Third meeting of ITU-D Study Group 1
Monday 17 February 2020
Speech by Doreen Bogdan-Martin
Director, ITU Telecommunication Development Bureau
Regina Fleur Assoumou Bessou, Chair of Study Group 1,
Vice-Chairs of Study Group 1,
Distinguished guests,
Colleagues,
Ladies and gentlemen,
It is my great pleasure to welcome you to this meeting of ITU-D Study Group 1, which marks the third of our meetings for the 2018-2021 cycle.
It's only February, but already so much has been happening!
We launched into the New Year at full throttle, with an exciting new youth event here at the ITU, the Futurecasters Global Young Visionaries Summit.
This energetic youth consultation around the topic of technology for development welcomed 800 young students and their teachers from 23 countries spanning all of the world's regions.
It marked the beginning of a new Youth Strategy that will see the voice of young people increasingly brought in to BDT discussions and debates.
Since that first hectic week, there's been a packed schedule of workshops, roundtables, Council Working Groups, and of course the TSAG meeting just last week.
We continue to be focused on finding better, faster ways of achieving digital transformation through meaningful connectivity.
A connectivity that is Affordable, Reliable, Accessible, Fast, and Safe and that enable people to benefit from the full power and potential of the online world.
True digital transformation is relevant to people's needs.
It is user-empowering.
It brings change.
It is inclusive and people-centric.
It embraces diversity………..
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals, adopted by all UN Member States in September 2015, provide a visionary roadmap for all countries and stakeholders in our quest for sustainable prosperity, social inclusion and environmental protection.
I have no doubt that all of you here today share my view that connectivity must be placed at the very heart of this roadmap.
Connectivity is the unique, game-changing catalyst that will help us overcome the barriers that have stood in our way for much too long.
And that is why your work here is so important.
The world can learn so much from your experiences, challenges and innovative applications, and can draw on these invaluable lessons learned and your insights to support informed decision-making.
In this Study Group you have exchanged more than 300 different case studies covering national strategies, policies, and technical implementation.
This is a huge wealth of knowledge
Knowledge that we can now feed into our projects, regional initiatives and reports, handbooks and studies.
This week you will be considering three new annual deliverables for release in 2020, with several more already in draft stage. This marks great progress.
With the year 2020 marking the 75th Anniversary of the United Nations and the start of the UN Secretary-General's Decade of Action, harnessing the power of digital technologies has become a key agenda issue for every UN agency, for every government, for every NGO and for private sector stakeholder.
The case studies and stories that you share through our ITU-D Study Groups provide ITU with a unique opportunity to drive this global conversation, and promote more effective collaboration across borders and across economic sectors, to accelerate digital transformation and ensure that no one is left behind.
At the end of 2019, we prepared our 1st Year in Review, focusing on the road to digital transformation through meaningful connectivity.
That roadmap for change shows what has been achieved to date, but more importantly highlights the need to further enrich our dialogue with you, our members in order to accelerate implementation on the ground.
We look forward to hearing your ideas and suggestions on ways we can strengthen together the impact of our work to unlock the full potential of digital technologies, and use that power to spur ever-faster progress towards the SDGs.
I wish you all successful and fruitful meetings during the course of the week.
