on freedom of expression.
This year’s State of Broadband Report reflects the realities of 2020 as the world has confronted a global pandemic that has disrupted Global and local economies, healthcare systems, education and most pertinently brought to the forefront the crucial role that broadband plays in connecting the world and keeping societies strong and healthy.
“As the Broadband Commission reaches its ten-year milestone and recognizing that only a decade remains for the global community to reach the SDGs, the 2020 State of Broadband report provides an important venue to reflect on progress made in directing broadband internet deployment for social development and economic growth across the world. And the challenge of this unprecedented global pandemic has demonstrated the unquestionable centrality of access to connectivity for all in order to effect sustainable development, economic growth, environmental sustainability and social inclusion. COVID-19 also uncovered and highlighted the inequalities among and within countries, and the urgency of accelerating achieving the goal of universal access to broadband connectivity. This serves as an opportunity to re-commit the Broadband Commission and the global community in leveraging information and communications technologies to accelerate interventions for human progress, as exemplified by the considerable beneficial interventions initiated by the Commission’s own members during the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. The achievement of the SDGs will require affordable, ubiquitous and meaningful broadband connectivity with the associated essential competencies and applications.
Within the context of the 10th anniversary celebration of the ITU UNESCO Broadband Commission on Sustainable Development and complementing the State of Broadband 2020 edition, case studies were prepared highlighting initiatives taken by contributing Commissioners to making an impact in two areas: supporting progress towards the achievements of the Commission’s 2025 targets, and in implementing the Commission’s Response to COVID-19 Agenda for Action identifying lessons learned so far for better preparedness.
I am excited to share the newly released report from the ITU/UNESCO Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development Working Group on Digital and AI in Health – co-chaired by the Novartis Foundation and Microsoft.
Titled Reimagining Global Health through Artificial Intelligence: The Roadmap to AI Maturity, our report clearly demonstrates that AI offers the greatest opportunity to transform health systems from being reactive to proactive, predictive, and even preventive. From global pandemics to health worker shortages, the world is facing growing challenges that call for game-changing capabilities that only AI can offer. Yet, although AI is revolutionizing healthcare, it should not replace humans and health workers but rather enhance capabilities. Humans and machines should work together to improve patient outcomes, strengthen health systems, and drive progress toward universal health coverage (UHC).
Low- and middle-income countries that grapple with systemic health challenges (shortage of health workers, dual burden of disease, underserved populations, rapid urbanization, disinformation, etc.) have the most to gain from AI – but they also have the most to lose. For example, the response to the COVID-19 pandemic shows how global health is now data-dependent. However, most countries still need to build these data or make available data interoperable, and governments who do not invest risk widening existing health inequities in their populations.
The Roadmap to AI Maturity is the third report in a series that began in 2017 with a blueprint for how the technology sector, health leaders, and policy-makers could collaborate to digitize health systems. Our 2018 report then outlined recommendations for digital solutions to address noncommunicable diseases. The new report builds on that previous work to offer practical recommendations for how countries can realize mature use of AI in their health systems.
It presents five use cases of how AI is already successfully addressing global and public health priorities, strengthening health systems, and improving outcomes for patients in: population health; R&D; clinical care pathways; patient-facing solutions; and optimization of health operations.
Before assessing whether AI offers solutions tailored to their needs, countries must first identify the health problems they want to address. Only then can they prioritize the six steps needed to reach AI maturity in health: people and workforce; data and technology; governance and regulatory; design and processes; partnerships and stakeholders; and business models.
To fight health challenges, we need to systematically integrate AI-enabled tools into healthcare delivery; without AI, UHC will not be achieved. Policy-makers, donors, private companies, and other stakeholders should work together to foster an AI-enabling environment that enables them to accelerate the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 3 and health for all.
Download The Roadmap to AI Maturity here
This article addresses the serious effect that the COVID19 pandemic has had on global education systems, focusing on how remote learning not only requires access to resilient broadband connectivity but also necessitates technology like computers or alternatives like TV or radio to reach learners.
Highlighted in the article is the joint work of ITU and UNICEF in launching the Giga initiative. The mission of this initiative is to connect every school in the world to the Internet and every student information, opportunity and choice by 2030.
“Digital technologies can dramatically improve the lives of people and communities and deliver on the promise of the United Nations Agenda 2030 to leave no one behind,” says Doreen Bogdan-Martin, Director of ITU’s Telecommunication Development Bureau. “Multi-stakeholder collaboration and partnership will be key to connecting the 3.6 billion people still off-line. We all have to work together and increase our efforts to bring technology to the people, in every area and every walk of life.”
Continue reading here.
Broadband Commission Annual Meeting 18 September
The Annual Meeting brings together Broadband Commissioners – leaders across ICTs sectors to discuss the newly released State of Broadband Report 2020 (#SoBB2020): “Tackling Digital Inequalities: A Decade For Action” and to devise a plan to deliver on the 2030 Agenda. In this milestone report Commissioners confront the realities of the year as the world faces a pandemic disrupting Global and local economies, healthcare and education systems. Working Group Chairs will present publications bringing to the forefront the crucial role that broadband plays in connecting the world and keeping societies safe, strong and healthy. Together we will continue our work towards universal connectivity, making sure to leave no one behind.
United Nations General Assembly 22 September – 2 October
The UN General Assembly, led by its President, has been carrying out its work via novel means to guarantee business continuity and mitigate the spread of the disease.
Year in year out, every September, Member States have met in the General Assembly Hall at Headquarters in New York for the annual session and its highly visible general debate. The modalities of the 75th session will however differ in light of the global health crisis.
WEF Sustainable Development Impact Summit 21—24 September 2020
Taking place in the context of the United Nations General Assembly, the World Economic Forum’s fourth and, for the first time, fully virtual Sustainable Development Impact Summit will convene leaders from government, business, international organizations and civil society along with a diverse group of experts and innovators to initiate, accelerate and scale-up entrepreneurial solutions to tackle climate change and advance sustainable development.
Global Digital Cooperation Event Series 23 September
“Digital Cooperation: Action Today for Future Generations” will be convened by the 75th Anniversary of the United Nations, UNICEF and Generation Unlimited, the International Telecommunications Union, UNDP, and the Office of the Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Digital Cooperation. This high-level virtual event will focus on concrete actions to safeguard the technological era for future generations. It is our global shared responsibility to find a path forward and to build back better digitally.
The Equals in Tech Awards are given every year to organizations and individuals working to help girls and women gain equal internet access, digital skills and opportunities in the tech industry.
Launched in 2010, the Broadband Commission’s relevance and importance to sustainable development has continued into the present. With today’s focus on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Commission has adapted its mandate to reach the 2030 Agenda and “Connect the other half” of the World’s population through Broadband.
Throughout the years, Commissioners have tackled several subjects from health to education to child online safety, and have made recommendations through the Commission’s Flagship report; The State of Broadband.
These recommendations have guided both the public and private sector in implementing policies to improve accessibility, affordability and build broadband infrastructures worldwide.
As we enter the Decade of Action to deliver the SDGs, the Broadband Commission celebrates its 10th Anniversary by asking Commissioners and our community to reflect on what has been achieved so far and the next steps to realize our goals.
The Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development hosted a powerful discussion at the High Level Political Forum Side Event entitled, “Pathways Towards Universal Access to Resilient Connectivity in the LDCs and Landlocked Countries.” Bringing together Commissioners representing the private sector, international organizations and civil society, participants discussed how to “Build Back Better with Broadband” in the current pandemic and beyond.
ITU Secretary-General Houlin Zhao kicked off the session with a call to action requesting that this year’s HLPF place emphasis on the critical need for investment in digital infrastructure, explaining that “COVID has reinforced the urgent need to mobilize governments, operators, equipment manufacturers, investors, and vertical industries, including both large and small companies, to accelerate progress toward bridging the broadband divide.”
ITU Director of Telecommunication Development and Broadband Commission Executive Director, Doreen Bogdan-Martin, echoed Mr Zhao’s thoughts and stated, “We have a once-in-a-lifetime chance to harness the momentum generated by the pandemic to really energize global efforts to get the networks and services in place that could transform our global landscape forever” emphasizing the power of ICTs to reverse the tide of inequality and the urgency for the Broadband Commission to realize its goals.
Panel speakers touched on how the COVID-19 pandemic has thrown an even sharper spotlight on the importance of connectivity for under-served regions, and the need for societal awareness and organizational flexibility to address the digital divide. In addition, speakers agreed that digital skills-based education worldwide will be crucial to the successful implementation of broadband.
SAMENA Telecommunications Council conducted its annual Leaders’ Summit 2020 on July 9th as the world’s first-of-its-kind digital remote-collaboration experience among global and regional industry leaders and decision-makers, spanning multiple geographies and time zones. Global bodies of renown, including specialized ICT development bodies of the United Nations, international financial institutions and inter-governmental economic cooperation organizations were among the most prominent contributors to the event, which was virtually attended by hundreds of participants across the globe. The event also benefited from an exceptional level of representation from the UN Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development, with 15 representatives taking part.
Joining key speakers Houlin Zhao and Doreen Bogdan-Martin, a number of Commissioners spoke on topics including child safety online (the World Childhood Foundation’s Dr Joanna Rubenstein), business resilience and the cloud (Facebook’s Dr Robert Pepper), and global connectivity (GSMA’s Mats Granryd), along with many others. H.M Queen Silvia of Sweden participated as a special VVIP guest, in her role as a globally-recognized children’s rights advocate.
Bocar Ba
We have witnessed during the Leaders’ Summit the sense of urgency around the need to ensure advanced, reliable and resilient network infrastructure to master the current and future crises. Our success between 2020 and 2030 will be influenced by our progress in meaningfully leveraging digital communications technologies, their application, and the advanced digital networks that they run and scale on. The COVID-19 crisis highlights just how the use of ICTs can contribute to better managing and living through crises.
Scott Gegenheimer
Connecting the unconnected is key to enabling better preparedness for the next crisis. To achieve this, we need to move from 2G to 3G to 4G to connect the rest of the world first; 5G alone will not solve our issues.
Prof. Jeffrey Sachs
To reduce inequalities and bridge the digital divide, it is fundamental that we address the gaps first. These can only be addressed through the provision of universal digital access as a public good, requiring massive collaborative public private efforts.
Mats Granryd
The Mobile Industry is vital and has enabled continued social and economic activity throughout the coronavirus pandemic while accelerating digital transformation worldwide.
On July 20, Childhood USA launched a new bold initiative, The Childhood Summer Institute. The virtual Summer Institute is a unique opportunity for a diverse group of American teens (15-19 years-old) to be part of a global movement to safeguard children online and offline. Over a period of five weeks, Institute Scholars will virtually connect with world business leaders from Ericsson, Microsoft and Verizon, UN agencies including ITU, law enforcement bodies, experts from academia, and practitioners from various national and international organizations, to learn about the complex problem of Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse. The Scholars will learn about cutting-edge technologies for child protection online, understand the online risks, and look at strategies to prevent abuse from happening. As part of the curriculum, the Scholars will discuss the findings and recommendations of the Broadband Commission’s report on Child Online Safety. Additionally, emphasis will be on issues raised by the COVID-19 pandemic around inequality and inclusivity. Special thanks go to sponsors Verizon, Bristol Meyers Squibb, the Carlson Companies, Polsinelli, and all guest speakers involved in this interdisciplinary effort designed to help educate youth to become effective advocates for child online safety.
“At a time when across the world, all countries are faced with the pressing dual concerns of health and the state of the economy, the United Nations is emphasising the importance of creating innovative partnerships as a way forward. With healthcare looking to rapid innovation from traditional and non-traditional healthcare players, global players like the UN have made a call to entrepreneurs and innovators to take part in global solutions.
Whilst the UN has a track record of facing scores of humanitarian and regional crises the unique differentiator COVID-19 embodies is the global nature of the pandemic, underscoring the interconnection between countries, governments, the private sector and civil society.”
Image: Amir Dossal, Chairman, Global Partnerships Forum, via Nestle
Reimagining Global Health through Artificial Intelligence: The Roadmap to AI Maturity, the third report from the Broadband Commission Working Group on Digital and AI in Health, will be published this September. The report will present actionable recommendations tailored to individual stakeholder groups – enabling governments, health organizations, civil society, the private sector and others to capture the game-changing capabilities of AI for health.
The Nigerian Communications Commission has published guidelines to help parents anticipate risks and better protect children online.
“The impact of COVID-19 pandemic has brought to bear a shift in the norms, putting more activities, including education of children, online. This has leapfrogged Nigerian children into the future. Online activities have acquired new meaning and become the reality for Nigerian parents and children. Screen time and screen activities are the new normal. Parents are constantly searching for online learning platforms, TV stations are providing more child-based educational content and schools are teaching via Zoom, Google Classroom and YouTube. Cyberspace, the internet and online activities are here to stay. The future has arrived, welcome!!
The fusion of children and the internet has not given birth to new concerns as is widely perceived, it has magnified the critical need for parents and care givers to step up to the new norms of online life for children, thus the need for online parenting. Concerns of safety and privacy have been with us from the beginning of time. What has changed however, is the invisible and borderless nature of these concerns and the magnitude of the consequences when they occur.”
Global Symposium for Regulators 1-3 September
As GSR celebrates its 20th edition, we will be celebrating 20 years of changing regulatory frameworks, presenting an updated 20th anniversary edition of the ICT Regulation Handbook as well as concrete guidance on steps that regulators can take to achieve meaningful connectivity for digital transformation.
GSR-20 will provide you with the opportunity to share experiences and knowledge, collaborate and identify evolving regulatory tools and approaches to bring affordable, safe, secure and trusted connectivity and online access to people everywhere.
World Summit on the Information Society Forum 7-10 September 2020
The World Summit on the Information Society Forum 2020 represents the world’s largest annual gathering of the ‘ICT for development’ community. The WSIS Forum, co-organized by ITU, UNESCO, UNDP and UNCTAD, in close collaboration with all WSIS Action Line Facilitators/Co-Facilitators, is the leading mechanism for coordination of multi-stakeholder implementation activities, information exchange, knowledge creation, the sharing of best practices, and the fostering of public/private partnerships to advance development goals. This year’s forum will provide structured opportunities to network, learn and participate in multi-stakeholder discussions and consultations on WSIS implementation. The agenda and programme of the forum will be built on the basis of submissions received during the WSIS Open Consultation Process.
The 2020 WSIS Forum (WSIS+15) also serves as a platform to track the achievements of WSIS Action Lines, in collaboration with the UN agencies involved, and will present information and analyses of the implementation of WSIS Action Lines since 2005.
UN General Assembly 15-30 September 2020
Stay tuned for details about the 75th Annual UNGA assembly.
Broadband Commission Meeting 18 September 2020
The world is shifting from analog to digital faster than ever before, further exposing us to the vast promise and peril of new technologies. While the digital era has brought society many incredible benefits, we also face many challenges such as growing digital divides, cyber threats, and human rights violations online.
This UNSG’s Roadmap for Digital Cooperation lays out how all stakeholders can play a role in advancing a safer, more equitable digital world, one which will lead to a brighter and more prosperous future for all. Following its launch the Broadband Commission continues its mission to advance the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development through Broadband connectivity and inclusion. The work of the Commission contributes to the Roadmap’s Key Areas through its current Working Group initiatives to: increase access to broadband, e.g. with Working Group on School Connectivity featuring Gigaconnect partnership to connect every school in the world to the Internet; establish tools to minimize the risk of online violence of most vulnerable, e.g. with its Child Online Safety report; and to promote digital health and AI technology that has proven to be essential in this time of global health crises.
The roadmap is currently available in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish.
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) will launch its 2020 Guidelines on Child Online Protection (COP) this Wednesday, 24 June 2020. The guidelines are an updated comprehensive set of concrete recommendations for children, parents and educators, industry and policy-makers on how to contribute to the development of a safe and empowering online environment for children and young people. The COP Guidelines serve as a blueprint that can be adapted to national or local customs and laws.
The new guidelines were re-designed from the ground up to reflect the significant shifts in the digital landscape in which children find themselves, such as the Internet of Things, connected toys, online gaming, robotics, machine learning and artificial intelligence. In addition, this new edition addresses an important lacuna: the situation faced by children with disabilities, for whom the online world offers a particularly crucial lifeline to full and fulfilling social participation. Consideration of the special needs of migrant children and other vulnerable groups has also been included.
The Broadband Commission is proud to announce the participation of its commissioners in this initiative, including Ms. Doreen Bogdan-Martin, Director, ITU Telecommunication Development Bureau who will be speaking during the Press Conference on 23 June 2020. The Broadband Commission Child Safety Working Group formed in September 2018 and published the Child Online Safety Report in four languages in October 2019. In addition, with the participation of Queen Silvia of Sweden, Children & the Digital World: Threats and Opportunities, was included in the launch of the ITU/UNESCO Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development Report on Child Safety Online. We are proud to continue our work in this area and support collaboration to make the internet a safer space for young people.
Key resources:
*Register for the webinar here.
Continue to follow the Broadband Commission’s response to the Coronavirus epidemic through the Agenda for Action page. Here you will find several initiatives started by Broadband Commissioners which help compile and disseminate a repository of tangible actions based on the three pillars of resilient connectivity, affordable access, and safe use of online services for informed and educated societies.
ITU and UNICEF have joined forces in a bid to connect every school to the Internet by 2030. Giga will bring the power of meaningful connectivity to fast track young people’s access to educational resources and opportunities. GIGA will make sure every child is equipped with the digital public goods they need, and empowered to shape the future they want.
GIGA is supporting the immediate response to COVID19, as well as looking at how connectivity can create stronger infrastructures of hope and opportunity in the “time after COVID.”
Critical Software and Content: We’re identifying, strengthening, and scaling proven and new innovations in software, learning systems, and content that support telework, tele-education, tele-health, and financial services –all of which can be deployed at low-cost, scale, and customized to local languages.
Broadband Connectivity: GIGA is developing a comprehensive strategy to: map unserved schools; develop better and/or new financing programs to bring together diverse public and private funding; initiate large-scale procurement and improve transparency in monitoring.
Digital Financial Services: Since GIGA will use public blockchains for monitoring and managing payments, we are able to work with governments and providers to explore how connectivity infrastructure can also lead to extensions of online banking and electronic financial networks, potentially, enhancing the efficiency and accountability of government programs that disseminate payment.
The Broadband Commission Working Group on Digital Health, co-chaired by Ann Aerts (Novartis Foundation) and Paul Mitchell (Corporate Affairs Microsoft), is tasked with identifying countries that have successfully integrated health information systems, ICT infrastructure, and health ICT application, showcasing best practices and tools. Their second report to be published, The Promise of Digital Health, will offer recommendations for how to address NCDs to accelerate universal health coverage in low- and middle-income countries.
High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development 14-16 July 2020
The High-level Political Forum, United Nations central platform for follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals, provides for the full and effective participation of all States Members of the United Nations and States members of specialized agencies.
“The 2030 Agenda is our roadmap and its goals and targets are tools to get there.” – Secretary-General António Guterres
Global Symposium for Regulators 1-3 September
As GSR celebrates its 20th edition, we will be celebrating 20 years of changing regulatory frameworks, presenting an updated 20th anniversary edition of the ICT Regulation Handbook as well as concrete guidance on steps that regulators can take to achieve meaningful connectivity for digital transformation.
GSR-20 will provide you with the opportunity to share experiences and knowledge, collaborate and identify evolving regulatory tools and approaches to bring affordable, safe, secure and trusted connectivity and online access and use to people everywhere.
World Summit on the Information Society Forum 7-10 September 2020
The World Summit on the Information Society Forum 2020 represents the world’s largest annual gathering of the ‘ICT for development’ community. The WSIS Forum, co-organized by ITU, UNESCO, UNDP and UNCTAD, in close collaboration with all WSIS Action Line Facilitators/Co-Facilitators, has proven to be an efficient mechanism for coordination of multi- stakeholder implementation activities, information exchange, creation of knowledge, sharing of best practices and continues to provide assistance in developing multi-stakeholder and public/private partnerships to advance development goals. This Forum will provide structured opportunities to network, learn and participate in multi-stakeholder discussions and consultations on WSIS implementation. The Agenda and Programme of the Forum will be built on the basis of the submissions received during the Open Consultation Process.
Furthermore, the 2020 WSIS Forum (WSIS+15) will provide an opportunity to serve as a platform to track the achievements of WSIS Action Lines in collaboration with the UN Agencies involved and provide information and analyses of the implementation of WSIS Action Lines since 2005.
UN General Assembly 15-30 September 2020
Stay tuned for details about the 75th Annual UNGA assembly.
Deep Impact and The Day After Tomorrow are two well-known disaster-genre movies from the 1990s. When the reality of COVID-19 started to become clear, many remarked: “It feels like I’m living in a movie.” It was ironic: at the very time the virus prevented the world from going to the movies, our daily lives began to resemble a Hollywood potboiler. The rapid escalation of events, the spiraling daily death toll, and the near-global need to self-isolate – all conferred a drama and unreal quality that made many feel like they had woken up in the middle of a misadventure movie.
The screen metaphor is a particularly apt one because for many, home confinement, isolated from all but partners, children and pets, meant that the sole window on the world became a screen. Not the big screen, but the more diminutive screens of phones, tablets and computers. Those of us lucky enough to have a broadband connection are using our screens for work, for entertainment and distraction, and to keep connected to distant friends and loved ones. And while our attention tends to be on the screen itself, what actually connects us – what is ultimately feeding our screens with all that content and interactive capability – is our remarkable, powerful, and until now, perhaps underappreciated, broadband networks.
COVID-19 has demonstrated how vital reliable and fast internet really is. Without getting bogged down in technical jargon, broadband is simply fast internet. Sufficiently fast to download large work files, view graphics-heavy webpages without long delays, play internet-based games, stream audio and video, or interact over video-conference platforms.
5G promises to bring ultra-fast broadband not only to mobile phones, but to billions of other connected devices. 5G broadband will make possible such innovations as smart cities and self-driving cars. Behind every 5G infrastructure – or indeed, any broadband infrastructure – is a mountain of research, standardization and other international agreements, and regulatory work. This is the domain of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the UN specialized agency for digital technologies, based in Geneva, Switzerland.
For 155 years, ITU’s mission has been “to connect the world”. ITU was born back in the days of the telegraph, and while communications technologies have evolved and multiplied, the organization’s basic raison d’être has never changed. Nor is its work anywhere near done. Despite the organization’s instrumental role in helping connect more than half the world to the internet, the reality is that just under half of the world has yet to be connected. Around the world, an estimated 3.6 billion people remain still totally shut out from access to online health, education and government services, online marketplaces, vital web-based information resources, and the ability to connect and exchange with family, friends and colleagues.
There is already widespread recognition that progress towards many of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) could be greatly accelerated through digital solutions. That is why, almost a decade ago, ITU and UNESCO set up the Broadband Commission for Digital Development, in response to the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon’s call to step up efforts to meet UN development goals.
Now renamed as the Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development, to reflect core UN goals, the Commission comprises more than 50 high-level Commissioners from government, international organizations, world-leading businesses, and civil society organizations, who work together to promote broadband connectivity for all. The Commission stresses the importance of developing a clear strategy – beginning with a National Broadband Plan – that focuses holistically on the “4 i’s”: infrastructure, investment, innovation and inclusiveness. As we embark on this final Decade of Action towards the SDGs, one thing is clear: connecting the second half of the world’s population will be less straightforward than hooking up the first, and will require innovative and intelligent interplay between these four elements.
If COVID-19 has shown us anything, it is that we are all connected. Any ‘walls’ we put up are fictitious, easily brought down by a microscopic virus that recognizes no boundaries. Tackling this global health challenge, and the many other challenges that face humanity, will mean embracing this connectedness. No one can do it alone. Enabling everyone to get online and access to life-enhancing and life-saving services will require private and public partnerships and international cooperation, knowledge sharing and support.
When the Broadband Commission was created ten years ago, it launched with the campaign B More with Broadband, highlighting how fast internet could make life safer, more interesting and more meaningful. Now, ten years and billions of connections down the road, the Commission is launching a new campaign – The Right to B – recognizing that broadband and the many benefits it brings is a resource that should be equally available to everyone, regardless of location, income, gender, language or ethnicity.
Addressing the tremendous challenges facing the world right now, UN Secretary-General António Guterres called on society to ‘build back better’ – that is, take this current crisis and use it as an opportunity to create a better, safer and more egalitarian world. Expanding on this theme, we are calling on the world to ‘build back better with broadband.’ COVID-19 has demonstrated that being connected to fast internet and the services and information that it delivers in real time, is no longer a luxury. It is a necessity for everyone, every community and every society. Connectedness ultimately makes us stronger, safer and – if we do it right – better.
We will eventually emerge from COVID-19. Perhaps we will still say, “I feel like I’m in a movie” – but this time, not of the disaster kind. In many a romantic comedy, the protagonist ultimately falls for the love interest who has been there the whole time, unrecognized and underappreciated, until a crisis shines a new light. Perhaps COVID-19 is the crisis that will shake our world up enough to enable us to finally see broadband as more than just an attractive friend, and to recognize it as our indispensable life-partner, enhancing our world, and everything we do. Wouldn’t that be a better ending to this movie we’re currently all starring in? And doesn’t everyone, everywhere, deserve a ‘happily ever after’?
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The Agenda for Action was adopted by over 50 Broadband Commissioners and their organizations to accelerate the collective response around COVID-19. It includes immediate efforts that governments, global industry, civil society, and international organizations can undertake to support the development and strengthening of digital networks that remain so inherent to keeping our economies and societies working. The three pillars of resilient connectivity, affordable access, and safe use of online services provide a framework for all commissioners to mitigate the immediate adverse effects of COVID-19 through new commitments.
In response to the COVID-19 crisis, our Commissioners and their organizations have launched a number of initiatives to provide immediate support to communities worldwide. Listed below are their responses, organized by sectors of society and marked by the pillars of the Agenda for Action that they uphold.
INDUSTRY, PRIVATE SECTOR
ACADEMIA, NGOS, NONPROFITS, CIVIL SOCIETY
UN, IGO, INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS
GOVERNMENT, POLICYMAKERS, REGULATORS
Recent Broadband Commission Activities
The Broadband Commission held its Annual Fall Meeting in conjunction with the United Nations General Assembly on 22nd September in New York, during the 74th session of the UNGA.
Press Release available here:
This year’s event highlighted the importance of leaving no one behind in a fast changing digital world. The agenda included on the top the meaningful universal connectivity, access and use themes also a new financing strategies to drive network expansion in developing markets, and presentations by the Commission’s two current Working Groups, which are both set to release their final reports next month.
Our Commissioner Mr Marcin Cichy, President of UKE in Poland presented the The State of Broadband Report 2019 during the ITU EKIP Regional Regulatory Forum for Europe on “Future Regulation for Inclusive Connectivity”
The World Radiocommunication Conferences are held every 3 to 4 years to review, revise Radio Regulations. Al revisions are made on the basis of a determined agenda by ITU council, taking into account previous recommendations made by WRC.
Hosted in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, from 28 October to 22 November 2019, the event will debate on how to optimize the use of radio frequency spectrum and satellite orbits to improve the lives of millions of people.
New Commissioners
Makhtar Diop is the World Bank’s Vice President for Infrastructure, a position he assumed on July 1st, 2018. The Infrastructure Vice Presidency comprises Energy & Extractives, Transport, Digital Development as well as Infrastructure Finance, Public-Private Partnerships and Guarantees. In this global role, Makhtar Diop leads efforts to develop sustainable solutions and help close the infrastructure gap in developing and emerging economies.
Prior to this appointment, Mr. Diop served for six years as the World Bank’s Vice President for the Africa Region, where he oversaw the delivery of a record-breaking $70 billion to Sub-Saharan Africa to help tackle development challenges such as increasing access to affordable and sustainable energy; boosting women’s and youth’s economic empowerment; and promoting an enabling environment for more innovation and technology adoption. A passionate advocate for Africa’s right to clean and affordable sources of electricity, he also called for greater investment in renewable energy and pushed for greater regional interconnectivity in the power and transport sectors.
Reports & Articles
The State of Broadband 2019was launched at the annual Fall meeting of the Commission in New York, just ahead of the 74th UN General Assembly.
Despite the measured growth in 2018 in Internet users, an estimated 3.7 million people remain unconnected. This year’s report focuses on new approaches and methods to breach the Digital divide.
The notion of ‘meaningful universal connectivity’ used to advocate for new digital strategies encompasses: broadband that is available, accessible, relevant and affordable, but also that is safe, trusted, user-empowering and leads to positive impact. Check the interactive version of the report here.
This year, ahead of the 10th Anniversary celebrations, Commissioners shared their insights in video messages.
The Broadband Commission Working group on Child Safety Online launched its report: Minimizing the Risk of Violence, Abuse and Exploitation Online on October 1st at the United Nations headquarters in New York. H.M. Queen Silvia of Sweden and the Executive Director of UNICEF, Henrietta Fore and The Director of the ITU Development Bureau, Doreen Bogdan-Martin delivered keynote speeches.
The report was developed by the Commission’s Working Group, co-chaired by CEO-Operations of the Zain Group, Scott Gegenheimer, and Joanna Rubinstein, President and CEO of World Childhood Foundation USA; two of the 60 Broadband Commissioners. The report is accompanied by a Child Online Safety Universal Declaration, which we hope will serve as an instrument for growing the army of child protectors.
“We need meaningful connectivity that can help us to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 of which SDG 16.2 calls for ending abuse, exploitation and all forms of violence against children.” Dr. Joanna Rubinstein mentioned in Samena trendespublication highlighting the increasing number of children getting online and the need bring awareness of the risks that come along.Her Majesty Queen Silvia of Sweden says “The complex problem of online violence against children requires a multistakeholder interdisciplinary approach” which puts the Broadband Commission at the heart of the issue to help resolve it.
Under the leadership of the World Bank Group, and combined efforts of other Commissioners, the group “Broadband for All: A Digital infrastructure Moonshot for Africa“. with the objective to achieve universal and affordable access to ICTs for Africa issued its final report during the World Bank Annual Meetings on October 17 at the World Bank headquarters in Washington DC.
Panelists Included Achim Steiner, UNDP Administrator, H.E. Aurélie Adam Soulé, Minister of Digital Economy and Communications of Benin, Makhtar Diop, Vice President of Infrastructure at the World Bank, Doreen Bogdan-Martin, Director of BDT, H.E. Amani Abou-Zeid, Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy at the AUC and Peter Ib, CEO of Bluetown.
The session was moderated by Lerato Mbele, presenter at BBC World News.
The report “Connecting Africa through Broadband: A strategy for doubling connectivity by 2021 and reaching universal access by 2030” was mentioned by Quartz Africa, highlighting the fact that $100 billion will be needed in the next decade to bring Broadband to all Africans by 2020. An estimated 70% of the population has access to mobile internet connectivity. Even though the access is available in all urban areas, there’s an estimated 100 million people in rural areas that remain unconnected, and need to be via a range of alternative means including satellite and wifi.
ITU reveals that in most countries worldwide women are still trailing men in benefiting from the transformational power of digital technologies.
Measuring digital development: Facts and figures 2019 the first publication in ITU’s new Measuring digital development series, estimates that over half the total global female population (52 per cent) is still not using the Internet, compared to 42 per cent of all men.
Upcoming Events
The Brighthood conference will be hosted on November 6 in Stockholm. It is one of the largest conferences in the world that focuses on concrete, innovative and effective solutions to fight child sexual abuse. Bringing together important stakeholders to demonstrate how each sector has a role in ending children’s abuse.
This year’s event focuses on how technologies and SDG’s are drivers in ending the abuse. Our Commissioner Mats Granryd, will be showcasing how SDG’s impact children and their importance moving forward. Dr Joanna Rubinstein will aslo be present to highlight the importance of governments, private sector and civil society in ending sexual abuse of children. Commissioner Rubinstein will also be presenting the Child safety online report and its recommendations.
This year is the 14th edition of the Internet Governance Forum, hosted by the government of Germany in Berlin from 25 to 29 November 2019 under the theme: One World, One Net, One Vision. The primary objective of the forum is to facilitate constructive dialogue between various representatives. Delegates discuss topics such as future opportunities and challenges presented by the internet, as well as analysing how to make full use of the internet’s potential.
Every year, the EQUALS in Tech awards are given to people who are helping girls and women get equal access, skills and opportunities online and in the tech industry. This year’s
From 19 to 23 March 2018, the World Summit on the Information Society Forum (WSIS) 2018 took place in Geneva and attracted more than 2800 stakeholders from 150 different countries. This year, around 250 content rich workshops and open space talks aligned with the WSIS Action Lines and SDGs. In addition, 18 WSIS Prizes winners and 72 WSIS Prizes champions have been announced. High-Level Track Outcomes and Session Summaries are now available on WSIS Forum 2018 website.
During WSIS Forum Week, on Thursday, March 22nd 2018, the Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development presented a special dialog session on “Targets 2025: Connecting the Other Half“. The session, moderated by Ms Phillippa Biggs, Senior Policy Analyst at ITU, included representatives from the public as well as private sectors. Chief of Strategic Planning and Membership Department at ITU Ms Doreen Bogdan Martin, Mr Patrick Nyirishema, Director General of Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Authority (RURA), Mr Paul Mitchell, Senior Director, Technology Policy at Microsoft and Mr Tomas Lamanauskas, Group Director Public Policy at VEON gathered together to discuss the Broadband Commission’s new Targets framework, goals, achievements and future challenges in advancing the understanding of broadband and technology in sustainable development. The session’s summary is available here
UNCTAD’s eCommerce Week 2018 took place in Geneva, Switzerland, from 16 to 20 April 2018 under the theme of “Development Dimension of Digital Platforms”. On this occasion, the Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development organized a special session during which panelists both from the private and public sector addressed the necessity of “Enabling Digital Entrepreneurship through better Connectivity and Digital Skills.” The panel was moderated by ITU’s, Chief of Protocol & Broadband Commission Coordinator Ms Patricia Benoit-Guyot and participants included: Mr. Alex Wong Head, Global Challenge Partnerships & Member of the Executive Committee at WEF; Ms Belinda Exelby, Head of International Relations at GSMA; Mr Sohaib Arshad, Head of Corporate Responsibility, VEON; Mr Daniel Spoiala, Policy Officer, DG Connect, European Commission; Ms Susan Schorr, Head, Digital Inclusion Division (DID), Telecommunication Development Bureau (BDT), International Telecommunication Union (ITU); and Mr Martin Labbé, Senior Officer, Trade Institutional Development, International Trade Centre (ITC). The panelists agreed that better connectivity and digital skills enhancement is a way forward in today’s digital economy. The summary report from the E-Commerce Week 2018 will be available here.
At the forefront of issues discussed at Mobile Learning Week, which took place in Paris on 26 March 2018, were digital skills, digital divide and gender gap. The annual gathering was organized by UNESCO in partnership with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). There are major inequalities in digital skills in both developing and developed countries along a number of lines, especially gender. These need to be tackled by both government and non-state actors by providing programmes and capacity development initiatives for disadvantaged groups, and re-skilling adults at risk for job displacement. In addition, during Mobile Learning Week 2018, ITU along with the International Labour Organization (ILO) launched its Digital Skills Toolkit to support Member States to design national digital skills development strategies for life and work of all citizens in the growing digital economy.
On 27 March 2018, UNESCO released a report on opportunities offered by technologies to address educational needs of refugees during Mobile Learning Week 2018. The report “A lifeline to learning: Leveraging technology to support education for refugees” can be found here.
The very first, special issue of the ITU journal on the impact of artificial intelligenceon communication networks and services was launched last month. The ITU journal publishes original research on telecommunication/ICT technical developments and their policy and regulatory, economic, social and legal dimensions. It is a peer-reviewed, open access, freely available digital publication. The special issue of AI forecasts how it will improve user experience by enhancing the performance and efficiency of communication networks just in time before the 2nd AI for Good Global Summit which will be held at ITU Headquarters in Geneva, 15-17 May 2018.
The International Girls in ICT day was celebrated on 26 April, 2018 at the ITU Headquarters in Geneva. The International Girls in ICT Day is a flagship digital inclusion initiative of ITU and to date, over 300,000 girls and young women have taken part in more than 9,000 celebrations of International Girls in ICT Day in 166 countries worldwide. The main objective is to create a global environment that empowers and encourages girls and young women to consider careers in the growing field of ICTs. The International Girls in ICT day together with Equals Global Partnership aim to bridge the digital gender divide.
The Broadband Commission has welcomed a new commissioner. Mr Peter Cleveland is Vice President of the Law and Policy Group at the Intel Corporation. He is responsible for establishing favorable legal, regulatory, statutory and market rules and policies to enable the company’s global business success. Cleveland joined Intel in 2008 from the office of US Senator Dianne Feinstein (CA) where he served as Chief of Staff. Previously, he worked as an attorney for an international law firm. He received his JD degree from Georgetown University and his BA degree from Columbia University.
MTN Nigeria and Huawei have completed commercial deployment of RuralStar 2.0 on 3 April 2018. RuralStar provides low-cost, long-distance voice and mobile broadband for remote areas in Nigeria, helping to connect the unconnected.
ITU released a number of key reports on 26 March 2018. These reports aim to foster and help expand digital transformation. Among them are: “Digital innovation profiles for Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Serbia.”, “ICT-centric innovation ecosystem country review Republic of Moldova.”, “Good practices for developing, driving and accelerating ICT-centric innovation ecosystems in Europe.”, “Bridging the digital innovation divide: A toolkit for strengthening ICT-centric ecosystems.”
ITU is now accepting entries for the ITU Telecom World Awards 2018, recognizing the most outstanding and innovative initiatives around the globe using ICTs for social good. More on the awards can be found here: https://www.itu.int/en/mediacentre/Pages/2018-PR09.aspx
On 27 March 2018, UK launched government-backed UK5G consortium with a mission to support the development of the UK as a global leader in the development and adoption of 5G technology.
On 3 March 2018 the African Telecommunication Union (ATU) and Huawei jointly released ‘White Paper on Rural Coverage in Africa’ on the sidelines of the Mobile World Congress – in Barcelona, Spain. The white paper appeals to the stakeholders to improve African rural network coverage and gives conductive proposals. It is predicted that providing coverage for 0.4 billion uncovered population will benefit African society and ecosystem a lot.
“EQUALS in Tech: Principles for Quality and Gender-Transformative Digital Skills Training” event took place on 27 March 2017. Co-chaired by Ms Saniye Gülser Corat, UNESCO’s Director for Gender Equality, and Ms Birgit Frank, Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development of Germany, the event aimed at drawing on the rich expertise of participants to inform and discuss the development of upcoming standards and guidance for gender-transformative digital skills training to be published by the EQUALS Skills Coalition.
Nominations are now being accepted for the 2018 Equals in Tech Awards. The awards are open to civil society, government agencies, UN system and international organizations, companies and academia. Anyone who have done exceptional work to bridge the digital gender divide can be nominated.
According to RTR chairman Johannes Gungl, 5G is top priority for both RTR and BEREC and “needs to be understood not only as a new mobile standard, but also a universal platform, allowing increased profitability in various industries, such as media and entertainment, health, automotive, industry and agriculture.” “Study on Implications of 5G Deployment on Future Business Models” commissioned by BEREC and authored by DotEcon Ltd and Axon Partners Group can be found here
On 8 March 2018, the European Commission presented an action plan on financial technology to make use of advances in new technologies such as blockchain, artificial intelligence and cloud services.
On 13 March 2018, the European Commission published a study which provides comprehensive data on 2017 retail prices of mobile broadband offers for consumers in the 28 EU countries, Iceland, Norway, Turkey, Japan, South Korea, and the USA.
On 29 March 2018, the European Union Agency for Network and Information Security, ENISA, has released a research paper which highlights the security flaws of yesteryear are still a threat in the 5G world of tomorrow.
On 14 March 2018, the Electronic Communications Committee has approved a set of recommendations to harmonize the 3.4-3.8 GHz and 26 GHz bands for 5G. More on this: http://telecoms.com/488384/europe-gets-closer-to-5g-spectrum-harmonization
On 27 March 2018, ITC and UEMOA (West African Economic and Monetary Union) launched innovative digital platforms aiming to stimulate competition and regional integration. For Mrs Arancha Gonzalez: “le numérique a un rôle central à jouer pour faciliter la façon dont nous faisons du commerce aujourd’hui. Il permet un commerce inclusif dans le paysage commercial du 21ième siècle où la communication et la connexion sont devenues des outils puissants pour les entreprises notamment en Afrique.”
The European Commission has proposed on 21 of March new rules to ensure that digital business activities are taxed in a fair and growth-friendly way in the EU. The measures would make the EU a global leader in designing tax laws fit for the modern economy and the digital age.
Online privacy anxiety is growing, reveals new global survey released during UNCTAD’s eCommerce Week 2018 and conducted by the Center for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) and IPSOS, in collaboration with UNCTAD and the Internet Society. In a nutshell, the survey highlights growing concerns about both data privacy and online security. In this sense, “[t]he survey underlines the importance of adopting and adapting policies to cope with the evolving digital economy” said Shamika Sirimanne, director of UNCTAD’s technology and logistics division. In spite of that, most internet users having participated in the survey still believe that benefits of new technology outweigh the costs. Also noteworthy are the great divergences recorded in terms of global internet trust and eCommerce behavior (notably for mobile payments) which vary noticeably amongst polled countries. The survey, performed between 29 December 2017 and 5 March 2018, reached a total of 25.262 internet users originating from 24 different countries.
Blockchain technologies are “moving out of the lab and going mainstream”, said European Commission Vice-President Andrus Ansip during his opening speech at the occasion of European Commission’s digital day 2018 held in Brussels. He also encouraged EU countries to work together in order to “make the most of this new opportunity to innovate”. These statements were made in context of Vice-President’s call to EU countries to “commit to Europe’s digital and data- based future – with a focus on artificial intelligence (AI), digital healthcare and blockchain technologies.”
New blog by Nokia reveals that in order to ensure timely deployments of 5G infrastructures and services, policy makers should focus on the following priorities: making more spectrum available; modernizing rules to incentivize and facilitate the deployment of telecom infrastructure; ensuring new business models and services can flourish. 5G trials are ongoing in various parts of the world and commercial deployments are expected to start in 2019, if not earlier. However, policy work to foster digitalization is also needed beyond the telecom sector. “3 priorities to ensure ‘5G ready’ policy frameworks” can be found at: https://www.nokia.com/en_int/blog/3-priorities-ensure-5g-ready-policy-frameworks
The Spring Meeting of the Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development will be held in Kigali, Rwanda, from 6-7 May 2018 under the leadership of Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame, Co-Chair of the Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development and the GSMA Director General, Mr Mats Granryd, the Commissioner. This meeting will take place in parallel with Transform Africa Summit 2018, also organized in Kigali, Rwanda, from 7 to 10 May 2018. The event is an initiative by the Smart Africa where Heads of State and government, companies, NGO’s and academics will have the opportunity to gather and exchange ideas to help drive Africa’s digital transformation.
The Artificial Intelligence for Good Global Summit 2018 will be organized in Geneva, Switzerland, from 15 to 17 May 2018 by ITU in partnership with the XPRIZE Foundation.
GSMA Mobile 360 Series – West Africa will take place in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, from 11 to 12 April 2018. It will be followed, the next month, from 30 to 31 May 2018, by GSMA’s Mobile 360 Series – Privacy & Security, being held in The Hague, Netherlands.
ITU Telecom World 2018 to be hosted by the government of South Africa in Durban, South Africa, from 10 to 13 September 2018.
The fall meeting of the Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development will take place in New- York, United States, from 22 to 23 September 2018.
©ITU
On the 26 February, at Mobile World Congress held in Barcelona, Spain, the Expert Group report was published, “A New Deal: Investing in Our Common Future – Policy Recommendations to Close the Broadband Gap”, presenting recommendations to policy-makers, regulators and international institutions to address digital exclusion. The Expert Group, chaired by Commissioner, Philipp Metzger, Director-General of the Federal Office of Communications (OFCOM), Switzerland, highlights potential actions under the following key themes:
– Providing a healthy investment climate;
– Enabling lower cost supply of infrastructure and effective use of spectrum;
– Making ICT markets work for all; and,
– Liberating demand over the wider digital economy.
“In our increasingly digital world, connectivity is the difference for many people between accessing employment, education, healthcare, e-banking and being left behind,” stated Houlin Zhao, ITU Secretary General and Co-Vice Chair of the Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development. “The important recommendations presented in the Expert Group’s report provide concrete actions that can fast-forward broadband delivery of digital connectivity. In particular, we need to create an enabling policy and regulatory environment that will attract investment in ICTs, especially from the private sector”, he added.
©ITU
In conjunction with the World Economic Forum, the Broadband Commission co-hosted a Special Session attended notably by one of the Chairs of the Commission, H. E. President of Rwanda Paul Kagame, and co-Vice Chair, ITU Secretary-General Houlin Zhao. The session focused on four sectors related to the Broadband Commission’s activities, namely:
– The Gender Digital Divide: How to ensure that the issue of growing gender digital divide is addressed?
– New Financing Solutions for Connectivity: How to increase the efforts put towards connecting the 52% remaining people to the internet?
– Privacy, Safety and Security: How to fight the increasing cyber-crime and cyber-bullying?
– The Fourth Industrial Revolution Divide: How to ensure that Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies don’t create a digital divide?
The report of the session will be available soon on the Broadband Commission website.
“Governments must ensure that the policies they implement contribute to increase inclusiveness and that technologies are used to solve problems rather than amplifying them by leaving certain persons behind”, stated Achim Steiner, UN Development Programme Administrator, during the last World Government Summit from 11-13 February at the Madinat Jumeirah in Dubai.
H.E. Mr. Nikolay Nikiforov, Minister of Telecom and Mass Communications of the Russian Federation, has recently confirmed that Russia’s major mobile operators will stop charging extra fees for national roaming services within the first half of this year.
The European Commission recently adopted a set of new initiatives seeking to improve key competences and digital skills of European citizens as well as to promote common value, inclusion and pupils’ awareness of the functioning of the European Union, including:
– A Council Recommendation on Key Competences for Lifelong Learning;
– A Digital Education Action Plan;
– A Council Recommendation on common values, inclusive education and the European dimension of teaching.
On the same theme, the annual Mobile Learning Week, organized by ITU together with UNESCO will take place from 26 to 30 March 2018, in Paris, France, aiming to improve citizens’ digital skills at global level.
Ericsson & MTN have recently announced at MTN’s headquarters, in South Africa, that they proceeded to the first 5G technology and applications trial in Africa. The trial achieved a throughput of more than 20Gbps with less than 5ms latency, this being the highest having ever been achieved on a social mobile network in Africa.
European Commission launched the “EU Blockchain Observatory and Forum” on 21 February 2018 to seize new opportunities offered by blockchain, build expertise, and show leadership in the field. Major players from traditional sectors, such as banks, insurances, stock exchanges, and logistics, are already on board in pilot projects. The goal is to build on the existing initiatives across borders, solidify expertise, and address the potential challenges created by the new paradigms enabled by blockchain. The European Commission has been supporting blockchain projects through the European Union’s research schemes FP7 and Horizon 2020 since 2013. Up to 2020, it will fund projects that could draw on blockchain technologies for up to €340 million.
Telecommunications and postal services H.E. Mr Siyabonga Cwele, Minister of Telecommunications and Postal Services of South Africa, called for more public WIFI zones during the Gauteng Technology Innovation Conference which took place on 1 February in Johannesburg. South Africa Connect aims to deliver 100% broadband connectivity to government facilities by 2020. It is also expected to deliver broadband access to 90% of the country’s population by 2020 and 100% by 2030.
The Mobile Gender Gap Report 2018 launched by the GSMA in February shows for the first time how big the gender gap is with regard to mobile Internet use among low- and middle-income countries. Moreover, it emphasizes the ongoing gender disparity in mobile ownership as well as the obstacles to ownership and use. The report finds that, on average, women are 10% less likely to own a mobile phone than men, which translates into 184 million fewer women owning mobile phones. In addition, women are, on average, 26% less likely to use mobile internet than men. Even among mobile owners, women are 18% less likely than men to use mobile Internet.
In collaboration with the UN Office of the High Representative for the LDCs, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States (UN-OHRLLS), ITU presented a new report on ICTs, LDCs and the SDGs: Achieving universal and affordable Internet in the least developed countries. The report highlights the opportunities offered by ICTs to address development challenges existing in the world’s most vulnerable countries. In this view, the report analyzes the recent ICT developments achieved by LDCs and underlines progress towards the fulfilment of UN Sustainable Development Goal 9.c (augmentation of access to ICTs). LDCs have made great progress in expanding mobile services and networks and by early 2017, 61 per cent of the population in LDCs was covered by a mobile broadband signal and the price of mobile broadband services continues to fall rapidly.
“Bridging the Rural Digital Divide” report was published in February by the OECD’s Working Party on Communication Infrastructure and Services Policy. It examines recent policy and technology approaches to bridging the digital divide in rural and remote areas in OECD countries. According to the report, despite advances in recent years, gaps between urban and rural areas remain considerable and the chief obstacle to providing service often remains one of higher cost in some geographical areas compared to others.
A telehealth service supported by the Novartis Foundation in Ghana is to be scaled up as part of the country’s national eHealth efforts. The service uses mobile technology to connect community health workers to specialist health professionals via teleconsultation centers staffed around the clock by doctors, nurses and midwives. Dr. Ann Aerts from Novartis Foundation and Dr. Koku Awoonor-Williams of the Ghana Health Service recently co-authored an op-ed, “The Promise of Telemedicine”, about the success of the national telemedicine programme in Ghana.
While having basic mobile connectivity for some developing markets in Asia is still beyond reach, one exception is Myanmar. While the country’s Internet penetration is still relatively low at 34%, the rate of mobile connections is fast approaching 100%. Myanmar’s telecom sector has been booming since opening up to foreign competition in 2013, and recently, its three mobile operators – MPT, Ooredoo Myanmar and Telenor Myanmar – revealed that they had reached a combined 50 million subscribers. More on this in Danial Mausoof’s, Head of Strategic Marketing and Corporate Affairs, Asia Pacific and Japan, Nokia, editorial “Journey to Connect Rural Maynmar.”
Houlin Zhao, ITU Secretary-General, called for recognition of the achievements of women and inspires others to act for gender equality around the world as part of the celebration of International Women’s Day. In his blog post – the Time is Now for Gender Equality in Tech – Mr. Zhao states that “the ITU stands committed to press for gender equality in the field of ICTs and along with infrastructure, investment, innovation and inclusivity is one the four pillars (“4 I’s”) that will help us bridge the digital divide, including the gender digital divide.”
The 62nd session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW)will take place at the United Nations Headquarters in New York from 12 to 23 March 2018, under the theme of: Challenges and opportunities in achieving gender equality and the empowerment of rural women and girls. The Review theme is: Participation in and access of women to the media, and information and communications technologies and their impact on and use as an instrument for the advancement and empowerment of women
The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) will take place from 19-23 March 2018 in Geneva, Switzerland and will be co-organized by ITU, UNESCO, UNDP and UNCTAD. The focus of this will be the following: “Leveraging ICTs to Build Information and Knowledge Societies for Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)”. In this context, the Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development will have the chance to hold a Special Dialogue on Thursday 22nd March to discuss the new “Targets 2025: Connecting the Other Half”, and the potential practical solutions to connect the unconnected.
The Mobile Learning Week will take place in Paris, France, from 26-30 March 2018 under the theme “Skills for a connected world.”
UNCTAD E-Commerce Week will take place in Geneva, Switzerland, from 16 to 20 April 2018 and will place particular emphasis on the Development Dimension of Digital Platforms.
The Spring Meeting of the Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development will be held in Kigali, Rwanda, from 6-7 May 2018 under the leadership of Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame, Co-Chair of the Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development, in conjunction with GSMA. This meeting will be held in conjunction with Transform Africa Summit 2018 will also take place in Kigali, Rwanda, from 7 to 10 May 2018. The event is an initiative by the Smart Africa where Heads of State and government, companies, NGO’s and academics will have the opportunity to gather and exchange ideas to help drive Africa’s digital transformation.
