Highlights January 2023
30 January – 3 February
Environment: Americas
ITU organized a virtual workshop on 1 February in collaboration with the Deputy Director General of the WEEE Forum for the Ministry of Environment and INDOTEL of the Dominican Republic on Extended Producer Responsibility for E-Waste Management, making one more step towards implementing a circular system for electrical and electronic waste in the Dominican Republic.
23 – 27 January
Cybersecurity: Europe
On 26 January, at the request of the international private school, Institut International de Lancy (IIL) in Geneva, Switzerland, a one-hour children rights online and online safety interactive presentation was delivered to 90 children and adolescents aged between 13 and 15 years old.
Policy and regulation: Americas
On 19 January, in association with 5G Americas, the ITU Area Office for Central America held a workshop on regulatory modernization and innovation for digital development. Topics such as the ICT regulatory tracker, G5 Benchmark and GSR recommendations were discussed.
Other: Africa
On 26 January, the ITU Area Office for West Africa attended a UN Country Team (UNCT) meeting in Dakar, Senegal, with Director General of ILO, Mr. Gilbert Houngbo. The ITU team highlighted the ITU/ILO joint initiative on “Boosting digital skills for decent jobs in Africa” and emphasized the importance of joint resource mobilization to implement projects in West African countries.
9 – 13 January
Giga: Global
Giga recently reached a significant milestone: the mapping of 2 million schools globally on our open-source platform, Project Connect. This is a crucial step towards achieving Giga’s goal of connecting all the schools in the world. This milestone helps us to identify connectivity gaps and take steps towards connecting all schools globally.
On 11 January, Giga Global hosted a Twitter Space on Mapping Schools and Connecting Children to the Internet. Speakers included Shilpa Aurora (Mapping Product Lead, Giga), Oğuzhan Er (Mapping Officer, Giga), Utku Can Ozturk (Data Scientist, Giga), and Kanon Hile (Social Innovation Portfolio Director, Dell Technologies).
19 December – 6 January
Capacity development: Americas
The ITU Central America Area Office in Honduras carried out a digital transformation pilot project with the use of the Digital Kit for micro and small businesses in El Salvador, within the framework of an interagency initiative by the United Nations System. In total, 15 microentrepreneurs and small businesswomen from El Salvador received training and knowledge transfer on topics such as: digital presence, electronic commerce, and sales through social networks, among others.
Digital services and applications: Asia and the Pacific
In Papua New Guinea, East and West Sepik Provincial Administrations approved the E-Agriculture Strategy developed by ITU. The plan will develop suitable information and communication technology that enables services, systems, and processes to support the development of cocoa, vanilla, and fisheries in West Sepik Province. This E-Agriculture Strategy focuses on supporting the development of programme value chains, primarily focusing on increasing sustainable and inclusive economic development in rural areas.
Partner2Connect: Americas
In December, Partner2Connect (P2C) conducted a series of meetings in the Dominican Republic under the leadership of INDOTEL, the country’s regulatory agency. Members of the P2C Secretariat, as well as colleagues from ITU’s Americas Regional Office and P2C’s Knowledge Partner, the Boston Consulting Group, gathered in Santo Domingo for a series of ‘preparatory discussions’ with stakeholders from across the government, the UN Country Team, and other key sectors. The objective of these preparatory discussions was to better understand the country’s digital transformation needs and where P2C can help.
During the visit, the CANASTA DIGITAL was launched. CANASTA DIGITAL is a pledge made by INDOTEL to provide mobile devices, digital skills training, and subsidized Internet access to 2000 female entrepreneurs.