BDT Director Doreen Bogdan-Martin participated in the Stockholm Internet Forum. She took part in a fireside chat along with Mr Mats Granryd, Director-General, GSMA, in a session dedicated to ''Innovation as a Means to Universal Connectivity.'''
When asked on progress being made towards the Sustainable Development Goals, Ms Bogdan-Martin underscored that ''In our increasingly digital world, those without access to the Internet are hindered from participating in the digital economy, and are being left behind.'' In this vein, she highlighted the need to put digital at the heart of COVID recovery efforts, and use connectivity as ''a catalyst, an accelerator, an enabler for each and every SDG.''
She noted that as the world has transitioned online due to the pandemic, ''existing digital divides between and within countries related to age, disability, gender, geography and socio-economic status have been exacerbated.'' Young people have been particularly impacted with the largest mass disruption of education in history. ITU and UNICEF's Giga initiative to connect schools to the internet has thereby taken on a new level of urgency. The project is currently underway in 19 countries, to deliver school connectivity in a sustainable manner.
Ms Bogdan-Martin also emphasized that efficient policy and regulatory frameworks will be necessary to close the digital divide. In addition to ITU's REG4COVID platform and the Broadband Commission COVID Manifesto and Agenda for Action, she mentioned the COVID Digital Development Action Plan, developed by ITU, GSMA, the World Bank and World Economic Forum, which outlines concrete actions to promote network resilience and support the continuity of digital services, throughout the pandemic and beyond.
''ITU is working hard on a number of different fronts to harness the tremendous power of digital technologies to drive social transformation and improve people's lives,'' said Ms Bogdan-Martin.
