Committed to connecting the world

Workshop on Meaningful Connectivity: the key to sustainability

Time and place: Monday, 8 May 2023 from 14:30 to 15:45, Geneva (Room C, ITU)

This workshop took place in conjunction with ITU-D Study Group 1 Rapporteur Group Question (RGQ) meetings. It was open to non ITU-D Members and the public at large. It addressed the mandate of ITU-D Study Group 1 namely "Enabling environment for meaningful connectivity”. Meaningful connectivity is a level of connectivity that allows users to have a safe, satisfying, enriching and productive online experience at an affordable cost.
The workshop was facilitated by the Special Initiatives Division, looked at the ingredients for sustainable initiatives to achieve Meaningful connectivity from donors/partners perspective and from that of beneficiaries.

Return to the main ITU-D Study Group 1 page

[14h30 – 14h40] Setting the Scene

Speaker/Moderator:
Mr Sameer Sharma, Head, Special Initiatives, ITU [Biography] [Presentation] and Ms Samantha O’Riordan, Programme Officer, ITU [Biography]

[14h40 – 14h50 ] Partnership with ITU: Perspective of UK FCDO

Speaker:
Ms Alessandra Lustrati, Head of Digital Development, UK FCDO [Biography] [Presentation]

[14h50 – 15h10] ITU-UNICEF Giga Initiative: Connecting every school to the Internet

Partnership with Giga initiative: Perspective of Switzerland
Speaker:
Mr Hassan Thuillard, Counsellor, Digital Policy, Permanent Mission of Switzerland to the United Nations Office and other International Organisations in Geneva [Biography] [Presentation]
Sharing experience of Giga: Perspective of Republic of Kazakhstan
Speaker:
Mr Abilkair Bolatbayev, Head of Division for Development of New Technologies and Infrastructure, Telecommunications Committee, Ministry of Digital Development, Innovation and Aerospace Industry of the Republic of Kazakhstan [Biography] [Presentation]

[15h10 – 15h30 ] Connect2Recover Initiative: Resilient digital infrastructure

Partnership with Connect2Recover initiative: Perspective of MIC, Japan
Speaker:
Mr Yuichi Tsuji, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, Japan [Biography] [Presentation]
Technical assistance under Connect2Recover to Haiti: Impact on the ground
Speaker:
Mr Gregory Domond, ITU Expert, Haiti [Biography] [Presentation]

[15h30 – 15h45] Partner2Connect Digital Coalition: Meaningful connectivity and digital transformation

Speaker:
Mr Roger Clark, ApplianSys, Partner2Connect Pledger [Biography] [Presentation]
Ecuador case study
Speaker:
Ms Victoria Terán, Delivery Team Education Psychologist, IDATA [Biography] [Presentation]
Senegal case study
Speaker:
Mr Bassirou Bodian, Physics Teacher, Senegal [Biography] [Presentation]

[15h45 – 16h00] Panel discussions, Q&A and Way forward

With moderators, speakers and Mr Ahmed Abd El-Aziz Gad, Vice Chairman of TDAG and Rapporteur for ITU-D Question 1/1 [Biography]