BDT Director Doreen Bogdan-Martin was a featured keynote speaker for the opening session of IEEE's prestigious IMS event, held virtually for the first time this year.
Addressing hundreds of delegates from across the US and around the world, Ms Bogdan-Martin gave an overview of the work of ITU and the Telecommunication Development Bureau, and argued for why it is so important to connect the 3.6 billion people who remain totally cut-off from a world the rest of us take for granted.
Like no other technology before, digital devices, platforms and apps have unprecedented power to overcome traditional development barriers, she argued, showing delegates examples via video clips of ways in which digital technologies can bring education where there are no teachers, health advice where there are no doctors, financial services where there are no banks, and libraries where there are no books.
Featured clips covered ITU projects and initiatives including Niger's Smart Villages 2.0 and m-TIBA mobile health payments system, as well as FAO's work in Africa on an agricultural app to combat pests and diseases that threaten food security, and ITU's work with young disability advocate and journalist Joanne O'Riordan, who is using technology to empower overcome obstacles caused by a rare medical condition known as total amelia.
Summarizing her presentation to IMS-2020 delegates, she said: “The Internet has changed our world. But its transformational potential will be magnified 1,000 times in the hands of people held back for generations through lack of access to the power of information. Digital is the transformational force that will enable us to meet the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals by the target date of 2030. In short, the UN pledge to 'Leave No-one Behind' will mean getting everyone online."
The session also looked at how policymakers can address challenges in in markets where incomes are low, infrastructure is lacking, and literacy and digital skills are in short supply. In Africa alone, connecting the continent will mean bringing 220 million new people online and an estimated US$9 billion in investment.
If the situation can look bleak, she argued, sometimes a simple paradigm shift can dramatically change the picture. “The interrelatedness of the SDGs provides a great opportunity for common approaches and integration within and across institutions. Coupled with policy approaches that prioritize digital skills and promote access and affordability, the power of digital could just turn out to be the power to change the world."
