Highlights – August 2022
29 August - 2 September
Cybersecurity
On 30 August, the cybersecurity team hosted a meeting with representatives from the UK Home Office. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss ongoing projects related to the development of the NCS in Rwanda and Morocco and the next steps. The Cybersecurity team explained ITU’s approach in designing the outline of the NCS and perspectives on how to manage and develop the comprehensive list of objectives in the NCS. The CYB team also shared insights on other initiatives related to the development of NCS, such as the NCS checklist and NCS benchmarking tool (which was received with great interest by the UK Home Office). The UK Home Office has been keen on learning about Women in Cyber, Youth, and Child Online Protection activities. In terms of the next steps, this meeting will be followed up with discussions on how the UK Home Office could contribute and support the initiatives presented during the meeting.
Digital inclusion: Africa
The ITU-FCDO Roundtable and Technical Workshop on ‘Building capabilities for sustainable and inclusive digital transformation in Nigeria’ was held on 23-24 August in Abuja, Nigeria. This event was organized by the ITU and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) with the support of the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, in the context of the ITU and United Kingdom’s Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) partnership on the implementation of UK’s Digital Access Programme (DAP) activities in Nigeria. Through high-level panel discussions and technical co-creation sessions (under the broader framework for digital transformation interventions which considers Access, Adoption and Value Creation) participants elaborated on policy and regulatory levers for the enabling environment. They also discussed operational and business models to enhance access and accelerate digital transformation in Nigeria. The event website has further details.
Digital inclusion: Global
The Caribbean Community “CARICOM” Digital Skills Task Force hosted a series of public virtual consultations from 7 July to 30 August to garner perspectives, views, and suggestions about developing a robust digital skills programme to ensure that all citizens, including older persons, are digitally included in the Caribbean region.
In support of this initiative, BDT was invited to participate in an interactive consultation held on 29 August to raise awareness, provide guidance on policies and strategies, and share good practices about the socio-economic impact of two global megatrends: the rapid raise of technology and an ageing population. BDT supports all ITU members and involved stakeholders from the Caribbean in their efforts to implement digital inclusivity, and ensure that no one is left behind in the region.
To address ICT digital accessibility issues and overcome the challenges faced by older persons in the digital age, BDT also incentivizes policy and decision makers from the public and private sectors to take action and advance implementation, by using related resource materials and recommendations available at: https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Digital-Inclusion/Pages/ageing-in-a-digital-world/default.aspx
22 - 26 August
Digital Inclusion
In partnership with the National Cybersecurity Authority of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, ITU and partners launched the first two training courses of a complete set of online self-paced trainings on Child Online Protection, geared towards the following target groups: parents and carers, educators, policymakers, the ICT industry, and children (aged 9-12 and 13-18). The first two training courses for parents, carers and educators are accessible now on the ITU Academy platform. The courses, each consisting of an introductory and intermediate module, are designed to create awareness about various types of child online engagements, their risks and benefits, and more broadly, children’s rights in the digital environment. The learning modules include ideas for successful harm prevention and possible response mechanisms when harm occurs online. To learn more about the training modules, please check out the dedicated landing page.
Digital inclusion: Asia and Pacific
On 18 August, ITU attended the 2nd AIBD Strategic Plan Team (SPT) and Advisory Board Meeting 2022 to discuss the strategic orientation of AIBD and prepare for the upcoming 47th Annual Gathering / 20th AIBD General Conference and Associated Meetings that will take place in New Delhi, India from 19-21 September. The Conference will be organized under the theme, ‘Building a Stronger Future for Broadcasting in a Post-pandemic Era’. ITU is appreciative of our strong partnership and collaboration with AIBD which culminated in the participation of Asia-Pacific journalists in the Generation Connect Youth Summit and WTDC-22 held in Kigali, Rwanda.
Digital inclusion: Asia and the Pacific
As a continuation of the Huawei-ASEAN FOUNDATION event ‘Seeds for the Future 2022’, six Generation Connect Asia and the Pacific Youth Participants joined this week's programme to dive into the latest ICT technology and for a cultural tour in Hua Hin, Thailand. On 26-27 August, ITU together with ASEAN FOUNDATION, Tourism Authority of Thailand, Huawei, the National Innovation Agency of Thailand, and Chulalongkorn University, joined the judging panel to select the winners of the ‘Tech4Good’ competition. The winning teams will go to Singapore for another week of incubation.
Emergency telecommunications: Global
The Emergency Telecom team made a presentation to 100 staff of Iridium, including CEO Matt Desch, on how ITU has deployed Iridium phones to bring back connectivity and save lives in times of disasters since 2008. The presentation was delivered during an Iridium internal showcase event; it highlighted ITU’s work on disaster preparedness and response, and the importance of ITU’s partnership with Iridium in deploying satellite phones to countries after disasters. Iridium provides ITU with 70 satellite phones and free connectivity.
Giga: Africa
The ITU-FCDO Roundtable and Technical Workshop on building capabilities for sustainable and inclusive digital transformation in Nigeria took place on 23-24 August in Abuja, Nigeria. The workshop gathered partners to explore, share and present the work that has been undertaken to date across four key pillars: 1. Regulatory analysis, framework and tool development to support digital inclusion objectives in Nigeria; 2. Promoting sustainable models to expand school connectivity in underserved communities; 3. Promoting a more conducive environment for (private and public) investment in digital inclusion; and 4. Advancing digital skills for decent jobs, especially for young people. The event was organized by ITU and the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) in the context of the ITU-FCDO partnership on the implementation of the United Kingdom’s Digital Access Programme (DAP) activities.
I-CoDI: Global
The ITU's International Center of Digital Innovation (I-CoDI) is helping the ITU Transformation Team co-design an ITU Leadership Accelerator programme. Two workshops were organized this summer. The first one was held from 6-7 July with ITU staff from all departments and sectors and the second workshop took place on 25 August with senior managers. The ITU Leadership Accelerator is part of the ITU Transformation Programme which provides a structured OneITU approach to leadership development that supports managers and staff in the development of their personal leadership and managerial capacity. It is meant to close soft-skills gaps of ITU leaders and managers, as identified through an impartial and data-driven organizational assessment.
I-CoDI: Arab States
On 25 August, the ITU’s International Centre of Digital Innovation (I-CoDI) kicked off the accelerated innovation journey of the 6 digital transformation projects in Egypt together with the I-CoDI Regional Focal Points and the Joint Team on Digital Transformation and Innovation (JDTI) in Egypt. From ideation in July to prototyping and implementation, the teams - co-led by the UN agencies (UNWomen, UNDP, WFP, IOM, UNHabitat, UNESCO, UNFPA and UNIDO) and the relevant ministries - will be working over the next 3 months on exciting new solutions that use technology to accelerate digital transformation in Egypt, in line with the priorities of the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework.
Other: Asia and the Pacific
ITU, together with UNICEF, organized the 10th meeting of the Asia Pacific TWG on Digital Transformation in Education and Learning in partnership with UNESCO, UNODC, ILO, GSMA, WB, ADB, and EdTech Hub. ITU presented the ITU-FCDO High Level roundtable and Child Online Protection updates, UNICEF presented the SAARC Development Fund (SDF) and European Union (EU) proposal. The meeting also discussed the finalization of the ToR, workplan, calendar, membership, and areas for collaboration.
15 - 19 August
Cybersecurity
The Women in Cyber Mentorship Programme delivered a technical training on ‘Introduction to Information Sharing’ to over 80 programme participants. This three-hour training provided insights into how computer security incident response teams share information. Attendees learnt about the ways information sharing with other incident response teams occurs and gained basic awareness about information sharing tools and best practices. Since its beginning in May 2022, the programme has facilitated 12 learning and guidance sessions and provided mentorship experience to aspiring women cybersecurity professionals from the Asia-Pacific, Arab and Africa regions.
Digital inclusion
During the UN session on ‘An Inclusive and Equitable Education for All: How Young People and Technology can Accelerate Progress Towards Transforming Education’ on International Youth Day on 12 August, Generation Connect Africa Youth Envoy, Sophiyat Sadiq spoke on the importance of educational systems which are fit-for-purpose towards a more digitally inclusive future for all.
Digital inclusion
On 17 August, the Generation Connect Visionaries Board met to discuss and reflect on the Generation Connect Global Youth Summit and to share the next steps towards advancing meaningful youth engagement in ITU and across the world.
Digital inclusion: Asia and the Pacific
On 18 August, ITU participated as a member of the judging panel to select winners from more than 1,500 graduates of the 2022 Women-in-Tech Training Programme, jointly organized by the Research and Development Centre for Informatics Applications and Public Communication of the Ministry of Communication and Informatics of Indonesia, Cisco and ITU. Joining the judging panel was the Assistant to the Deputy for Economic Gender Mainstreaming, Ministry of Women Empowerment and Child Protection.
Digital inclusion: Asia and the Pacific
On 19 August, ITU was invited by Huawei and the ASEAN Foundation to deliver opening remarks on Huawei Asia-Pacific, ‘Seeds for the Future 2022’. Through support from Huawei, ITU has facilitated 3 GC-ASP youth envoys and 3 national youth representatives from Bhutan, China, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, and Viet Nam to join an eight-day program onsite from 18-27 August in Bangkok and Hua Hin. This programme will offer an opportunity for young people to develop their leadership skills and cross-cultural competence through strategic management and traditional cultural lectures and events.
Digital inclusion: Americas
On 15 August, the ITU Americas Regional Office launched the training on ‘’Women Leadership in the telecommunication and ICT sector’’. The objective of this course is to provide information on main concepts in telecommunications and ICT, in a clear and simple way, as well as an overview of ICT trends and emerging technologies. The course also aims to address the main challenges and opportunities for the development of the sector including the female leadership component to advance in a changing environment. Representatives from more than 10 countries are attending the course.
Digital inclusion
To celebrate International Youth Day, BDT has released a special video episode of the Generation Connect podcast! This episode presents the Generation Connect Youth Envoys’ interviews with diverse young people as well as decision-makers, recorded live at the inaugural Generation Connect Global Youth Summit that took place from 2-4 June 2022 at the Intare Conference Arena in Kigali, Rwanda, before WTDC-22. This episode highlights the personal expectations and experiences of diverse Youth Summit participants and their thoughts on amplifying youth voices in digital development today. A huge thanks for the efforts of Darica Egorova (Main Editor) and Hu Schu Fei Elisa & Diego Munoz Siegfried (Co-Editors)
Digital innovation ecosystem: Asia and the Pacific
On 15 August, the Authority for Info-communications Technology Industry (AITI) Brunei and E-Government National Centre (EGNC) of Brunei hosted the launch of the webinar for the Digital Innovation Profile for Brunei Darussalam. This webinar featured a presentation by ITU about the Digital innovation Profile process and served as a platform to introduce stakeholders to the research methodology. Following this webinar, stakeholders have been invited for one-on-one interviews with the research consultant to provide an overview of the digital innovation ecosystem, which will lead to a physical co-creation workshop tentatively scheduled for early October.
Environment: Africa
In the framework of the joint ITU-UNEP project, the Environment & Emergency Telecommunication team conducted the national validation workshop of the draft E-waste Strategy in Botswana on 15 August. In close cooperation with national partners, such as the Botswana Communication Regulatory Authority (BOCRA) and the Department of Waste Management and Pollution Control (DWMPC) under the Ministry of Environment of Botswana, throughout 2022, ITU has conducted national consultations with both the public and private sector in the field of waste management and electrical and electronic equipment. These efforts have led to the national e-waste strategy document, which embedded the feedback received from all stakeholders. The E-waste Strategy received positive feedback from participants and only minor changes were proposed. The next steps in Botswana will be to officially gazette the strategy and start its implementation.
Policy and regulation: Asia and the Pacific
On 18 August, ITU attended the 2nd AIBD Strategic Plan Team (SPT) and Advisory Board Meeting 2022 to discuss the upcoming 47th Annual Gathering / 20th AIBD General Conference and Associated Meeting that will take place in New Delhi, India from 19-21 September. The theme of ‘’Building a stronger future for broadcasting in a post-pandemic era’’, review of AIBD 5 years Strategic Plan, as well as Asian Media Summit that will be held in 2023 were discussed. In this meeting, AIDB board thanked ITU for the partnerships and collaboration in particular to support Asia-Pacific journalists to participate in Generation Connect Youth Summit and the WTDC-22. This partnership is leading to the continued support of AIBD for the upcoming ITU PP-22.
Giga: Global
Watch the new Giga profile video that highlights how the joint UNICEF and ITU initiative aims to connects every school in the world to the internet by 2030.
Other: Africa
The ITU-FCDO Roundtable and Technical Workshop on the theme of ‘Building capabilities for sustainable and inclusive digital transformation in Nigeria’ will take place on 23-24 August 2022 in Abuja, Nigeria. The event is organized by ITU and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) in the context of the ITU and United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) partnership on the implementation of UK’s Digital Access Programme (DAP) activities in Nigeria. Through high-level panel discussions and technical co-creation sessions, the participants will be elaborating on business models and levers for an enabling environment to enhance access and accelerate digital transformation in Nigeria as well as the digital skills, complementary capabilities and innovation required in Nigeria’s digital economy and society.
8 - 12 August
Capacity development: Asia and the Pacific
ITU has co-organized a CoE training on Data-Based Government Innovation with NIA, Republic of Korea, under the auspices of the CoE ICT Application programme in Asia and the Pacific from 1 – 28 August. A total of 148 participants have registered for this training to learn and discuss the concepts and use cases of data-based administration in countries such as Republic of Korea, Estonia, UK and US.
Cybersecurity: Asia and the Pacific
ITU participated in an ITU – Indonesian Network of Child Online Protection (ID-COP) meeting to discuss the finalisation of the Indonesian-translation of the ITU COP Guidelines. In the meantime, a draft of the Indonesian National Roadmap for Child Online Protection is being discussed with the relevant divisions at HQ.
Digital inclusion: Asia and the Pacific
ITU in Jakarta met the Southeast Asian Ministers Of Education Organization Regional Open Learning Centre (“SEAMOLEC”) and the Indonesia - ITU Concern Forum (IICF) to scope the formalisation of ongoing collaboration. This could include a wide range of activities including regular meetings, knowledge management and capacity development as well as national and regional dialogues.
Digital inclusion: Americas
On 23-24 July and 6-7 August in Haiti, 33 young women entrepreneurs participated in a training on Digital Marketing as part of the EIF-ITU project, ‘Tech as a driver of Women’s Economic Opportunity’. The training was organized in collaboration with the Centre d’Innovation Technologique et d’Entrepreneuriat and focused on how new technologies can be a driver for women's economic opportunities; how to develop a presence in the digital world; and how to use digital channels to increase business.
Policy and regulation: Asia and the Pacific
ITU and the Technologia da Informacao e Comunicacao (TIC) of the Democratic Republic of Timor Leste (TIC Timor) have concluded the negotiation of a Joint Declaration and have agreed that the document will be signed by both parties at the end of August.
Policy and regulation: Asia and the Pacific
The team from the ITU Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific was in New Delhi this week to attend ITU-T Regional Standardization Forum (RSF) and Regional Study Group Meetings. ITU delivered a keynote address at the RSF highlighting the importance of standardization in bridging the digital divide, while noting the collaboration between ITU and India, as well as highlighting a number of ITU tools and resources. During this visit, ITU also met with stakeholders from India's Department of Telecommunications to advance discussions on the opening of the Area Office and Innovation Center. ITU met with the Minister of State and Communication to discuss collaboration efforts. ITU also conducted a site visit for the potential location of the Area Office, and met a number of partnership stakeholders including ADB, GIZ, EU, and UNRC.
EQUALS: Africa
On Tuesday, 9 August, an EQUALS Her Digital Skills workshop was held in Lesotho in partnership with the Impact School. 18 young women attended the workshop at the American Corner in the Lesotho State library. The Lesotho Minister of Communications, Science & Technology – Hon Tsoinyane Rapapa, welcomed the participants. The workshop provided an introduction to technology through Mobile App Development. Participants learned to create their own smartphone application.
I-CoDI: Arab States
ITU’s International Centre of Digital Innovation (I-CoDI) continues to support the United Nations Joint Team for Digital Transformation and Innovation (UN-JTDI) in Egypt co-led by the ITU Regional Office for Arab States. On 11 April, I-CoDI facilitated the first JDTI Ideation Workshop on Technology and Innovation. Participants included representatives of 18 UN agencies and nine ministries. It resulted in 6 project ideas which will be further prototyped till the end of the year. On 17 August, a joint kick-off session will be held to launch the accelerated innovation journey for these 6 project ideas.
1 - 5 August
Other: Americas
The Regional Office for the Americas presented welcome remarks at the Validation Workshop on Gap Analysis of Trinidad and Tobago Provisions to meet the obligations under 'UN Treaties and Recommendations Applicable to Communications at Sea for Small-Scale Fishers.'
Other: Americas
During the meeting of USAID with UN Agencies for Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, including ITU, principles and areas of focus for USAID for the region were shared. ITU highlighted the importance of ICTs and shared areas for possible collaboration including on cybersecurity, smart trees connectivity, harmonized regulations and legislation, and emergency communications.
Cybersecurity: Global
The ITU cybersecurity team attended the meeting of the open-ended working group (OEWG) in New York and held bilateral meetings with several UN agencies. The team also contributed to a side event organized by the UK FCDO & GCSCC. The OEWG meeting highlighted important topics on cybersecurity, and their impact on foreign relations. Discussions were carried out to develop, agree and implement cyber norms on state behaviour and the use of ICTs for malicious purposes. The group also discussed a Zero-Draft of the first annual progress report of the OEWG.
Policy and regulation: Americas
The Regional Office for the Americas held a training workshop on ITU regulatory improvement tools with a special emphasis on the ICT Regulatory Tracker and G5 Benchmark. A practical workshop on capacity development and regulatory technical assistance was given to the Bolivian regulatory authority.
Giga: Global
Find out how Giga is transforming education at the local school G.S. Nyagihunika, in Rwanda. Watch how Internet-connected laptops help local educators teach students and make the classroom experience more rewarding, and how the benefits of school connectivity also extend to the residents of the Bugesera district.
Link: https://twitter.com/ITU/status/1554439718732980224
For more information: Giga transforms lives in rural Rwanda, one school at a time - ITU Hub
Partner2Connect: Americas
The Regional Office for the Americas held a training workshop on the Partner2Connect platform, and different topics related to the Coalition. Panama reiterated the commitment to submit two or three pledges.
Other: Africa
The ITU Regional Office for Africa attended the first-ever Ethiopian Internet Governance Forum. The aim of the Ethiopian Internet Governance Forum is to engage stakeholders, including government, private institutions, civil societies, and higher education institutions in discussions on internet governance, to generate ideas and create awareness for policy makers, economic and social benefits of internet, affordable and meaningful access of the internet, and access to the internet as a fundamental right.