BDT Director Doreen Bogdan-Martin gave a keynote speech to launch the Road to Addis series. This event was the first in a series organized to build momentum towards ITU's World Telecommunication Development Conference in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in 2021 (WTDC-21) and has the aim to raise awareness, strengthen partnerships and engage all stakeholders to shape the digital development agenda.
Held every four years, WTDC represents a unique opportunity for the international community to gather and discuss the future of the tech sector and its contribution to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. For the first time, it will be held in Africa, where more and more governments across this huge and diverse region are prioritizing digital development as their springboard to sustainable growth and future resiliency.
Marking the one-year countdown to WTDC-21, Ms Bogdan-Martin noted that it will be ''a unique opportunity for the global community to develop innovative approaches and new models of collaboration to overcome digital development challenges'', ''to accelerate digital transformation'' and ''to advance connectivity and digital solutions in this final Decade of Action to achieve the SDGs.''
She pointed to the catalytic role that technologies play to enable the achievement of all the SDGs, and underlined that “sustainable development itself, and the successful implementation of the sustainable development agenda, cannot, and will not, happen without the smart use of ICTs.''
Ms Bogdan-Martin laid out six enablers that that will help accelerate connectivity, and as a consequence, progress towards the achievement of the SDGs: partnerships, inclusion, financing, leadership, innovation, and youth.
The event also saw the launch of ''Generation Connect''— ITU's youth strategy on the Road to Addis, which aims to engage global youth and encourage their participation as equal partners alongside the leaders of today's digital change. With this goal in mind, WTDC-21 will be preceded by a Youth Summit, in effort to empower young people with the skills and opportunities to advance their vision of a connected future.
In addition to keynote speeches by other high-level representatives of ITU and Ethiopia, the event comprised of a series of short dialogues between young leaders and guest speakers, including the UN Under-Secretary General and Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Digital Cooperation, and representatives from UNICEF, UNDP, UN Women and selected business leaders.
