KfW Development Bank interviewed BDT Director Doreen Bogdan-Martin, during the conference it hosted on “Fragile Contexts, Digitalization, Remote Management, Monitoring and Verification.''
Question: So I would like to start this conversation by asking you what you think it took to reach this position, in a male- dominated industry and in a rather traditional organizational culture that had not been very conducive to the advancement of women?
BDT Director: The ICT sector has been and continues to be a largely male dominated industry, but we are seeing signs of progress.
For me, I think I was lucky to have had a family that encouraged me. My dad inspired me with an interest in science, which eventually led me to pursue a career in connectivity, and my husband and 4 kids continue to encourage me.
It's that impact of connectivity that really drives me: the promise that technology holds for education, healthcare, agriculture and more. It's the hope that we can achieve an equitable digital future for all, where everyone has the chance to follow their dreams and realize their potential.
I have worked in this sector for over 30 years, and over 25 years in the ITU working in quite a few different roles, that gave me the chance to learn the ropes and to get to understand our membership and what they are looking for from us.
I have also had some amazing male mentors over the years, as well as female.
Other things that have helped me, is being a good listener. Listening to my colleagues, to our partners, and to our Member States, has taught me so much, and enabled me to be much more effective in my role.
Being well prepared also helps. I am a real stickler for good preparation— this is absolutely critical. I believe that if you prepare well, you are already halfway there and much more likely to succeed. Understanding the importance of building relationships, working collaboratively and having trust in your team, and being able to delegate is also important, because no one can do it alone.
Finally, of course, a good dose of patience always helps. That part also comes from my parenting responsibilities too. These are all things that have helped me. There are always roadblocks in any role or project.
I have always been a very determined person, and when I face a roadblock, I take a step back, reassess and try to figure out a work-around to proceed forward. Sometimes I have to change my plans entirely and sometimes I just have to adapt. Roadblocks are always a challenge (but sometimes they can become opportunities). They can also force you to rethink, and sometimes they actually help you reach a better outcome.
Question: Organization, determination, having a good support system, and definitively leadership skills were key for you to achieving your goals and succeeding in your work. Can you tell us something about your vision for ICT Development and what you are doing towards achieving it?
BDT Director: From the early days in my career, I was struck by Arthur C Clark's 1945 prediction that three geostationary satellites spaced at equal intervals around the equator would connect the world.
And more 36 year ago, Sir Donald Maitlan's missing link report—the report found that three quarters of the world's telephones were in just nine industrial countries and there were more telephones in Tokyo than the entire African continent. 8% of the global population at that time had access to a fixed analogue telephone line.
Maitland made the compelling case for universal connectivity as the essential foundation of economic and social prosperity... that was 36 years ago and here we are today (not talking about analogue fixed line) we have 3.7 billion unconnected.
So what is my vision? That we close the missing link and achieve a more connected and inclusive world, with broadband access for all, where everyone, wherever they live and whatever their means, is able to fully participate in the digital era.
UN Secretary General António Guterres has urged us to 'build back better'. I want to go further and stress the importance of trying to 'build back better with broadband'.
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted, like nothing else could, the crucial role of digital connectivity, technologies, services and applications in keeping our economies and societies working.
And in our last State of Broadband report we revealed that in addition to those 3.7 billion there are many of the billions that we currently count as 'connected' that in reality lack the speeds, devices and affordability of service that would make this connectivity meaningful to their lives.
Of course, there's much more to connecting the world than just getting infrastructure in place. Connecting the second half of the planet is going to require very different approaches. Business-as-usual is not going to work when we try to reach out to populations with:
- no prior digital exposure,
- low or no literacy and numeracy,
- and no obviously compelling reason to get connected.
And those are the areas we are trying to tap into. My Bureau has a very broad portfolio of complementary activities designed to tackle barriers to connectivity on all major fronts.
Digital skills for example, is one area that needs much more focus, because even where networks exist, and are affordable, lack of skills remains a major impediment to the uptake of digital services.
Through our ITU Academy network, our digital Centres of Excellence, and our new Digital Transformation Centres, complemented by targeted initiatives like our annual Girls in ICT Day celebration, our Girls Can Code camps, and our Decent Jobs for Youth partnership with the ILO, ITU is striving to bring digital literacy and digital empowerment to traditionally marginalized groups and communities all over the world.
Reaching out to youth is another key area of our vision for ICT for development. With an estimated 1.5 billion children affected by school closures because of COVID, ensuring that all young people have access to the extraordinary power of safe online learning has assumed a new urgency.
That's why ITU partnered with UNICEF on a bold new initiative called Giga. Giga aims to connect every school on the planet to the Internet, and every child to information, opportunity and choice.
The COVID pandemic has prompted us to reinforce our efforts, with an ambitious global rollout schedule and active recruitment of new partner organizations now underway.
Question: The Covid pandemic brought a much-needed light to the issue of connectivity. Last year, for many of us, being able to continue to work, learn, and communicate in a safe and secure way was only possible because we had connectivity. ITU's Development sector has a very ambitious goal: connecting 3.7 billion people to the Internet by 2030. Is this the most important topic on your desk at the moment? What are other priorities for your sector in 2021?
BDT Director: For me, as Director of ITU's Telecommunication Development Bureau, working to bring meaningful connectivity to all the world's people is always at the very top of every day's to-do list.
Equally important is to make sure connectivity and ICTs are actually used as accelerators of sustainable development.
The ITU has identified “6 enablers" that contribute to this goal: partnerships, inclusion, financing, leadership, innovation and youth.
This year our priority will be to focus on these areas, and to bring them into the spotlight, as we start our journey on the 'Road to Addis', which is the name we have given to our preparatory process for the World Telecommunication Development Conference which will take place in November in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Another priority for this year will be to further develop initiatives such as Connect2Recover and Reg4Covid, which were born last year as a consequence of the pandemic.
These initiatives aim to provide the means of utilizing digital technologies to support COVID-19 recovery efforts and preparedness for a 'new normal', as well as to provide a place for regulators and other stakeholders to share information around initiatives designed to ensure communities remain connected during this and any future crisis.
Question: The sessions at our KfW conference focus on how to remain operational and sustain impact in global development cooperation.
Wherever people work online, we need to talk about fast, secure and safe connections that enable successful transactions and create impact. What examples can you give us that show the work the ITU Development Sector is doing towards supporting these needs? And how are you working with other partners to achieve your goals?
BDT Director: Getting the next 3.7 billion people connected is going to mean finding creative new ways to collaborate. But what does this kind of multistakeholder cooperation look like?
I would like to quickly share a few example. One great example is ITU's Smart Village project with the Government of Niger and a range of local authorities and private sector partners, which provides broadband Internet to small communities in rural and remote parts of the country.
This project model prioritizes an integrated, whole-of-government approach, in contrast to traditional siloed development models. It emphasizes local leadership, the continuous development of local skills and expertise, and the direct involvement of a range of different players.
Another example is our work on emergency and disaster preparedness and response. When disaster strikes there is no time to think about what to do and how to organize disaster response efforts. Governments need to remain operational, so it is crucial that all stakeholders are well-prepared beforehand and ready to take action.
To support this, we have joined forces with technology partners to boost the capacity of countries to maintain a reliable communications network when disasters occur, and to improve connectivity to boost socio-economic development.
For example, when Cyclone Harold hit Vanuatu in April last year, ITU provided equipment and satellite bandwidth capacity to enable crucial connectivity to help relief efforts on the ground, after normal network coverage was wiped out.
Another area worth highlighting is the issue of the safety and security of digital transactions: through ITU's Cybersecurity programme, we offer our members – particularly developing countries – the opportunity and tools to increase cybersecurity capabilities at the national level in order to enhance security and build confidence and trust in the use of ICTs.
Question: Let's close by talking a little bit about the World Telecommunications Development Conference. You mentioned in the video that this is the first time the conference will take place in Africa. Can you tell us more about WTDC-21, the kind of issues that will be addressed there, and who should be interested in being part of it?
BDT Director: We organize a World Telecommunication Development Conference – or WTDC - every four years, in the period between our Plenipotentiary Conferences, to consider topics, projects and programmes relevant to digital development.
WTDCs set the strategies and objectives for the development of telecommunicatio ns and ICTs around the world, providing direction and guidance to ITU's Telecommunication Development Bureau and our Development Sector.
This year's conference comes at a major inflection point for the planet, with the COVID pandemic underscoring the often unseen cost of poor connectivity, and ICTs increasingly recognized as critical to global development efforts, as well as to other challenges facing humanity, like the climate crisis.
For the first time in decades, those of us advocating for universal digital inclusion suddenly have the full attention of governments, and CEOs. That means we have a unique opportunity to make huge strides forward in connecting the unconnected.
I firmly believe that our next WTDC has the potential to be hailed as a landmark conference in rewriting the global connectivity agenda.
To that end, we have been very proactively enhancing our Road to Addis conference preparatory process, to support this ambitious vision. By bringing together Member States, the private sector, financial institutions like regional development banks, the UN family 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.
For the first time, too, we will be bringing in the vital voice of youth, through a two-day Youth Summit that will give us a unique opportunity to hear from the planet's most enthusiastic and capable users of technology.
Young people are increasingly devising, designing and shaping the digital services that make up our world. Having them at the table for the first time is a great step forward for digital inclusion, and will make our debates richer, and our resulting WTDC resolutions more relevant, and more powerful.
I invite everyone with a stake in improving connectivity, and committed to our vision of universal digital inclusion, to join our Road to Addis online series, and to be a part of our WTDC conference this November.
I believe that if we harness the energy and enthusiasm that now surrounds digital networks and services, we truly have a chance to change the world.
