BDT Director Doreen Bogdan-Martin delivered remarks at the opening of the very first Inter-Regional Coordination Meeting held to prepare for the 2021 World Telecommunication Development Conference (WTDC-21).
A series of Inter-Regional Coordination Meetings (IRMs) will be held to foster discussions and identify common positions and agreement on key issues ahead of the 2021 World Telecommunication Development Conference (WTDC-21). Complementary to Regional Preparatory Meetings, these meetings will allow crucial inter-regional linkages to be made to advance a successful WTDC-21.
Ms Bogdan-Martin underscored the importance of solid preparation to achieve a WTDC that ''delivers maximum impact, in terms of concrete, implementable and measurable outcomes that will transform not just the digital landscape, but the lives of so many around the world.''
She summarized that the Regional Preparatory Meetings held so far in Europe and the Asia and Pacific regions have already mobilized awareness on the need to tackle barriers that prevent 3.7 billion people that remain unconnected from coming online (such as affordability, infrastructure financing gaps, digital skills and innovation).
In addition to establishing linkages across regions, Ms Bogdan-Martin noted that the IRMs will allow us ''to listen to one another, to better understand our areas of difference, and to work together'' to build vital consensus for meaningful outcomes at WTDC-21. IRM agendas are set based on results from RPMs, as well as proposals from Member States, Sector Members, other partners and stakeholders, and BDT.
Ms Bogdan-Martin emphasized ''With digital solutions increasingly recognized as the key to the SDGs, all eyes are on us to make this next WTDC a truly landmark conference that delivers on its vision of universal connectivity, universal opportunity, and universal prosperity. We must not disappoint.''
