Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for the very interesting interventions that you shared.
I have been listening carefully and I was very impressed by the examples of initiatives and best practices that you gave.
You clearly showed the engagement your companies are making to address the digital divide. What you are doing you are in fact helping ensure that more people in underserved communities have access to digital infrastructure, and also have an opportunity to develop the skills they need to apply those skills in a more meaningful way.
This is exactly what we are trying to achieve through the Digital Transformation Centres Initiative, and through our high impact partnership with Cisco.
The Secretary General, Doreen, in her remarks shared some examples of real impact that the DTC initiative is making on the ground.
This is a question of reach and depth.
Let us not forget: the more people we can reach and train on digital skills, the more people will become active users of the digital technologies and the more we will impact people's lives.
We call upon all of you to be part of our journey in connecting the unconnected and equipping people with relevant skills. The role of the private sector in the digital transformation journey, is critical. Partnerships and close collaboration are the cornerstone of our success. We are open for partnerships with you based on a win-win outcome.
Let us therefore continue the dialogue. This Roundtable today is only the first step in our conversation, to build and bring depth to our relationships.
The next step would be a deep dive into the subject matter, at a global workshop that will take place in Geneva at the end of May (30 May to 1 June 2023). The workshop will be hosted by ITU and organized closely with our partner Cisco. You are cordially invited.
The workshop will focus on:
First and foremost, identifying concrete joint projects that we could implement together. How can we move from words to action? How can we scale up the activities of the DTCs so that more citizens in underserved communities will receive training on the use of digital technologies?
Second, we will also discuss the modalities of supporting the DTCs and the Initiative as a whole; based on a global engagement framework for telecommunication companies partnering with us in the DTCs.
You are invited to nominate your representatives, who will work closely with us and others to develop an impactful strategy to support the Digital Transformation Centres, to participate in this workshop in Geneva.
Dear colleagues,
Once again, let me say that we very much look forward to partnering with you on this important initiative.
We count on you to help us reach that goal of full digital inclusion and to close the digital divide.
Together, we can do great things in serving humanity.
Thank you very much.
