Speech by Malcolm Johnson, ITU Deputy Secretary-General
Keynote Address - WTISD Celebrations and National Preparatory Workshop for ITU PP-18
17 May 2018, Hotel Imperial, Delhi
Shri T.R. Dua, Chairman, ITU-APT Foundation of India,
Shri Bharat Bhatia, President, ITU APT Foundation of India,
Shri N.K. Goyal, Vice Chairman, ITU APT Foundation of India,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Namaste! And Happy World Telecommunication and Information Society Day! It is a real pleasure to be here with you in New Delhi on this special day.
The story of ITU starts on 17 May 1865, with the signature of the first International Telegraph Convention. It is a story of innovation in the face of technological change.
The telegraph. The radio. The telephone. TV broadcasting. The internet. Satellite communications. Mobiles. Cloud computing. 5G. The internet of things. Artificial intelligence. Our Union has been at the centre of advances in communications technology for over 150 years.
But the story of ITU is also a remarkable story of international cooperation and consensus building.
Together with our 193 Member States and over 800 Industry and Academia Members, ITU develops global standards on communication technologies and services, manages spectrum and satellite orbits, and assists developing countries strengthen their digital development strategies and adopt an enabling environment.
What’s more, ITU does this quietly and efficiently.
At stake are interconnection and interoperability, as well as resulting economies of scale. Imagine 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. As the lead United Nations agency for information and communication technologies (ICTs), our mission is to bring the benefits of ICTs to all the world’s people, wherever they live and whatever their means.
And that is what World Telecommunication and Information Society Day is all about. It’s about the possibilities and opportunities that ICTs can bring to societies and economies, as well as ways to bridge the digital divide.
You have an expression for this in India: Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas (Collective Effort, Inclusive Development). As Prime Minister Narendra Modi made clear earlier this year at the inauguration of the Wadhwani Institute of Artificial Intelligence, “The March of Technology cannot be at the expense of further increasing the difference between societies over access to technology.”
I agree. Yesterday I called on India’s academic community at the National Higher Education Summit for Skill Development to build a digital future where no one is left behind, where opportunities have no boundaries.
Artificial intelligence (AI) and ICTs in general can bring enormous opportunities, but we as a society need to make sure that they do not create inequalities. That is why the theme of World Telecommunication and Information Society Day this year is “Enabling the positive use of Artificial Intelligence for All.”
Over the last three days, our sister UN agencies, the industry, and the NGO and academic community have gathered at our headquarters in Geneva for the AI for Good Global Summit. Our objective is to spur action to ensure that artificial intelligence accelerates progress towards the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and improves the quality and sustainability of life on our planet.
It’s early days, but AI is making its way out of research labs and into our everyday lives. AI solutions are being developed to help increase crop yields, manage natural disasters, reduce road congestion, or diagnose heart, eye, and blood disorders.
As Prime Minister Modi emphasized, we can use the power of AI to eradicate poverty and disease and bring prosperity to the poor and underprivileged.
At ITU, we hope that artificial intelligence will help us connect all the world’s people, such as by deploying broadband infrastructure to those who need it the most. And this is just the beginning. AI has the potential to transform areas as diverse and critical as education, healthcare, finance, mobility, and energy.
The path to a transformative but also a safe, trusted, and inclusive artificial intelligence will require unprecedented collaboration.
I will be in Mumbai tomorrow for 5G India 2018. AI, cloud computing, the internet of things and 5G will all shape our future. They will all help accelerate the achievement of the SDGs.
ITU with its wide membership of governments, private sector, academia and civil society has an important role to play in bringing key players together to create consensus on how these emerging technologies can shape our future for the better.
This digital transformation will be a defining challenge of the twenty-first century and a central question at PP-18, our first Plenipotentiary Conference since the adoption of the SDGs. Next October, ITU Member States will head to Dubai to ensure that ITU’s activities, policies and strategies fully respond to today’s digital revolution and pave the way for a bright future. They will also adopt the Financial and Strategic plans, review the Proposals from Member States to amend Constitution and Convention, and elect the management team of the Union, the Radio Regulations Board members and the Council Member States.
It is an opportunity for India to make its voice count and play an important role in shaping the environment that will lead the development of ICTs into the next decade. I was pleased to see that India made a very generous offer at our last Council in Geneva last month to host a South Asian Area Office and Technology Innovation Centre.
All 48 ITU Council Member States supported the establishment of a South Asian Area Office. The matter is now undergoing further consultation. But it is clear that such an office would make a difference in a region that is fast emerging as a hub for technology innovation a region with a larger population than that of North America, Europe, West Asia and North Africa combined.
India is a leading force in today’s global digital economy and a key Member State of ITU. It is uniquely placed to deliver on its commitments to inclusive and sustainable development.
As you prepare your proposals towards PP-18, I am calling on all of you to continue our efforts to leverage the power of ICTs to advance WSIS Action Lines, Connect 2020 and the Sustainable Development Goals.
I look forward to seeing the outcomes of your preparatory meeting! And I look forward to seeing a strong and confident India in Dubai next October!
We at ITU count on all of you to help us harness the life-changing potential that ICTs offer India and the rest of the world. Together, I am confident we can use ICTs to move the SDGs from vision to action and transform the digital revolution into a development revolution.
Thank you.