A global initiative to ensure available, affordable and resilient digital infrastructure in beneficiary countries
The COVID-19 pandemic and devastating natural hazards caused unprecedented disruptions in countries around the world and highlighted the urgency for universal and meaningful digital connectivity.
There is a stark digital divide with still some 2.7 billion people who remain offline, 96 per cent of whom live in developing countries. Additional estimates will be provided in ITU’s forthcoming Facts and Figures 2022, set to be issued later this year. An estimated 4.9 billion people were using the Internet in 2021, according to latest estimates in the 2021 edition of Measuring Digital Development: Facts and Figures report. That means that roughly 63 per cent of the world’s population is now online – an increase of 17 per cent – with almost 800 million people estimated to have come online since 2019. Internet penetration increased more than 20 per cent on average in Africa, in Asia and the Pacific, and in the Least Developed Countries (LDCs), where still only 27 per cent of people use the Internet, according to the 2021 edition of Measuring Digital Development: Facts and Figures report.
Connect2Recover uses a “Five phase approach” to reinforce and strengthen the digital infrastructure and digital ecosystems of beneficiary countries.
Connect2Recover works in six ITU regions, with priority to Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries, and Small Island Developing States. This initiative is supported by four Member States – Japan and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (the founding members), Australia and the Republic of Lithuania – ; two Sector Members – Huawei and Vodafone – ; and the Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development.
