In November 2020, we launched the Road to Addis Digital Development Series as an effort to build momentum towards ITU’s World Telecommunication Development Conference (WTDC) in 2022 and to provide an inclusive platform for all stakeholders to advance our call for universal, meaningful connectivity.
The COVID-19 pandemic showed us the importance of digital and how being able to access and use Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) is essential to learn, work, trade, communicate, and to access basic essential services. We are in the Decade of Action and now more than ever we must work harder to connect and empower the remaining half of humanity who are currently offline.
In this first chapter of the Road to Addis Series, which ran from November 2020 to September 2021, we identified 6 enablers of connectivity for sustainable development and built an inclusive and action-oriented series to shape the digital development agenda with the active participation of governments, private sector, policy makers, UN system representatives, youth, as well as representatives from minorities, academia, civil society and marginalized communities.
The series with the rich exchange it yielded, also led to a common understanding that progress can be achieved through multistakeholder collaboration and that the direct leadership of governments, policy makers, and the regulatory community is essential to achieve meaningful and universal connectivity.
After almost a year on the road, deploying 7 successful sessions with 61 panelists and thousands of people joining us online, I want to celebrate the achievements of our journey, reflect on the lessons gathered along the road, and look ahead.
I am grateful to everyone who made this journey possible; to all our panelists for their commitment, and to each one of you for your support to the cause of universal connectivity and digital transformation.
We are now closing this first chapter of the Road to Addis and starting a new one with the Partner2Connect Digital Coalition. Built on the outcomes of the Road to Addis series, the Coalition will mobilize new resources, partnerships, and commitments to achieve universal and meaningful connectivity by 2030. A Partner2Connect Digital Development Roundtable will take place at WTDC in June 2022.
We have not yet arrived at our destination.. and we cannot do this alone. I invite you to join me in the second chapter of this journey and to be part of this effort to provide every person on the planet with access to the power of digital technologies and with the tools and skills that will help them reap their benefits.
Doreen Bodgan-Martin
Director, Telecommunication Development Bureau, ITU.
In November 2020, we launched the Road to Addis Digital Development Series as an effort to build momentum towards ITU’s World Telecommunication Development Conference (WTDC) in 2022 and to provide an inclusive platform for all stakeholders to advance our call for universal, meaningful connectivity.
The COVID-19 pandemic showed us the importance of digital and how being able to access and use Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) is essential to learn, work, trade, communicate, and to access basic, essential services. We are in the =Decade of Actionand now more than ever we must work harder to connect and empower every one of the 3,.7 billion people who are currently offline.
In this first chapter of the Road to Addis Series, which ran from November 2020 to September 2021, we identified 6 enablers of connectivity for sustainable development and built an inclusive and action-oriented series to shape the digital development agenda with the active participation of governments, private sector, policy makers, UN system representatives, youth, as well as representatives from minorities, academia, civil society and marginalized communities.
The series and the rich exchange it yielded, also led to a common understanding that progress can be achieved through multistakeholder collaboration and that the direct leadership of governments, policy makers, and the regulatory community is essential to achieve meaningful and universal connectivity.
After almost a year on the road, deploying 7 successful sessions with 61 panelists and thousands of people joining us online, I want to celebrate the achievements of our journey, reflect on the lessons gathered along the road, and look ahead.
I am grateful to everyone who made this journey possible; to all our panelists for their commitment, and to every one of you for your support to the cause of universal connectivity and digital transformation.
We are now closing this first chapter of the Road to Addis and starting a new one with the Partner2Connect Digital Coalition. Built on the outcomes of the Road to Addis series, the Coalition will mobilize new resources, partnerships, and commitments to achieve universal and meaningful connectivity by 2030. A Partner2Connect Digital Development Roundtable will take place at WTDC in June 2022.
We have not yet arrived at our destination.. and we cannot do this alone. I invite you to join me in the second chapter of this journey and to be part of this effort to provide every person on the planet with access to the power of digital technologies and with the tools and skills that will help them reap their benefits.
Doreen Bodgan-Martin
Director of the ITU Telecommunication Development Bureau
