Digital services and applications (e.g. digital health, digital government, digital agriculture, digital commerce, e-learning) have become the tools to leverage digital technology and applications to address peoples’ most pressing needs, accelerate their Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) journeys and bring real impact to their lives. To better utilize the power of ICT4SDG, the ITU in collaboration with strategic partners from UN specialized organizations, academia, private sector, and other ecosystem stakeholders – supports to build national e-services strategies, deploy ICT solutions, share knowledge and build human capacity. (Refer: https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/ICT-Applications/Pages/about-ict-applications.aspx). One of the Asia-Pacific Regional Initiative (2018-2021) “Harnessing information and communication technologies to support the digital economy and an inclusive digital society” sets out the expectations in this important area.
The importance of digital readiness and its innovative prowness was well recognized during COVID-19, which continues to have a huge socio-economic impact driven by actions such as school closures, travel and trade restrictions, and lockdowns . While acting as a great mitigation tool, the pandemic has also brought out several learning lessons to make such cross-sectoral initiatives more impactful. It is important that these programs and projects optimize resources, embed sustainability by design, adopt an integrated whole-of-government approach and build smart partnerships.
Outlines of topic:
- experiences on whole-of-government approach and enterprise architecture required to do that;
- accelerating digital services in developing countries;
| Mr Alex Wong Senior Strategy Advisor - BDT ITU |
