Briefing on 'Smart Islands' Project Proposal
in the Pacific Small Island Developing States (PSIDS)
9 September 2021
Opening Remarks
Doreen Bogdan-Martin
Director, ITU Telecommunication Development Bureau
Excellencies,
UN Resident Coordinators,
Colleagues,
Good morning, good afternoon, good evening.
I am pleased to welcome you to this session in which, together with our sister agencies, OHRLLS and UNOPS, we are joining as one and will share information on our exciting Smart Islands programme.
We are grateful to have the presence of UN Resident Coordinators from Pacific Island Countries, especially as some of you are joining at very late hours due to the time difference.
I think it is clear that the COVID pandemic has shifted the way the world views connectivity, and has underscored the vital role that digital plays in our day-to-day lives.
Digital has proven itself to be not only as our prime risk mitigation tool, but a springboard for socio-economic transformation, no matter the size of an economy.
The development of digital infrastructure, services, and digital capacities has become all the more urgent, so that everyone, everywhere, can take part in the ''new normal''.
While connectivity and digital technologies hold great promise to positively impact the lives of those in the Pacific islands, there are a number of challenges we need to address first, in order to unlock their potential.
One major barrier to connectivity, is affordability.
Many communities in remote islands still lack access to affordable broadband connectivity. The Broadband Commission has set 2% GNI per capita by 2025 target as a key benchmark for affordability, and many Pacific Island countries are yet to achieve this key benchmark.
Another challenge is related to digital skills and literacy.
Even where connectivity is available, many people lack the digital skills necessary to use it meaningfully.
Furthermore, the digital services that are available to remote islands and villages are often limited and inadequate to meet local needs. Technology and applications need to be adapted, and digital content needs to be relevant, for communities to truly benefit from them.
Trust and online safety can also be ''demand side barriers'' for people to connect to the internet.
We need to understand those challenges and find ways to tackle them.
What works?
Well for countries to realize digital transformation, we need to move away from traditional siloed approaches between different government agencies, towards a more holistic approach.
A ''whole-of-government'' approach enables governments to make progress in cross-cutting areas of digital transformation, such as: digital infrastructure; cybersecurity and cybersafety; capacity building; digital services; emergency telecommunication; and digital inclusion, amongst others.
We have rolled out successfully this whole-of-government approach at the village level helping to scale-up shared digital services throughout the country.
Our Smart Islands draw inspiration from the Smart Villages model, taking an integrated approach to realize the benefits of digital transformation at the community level.
ITU has been working with UNOPS to raise awareness on the programme, and we are pleased that ten Pacific Islands Countries (Fiji, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, Samoa, Nauru, Tonga, Kiribati, and Palau) have expressed their interest in the Smart Islands programme.
Recently, together with the Government of Vanuatu undertook a needs analysis in the South Malekula Islands, which provided useful insights that led to the adoption of Smart Islands as a national programme.
Currently, we are working across the system with the UN Resident Coordinators to engaging our sister agencies and other partners to develop a joint program to pilot smart islands throughout the Pacific.
The COVID pandemic has made all it too clear, that in this decade of action to achieve the SDGs, getting everyone connected is no longer an option.
And in our mission to connect the 3.7 billion people that remain unconnected, those in the hardest-to-reach communities deserve special attention.
Smart Islands holds promise to spur vital multi-stakeholder cooperation, and drive concerted efforts at the national level, towards inclusive digital transformation that leaves no one behind.
We will share information with you on our other complementing initiatives, such as the Partner2Connect Digital Coalition, which is a multi-stakeholder alliance that we are launching to foster meaningful connectivity and digital transformation in hardest-to-connect communities, including LDCs, LLDCs, and SIDS.
I invite you to join us at the launch event, titled ''Road to Addis: Partner2Connect'', that will be a side event to the UN General Assembly, on 20 September.
I hope that the Smart Islands programme will be of interest to you, and I look forward to discussing how we can work together to advance connectivity in the Pacific Island countries.
