BDT Director Doreen Bogdan-Martin participated in the Road to Addis series event, ''Innovate2Connect: Mainstreaming entrepreneurship-driven innovation to accelerate digital transformation'', which considered ''innovation'' as critical enabler for connectivity.
Distinguished speakers who shared their expertise and first-hand experiences on the subject included: H.E. Faustine Ndugulile, Minister of Communication and Information Technology, Tanzania; H.E. Boštjan Koritnik, Minister of Public Administration , Slovenia ; Ms Diene Keita, Deputy Executive Director (Programme), Assistant Secretary-General, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA); Ms Janati Nakimera, Co-founder and CEO Solar Net Metering, Uganda; Ms Alexa Roscoe, Disruptive Technologies Lead, International Finance Corporation; Mr Erik Ekudden , CTO, Ericsson .
In her welcoming remarks, Ms Bogdan-Martin underlined how local, grassroots, entrepreneur-driven innovation can dramatically re-energize progress towards the seventeen Sustainable Development Goals.
She stated, ''It's in the world's developing countries and emerging economies that innovation can play its most powerful role as a driver of digitally-led development. The populations of the world's poorest nations often lack access to opportunities, even formal education, but they do not lack ingenuity, talent or entrepreneurial drive… If we pair this huge store of entrepreneurial energy with the power and reach of digital, this can be the transformational force we need to advance global development by leaps and bounds.''
Read the BDT Director's full remarks here.
Learn more about the Innovate2Connect session here.
