Welcome and thank you for joining the first of three Ministerial Roundtables dedicated to the role of digital technologies during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
We have an impressive line-up of speakers with ministers, regulators, and private sector leaders from countries around the world, including Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc of Viet Nam, the host country of ITU Virtual Digital World 2020.
We are now seven months into a pandemic that has shocked the world and plunged us into what IMF Chief Economist Gita Gopinath called last week “the worst crisis since the Great Depression.”
Unlike the Great Depression, billions of people have been able to rely on information and communication technologies to continue to work, study, take care of others, and remain connected to loved ones.
That begs the question: how could we cope with the ongoing fall-out of the pandemic without ICTs?
Sadly, this is a reality for the 3.6 billion people who still do not have access to the Internet.
The importance of being connected is now undeniable. So is the evidence that ICTs are essential to the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
ICTs are a key part of building back better for a safer, more connected, and more sustainable world ─ a world where everyone can have access to digital technologies and services that are safe, attractive, and affordable.
This is a considerable challenge, one that ITU, as the UN specialized agency for ICTs, has embarked on long before this pandemic.
In this effort, ITU can count on its diverse membership of 193 governments and over 900 private sector companies, universities, and regional and international organizations.
Collaboration and cooperation are paramount. We all need to bring our own specific competencies to the table, pool our resources, and avoid duplication of effort.
That is how we will leverage the full power of ICTs to meet today’s most pressing challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic. And this is why we are fortunate to have such a distinguished mix of public and private sector representatives here with us online today to help define a faster way for economic recovery through digital technologies.
Everything discussed in these Ministerial Roundtables over the next three days will be captured in a document that will, I hope, serve as a roadmap for our digital future.