{"id":2531,"date":"2025-07-24T15:18:29","date_gmt":"2025-07-24T15:18:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.itu.int\/itu-d\/sites\/innovation-alliance\/?page_id=2531"},"modified":"2025-07-24T16:07:17","modified_gmt":"2025-07-24T16:07:17","slug":"kick-off-meeting-of-the-expert-network","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.itu.int\/itu-d\/sites\/innovation-alliance\/kick-off-meeting-of-the-expert-network\/","title":{"rendered":"Kick-off Meeting of the Expert Network"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Kick-off Meeting of the Expert Network<\/strong> <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Kick-off Meeting of Expert Network<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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24 July 2025 – Virtual Meeting<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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The Expert Network Community is an expertise-driven community that supports activities aligned with the expectations of the Digital Innovation Board of the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Alliance for Digital Development. Members of the Community are drawn from the Expert Network of the Digital Innovation Board. In line with the Terms of Reference of the Expert Network, the Community serves as a platform to implement the decisions of the Digital Innovation Board through dedicated brainstorming and research efforts. By doing so, the Community will contribute to strengthening the Alliance’s overall impact, sustainability and innovation capital.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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A nomination process involving Board Members and Centres was carried out by the Secretariat to identify and select relevant experts for the seven collaboration areas prioritized by the Digital Innovation Board. These seven key areas are:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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  • Strategic Foresight<\/li>\n<\/div>\n\n
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  • Entrepreneurship and SMEs Growth<\/li>\n<\/div>\n\n
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  • Policy Experimentation<\/li>\n<\/div>\n\n
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  • Open Technology Innovation<\/li>\n<\/div>\n\n
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  • Ecosystem Initiative Development<\/li>\n<\/div>\n\n
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  • Strategic Communication<\/li>\n<\/div>\n\n
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  • Partnership and Resource Mobilization<\/li>\n<\/div><\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n
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    Meeting Objectives<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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    The objective of the kickoff meeting was to officially launch the Expert Network and warmly welcome its members. The meeting served as an opportunity to introduce the structure and engagement model of the Community, ensuring clarity on how members could interact and contribute. It also presented the thematic leads and highlighted key areas for collaboration, outlining various opportunities for meaningful participation. Additionally, the session provided space for questions, initial feedback, and open dialogue, setting a strong foundation for ongoing collaboration and lasting impact.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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    Key Highlights<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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    • The Expert Network was officially launched as mechanism to support the Digital Innovation Board, one of the vehicles of the Digital Innovation and Entrepreneurship Alliance.<\/li>\n<\/div>\n\n
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    • Nearly 70 experts from 30+ countries joined, nominated by Board Members, the Secretariat of the Alliance, and ITU Acceleration Centres.<\/li>\n<\/div>\n\n
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    • Experts are organized into 7 thematic areas to support the strategic objectives of the Alliance.<\/li>\n<\/div>\n\n
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    • BDT Director Dr. Cosmas Zavazava welcomed experts and emphasized the Expert Network as a dynamic engine for action, built on trust, diversity, and collaboration with the aim of accelerating digital transformation.<\/li>\n<\/div>\n\n
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    • Dr. Zavazava encouraged members to lead with purpose and collaborate to enable effective digital ecosystems that foster innovation and create impact.<\/li>\n<\/div>\n\n
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    • Thematic leads will coordinate collaboration, peer learning, and knowledge-sharing within each area, and seven experts were encouraged to lead the sub-communities around the collaboration areas aligned with the objectives of the Alliance.<\/li>\n<\/div>\n\n
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    • In the Q&A session, experts from countries without Centres inquired about how to establish new ones. The Secretariat welcomed expressions of interest, provided they align with the goals of the Alliance and availability of resources.<\/li>\n<\/div>\n\n
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    • Other questions focused on the future addition of experts. The Secretariat confirmed that there is room to expand the expert pool but emphasized the importance of learning from the first cohort before scaling.<\/li>\n<\/div>\n\n
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    • The Secretariat also noted that the initial cohort will be diversified to be more inclusive, including a call for more women to be nominated for thematic lead roles, along with other refinements to strengthen the network.<\/li>\n<\/div>\n\n
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    • Members were encouraged to actively engage and make use of the collaboration platforms made available to them.<\/li>\n<\/div><\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n
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      <\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Kick-off Meeting of Expert Network 24 July 2025 – Virtual Meeting The Expert Network Community is an expertise-driven community that supports activities aligned with the expectations of the Digital Innovation Board of the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Alliance for Digital Development. Members of the Community are drawn from the Expert Network of the Digital Innovation Board. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":100,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"class_list":["post-2531","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itu.int\/itu-d\/sites\/innovation-alliance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2531","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itu.int\/itu-d\/sites\/innovation-alliance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itu.int\/itu-d\/sites\/innovation-alliance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itu.int\/itu-d\/sites\/innovation-alliance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/100"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itu.int\/itu-d\/sites\/innovation-alliance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2531"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.itu.int\/itu-d\/sites\/innovation-alliance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2531\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itu.int\/itu-d\/sites\/innovation-alliance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2531"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}