Highlights – January 2022

24 – 30 January 2022

Giga: CIS

The Giga Committee considered the results of 2021, namely the connection of 38 rural schools (more than 20,000 school children) in the Turkestan region to broadband at 10-20 Mbit/s speed (with the possibility to be upgraded up to 100 Mbit/s), and discussed the targets for 2022: (1) monitoring the Internet connection speed in the connected schools (2) as well as the assessment on child online protection (COP). ITU presented a concept note on the COP assessment, which will be conducted based on ITU COP Guidelines as part of Giga Step 5 activities. The Ministry of Digital Development, Innovations and Aerospace Industry of the Republic of Kazakhstan confirmed its support.

Digital innovation ecosystems: Asia and the Pacific

The ITU Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific and the Digital Innovation Ecosystems team were invited to present the draft Digital Innovation Profile for the Philippines at a stakeholder consultation meeting organized and hosted by the Department of ICT (DICT) of the Philippines. Attendees included stakeholders from the DICT, the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), and the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA). The draft report was presented by ITU and it highlighted the current state of the digital innovation ecosystem in the country. Participants discussed the results and emphasized potential avenues for collaboration and possible next steps. The report will be finalized once the relevant stakeholders provide their comments.

Digital services and applications: Americas

The CTU hosted the ICT in Education Caribbean Forum organized in partnership with UNESCO and ITU. Participants included Caribbean educators, technocrats from Ministries of education, telecommunications and ICT professionals and other stakeholders. ITU made opening remarks and presented Giga and COP.

Read more

Emergency telecommunications: Asia and the Pacific

BDT is actively supporting Tonga and the Philippines, two Member States hit by disasters in the past months. Typhoon Rai/Odette struck the Philippines on 16 December 2021, bringing torrential rains and violent winds, causing landslides and storm surges that have affected 8 million people and caused extensive damage to infrastructure, including communication services. Following the request from the country and in cooperation with the WFP’s Emergency Telecommunication Cluster (ETC), ITU is providing its support through the Disaster Connectivity Map (DCM), which tracks connectivity gaps and outages with satellite equipment. In Tonga, the eruption of the Hunga-Tonga-HungaHa-apai underwater volcano and subsequent tsunami caused significant damage across the Tongatapu and Ha’apai Islands, impacting more than 80 percent of Tonga’s population. The connectivity situation is particularly critical in Tonga since it has been cut off from most Internet services because the only submarine cable that it relies on has been damaged. It may take weeks to repair it. The situation highlights the importance of connectivity but also of resilient infrastructure, including through satellite. ITU is working on solutions to provide satellite equipment and airtime, and tracking connectivity through the DCM. In both cases, response efforts are complicated by COVID-19, and regulations. The good news is that BDT continues to receive great support from its satellite partners, including Iridium, Intelsat (and their partners e.g. Spark), Inmarsat, through in kind donations of equipment, expertise but also airtime.

Network and digital infrastructure: Asia and the Pacific

The ITU Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific participated in a webinar hosted by the USAID’s Better Access and Connectivity (BEACON) Project, on “Broadband Internet Affordability in the Philippines: The Latest Data, Current Challenges and What Can be Done to Improve Affordability for All.” Following A4AI’s presentation on affordability statistics, the Regional Office presented the latest ITU Facts and Figures statistics and highlighted the upcoming WTSA and WTDC conferences.

WTDC: Asia and the Pacific

ITU attended the 4th Meeting of the APT Preparatory Group for WTDC. APT Members discussed their contributions and position for WTDC. ITU presented its work on Partner2Connect, emergency telecommunication efforts in Tonga, ITU-D Projects and Mechanisms.

17 – 23 January 2022

Digital innovation ecosystems: Asia and the Pacific

ITU and TSDSI co-hosted the 4th session in the “Digital Technology Innovations – Case Studies from India and the Asia-Pacific Region” webinar series on 20 January. This 4th session focused on Making a Global Impact in Standards Setting, and featured a keynote address by the Secretary of DICT Philippines. Additional speakers highlighted both India’s engagement in standards bodies, and other country case studies in the Asia-Pacific in the standards arena. This session and topic was considered timely in the run-up to WTSA.

Other: Asia and the Pacific

ITU co-organised the 26th Meeting of the Regional Interagency Working Group (IWG) held on 18 January. The meeting brought together 23 UN agency representatives in the region to explore ways to collaborate and create synergies among UN agencies in implementing ICT and digital technology initiatives in Asia and the Pacific. During the meeting, ITU proposed a joint development of IAWG Report where each agency can highlight their work on ICT. Potential collaboration on Smart Village, Smart Islands, Digital Applications, Digital Inclusion and Capacity Development were also discussed. The ITU also promoted and encouraged the participation of the UN agencies in WTDC and P2C.

10 – 16 January 2022

Giga: Africa

In 2021 Connect2Recover, as part of Giga Rwanda Accelerate pilots, supported the provision of internet connectivity services to schools in Rwanda to increase digital learning as part of the Connect2Recover and Giga accelerate objectives. The Connect2Recover contribution has supported the provision of connectivity to 5 of the 63 Giga phase 1 pilot schools that were connected in Rwanda in 2021. More specifically, the dedicated support helps advance the proposed Giga solutions in five schools including one school hosting refugees and one teacher training college. Connecting all 63 schools will impact around 90,000 students and teachers, and over 70,000 households in surrounding communities.

Other: Asia and the Pacific

ITU participated in the signing of the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) 2022-2026 between the United Nations and the Government of Thailand and the Office of the National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC) at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In preparation for the UNSDCF, the UN, MFA and NESDC have led an extensive stakeholder consultation process. The overarching objective of the consultations was to ensure that diverse stakeholders had the opportunity to participate in the discussions on the Cooperation Framework priorities, outcomes and focus areas, with a specific emphasis on the UN’s contribution in supporting the government to advance the SDGs and leave no one behind.

3 – 7 January 2022

BDT Year in Review 2021

Look back at some of the incredible achievements that BDT has accomplished over the past year as we prepare to make 2022 a decisive year for the global connectivity agenda: read the BDT Year in Review 2021 here – available in all UN languages! Find out more: BDT Director’s message + BDT Year in Review 2021 video

Cybersecurity: Americas

ITU has supported Barbados in improving the capabilities of its National Computer Incident Response Team-Coordination Centre. With this assistance, the previously established BB-CIRT Barbados will be further enhanced to serve as a trusted, central coordination point of contact for cybersecurity with reactive and proactive capabilities and tools.

Cybersecurity: Americas

ITU has offered five cybersecurity trainings for the Region on: “Incident handling”, “Cybersecurity management”, “Digital evidence”, “Cybersecurity Information Audit”, and “Lifecycle, principles and good practices on national cybersecurity strategy development and implementation”. The trainings were delivered online through the ITU Academy Platform.

Cybersecurity: Americas

ITU has developed a study on how to mainstream child online protection into current and future digital strategies, policies, legislations, and regulations. The study was developed with the collaboration of Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico, Paraguay, and Peru. The main objective is to provide recommendations and minimal requirements to set-up digital strategies on Child Online Protection.