Global Digital Compact Thematic Deep Dive: Digital Inclusion and Connectivity
Statement
ITU Secretary-General Doreen Bogdan-Martin
27 March 2023
Colleagues,
Good morning, afternoon, and evening.
It's great to join you today to consider what a Global Digital Compact could be at this time of urgency.
Last week, UN Secretary-General António Guterres talked about the need for "an acceleration agenda."[i]
We're here today because we believe that digital can be that accelerator.
Because we cannot let existing digital divides widen, not when 2.7 billion people are already offline around the world.
The picture worsens for women, with 63% of them using the Internet compared to 69% of men[ii] – and hidden in that global average is the fact that just 30% women in Least Developed Countries are online.
About two-thirds of the LDC population remains offline, facing lack of infrastructure, lack of digital skills, affordability challenges for devices and services as the Internet is more costly in LDCs than anywhere else in the world.
The picture I have just painted may appear dire, but there are reasons to be optimistic.
So let me share a few questions that can frame our discussions today around three specific action areas that give me hope for our shared digital future.
The first is access. What will it take to bring digital infrastructure access to everyone on the planet?
And how much will it cost?
Estimates from ITU and the IMF put that price tag at around at least 400 billion dollars.
The second question is about adoption.
Once that digital infrastructure is in place, how do we make sure that people use it?
That they can afford it?
That it works for them?
Right now, 95% of the global population lives within range of a mobile broadband network, but many people forgo connectivity because they can't afford it. They don't feel safe online, or the content just isn't meaningful or useful enough.
Driving adoption is the impetus behind the universal and meaningful connectivity targets launched last year with the Tech Envoy's Office – as part of our work on the Secretary-General's Roadmap for Digital Cooperation.
And the third and final question is about value creation – that's the societal return on investment that digital brings, if we can make access and adoption happen.
Don't get me wrong, it's extremely difficult to implement the first two action areas.
But our efforts must be motivated by the value digital technologies can create – not only to improve individual lives and livelihoods, but also to entire communities and economies.
We can accelerate this even further by empowering marginalized groups – youth and older persons, indigenous communities, persons with disabilities, rural communities, LDCs, LLDCs and SIDS – to innovate digital services and resources that bring value to their communities.
This requires uniting through bold new partnerships, to translate Our Common Agenda into processes that allow us to make digital transformation fast, sustainable, and fair.
That's how we create the connected, inclusive digital future the UN targets envision. Where everyone aged 15 or older uses the Internet, has a mobile phone, and is covered by the latest generation of mobile networks.
Where 100% of schools are connected (this is the goal of our Giga programme) and at least 70% of the world's population is digitally skilled enough to send an email, and over half can install new apps on their phone.
Where broadband is affordable for all, because it costs less than 2% of monthly gross national income per capita – even in LDCs.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Digital inclusion and connectivity are not just the sum of their parts. It's more than that, because digital has a transformational multiplier effect.
The equation is simple: with more people connected, the more value is created.
And we know how to get to the answer, by collaborating on bold and innovative initiatives like the Partner2Connect Digital Coalition.
Led by ITU, the Office of the Tech Envoy and OHRLLS, Partner2Connect has already mobilized over 600 pledges worth 30 billion US dollars.[iii]
And each pledge represents a concrete investment to bring connectivity to some of the hardest-to-connect places in the world.
Some are targeted towards access through digital infrastructure development; others are more focused on adoption, by ramping up cybersecurity and boosting digital skills and safety online.
But all of them – every single pledge – creates tangible value for communities by closing the digital divide and enabling digital inclusion for all.
The Global Digital Compact can catalyze action on digital inclusion and connectivity – by considering the work of the high-level panel on digital cooperation, and building on already existing platforms such as WSIS and the Broadband Commission, and even CSTD which I had the pleasure of attending here in Geneva today.
What's at stake is the achievement of the SDGs – and failure is simply not an option.
The good news is we're seeing more and more focus on digital.
This was witnessed over recent weeks at LDC5, the WSIS Forum, and at the 67th session of the Commission on the Status of Women, which explicitly recognized, in its game-changing Agreed Conclusions, digital transformation's potential “to drive breakthrough progress and new solutions towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals."
We are also seeing exciting developments in the Joint SDG Fund's new window on Digital Transformation, which will be coordinated by ITU and UNDP and be launched later this year, which has identified “inclusive digital connectivity" among its investment strategies with the highest potential to accelerate the SDGs.
We need to build on this momentum. We have to get the SDGs back on track – and do it fast.
It's time to translate our shared vision into action, using the Global Digital Compact as the thread that weaves different views together – especially in the lead-up to the SDG Digital Day that we will organize ahead of the SDG Summit to be held during the General Assembly high-level week.
We remain committed to working with all of you moving forward.
Because together, we can accelerate human development and progress for people and the planet – and laser focus our efforts where they matter most.
Access, adoption, value creation.
Those are the three action areas that can make connectivity meaningful, and transform digital inclusion into a reality for everyone, everywhere.
Thank you.
NOTES
[i]
https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/speeches/2023-03-23/opening-remarks-joint-press-encounter-the-president-of-the-european-council-charles-michel
[ii]
https://www.itu.int/itu-d/reports/statistics/facts-figures-2022/index/
[iii]
https://www.itu.int/hub/2023/02/partner2connect-steps-up-drive-for-meaningful-connectivity-in-ldcs/
