Commonwealth ICT Forum'18 - Session 1: Broadband Planning for Digital Transformation

Commonwealth ICT Forum'18 - Session 1: Broadband Planning for Digital Transformation

1 October 2018, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago

Excellencies
Distinguished guests
Ladies & Gentlemen

I am very pleased to join my distinguished panelists this morning to discuss the important topic of broadband planning of digital transformation. I don’t believe it is necessary to make the case to this august audience of the importance of broadband access to bring social, economic and environmentally sustainable development to the citizens of the world. I am sure everyone here recognizes that ICTs and broadband access are key to achieving the sustainable development agenda.

ITU, and many other organizations have produced reports explaining this, and advocating take-up of broadband roll out. Many countries now recognize the need for broadband access, even at the highest political level, and having that political support is often key to the country achieving progress.

With broadband access, people are receiving life-saving disaster warnings. Pregnant women are benefiting from antenatal care advice. Farmers are growing crops more efficiently. Entrepreneurs are reaching new markets. And mobile payments are allowing people to participate in the digital economy.

ITU, as the specialized United Nations agency for ICTs, is working to ensure that everyone, everywhere, has broadband access to the Internet and the vast resources it provides. ITU’s mission is to connect the world, and through its membership of 193 governments and over 800 private sector, academia and other members, it develops common standards for telecommunication technologies and services, harmonises the use of the radio-frequency spectrum and satellite orbits, and assists developing countries with infrastructure and policy development. All of ITU’s work relates directly to the achievement of the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

But we have a long way to go to achieve the 2030 Agenda. Around half of the world’s population is still not connected to the Internet. That represents 3.8 billion people. Most of these people live in remote, rural or isolated communities. Connectivity is difficult in these areas not only due to terrain and their isolation but also due to poor return on investment compared to urban areas.

Government policies must encourage the necessary investment, help develop public-private partnerships, build capacity and advocate take-up. It is a big challenge. The size of investment needed to roll out and upgrade national networks is huge: estimated at USD 450 billion to connect the next 1.5 billion people.

But connectivity is not enough to ensure that everyone connects. Internet services and equipment need to be affordable, and provide relevant local content and services in the local language. People need to be made aware of the benefits of access and be equipped with the necessary digital skills to take advantage of it.

ITU raises awareness and assists countries in developing their policies, legislation, regulations and business practices to promote affordable and relevant Internet services and content, encourage investment and promote the digital inclusion of people with specific needs, including indigenous peoples, people living in remote areas, people with disabilities, youth and women. At the same time, ITU is boosting trust in the technology through its work on security standards.

ITU’s work on broadband standards goes back to the XDSL suite of standards for dial-up access in the 1990s. ITU has now produced the G.fast standard which will enable broadband service over these legacy copper connections. ITU is also working on GPON standards for fibre-optic cables, and the submarine cables that connect remote islands. Next year’s ITU World Radio Conference will decide the worldwide allocations for 5G, opening up whole new service scenarios, and the Internet of Things.

And with regards to policy, ITU advocates broadband policies to become a key part of national planning for the digital revolution.  It is good to see that countries have enthusiastically embraced this call – since 2010, the number of countries with National Broadband Plans and Digital Agendas has increased from under 100 to 159. Traditionally, these Plans were developed to deal with the roll-out and upgrading of network infrastructure and equipment, with clear lifetimes and planning cycles.

Now, Digital Agendas focus more on the impact of digital technologies across a wide range of areas, including health, education, science and innovation. And one area where we are seeing increasing focus is in National Strategies for Artificial Intelligence. This year’s State of Broadband report found that 15 countries have introduced National Strategies for AI over the last 18 months, with a further ten countries planning to do so.

Last year ITU initiated its “AI for Good Global Summit” in partnership with several other UN agencies and organizations. This proved very popular and was repeated this year and will be held again next year. It is a very interesting gathering of innovators, policy makers and industry discussing the wide range of technological and socio-economic aspects of AI.

With the technology becoming ever more pervasive, much broader policy consequences need to be addressed.
For example, the rise of data as a massive tradable valuable asset in its own right. Data has been called the new primary resource, the new oil, the lifeblood of the digital economy. More data was generated last year than previously in world history.

Policy-makers need to develop an integrated policy framework, working with many different communities and stakeholders, including civil society and the technology sector, so as to take account of the impact of digital transformation on diverse areas such as education, tax, health, urban planning, water and energy supply and society generally.

So many different bodies are now involved in ICTs and cooperation, coordination and collaboration are the key words both at the national, regional and International level. We have to ensure that we all bring our own specific competences to the table, avoid duplication and work to the common good.

ITU will continue to bring its core competencies of spectrum management, satellite coordination, development of common technical standards and good policy and best practices to help bring this wonderful technology to everyone everywhere.

We look forward to continuing these efforts together with CTO and others so that the world will benefit from this digital transformation.