BDT Director Doreen Bogdan-Martin delivered opening and closing remarks to the Regional Preparatory Meeting for the World Telecommunication Development Conference 2021 (WTDC-21) for Europe (RPM-EUR).
Organized at the invitation of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic, RPM-EUR aimed at engaging membership in the preparations for WTDC-21 in order to achieve regional coordination before the conference itself. Delegates sought to identify issues at the regional level that need to be addressed to foster the development of telecommunications and ICTs, taking into account the most pressing needs faced by the Member States and Sector Members of the region. The event saw the engagement of more than 160 stakeholders from over 60 countries.
In her opening address, Ms Bogdan-Martin emphasized that ITU's mandate to ''connect the world'', has simply never been more important. She stated, ''I believe the next WTDC has the potential to be hailed as a landmark conference in rewriting the global connectivity agenda'', and noted that the enhanced preparatory process has been developed to support this ambitious vision.
By bringing together Member States, the private sector, financial institutions like regional development banks, and key civil society organizations, ''WTDC-21 offers us a unique opportunity to harness a swelling tide of political will around connectivity, and build long-lasting partnerships that advance our digital transformation agenda'', she highlighted.
Ms Bogdan-Martin recognized successes member states have already achieved in advancing Europe's digital agenda. The latest figures from ITU's Digital Trends report show that almost all of Europe's population is now within reach of a mobile broadband signal, with more than 82% of Europeans now online. In terms of key challenges the region still faces, she pointed to the persistent rural-urban divide, and gender gap in access to ICTs. She also posed the question, ''How can we support smaller economies to develop home-grown centres of expertise and entrepreneurship that harness the considerable talent and enthusiasm of their youth?''.
The Generation Connect- Europe Youth Group made a Youth Declaration, an important input document for the RPM, as it provides European youth's views on challenges and opportunities related to digital development, and actions they would like to see in terms of regional priorities.
The RPM-EUR also saw the unveiling of Network of Women for the ITU Development Sector, to build a community to support current and future female delegates, and promote the more active participation of women in ITU activities and in the technology sector in general.
While closing the event, Ms Bogdan-Martin congratulated delegates for having collectively identified a set of regional priorities on digital infrastructure development; digital transformation for resilience; digital inclusion and skills development; trust and confidence in the use of digital technologies; and digital innovation ecosystems.
She expressed her hope that the RPM-EUR would be the first in an equally successful series of preparatory meetings spanning all six ITU regions, in the lead up to WTDC-21.
