Speech by Malcolm Johnson, ITU Deputy Secretary-GeneralKeynote Speech with Presentation - Global Science, Technology and Innovation Conference (G-STIC)
"Building a digital future where no one is left behind - Harnessing ICTs to achieve the SDGs"
23 October 2017, Brussels, Belgium
I am very happy to be here with you today for the first G-STIC conference.
I am going to talk to you this afternoon about building a digital future where no one is left behind, where information and communication technologies can and will help us achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.
And the clock is ticking…
It is now two years since the UN adopted the SDGs, but the challenges are daunting:
- Over 700 million people continue to battle extreme poverty, living on less than $2 a day.
- 80% of the world’s hungry and poor people live in rural areas, with no or little access to the Internet.
Our cities are choking with traffic and air pollution. They generate 70% of greenhouse gas emissions. And with urbanisation, it is getting worse: by 2050, nearly 70% of the world’s population will live in urban areas. Around 250 million children leave school without ever learning how to read, write and do simple arithmetic. Today, almost 100 million girls around the world are not in school.
Information and communication technologies are key. They can lift people out of poverty, make our cities smarter, the world greener and our education system better. Let me play a short clip showing how ICTs can help advance the Sustainable Development Agenda, and then I will speak about ITU’s role in helping achieve it. This illustrates nicely how ICTs are the essential levers to move the SDGs from vision to action and to transform the digital revolution into a development revolution.
As the lead UN agency for ICTs, ITU is at the heart of this transformation -- thanks to its membership of 193 governments, over 450 private sector companies, and more than 150 universities, civil society and other regional and international organisations.
What do we do?
ITU harmonises the global use of the radio spectrum and satellite orbits. We develop the international technical standards for networks, services and applications that ensure interoperability, between different makes of equipment and service offerings, across the world.
And this substantially reduces costs through economies of scale. ITU does this quietly and efficiently, which is maybe why it is not a very well-known organisation! Now, if satellites started bumping into each other, if cell phones started interfering with TVs or car electronics -- or didn’t work when you visited another country, ITU would be much better known! At ITU, our mission is to connect all the world’s people, wherever they live and whatever their means.
Last year’s edition of the World Bank’s “World Development Report” shows that even among the poorest 20% of households worldwide, nearly 7 out of 10 have a mobile phone -- and are more likely to have access to a mobile phone than to toilets or clean water!
In ITU’s 2017 edition of “ICT Facts and Figures”, mobile broadband subscriptions are shown to have grown more than 20% annually in the last five years. They are expected to reach 4.3 billion globally by the end of 2017. The highest growth rates are in Least Developed Countries and developing countries. But we must put these results in perspective.
In the 47 Least Developed Countries 4 out 5 people are still offline.
Although prices of smartphones have fallen, for many the cost is still too high -- especially when users face limited local content in local languages. ICT skills need to be developed at the local level so as to generate this local content -- and people need to be made more aware of the benefits, and how to make best use of them. Worldwide, 3.9 billion people are still not connected to the Internet.
What’s worse, in terms of absolute numbers, connectivity rates are actually falling. Over the course of 2016, some 240 million people made it online for the first time. This year, according to latest estimates, 190 million people will have made it online. That’s still a large number, but some 50 million fewer than the previous year.
And there are several explanations for this:
A number of markets are reaching maturity, especially in ‘easy-to-reach’ urban centres. But the business case is challenging for coverage of rural areas where too often, topography and demography defeat market viability. Innovative approaches to covering rural areas will hopefully be coming online in the next few years, and will play a key role in opening new opportunities for rural people -- especially young people. This resonates with me on a personal level, because I was born in a small village in the middle of Wales -- an area which still today has poor mobile connectivity ! And yet globally, demand for digital data is exploding and data volumes are soaring. The result is an ever greater demand on the spectrum and telecommunication networks. How many millions of text messages have been sent around the world since I started my presentation? How many videos have been downloaded? And how many Internet searches? How many tweets?
The growth of digital data is exponential. Every day, we create 2.5 QUINTILLION bytes of data. In this era of ‘always connected’, there is an expectation that we can have a high-speed data connection at all times...everywhere.
Another challenge is the growing digital gender divide -- over 250 million more men than women online. A gap that is actually increasing! And in every region of the world ! To address this issue, we need to invest in digital infrastructure. That’s where SDG 9 comes into play:
Chronic under-investment in rural infrastructure and technology has a disproportionately negative impact for women living in rural areas.
More generally, we need to help policymakers strengthen their digital development strategies and adopt an enabling environment.Divergent regulatory frameworks across the world add complexity, create uncertainty and discourage investment. Big Data, artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things and 5G will all shape our digital future. We have to ensure that they accelerate the achievement of the SDGs.
A company like Uber owns no taxis. Alibaba has no inventory. Airbnb owns no hotels. And yet, all of them have disrupted well-established industries and been incredibly successful. All stakeholders need to come together to discuss and address these challenges. Collaboration between different regulators, industry sectors, civil society, academia and a wide range of international and regional bodies will be needed to make sure we benefit from these technological advances. I always emphasise the importance of COLLABORATION, wherever I go.
And that’s why I’m happy to share the stage today with the Managing Director of GeSI, my friend, Luis Neves. We have shared many platforms over the years advocating the important role of ICTs, starting with the climate change conferences to the ongoing dialogue on SDGs.
Here are some of the PARTNERSHIPS that ITU has made in recent years. ITU was a proud partner with GeSI for the “#SystemTransformation” report that Luis will talk about, because we believe that this new data on how digital solutions will drive progress towards the SDGs is absolutely critical. It’s also important to show the tremendous business opportunity they offer.
Because make no mistake about it, achieving the SDGs will only be possible by close PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS.
The SDG framework means working beyond ICT sectoral interests into other industrial and commercial sectors that previously had little interaction.
I think 5G is a great example to illustrate this.
ITU is working on the requirements for fifth generation mobile for both the radio and the fixed network elements.
These requirements relate to increase data rates, to enhance reliability, lower latency, improve energy efficiency, and enhance privacy and security. This is challenging since it means creating the right enabling environment meeting several needs -- needs that are sometimes conflicting like open access, privacy, security, trust, and the legal and commercial requirements.
Another example is the SPACE INDUSTRY.
Right now above our heads are about 1400 operational satellites. 59 countries have at least one satellite. And there are thousands more satellites to be launched in the next few years -- all of which will be coordinated by ITU. I’d like focus on satellites that observe the Earth to collect scientific data: You will see that these satellites can help advance many different SDG,. Irrigation, for example. It accounts for around 70% of global water consumption, so improving the efficiency of this sector will play a major role in the sustainability of the world’s water resources. And you’ve all seen the devastations caused by the wildfires in California, the hurricanes in the Caribbean -- all the natural disasters that struck the planet recently. Disaster management would not be possible without the use of satellites.
So, let me summarise:
First, the central promise of the 2030 Agenda is to leave no one behind. At ITU, our mission is to leave no one unconnected.
Second, the potential of ICTs for the public good is enormous. We must use ICTs as an accelerator for innovation and change.
Third, too often the people with the most to gain from ICTs are also those most likely to be locked out of the benefits. That’s why we need to put people first -- be it children, women or refugees.
Fourth, we can never, ever be complacent in assuming ICTs will NOT generate new forms of exclusion. There are extreme disruptive forces at play.
And finally, achieving the SDGs is a collective, collaborative endeavour. Only strong, durable and innovative partnerships will allow us to build a digital future where no one is left behind.
Thank you.