Doreen Bogdan-Martin
Secretary-General, International Telecommunication Union (ITU)
Speech at the
Submarine Cable Resilience Summit
[As prepared for delivery]
Good afternoon, Co-Chairs of our International Advisory Body on Submarine Cable Resilience: Our fearless minister his Excellency Bosun Tijani [Nigeria's Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy] and Professor Sandra Maximiano, [Chair of ANACOM − Portugal's national regulatory authority for the communications sector].
Colleagues and friends,
Welcome to this landmark summit.
I thank Nigeria for its hospitality, and I especially thank Excellency Tijani for your key part in bringing us together today.
As our economies and digital ambitions grow, and as we seek to bring meaningful connectivity to all − so does our reliance on digital infrastructure like submarine cables.
This global undersea network is emblematic of the innovation and investment required to connect the world meaningfully, and just how dependent we have become on digital infrastructure.
The past two decades have seen a vast digital shift, with new socio-economic opportunities and challenges since the 2005 World Summit on the Information Society.
The number of Internet users surged from 1 billion in 2005 to 5.5 billion in 2024.
And today, the global digital economy is growing faster than global GDP − expected to reach 16.5 trillion US dollars by 2028.
Over the next decade, some estimate that more than two-thirds of new value creation could come from digitally enabled platforms.
As digital transformation continues to reshape our global economy, the undersea cable networks that form its foundation require our renewed attention, especially when it comes to resilience.
Cables are built to operate for around 25 years, and reliability has always been top priority.
But despite how robust submarine cables are, we are seeing 100 to 200 disruptions each year and sometimes significant delays to repairs.
Entire economies feel the impact of these disruptions to cable services.
Submarine networks are given life by an interplay of technology, business and policy, that must be considered holistically.
That is why this summit includes the diversity of stakeholders essential to this conversation.
We also see this diversity in ITU's global membership and our new Advisory Body on cable resilience.
The Advisory Body will promote best practices for governments and industry players to ensure timely cable deployments and repairs; improve service continuity; and reduce the risk of disruption.
I thank our partners: the International Cable Protection Committee; our Co-Chairs from Nigeria and Portugal; and everyone contributing to this critical work.
Our Advisory Body's first physical meeting this morning finalized our structure for the work ahead, and this summit will explore the many dimensions of cable resilience in depth.
Meaningful connectivity requires resilient infrastructure, but also needs proactive, data-driven approaches to risk assessment.
By better anticipating risks, we can better prepare for swift, coordinated action in response. And our strategies must be environmentally responsible, if they are to be truly sustainable.
In the Global Digital Compact, UN Member States commit to ensuring digital infrastructure and equipment are sustainably designed to address environmental challenges by 2030.
Colleagues,
We stand to gain great value from harmonizing our approaches to this fundamentally international matter.
And that's why this summit and our Advisory body aim to foster deeper collaboration among governments, companies and research communities.
ITU's contribution will build on 160 years of experience and our membership's wealth of expertise in policy and engineering.
We have supported the submarine telecoms industry from its very beginnings.
Our standards underpin every technical aspect of this vital infrastructure, from cable design and construction, to deployment, operation, maintenance and repair.
Greater cable resilience will demand synergy −synergy in the actions of stakeholders across the public and private sectors.
And I know we'll rise to the challenge.
Just as standards provide the technical foundations for global business ecosystems, our collective efforts can help build the consensus that is essential to cable resilience over the long term.
The common understandings and best practices that we develop can pave the way for the shared prosperity and robust digital future to borrow from the Minister's words this morning.
I have every confidence we can realize this vision together, and ensure this vital infrastructure connects our world meaningfully and sustainably for generations to come.
