Speech by Malcolm Johnson, ITU Deputy Secretary-General

IGF 2016 - Zero Day High-Level Meeting - “Achieving social inclusion: A common goal for the Internet community"

5 December 2016, Guadalajara, Mexico

Discussion Themes: The debate has taken place during the High Level Meeting,and was focused on the opportunities that the multistakeholder model offers to Internet Governance regarding social inclusion and digital abilities for the future, emphasizing the necessary skills for an environment marked by the contribution of the Internet to the development of citizens and nations in diverse aspects, including the economic one.

The debate allowed the participants to exchange opinions, remarks and specific contributions in relation to how the decentralized and open administration of the Internet promotes diversity, which are the barriers that the communities face while preserving the diversity and the catalyzers to foster the development of people and nations.

1. What advantages does the multi-stakeholder model offer to the global efforts regarding inclusion, including those focused in reducing the different types of digital divide?

Since ITU is the UN Specialized Agency for Telecommunication and ICTs one of its major objectives is to connect all regions of the world and bring the benefits of ICTs to all people, regardless of their location, gender, age or income.

According to ITU’s latest statistics 47% of the world’s population is using the Internet, and this percentage keeps growing. However, in the case of least developed countries only one out of seven people uses the Internet.

At the same time, there are various other digital divides that are emerging and need to be addressed in a more targeted way: The gender digital divide (an estimated 200 million less women than men online); access to ICTs for persons with disabilities; the chronic lack of digital skills in many countries; and the lack of affordable solutions for low-income users in developing countries.

A world where everyone is connected to the Internet will be a better place. A better place to be informed, to be educated, to receive healthcare, to be productive and enjoy a better standard of living.

However, to benefit from the many innovative products and services on the Internet, or more generally ICTs, requires high-speed broadband connectivity: it is no longer a luxury but an essential utility.

We therefore need to continue to highlight the importance of affordable access to broadband; to overcome the network infrastructure challenges and develop successful financing models; encourage countries to adopt an enabling policy and regulatory environment that encourages innovation and investment; and draw awareness of the importance of connectivity to social and economic growth, as well as environmental sustainability.

This can only be achieved through good collaboration, cooperation and coordination with all the different stakeholders as part of a holistic approach. ITU with a membership of 193 governments and over 700 private sector companies, 140 universities and a variety of intergovernmental and non-governmental organisations is a good example of an international public-private partnership, but clearly ITU also needs to develop partnerships with many other stakeholders that are not members.

Working with different stakeholders has the advantage of bringing numerous perspectives to the table and raising awareness about what each stakeholder is doing. This can help pool resources and avoid duplication of efforts, and ensure that every party brings its own competencies to reach the common goal.

ITU has long recognized the important role of the private sector especially in the area of technical standards and the provision of the network infrastructure. 

We are in a global market and to help industry to be successful in this important role there needs to be some commonality in the regulatory environments around the world.  

The next ITU World Radio Conference in 2019 will be vital in considering new frequency allocations for use by 5G, and agreement on global allocations will be very important to ensure the major benefits for interoperability, roaming and economies of scale. 

Finally, I would like to highlight the importance of the WSIS Action Lines which provide a global framework for multi-stakeholder collaboration with the aim of advancing ICTs as an enabler for socio-economic development. The Annual WSIS Forum is open to all stakeholders from all corners of the world to showcase their work on ICT-related programmes and projects and how these contribute to global development.

The 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda adopted by the UN last year clearly identified ICTs as a key enabler for the implementation of its 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs). A WSIS Action Line-SDG mapping exercise produced last year draws direct linkages between the WSIS Action Lines and the SDGs and their targets, with the goal to continue strengthening the impact of ICTs for sustainable development in a truly multi-stakeholder context.

Multi-stakeholder events such as the IGF, the WSIS Forum and others are essential to bring together all the necessary skills, experiences and perspectives so that the requirements of all are recognised and can be addressed and we can move forward to truly equitable and affordable access to this vital resource for all.

2. The efforts of the global community are driven towards a scenario in which there are more people connected to the Internet; Which set of skills should the people have to achieve total inclusion in diverse aspects, including the economic one?

It's true that the global community is making a great effort to bring all people on line. However technology is moving so fast, almost every week we hear of a new exciting innovation. It means the gap between the developed and the least developed countries is in fact increasing. Developing countries need to run faster and faster just to keep up.

Digital skills are lacking – not only in developing countries but even in developed countries.

These skills are necessary not only to be aware of what services are available, such as e-commerce, e-health and e-education but also what technologies and technical standards are best used to provide these services.

The requirements of developing countries are often different to those of the developed countries. This means they need people with the skills to participate in the development of technical standards to ensure their own specific requirements are included in the standards and they understand how to implement them.

Furthermore, with the growing development of accessible technologies, persons with disabilities can experience a rapid and meaningful inclusion into social and economic life, so people need the skills to bring these accessible technologies to people with disabilities.

Another important issue is the low level of financial inclusion which is a significant barrier to socio-economic development in developing countries. Globally, more than 2 billion adults do not have a formal bank account, most of them in developing economies. Of these, it is estimated 1.6 billion have a mobile phone. Mobile money can be a game changer for people of limited income and an enabler for financial inclusion in developing countries. 

To address this issue ITU formed a Focus Group on Financial Inclusion open to all stakeholders. 

The focus group will complete its work this week and intends establishing a global collaboration to implement its recommendations, including those on the necessary skills levels, so that many more people around the world can enter into the digital economy. 

We all need to work together to raise the skills level in ICTs. In ITU we are pleased that we now have 140 universities members of ITU and we look forward to working with them and other partners to improve these essential skills levels especially in developing countries.