WTDC edition of ITU News Magazine out now
By ITU News
The latest issue of the ITU News Magazine covers the World Telecommunication Development Conference (WTDC), recently held in Kigali, Rwanda.
WTDC brought global information and communication technology (ICT) leaders together to develop new models of collaboration for connectivity in this final Decade of Action to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
The magazine also covers how the conference reinforced ITU’s status as a key development partner in education, health, the environment, and other vital areas.
“Equitable access to digital technologies is not just a moral imperative, it is essential for global prosperity,” said ITU Secretary-General Houlin Zhao in his opening editorial.
The WTDC edition also covers how initiatives like the Partner2Connect Digital Coalition — a conference centrepiece—mobilized more than USD 26 billion towards meaningful connectivity programmes and solutions across the globe.
Dive into digital development
The Magazine begins with an op-ed by ITU Secretary-General Houlin Zhao on “Bridging the digital development divide.”
Readers are then welcomed to Rwanda, who hosted WTDC for the first time and shines a spotlight on how it is tackling its own digital development challenges.
Conference highlights abound in the next section, with key statistics, video interviews and an interview with WTDC Chair Paula Ingabire, Minister of Information Communication Technology and Innovation, on bridging the digital divide.
The heart of this edition of the magazine focuses on WTDC outcomes, with an op-ed by Doreen Bogdan‑Martin, Director of the ITU Telecommunication Development Bureau, followed by a list of regional initiatives adopted at WTDC, new questions for ITU–D Study Groups, and new resolutions adopted by the conference.
A look at how Partner2Connect Coalition mobilized over USD 26 billion to connect the unconnected is next, followed by a summary of the Global Connectivity Report. Launched on the first day of WTDC, this report delves into why the potential of the Internet remains largely untapped.
New at WTDC
The No.3 issue of ITU News Magazine 2022 also highlights how young participants voiced their key priorities at the inaugural Generation Connect Global Youth Summit, which mobilized young digital development leaders ahead of WTDC itself.
Readers are then invited on a journey beyond the conference to see how Giga – an initiative to connect every school on Earth to the Internet – is transforming lives in rural Rwanda, one school at a time.
Finally, readers get an inside look at the Network of Women for ITU’s Development Sector, which aims to put gender equality at centre of global digital development priorities and policy-making.
This content-packed issue concludes with a look to the future, with a preview of ITU’s Plenipotentiary Conference, set to take place in Bucharest, Romania from 26 September to 14 October.
Download your copy of ITU News Magazine No.3 – Connecting the unconnected
Image credit: MukeshKumar via Adobe Stock
