Director’s Message

Dear Friends,

What an incredible year! Since I took office, we have together taken significant steps to advance impactful and human-centric digital development to make sustainable digital transformation and universal meaningful connectivity a reality.

It has been an amazing journey and I would like to thank all our Members and partners who have travelled with us over the year 2023. I look forward to achieving even more with you in 2024 as we continue to join forces to achieve our noble mission through the effective implementation of the Kigali Action Plan – our roadmap of action for the next four years.

The BDT4Impact reflects my strong vision that everything we do has the power to impact people’s lives in a positive, meaningful way. This is a vision that, in the past 12 months, has been embraced by many.

We implemented a host of projects and activities on connectivity, creating an enabling environment to pave the way for investment, digital transformation, and security and confidence in the use of information and communication technologies. All of this was made possible through our promotion of international cooperation and resource mobilization. I want to thank our partners for their support and confidence.

Drawing lessons from our work in 2023, we have learnt that, in some cases, the impact is quick and we can see it and witness it right away. However, in other cases, it takes more time to manifest – but what matters is the long-lasting and sustainable impact that we make on the ground for the people’s benefit.

Over the past year, I have met with Ministers, government officials, private sector representatives, friends from the UN system, innovators, and other stakeholders in the development space. I have also met with parents, teachers, doctors, community leaders, youth, among others. The insights that I received from all those that I met, provided my team and I with inspiration, guidance, and the energy to keep going aiming for tangible results. This has helped us to transform our vision into reality.

One thing is clear to me: the need and demand for digital is there and it is real. It has become a basic need to advance socio-economic development and people’s well-being. The will to meet this demand also exists, as we, in the Telecommunication Development Sector community, share a common vision and mission to do good and bring positive change in the world through digital development.

As I have often said over the year:  the people I meet every day continue to inspire me. It is a privilege to serve. To serve with the goal to connect everyone and do so in a universal and meaningful way. Let us not forget we have 2.6 billion people who remain unconnected to the Internet. We count this as cost to society and lost potential.

The 2023 BDT Year in Review unveils some of the key highlights of the work of BDT and sheds light on the ongoing digital transformation this work is bringing to the world with impact.

I invite you to read through these pages to get a firsthand account of our journey in 2023.

I thank you for your support and wish you the best during this Holiday Season!

Dr Cosmas Luckyson Zavazava,
Director, ITU Telecommunication Development Bureau