Ladies and Gentlemen,
Thank you for giving me this opportunity to speak to you today.
I am pleased to be speaking on a subject close to my heart: innovative approaches to digital partnerships, how to make them work, and how to make them better.
Partnerships have the potential to accelerate ongoing efforts towards the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals. Many have described the role of digital as that of rescue of the SDGs.
Let me talk about the need for a new age of digital partnerships anchored on:
- The inevitable collective effort, and
- Recognition of layers of complexity
On the first point, I want to say that in digital transformation, we all need to partner. No one entity can bring all the unconnected 2.7 billion people online today, single-handedly. With 193 Member States and over nine hundred Sector Members, collaborating with l partners and stakeholders, ITU is fundamentally in the role of convener and connector.
We cannot do anything without collaboration. The problems are too complex and there are too many dimensions in the digital sector. We are not only looking at the connectivity gaps. We have access gaps, affordability gaps, rural -urban gaps, gender gaps, gaps between the elderly and the youth, the developed and developing countries, and many others. No one has the complete answer for all the dimensions of the divide. So, partnerships are not just the answer, they are the only viable answer.
On the second point, let me say that there are layers of complexity that need all hands-on deck.
We, at ITU, are directing our energies towards connectivity, and that brings benefits to society. We recognize that connectivity has become a necessity, but for many, it remains a luxury, preventing millions from using the Internet or using it to its full potential.
But we must look beyond connectivity, into “universal and meaningful connectivity' because even the people that a connected especially in poorer regions, struggle with 2G or patchy 3G. They lack a level of connectivity that allows users to have safe, satisfying, enriching and productive online experience at an affordable cost.
We forge supply side and demand side partnerships to bear with connectivity including the initiative that we launched last year aimed at mobilizing efforts and resources for connectivity. The Partner2Connect Digital Coalition – a multistakeholder alliance to foster meaningful connectivity and digital transformation globally, has resulted to date in over six hundred pledges worth approximately 30 billion USD.
Through the ITU-UNICEF led Giga initiative to connect every school to the internet, Africa, which has the largest share of implementation of the Giga, has connected 2,325 schools (1,157,894 children).
Recently, I launched the Innovation and Digital Entrepreneurship Alliance for Digital Development to help countries close the innovation gap. We acknowledge the great ambition from many regions of the world to become innovation-driven economies where knowledge, innovation and entrepreneurship are now the at the core of job creation and sustainable economic development. Through the coalition, we aim to accelerate sustainable digital development, empowering communities for an equitable digital future. In all this, private sector and industry are playing a key role.
And so finally, to move that needle, we must engage in partnerships that are meaningful and able to change lives positively.
It must be partnerships that allow the generation of solutions from the grassroots, integrate the needs of the people in the interventions, and partnerships that are adaptable.
Public-private partnerships can bring the best of every sector to bear.
Much of the work in the BDT can stimulate both supply and demand sides.
On the supply side, an enabling policy environment is critical. Effective regulation unlocks potential. Regulations can create or incentivize new opportunities for collaboration and multistakeholder engagement and partnerships. At our next Global Symposium for Regulators in Egypt from 5 to 8 June 2023, all the world regulators in the ICT sector will be there, forming the perfect platform to discuss these issues.
I want also to turn to the role of governments. Government can promote transparency, safety, consumer protection, and strengthen institutional capacity and robustness by ensuring the right environment through policy and regulation. Governments can enable the private sector to also play its rightful role.
On the other hand, private sector, —telcos, mobile network operators, providers, and satellite companies—make digital infrastructure rollout possible. The private sector plays a vital role in financing, building, and operating, leading to connectivity in Africa. Private sector is the driver of innovation with a key role in building human capacity to harness the potential of technology.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
On the demand side, stimulating digital skills awareness and take-up, can be extremely effective. Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) can be a tool to deliver much-needed infrastructure services to connect the unconnected and ensure affordable and accessible digital products and services.
When we talk of digital transformation, we talk of communities being able to shape their societies for the better. We have never seen this sort of potential before in modern history.
As I conclude, I would like to draw us back to my point at the beginning. I indicated that we are in a new era that needs new thinking. We should think and build on the foundation of partnerships. Partnerships should and can match aspiration.
Let us keep that focus on human-centric, high-impact partnerships that can be adaptable and resourceful in the digital space, because it is the digital space that will move us all forward. I firmly believe that it is possible.
I invite all industry, private sector and academia here present to apply and join the ITU's development sector so that together, we can impact people's lives through digital.
Thank you.
