ITU invited Ambassadors/Permanent Representatives of Permanent Missions to the United Nations and other International Organizations in Geneva to a briefing hosted by ITU Secretary General Mr. Houlin Zhao. The briefing updated members on the current activities and priorities of the ITU, including forthcoming ITU events.
BDT Director Doreen Bogdan-Martin presented updates on the work of ITU's Development sector, particularly in the lead up to the upcoming World Telecommunication Development Conference (WTDC).
She noted that BDT has organized over 100 virtual events and webinars in the past 12 months, including flagship events like the Global Symposium for Regulators (GSR), meetings of the Broadband Commission, and of Regional Preparatory Meetings for WTDC.
Ms Bogdan-Martin highlighted the important contributions that members have made to ITU's REG4COVID for global network resiliency during the pandemic, and she conveyed that this will serve as a valuable input to the upcoming GSR in June 2021.
She thanked members for their collaboration and partnership in other initiatives like Connect2Recover (to help countries build back better with digital), the Giga initiative to connect every school to the internet, and many more.
While mentioned the theme of the upcoming WTDC – 'Connecting the Unconnected to Achieve Sustainable Development' – Ms Bogdan-Martin emphasized that ''Our commitment to digital inclusion is also being reflected in the way we are working to prepare this event.'' Notably, through the recently launched Network of Women and Generation Connect Youth Groups, to integrate diverse thoughts and voices as the global community comes together to forge a revitalized connectivity agenda.
Additionally, she stated that the new 'Partner2Connect for Digital Transformation' segment in WTDC ''will bring together leaders from across government, business, the investment community, and civil society with the aim of launching a new Coalition to connect the unconnected, particularly in LDCs, LLDCs, and SIDS.''
Inviting members to take part in events ahead of WTDC like the Telecommunication Development Advisory Group (TDAG) meeting in May and Road to Addis series over the year, Ms Bogdan-Martin reiterated ''BDT is ready and eager to support you in leveraging the power of digital technologies to help your countries build a better future.
