Accelerating Progress to Promote and Measure Universal and Meaningful Connectivity
Achieving universal and meaningful connectivity (UMC) — the possibility for everyone everywhere to enjoy a safe, satisfying, enriching, productive, and affordable experience online — is key to achieving sustainable digital transformation.
In April 2023, ITU’s Telecommunication Development Bureau partnered with the European Commission to implement the project “Promoting and Measuring Universal and Meaningful Digital Connectivity” to enable countries to adopt a more holistic approach in developing their national strategies that prioritize digital connectivity and monitor progress and assess the effectiveness of national policies.
“I have no doubt that through this project we will help policy makers to make evidence-based decisions and formulate appropriate policies. I thank the European Commission for continued support to out work on digital development and transformation.”
said Dr Cosmas Luckyson Zavazava, Director of ITU’s Telecommunication Development Bureau.
As part of the project, a series of regional workshops are being held to help policymakers and statisticians assess data-driven national policies and strategies, monitor progress, and identify best practices and policy recommendations to accelerate universal and meaningful connectivity in their respective countries.
The first workshop of this series was held in the Bahamas from 11-13 June 2024. Participants discussed strategies to overcome challenges in measuring the various dimensions of connectivity and to strengthen the statistical capacity of countries in the Caribbean region. One session focused on enhancing collaboration among statisticians and policymakers, while another discussed how harnessing data for policymaking can enhance informed decision-making.
Inspired by the workshop, Christa Burke-Medford, Universal Service Fund Administrator at the National Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Grenada, remarked, “The event was very useful to my organization. While we already collect administrative data in relation to telecommunications providers, the data will enable us to be more prepared to execute also a standalone survey to households on their access to ICT.”
More regional workshops are planned in 2024 and 2025.
This is an ITU Development #DigitalImpactUnlocked story
About the project
Project number: 9GLO23123
Project title: Promoting and measuring universal and meaningful connectivity
Description: The Universal and Meaningful Connectivity (UMC) narrative is mainstreamed and significant progress towards the 2030 UMC targets is achieved globally. Countries are encouraged to adapt their strategy from a narrow focus on infrastructure to a holistic approach that also includes the other enablers of meaningful connectivity: quality, affordability, skills, security. UMC is a necessary condition for a prosperous and inclusive society. This is equally valid for low-income countries as it is for high-income countries such as the EU Member States. It is primordial that the UMC concept is communicated to policy makers so that they can include it in national policy agendas. A partnership between the EC and ITU will ensure that policy makers of countries at all levels of development can be targeted. It will also increase the weight that will be attached to our interventions.
Visit the project page for more details.
