Highlights – May 2022
23-29 May
Capacity Development: Asia and the Pacific
ITU co-organized an ITU Academy training on Spectrum Management and Technology Application with SRMC, China, under the auspices of CoE Spectrum Management programme in Asia and the Pacific from 23 May-5 June. Participants learned and discussed the core function of spectrum management, IoT and 5G and its applications in the area of energy, civil aviation and the railway sector. ITU contributed as a tutor through a recorded lecture on the economics of spectrum management. Together with tutors from SRMC, ITU addressed participants' queries in a daily virtual Q&A chat session.
Digital Inclusion: Asia and the Pacific
n 26 May, ITU participated in the Asia Media Summit 2022 (23-26 May 2022), organised by Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development (AIBD) and hosted virtually by the Government of Fiji under the theme, Pacific Extravaganza: Future forward – Reimagining media, to present a
range of topics. This included, ITU’s Asia and the Pacific Regional Initiatives, Thematic Priorities, Girls in ICT and how we promote Girls in ICT using the media to the girls and young women in Asia-Pacific, WTDC and Partner2Connect. ITU, AIBD, and USAID workshops on Cybersecurity for female journalists that were successfully conducted on 24 May as part of the side- event of this Summit. ITU also engaged in panel dialogue with other speakers from the Government of Timor-Leste and ASEAN Secretariat in session 4: “Broadcasting Humane Stories in line with Agenda 2030” and encouraged future collaboration for all stakeholders to connect the unconnected to address the digital divide in the region.
Digital Services and applications: Asia and the Pacific
ITU participated in the Pacific Islands Telecommunications Association (PITA) Business Forum and Expo 2022 from 24 - 26 May. The event aimed to address the challenges for accelerating the digital adoption and disaster readiness in the Pacific. During the meeting, ITU delivered the
keynote speech and made a presentation on Smart Islands.
Giga: Global
Giga ITU-UNICEF initiative was presented at the World Economic Forum in Davos on 23rd May 2022. Doreen Bogdan-Martin, Director of the ITU’s Telecommunication Development Bureau, and Catherine Russell, UNICEF Executive Director, highlighted Giga’s goal to connect 2.8 million schools and 500 million children to the Internet by 2030. They gave an update on the progress made since 2019 including the mapping of the location of more than 1.1 million schools in 44 countries, connecting more than 3,500 schools and the provision of access to 1.3 million students and teachers. They stressed the need from government and foundations to help raise $5 billion in catalytic investment to help accelerate the process of bringing schools online.
Giga: Africa
A year after the initial discussions with the UNICEF country office in Botswana and the SmartBots team, the joint ITU-UNICEF Giga mission team met in Maun, followed by Kasane and then Gaborone. Field visits took place to diverse Phase 1 connected schools, some with advanced new
solar power installations, and others that are Phases 2 and 3 where the infrastructure requires upgrading, where the team took measurement of connectivity speeds, assessed the availability of devices, and conversed with teachers and students.
Other: Asia and the Pacific
ITU Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific hosted a project launch meeting for the DFAT-funded project on Enhancing the Development of Standards and Frameworks for Critical Technologies in Southeast Asia. Bringing together physically, government representatives from Indonesia,
Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand, the participants discussed the project's ongoing research, led by United Nations University Institute in Macau, as well as the future activities of this project over its remaining two years. A study tour was also hosted by the Asian Institute of Technology on its campus, to highlight Artificial Intelligence and potential gender and social biases.
2-8 May
Cybersecurity: CIS
The ITU Regional Office for CIS held a meeting with the UNICEF country office in Uzbekistan to join efforts on: skills for girls including girls with disabilities (curriculum development, training centers, situation asnalysis); youth entrepreneurship (startups, situation analysis); child online protection (localization of courses and translation into local languages). For the next steps, they will map their activities to agree on commonalities and future collaboration, and a kick-off meeting on Child Online Protection will be scheduled.
Digital inclusion: Global
ITU in collaboration with EIF and EQUALS held a side-event to the UNCTAD e-commerce week on boosting women’s participation in the digital economy of developing countries and LDCs. Moderated by the Deputy Executive Director of EIF, with opening remarks by the Director of ITU’s Regional Office in Africa, the panel welcomed distinguished speakers including the Deputy Ambassador of the Permanent Mission of Burundi to the UN, representatives of FAO, ITU, GSMA, and IPSDI – a 2021 EQUALS in Tech Awards finalist. Together, they discussed the numerous challenges that women face in the textile and agribusiness when it comes to digitalization of their activities. Best practices and recommendations were also shared, which emphasized the importance of collaboration, investing in women, and equipping them with the necessary digital skills and tools.
Digital inclusion:
On 28 April, to mark International Girls in ICT Day 2022, ITU in collaboration with GSMA, Verizon, the Commonwealth Businesswomen Network and Rova Digital, held an EQUALS Her Digital Skills workshop on Mobile App Development for young girls aged 10-18 in the Commonwealth. It welcomed more than 30 participants from over 7 different countries, including Malaysia, UK, Tanzania, and Pakistan. ITU delivered a module on online safety, and participants learned more about the different education and career opportunities in STEM. GovStack and the Open Group Architecture joined to develop the GovStack enterprise architecture.
Digital inclusion: Global
ITU completed our 1-year mandate as a co-chair of UN Inter-Agency Network on Youth Development [IANYD]. In this past year, ITU has taken strong actions, through Generation Connect, towards meaningful youth engagement within the UN system and youth participation as key stakeholders in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. We wish the incoming IANYD co-chair, the United Nations Office of Counter Terrorism (UNOCT) all the best in the coming year.
Digital inclusion: Asia and the Pacific
ITU collaborated with Huawei to co-organize "GC-ASP: Walk into ICT Industry" event in close partnerships with Asia-Pacific Telecommunity (APT), Ministry of Digital Economy and Society (MDES) and National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) Thailand. This hybrid event offered youth a platform to discuss opportunities and challenges related to digital technologies with ICT experts. Participants were invited to experience the Huawei Customer Solution Innovation & Integration Experience Center (CSIC) and receive digital skills training provided by Huawei ASEAN Academy.
Digital inclusion: Asia and the Pacific
ITU, the Office of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC), and the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society Thailand, co-organised the Girls in ICT Day Thailand 2022 celebration with the participation of about 250 girls and young women in Thailand. The Girls in ICT Day Thailand programme features various activities and a series of digital skills training programmes in Cybersecurity, Leadership, Emerging technologies and other ICT related skills from 28 April through 30 June 2022. The celebration in Thailand also kicked-off the regional event entitled “Girls in ICT Day Asia and the Pacific 2022 celebration” powered by the Network of Women for WTDC for Asia and the Pacific (NoW4WTDC).
Digital services and applications: CIS
On 11 April, the ITU Regional Office for CIS discussed potential collaboration with the FAO Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia.
Network and digital infrastructure: Asia and the Pacific
ITU attended the 8th Annual Asia-Pacific Spectrum Management Conference from 25-26 April in Bangkok. The regional office moderated a session on “Balancing priorities – Delivering a spectrum strategy to meet the varied connectivity requirements of the APAC region.” The Regional Director also provided closing remarks at the conclusion of the hybrid conference.
Connect2Recover: Africa
Connect2Recover, along with the Regional Office for Africa, organised the third and final set of Information Sessions on Connect2Recover: Research Competition Papers that focused on Africa, and on Digital Connectivity and Resilience. The objective of the information sessions was to introduce the research competition papers, and foster collaboration and synergy. The event featured a presentation on Connect2Recover and the research competition and presentations by four research competition teams. There was a vibrant exchange of information and knowledge. Next, with the completion of the 15 research competition papers, the aim is to deliver tangible outcomes on digital inclusion in education, health, enterprises and jobs, vulnerable persons as well as digital connectivity in beneficiary countries.
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Connect2Recover: Global
The Co-Chairs of the Broadband Commission Working Group on Smartphone Access (ITU, Vodafone and UN-OHRLLS) had a discussion with the Chair of Broadband Commission Working Group on Data for Learning (UNESCO) on opportunities for cross-collaboration. As a first step, UNESCO proposed providing suitable case studies to contribute to the work of the Working Group on Smartphone Access.
Giga: Africa
ITU, in collaboration with Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) and United Kingdom’s Digital Access Programme (DAP) partners in Kenya, hosted the UK-DAP partners’ open day on Partnering for Effective Connectivity and Broader Digital Inclusion on 4 May in Nairobi, Kenya. At the roundtable, ITU presented deliverables such as the Universal Service Financing Efficiency Toolkit, input of different kinds into the Kenya Universal Service Fund strategy (USF school assessment findings), as well as the BCG work in Kenya, and Giga Kenya business model exploration on Wi-Fi hotspots. The event, hosted by Strathmore University Business, included a visit to the Kenya Society for Blind Training to learn more about the digital skilling initiatives for persons with disabilities (PwDs).
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Other: Asia and the Pacific
ITU held an informal meeting of industry sector members in the Asia-Pacific on 6 May. ITU presented Partner2Connect, the Generation Connect Youth Summit, the Network of Women, and the upcoming India Area Office and Innovation Centre. Attending Sector Members expressed appreciation for the updates.
I-CoDI: Africa
The I-CoDI team is participating in the Mentee-Mentor programme pilot of the Youth Summit. Over a period of 6 weeks, Lidya Birhanu (Generation Connect Youth Envoy in Ethiopia) will work closely with the I-CoDI global team and ITU Regional Hub in Africa on a selected number of activities on project management, communication and networking skills, including a Girls in ICT event, I-CODI STI Forum Side Event and Digital Transformation Centre Kick-off event & multistakeholder workshop in Ethiopia.