7th Meeting of the Telecommunication Standardization Advisory Group
11 January, 2021
Opening Remarks
Doreen Bogdan-Martin
Director, Telecommunication Development Bureau
International Telecommunication Union
Thank you Mr Chairman
Distinguished delegates,
Ladies and gentlemen,
I want to wish you and your families a very happy and healthy 2021.
I really look forward to seeing you all off-line soon (in Geneva or elsewhere).
We have seen, over the past 12 months, the COVID pandemic serve as a powerful accelerant of digital transformation.
Transformations that might have taken years have been compacted into a few short months.
Digital is now, and will forever remain, the new normal.
That is why we cannot, and must not, accept a new normal in which half of humanity lacks access to ICTs.
We are committed to making 2021 the year when we succeed in leveraging the intense focus that governments are according digital technologies to build forward, better, together.
The upcoming World Telecommunication Development Conference, which will take place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from November 8 to 19, represents that once-in-a-generation opportunity to make huge strides in building multi-stakeholder cooperation around a vision of: universal, affordable connectivity and the potential of digital for achieving the SDGs.
Last November, marking the signing of the HCA we launched the Road to Addis, a series of online discussions designed to build awareness and excitement among ICT stakeholders, and to reach out to new constituencies.
The next stop on the Road to Addis will focus on the role of partnership and I hope many of you will join us on the 2nd of February, and be part of the conversation.
Ladies and gentlemen,
In the wake of the pandemic, we in BDT have been rapidly ramping up projects and initiatives to expand digital inclusion.
One of those is in the space of innovation— and I am delighted to be actively collaborating with the TSB and BR teams on our new i-CODI innovation partnership with the UAE to create a new Centre of Digital Innovation.
Policy, partnerships and projects are vitally important to our efforts to connect the world.
But alone, they are not enough.
Your vital work as engineers, technical specialists and TSAG delegates in pioneering new technologies and promoting their widespread uptake through global standards, complements BDT's efforts to find creative and effective ways of leveraging these technological advances to transform lives of those most in need.
That is why I do not want us to think of WTDC-21 as a BDT or ITU-D event.
In the true spirit of 'One ITU' we need to engage the expertise and energy of the entire ITU community (from the TSB, to the BR, and the GS and our whole membership), because solving the global connectivity crisis could be the solution to so many of humanity's challenges.
It is my hope that you will join us as we prepare a collaborative, action oriented, solutions focussed WTDC-21, where we show the world just how powerful technology can be, and that we can, by working together close the digital divide.
The theme of this year's conference is “Connecting the Unconnected to Achieve Sustainable Development".
Working with the TDAG and its subgroups over a series of online meetings and web dialogues in 2020 we have advanced a number of refinements to make this year's event more inclusive and more impactful, reaching out to new communities, new partners, and new donors (I want to thank Santiago Reyes Borda who ably led our TDAG sub-group on WTDC preparations to advance these refinements).
One of the key parts of the conference will encompass a development and partnerships track comprising high-level panels and thematic discussions, with experts from a broad range of stakeholders including international financial institutions, regional development banks, our UN sister agencies and others.
And for the first time, WTDC will also include a global Youth Summit, to be held just prior to the start of the conference, as part of ITU's 'Generation Connect' initiative.
I am very pleased that TSB and BR colleagues are working with us as part of our youth task force to advance our youth strategy.
The WTDC-21 preparatory process will also be expanded to include three inter-regional meetings, in addition to our six regional preparatory meetings.
Our 1st RPM begins next week for Europe.
Work to prepare for WTDC is also continuing apace in two ongoing TDAG working groups: one on Resolutions, Declarations and Thematic Priorities led by Dr Sharafat that will meet next week; and the other, on the Development Sector's contribution to the ITU Strategic and Operational Plans led by Blanca Gonzalez. The TSAG chair helped to kick off that discussion in one of our earlier web dialogues.
Ladies and gentlemen,
When the current emergency has finally passed, we will face an uncertain world, with many new challenges.
I know how much TSAG delegates care about unleashing the true transformational potential of the technologies you work on.
I look forward to working with you, as one big family, to harness our unprecedented opportunity to change the world by bringing affordable, universal, meaningful, secure connectivity to all.
Thank you.
