Opening remarks by Malcolm Johnson, ITU Deputy Secretary-General
WSIS Track ICTs and Sports - Game for Good: Gaming industry for positive social impact
3 August 2020 - Virtual Session
Good morning, good afternoon, good evening – thank you for joining us for the opening session of the ICTs and Sports track, which will provide a platform for all stakeholders to discuss issues around Sport as an Enabler of Sustainable Development, highlighting the aspects of youth empowerment and innovative Technologies. There will be a session each day this week. This year we start with this brand new Gaming and E-sport component that has been added highlighting positive social impact of the gaming industry.
Firstly, let me thank the Europe China Foundation for introducing this component to the track. I would also like to thank all our panellists and the stakeholders involved, including UEFA Foundation for Children, Refugee Sports team of UNHCR and ITU’s very own Ms Sylvia Poll, an Olympics Medal winner in swimming, for their commitment in making this track possible. I am pleased to be here with you today and I look forward to continuing our collaboration with your all.
In this COVID-19 pandemic, many different aspects of our lives have shifted online. More people than ever before are now using the Internet as a vital lifeline for teleworking, remote learning, shopping, accessing the latest public health information and staying in touch with friends and families, despite travel restrictions.
Sports and games are no exception – indeed, many of us know how games, sport and entertainment are a distraction and relief in stressful times. And that is either practising sport, or following our favourite sporting teams or heroes or heroines.
Many people have turned to online yoga and exercise classes, breathing or mindfulness to help them cope with the stress of the pandemic. Gyms and individual trainers have gone online, getting to grips with Zoom, Facebook Live and other online meeting platforms, to help people stay fit, despite lockdown [and to help gyms survive!].
Although some major sporting events were regrettably postponed (such as the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games), many people have still been able to follow their sporting passion, as league or cup sports play out in empty stadiums, but to massive online and TV followings much bigger than ever before.
In this pandemic, others have turned to online gaming as a means of staying in touch with friends. Early on in the pandemic, we heard sensationalist reports about how Fortnite was ‘breaking the Internet’ in Italy, as young people turned to online games for amusement and entertainment, but also – vitally – to stay in touch with friends, as restrictions on physical contact were introduced.
Depending on how you define it, it has been estimated that the video game industry revenue could be worth some US$ 180 billion by 2021.
To give as many people as possible the very best latency possible, it is necessary to own or rent space from many well-located data centres. WIRED magazine reports that gaming companies are increasingly shifting to the cloud, fuelling a new race in infrastructure to build data centres near major urban centres. So the gaming industry is helping drive the development of national and global infrastructure.
The WSIS process and WSIS Forum recognize the value and meaning of sports – real and virtual – as an important enabler of sustainable development. We initiated the ICTs and Sports track last year and we are here today to explore how gaming and e-sports industries can also have a positive social impact.
I am sure we will be learning a lot more from this session and I wish you all an informative and enjoyable discussion today, thank you.