BDT Director Doreen Bogdan-Martin participated in the second event of ITU's “Road to Addis'' series in the lead up to the World Telecommunication Development Conference (WTDC-21) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in November 2021. The event was focused on “Rethinking partnerships and their role in accelerating connectivity for sustainable development.''
Distinguished speakers who took part and highlighted the crucial need for partnerships to connect the unconnected included Mr Børge Brende, President, World Economic Forum; Mr Amadou Daffe, CEO and Co-Founder, Gebeya, Inc; Ms Wendy Mars, President of Europe, Middle East, Africa and Russia, Cisco; and Ms Sanda Ojiambo, Executive Director and CEO, UN Global Compact.
In her introductory remarks, Ms Bogdan-Martin emphasized that no one alone can achieve connectivity for the billions of people that still lack any form of access to the internet, much less achieve accessible, affordable and meaningful connectivity for millions more.
ITU estimates that US$428 billion will be required to connect the remaining 3.7 billion to the Internet by 2030. Ms Bogdan-Martin stated that the enormity of the investment needed, and the huge regulatory and logistical efforts required to extend networks out to where they are most needed, ''is going to demand a colossal effort involving stakeholders across the entire digital ecosystem and beyond.''
She explained that the new Partnership Track at WTDC is designed not just to engage ITU's traditional development constituencies, but to expand ITU's reach, bring in a host of new players, and provide all stakeholders with a place to forge alliances and make deals for concrete actions towards bridging the digital divide.
After hearing the youth perspective on creating partnerships that can engage youth in digital transformation, Ms Bogdan-Martin said ''I think the pressure is on us. Future generations will judge us.'' In a message to youth, she stated ''As the leaders of the organizations working on the issues that youth care deeply about, we need to not only give you a platform and opportunities to engage, but we also need to actively listen to your ideas, be open-minded and embrace your eagerness to challenge the status quo.''
While closing the event, Ms Bogdan-Martin reminded that WTDC-21 will take place in a short nine months. She called on the global community ''to step up to the plate and start working now on concrete, collaborative commitments that we can bring to that landmark conference.'' She commended the vision, energy and drive of the various stakeholders in attendance, and said ''I look forward immensely to working with you to be the change that we all want to see.''
