Highlights May 2023
15- 19 May
Digital inclusion: Global
Generation Connect Africa Youth Envoy Karimot Odebode recited her poem ‘with just a click’ at the WTISD Celebration Event on 17 May at ITU Headquarters in Geneva.
Digital inclusion: Global
EQUALS Steering Committee members met to discuss the ongoing work of the EQUALS Global Partnership. This was followed by a meeting between EQUALS coalition co-leaders to discuss opportunities including the ongoing work of the EQUALS M&E framework taskforce.
Digital inclusion: Asia and Pacific
As part of the Girls in ICT Day Thailand 2023 celebration, Cisco Thailand and the ITU Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific co-organized the "Skills for All: Introduction and Onboarding Session" webinar on 17 May. The session introduced a series of self-study online courses provided by Cisco Networking Academy on cybersecurity, emerging technologies and data science, encouraging participants to build digital skills and prepare themselves to pursue a career in the ICT industry.
Digital services and applications: Asia and Pacific
ITU and the Ministry of Technology and Communications (MTC) organized a workshop in Vientiane, Lao PDR, on the whole-of-government approach and GovStack. Participants from various government departments of Lao PDR and UN agencies gained a better understanding of digital transformation, digital government services, and explored how GovStack can be adopted.
Network and digital infrastructure: CIS
The Regional Office for CIS actively participated in the GSMA M360 Eurasia 2023 conference in Baku, Azerbaijan. The conference focused on building digital resilience and closing the digital divide global-wide and in Central Asia and the South Caucasus and placed a strong emphasis on the latest advancements in technology, particularly Next Gen Networks, Digitalisation, and AI. Through their active involvement, ITU made a valuable contribution to the event and to the dialogue on future of technology and promoting connectivity in the region.
Policy and regulation
The BDT Director and Head Special Initiatives met with UK FCDO for the 6th Project Steering Committee meeting. The activities of the project were discussed, with good progress having been made to date. The BDT Director confirmed the commitment of BDT to continue working together to achieve meaningful connectivity in the 5 Digital Access Programme countries under this partnership.
Policy and regulation: Asia and Pacific
At a side event of the 79th Session of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) in Bangkok, the ITU Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific (ITU ASP) participated in a high-level panel discussion on the theme “Disaster Resilience: Early Warnings for All in Asia and the Pacific”. ITU ASP highlighted our role as the lead for “Warning dissemination and Communication” and what further actions are needed to tackle the current connectivity gaps across the region.
Study Groups: Global
A series of hybrid public and cross cutting workshops on Meaningful Connectivity were held during the ITU-D Study Group 1 Rapporteur Group meetings:
- “Meaningful Connectivity: Innovation and Acceleration” facilitated by BDT Innovation service
- “Beyond universality: the meaningful connectivity imperative" facilitated by ICT Data and Analytics Division
- “Meaningful Connectivity: the key to sustainability” facilitated by Special Initiatives Division
- “Meaningful Connectivity Projects and Impact” facilitated by Project Support Division
- “Meaningful Connectivity Regional actions” facilitated by ITU Regional Offices for Africa, Asia & the Pacific, and Europe
- Focus session on “How are ITU-D Study Group 1 products used?” facilitated by BDT Innovation service
- “Meaningful Connectivity: Women Experts and Young Experts inclusion” facilitated by Network of Women, EQUALS & Generation Connect, in which four inspiring speakers shared their thoughts and recommendations on the importance of creating inclusive, enjoyable, and safe online environments for women and the youth
- Focus session on broadcasting for new applications, supporting the work of Question 2/1 on migration and adoption of digital technologies for broadcasting for different environments to enable and advance meaningful connectivity
- Question 3/1 workshop on Emergency Preparedness for Disaster Management shared experiences and knowledge on early warning systems by using emerging ICTs such as 5G and AI
- Q4/1 and Q5/1 joint workshop on Challenges and opportunities of the use of USF for bridging the digital divide, discussed national economic strategies on expansion of the rural and remote infrastructure to bridge the digital divide using universal service fund mechanisms using the universal service funds to move from ICT access to ICT use
- Question 6/1 workshop on Trends in consumer protection regulatory instruments to enable Digital transformation provided a platform to discuss best practices for developing policies and regulations to protect consumers in telecommunications and digital markets, based on collaboration and communication between regulators and regulated entities
- Workshop on ICT Accessibility- the key to inclusive communication for ALL people, which supports the work of Question 7/1 to accelerate related implementation at regional and global level and make an impact by ensuring that no one is left behind in the digital era.
The Rapporteur groups made decisions on how contributions received from ITU-D membership and through public workshops will be used in Question outputs. The meetings also updated the Question workplans, table of contents of final reports, outgoing liaison statement for focused collaboration and agreed on interim deliverables as well as workshops.
The first ITU-D Study Group 1 Network of Women (NOW) lunch was held.
Giga: Global
During World Telecommunication and Information Society Day (WTISD) celebrations on 17 May, Giga announced an ambitious goal of connecting every school in the world by 2030, elevating their previous commitment of connecting 2.8 million schools by 2030. This momentous upgrade in their pledge signifies Giga’s unwavering commitment to bridge the digital divide and ensure educational opportunities for all. Furthermore, the Spanish Government reaffirmed its support for Giga’s cause, and in addition to establishing a cutting-edge Center of Technology in Barcelona, has pledged to sponsor a Junior Professional Officer (JPO), who will become an integral part of the Giga headquarters team.
8- 12 May
Connect2Recover: Global
Connect2Recover held an Information Session on Resilient Digital Infrastructure for Meaningful Connectivity. The BDT Director opened the session. The Director-General for Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, of Japan, provided welcome remarks. The session provided a platform for sharing lessons learned on increasing resilient resilience from resilience assessments conducted in Armenia and Kazakhstan and pilot IPv6 laboratory in Montenegro; increasing emergency preparedness through early warning systems and the post-disaster assessment in Haiti; and strengthening capacity building and skills development through ITU Academy Centres and Digital Transformation Centres and partnering with academia through the Connect2Recover research competition. There was a vibrant exchange of questions and sharing of examples in Africa.
Cybersecurity: Asia and Pacific
ITU provided substantive input to the draft Presidential Regulation on Child Online Protection Policy Roadmap 2023-2030 to the Ministry of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection of Indonesia.
Digital inclusion: Africa
The newly launched country report, Gender equality in digital policy in Ethiopia, provides an overview of how gender is addressed in Ethiopia’s digital policies, strategies, and regulations. The report was developed within the partnership with the Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF) to enhance the digital ecosystem and digital skills for the economic empowerment of women in LDCs. Based on the findings from the study, the report has a set of recommendations to enhance policies, laws, and regulations. It includes a comprehensive checklist of preliminary policy actions that will help narrow the gender gap in Ethiopia, that range from ensuring women’s enrolment and completion of secondary and tertiary education to involving the private sector when making digital policies to facilitating women’s access to international networks.
Digital inclusion: Global
The WSIS-22 session "Mainstreaming ICT Accessibility Across All Sectors and Stakeholders: A Key Requirement for Building Inclusive Digital Communities, Societies, and Environments" shared ITU's comprehensive work in ICT accessibility, as well as efforts to support ITU members and stakeholders in creating inclusive policies and strategies relevant for digital inclusion, that comply with ICT accessibility requirements, standards, and universal design principles. Panellists emphasised the critical need to mainstream ICT accessibility and incorporate it in all digital products, services, and applications from the planning and design stages.
Another WSIS-22 session "The Age Tech Revolution: Investment Opportunity" shared ITU tools and resources on the topic of ICT accessibility and ageing, aimed to assist stakeholders in preparing for the aging population megatrend and integrating them into the digital environment and economy. Experts discussed the prerequisites for healthy aging and the implications of the digital world beyond care technologies. Additionally, the session explored the importance of recognizing the Silver Economy's potential in the digital economy context and the need to foster innovation across various sectors in an approach to ensure that older people can actively participate in the digital economy and society.
Digital inclusion: Global
The EIF-ITU project implemented to enhance the digital ecosystem and build digital skills for women in least developed countries (LDC) was presented at the Study Group 1 Workshop on Meaningful Connectivity: Projects and Impact
Policy and regulation: Asia and Pacific
ITU attended United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)’s policy dialogue “Closing the Gap: Digital Divide in Indonesia” which highlighted findings from UNDP’s study concerning gaps in the inclusive digital transformation.
Policy and regulation: Asia and Pacific
ITU met with the State Minister and Secretary at Department of Telecommunications (DoT) as well as the Chair and Secretary of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), India. The meetings discussed the operationalization of the Area Office for South Asia and Innovation Centre and upcoming events and activities for South Asian countries.
Study Groups: Global
ITU’s Special Initiatives team facilitated the ITU Study Group 1 Workshop on Meaningful Connectivity: The Key to Sustainability. The full recording of the session is available in the link.
Giga: Global
On 10 May 2023, the Permanent Representative of Switzerland to the UN hosted a high-level discussion and standing cocktail at the Swiss Residence to introduce Giga to the diplomatic community in Geneva, local authorities, and other stakeholders.
Partner2Connect: Asia and Pacific
The ITU Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific met with the Vice President of Huawei Asia-Pacific to discuss the ongoing joint work and explore a broad cooperation agenda. ITU presented the Partner2Connect initiative and introduced how members can benefit from submitting a pledge. Further areas of collaboration in the fields of digital inclusion and capacity development between ITU and Huawei were identified.
1- 5 May
Cybersecurity: Asia and Pacific
ITU provided substantive input to the draft Presidential Regulation on Child Online Protection Policy Roadmap 2023-2030 to the Ministry of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection of Indonesia.
Digital inclusion: Global
Generation Connect Africa Youth Envoy, Gouro Amadou Kamissoko from Mali, participated in the Science Technology and Innovation in Africa Day (STI Forum 2023) at the United Nations in New York. He spoke about the wider importance of technology for advancing the Sustainable Development Goals, as well as the Samba Development Application Mobile For Mali, the digital startup he founded which has launched several mobile applications to address different problems affecting Mali. Among these is an application which uses satellite image technology to tackle deforestation and another which informs people about Covid-19 outbreaks in their local area and helps them to locate test centres.
Digital inclusion: Africa
Girls and young women in Somalia participated in an EQUALS Her Digital Skills Workshop on e-Commerce. This virtual workshop was organized by the EQUALS Partner the National Communications Authority (NCA), collaboratively with ITU, GSMA, Women’s Worldwide Web (W4) and EY. Participants were introduced to skills required to build their first own online store.
Digital inclusion: Girls in ICT Day celebrations
As part of the Girls in ICT Day celebrations, girls, and young women from the UK and Commonwealth participated in the EQUALS Her Digital Skills Workshop - An Introduction to Artificial Intelligence. The workshop was organized by ITU in collaboration with GSMA, Women’s Worldwide Web (W4), Verizon, the Commonwealth Businesswomen’s network, The Girls Network, Restore a Sense of I can (RSC) and Impact School.
The ITU Regional Office for the Americas celebrated Girls in ICT Day 2023 in the framework of the Americas Girls Can Code project in partnership with Meta in Quito, Ecuador. The event was co-organized by the Ministry of Telecommunications and the Information Society (MINTEL) with extensive support from Minister Vianna Maino and from ITU-D Academia member “Universidad de las Américas” (UDLA). Many participants reported that it changed the way they thought about technology studies and careers.
ITU attended the online event “Girls in ICT 2023 – STEM Secondary School Teachers Networking in Thailand: Digital Learning Transformation” co-hosted by UNICEF and the Ministry of Education Thailand. ITU delivered an address to highlight the celebration of the Girls in ICT Day Thailand 2023. STEM secondary school teachers in Thailand participated in this event and exchanged their experience of interacting with their students both in classes as well as extra curriculum activities, as a part of celebrating International Girls in ICT Day.
Digital inclusion: Global
The latest Generation Connect podcast, ‘Protecting Children and Youth Online’ discusses the risks children and young people face online, and the challenges and opportunities of keeping children and youth safe in the digital age. You can listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, SoundCloud, Spotify and Spreaker.
Digital services and applications: Global
As founding partner of GovStack Global Initiative, ITU participated in a panel at the Handelsblatt GovTech conference in Berlin, Germany, to share progress made. Joined by representatives from the Estonian MFA, and the Chief Digital Officer of Germany’s BMZ, the panel discussed how a multiparter approach is needed to reach scale in digital development projects and invited German Govtech Ecosystems to get involved in GovStack reference implementations.
Digital services and applications: Africa
The GovStack Initiative held a workshop to launch the implementation of GovStack in Somalia. During the workshop, high-school records were identified as a priority service to be digitized. Future action items were collectively agreed upon to ensure a productive collaboration with Somalia in its journey to digitize government services based on user needs, user journeys and live events, and reusable software components/building blocks.
Network and digital infrastructure: Africa
ITU supported a technical workshop on infrastructure data and mapping within a three-day workshop organized by ITU, the Universal Access Development Fund (UADF) and the National Communications Authority (NatCA) in collaboration with the Ministry of Information and Communications. Participants shared insights about national infrastructure data mapping practices for sustained growth of the sector, discussed approaches for infrastructure data collection, processing, and presentation for decision-making.
Network and digital infrastructure: Global
ITU together with the Universal Access Development Fund (UADF) and the National Communications Authority (NatCA) in collaboration with the Ministry of Information and Communications of Sierra Leone, organized a Technical Training Workshop on Universal Service Efficiency and Quality Infrastructure Data in Freetown.
The workshop aimed to deepen collaborative inter-agency partnerships and strengthen stakeholder engagement with a view to creating a platform for implementing an inclusive and sustainable whole-of-government approach for universal and meaningful connectivity in Sierra Leone.
The training sessions leveraged ITU’s Universal Service Financing Efficiency Toolkit, infrastructure mapping and last-mile connectivity, and other resources to expand the knowledge and understanding of public officials in selected government ministries, agencies and departments on universal service and access, as well as raise awareness of the role that stakeholders in the broader ecosystem need to play. Follow up from the workshop will support information sharing and strengthen collaboration around development initiatives that depend on connectivity.
Network and digital infrastructure: Global
ITU and UNEP co-organized an online event ‘Harmonization of E-waste Data and Statistics’ for the WSIS Forum 2023 under Action Line C7: e-environment. The session brought attention to the importance of monitoring and measuring e-waste, including the internationally harmonized approach used by the Global E-waste Statistics Partnership (GESP). Panellists from Agency for Statistics of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, Vintz Plastics Limited, Communications Authority of Kenya, UNEP and UNITAR shared lessons learned from projects and experiences of measuring e-waste at the global, regional and national levels.