Partner2Connect Annual Meeting 2022
Popov Room, ITU HQ, Geneva, Switzerland
In-Person Meeting with a virtual component
Date and Time: Thursday, 8 December 2022 09:30 – 17:30 CET
Webcast (archive)
Following a very successful year marked with very important Milestones including over 500 pledges and the mobilization of over USD 28 billion for connectivity projects around the world, the Partner2Connect Digital Coalition presented its achievements and reported on progress at its very first Partner2Connect Annual Meeting. This in-person event was held on 8 December 2022 from 09:30-17:30 CET at ITU’s Headquarters in Geneva (Popov Room, Geneva, Switzerland). The meeting engaged high-level representatives and pledge makers from government, private sector, civil society, and other sectors.
Over the course of this one-day meeting, attendees had the opportunity to learn about the progress on the implementation of pledges made through the Coalition, celebrate the announcement of new pledges and commitments, discuss the challenges and opportunities for connecting the unconnected at specific breakout sessions, as well as network and share experiences, which will further advance global digital transformation.
The program also included the 9th Annual EQUALS in Tech Awards Ceremony, where we celebrated those initiatives, projects, organizations, and institutions around the world that have displayed extraordinary commitment to reducing the digital gender divide.
Highlights of the Partner2Connect Annual Meeting 2022
Programme and Panellists
Click on the session of interest to learn more about the speakers and topics of conversation.
All sessions were webcasted and available for remote participants who completed their registration. The link to the webcast archives is available on this webpage.
All sessions of the P2C Annual Meeting were conducted in English.
| Welcome Session |
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| Popov Room, ITU HQ, Geneva, Switzerland In-Person Meeting with a virtual component Date and Time: Thursday, 8 December 2022, 10:00 – 10:15 CET |
Session Description
Following a very successful year marked with very important Milestones, Partner2Connect presented its achievements and reported on progress at its very first Annual Meeting. The inspiring messages at the Welcome Session kickstarted the dynamic program of a very important day in the history of the Coalition.
Panellists
- Maximilian Jacobson-Gonzalez, Senior Communications Officer, ITU, Master of Ceremonies and Moderator
- Doreen Bogdan-Martin, Director of the ITU Telecommunication Development Bureau and Secretary-General elect
- Rabab Fatima, High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States, UNOHRLLS, Video Address
- H.E. Mxolisi Nkosi, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of South Africa to the United Nations Office at Geneva and other international organizations in Switzerland
- Thomas Schneider, Ambassador, Head of International Affairs, Federal Office of Communications (OFCOM), Switzerland
| Opening Session – Partner2Connect: Accelerating Connectivity for Sustainable Digital Transformation |
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| Popov Room, ITU HQ, Geneva, Switzerland In-Person Meeting with a virtual component Date and Time: Thursday, 8 December 2022, 10:15 – 11:00 CET |
Session description
The Opening session of the Partner2Connect (P2C) Annual Meeting engaged high-level representatives from government, private sector, and civil society to discuss the challenges and opportunities to achieve universal connectivity and sustainable digital transformation. The session also explored how P2C can accelerate access, adoption and value creation in the hardest-to-connect communities through partnerships and new models of collaboration.
Panellists
- Stephen Bereaux, Deputy Director, Telecommunication Development Bureau, ITU, Moderator
- Jean-Yves Art, Senior Director, Strategic Partnerships, Microsoft
- Bocar Ba, Chief Executive Officer, SAMENA Telecommunications Council
- H.E. Umej Singh Bhatia, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Singapore to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva
- Pamela Coke-Hamilton, Executive Director, International Trade Centre
- Mats Granryd, Director General, GSMA
- H.E. Lotte Knudsen, Ambassador, Permanent Observer of the European Union to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva
- Sabine Mensah, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, AfricaNenda
- Millie Ogden, Chief Executive Officer, 3 Link
- Joakim Reiter, Chief External and Corporate Affairs Officer, Vodafone
- Brad Smith, Vice Chair and President, Microsoft, Video Address
- H.E. Jutta Urpilainen, Commissioner for International Partnerships, European Commission, Video Address
| Reporting Session: Implementation of P2C Pledges |
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| Popov Room, ITU HQ, Geneva, Switzerland In-Person Meeting with a virtual component Date and Time: Thursday, 8 December 2022, 11:00 – 11:45 CET |
Session description
As part of the mandate received at WTDC-22 on monitoring and reporting pledges’ implementation, this session presented the key findings of the progress reports submitted by P2C pledgers, as well as the aggregated results available via the P2C Public Dashboard. The session also featured the launch of the P2C Annual Report, an interactive/online publication that encapsulates the key milestones, learnings and impact of the Coalition during its first year of activities. Selected pledgers of P2C presented on stage the status of the implementation of their pledges.
Panellists
- Alex Wong, Chief Special Initiatives, Telecommunication Development Bureau, ITU, Moderator
- Nelson Arroyo, President, Instituto Dominicano de las Telecommunicaciones (INDOTEL), Dominican Republic
- Amir Azeem Bajwa, Chairman, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority
- Doreen Bogdan-Martin, Director of the ITU Telecommunication Development Bureau and Secretary-General elect
- Astrid Bonté, Director for International Affairs, Eutelsat
- Ezra Chiloba, Director General, Communications Authority of Kenya
- H.E. Bathsheba Nell Crocker, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of the United States to the United Nations and other international organizations in Geneva
- H.E. Zbigniew Czech, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Poland to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva
- Laura Fernández Lord, Head of Sustainability and Women’s Empowerment, BBVA
- H.E. Amanda Gorely, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Australia to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva
- H.E. Paula Ingabire, Minister, Ministry of Information Communication Technology and Innovation of Rwanda (Representing the Broadband Commission)
- Mohammed Traoré, Special Advisor of the Secretary General, Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie
- Karen Tse, Chief Executive Officer, International Bridges to Justice
- Maikel Wilms, Partner and Director, BCG, P2C Knowledge Partner
| Partner Country Implementation: Spotlight on Cambodia |
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| Popov Room, ITU HQ, Geneva, Switzerland In-Person Meeting with a virtual component Date and Time: Thursday, 8 December 2022, 11:45 – 12:00 CET |
Session description
In alignment with national digital transformation strategies, P2C provides support to selected partner country governments to advance pledge mobilization and implementation. This session provided an update on where the Coalition stands on this front, as well as an overview of the process being conducted in Cambodia.
Panellists
- Sulyna Abdullah, Chief of the Digital Knowledge Hub Department, Telecommunication Development Bureau, ITU, Moderator
- H.E. Sok Puthyvuth, Secretary of State, Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications of Cambodia
- Maikel Wilms, Partner and Director, BCG, P2C Knowledge Partner
- Alex Wong, Chief Special Initiatives, Telecommunication Development Bureau, ITU
| EQUALS in Tech Awards Ceremony |
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| Popov Room, ITU HQ, Geneva, Switzerland In-Person Meeting with a virtual component Date and Time: Thursday, 8 December 2022, 12:00 – 13:00 CET |
Session description
The annual EQUALS in Tech Awards Ceremony is the flagship event of the EQUALS Global Partnership to Bridge the Gender Digital Divide. The 2022 edition was a moment to come together and celebrate initiatives and organizations around the world working towards gender digital equality. The awards were given in five categories: Access, Skills, Leadership in Tech, Leadership in SMEs, and Research. At this 2022 edition of the EQUALS in Tech Awards Ceremony, a new category also celebrated the work of EQUALS: the Special Recognition Partner Award was given to one of our many outstanding partners. This was an occasion to celebrate the impact and success of initiatives that leverage the power of partnerships for gender digital equality!
Programme
12:00 : Welcome
12:10 : Keynote Address
12:15 : Announcement of Winners
13:00 : Closing
| Breakout Discussions by Focus Areas |
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| Popov Room, ITU HQ, Geneva, Switzerland In-Person Meeting with a virtual component Date and Time: Thursday, 8 December 2022, 14:00 – 15:30 CET |
Session description
In a very interactive and “hands-on” session, in person attendees of the P2C Annual Meeting discussed pledges, key challenges, synergies and opportunities for scale and collaboration. Attendees were split according to Focus Area Pillars and the discussions were led by respective ITU Experts who ensured that further coordination, support, and integration with ITU projects is provided.
Panellists
- Alex Wong, Chief Special Initiatives, Telecommunication Development Bureau, ITU, Moderator
- Jenny Arana, Digital Inclusion Officer at the Digital Society Division, Telecommunication Development Bureau, ITU
- Sofie Maddens, Head of the Regulatory and Market Environment Division, Telecommunication Development Bureau, ITU
- Vladimir Daigele, Senior Programme Officer at the Future Networks & Spectrum Management Division, Telecommunication Development Bureau, ITU
- Hani Eskandar, Head of the Digital Services Division, Telecommunication Development Bureau, ITU
| Announcement of New P2C Pledges |
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| Popov Room, ITU HQ, Geneva, Switzerland In-Person Meeting with a virtual component Date and Time: Thursday, 8 December 2022, 16:00 – 16:30 CET |
Session description
The P2C Coalition mobilizes pledges across all Focus Areas and regions in an open and coordinated fashion to advance universal meaningful connectivity. Hundreds of pledges have been submitted since the launch of our pledging platform back in March. This is a remarkable accomplishment, which couldn’t have been possible without the leadership of each of our pledgers. This vibrant session gave the stage to selected pledgers to unveil to the world some of the new commitments recently submitted to P2C.
Panellists
- Jaroslaw Ponder, Head of the ITU Europe Office, Moderator
- H.E. Tariq Al Gurg, Chief Executive Officer & Vice-Chairman of Dubai Cares
- René Arnold, Vice President, Public Affairs Strategy at Huawei
- Kerstin Juettner, Liaison Officer – International Relations ITU / SmartAfrica, International Government Relations G7 / GF-IG, Rohde & Schwarz
- Marija Manojlovic, Safe Online Director, End Violence Global Partnership
- Nicolas Mayencourt, Chief Executive Officer, Dreamlab
- Björn Richter, Head of Digital Transformation Cluster of Global and Sector Programmes, GIZ, Government of Germany
- H.E. Tadej Rupel, Ambassador, National Coordinator for External Aspects of Digitalization, AI & Cyber Security, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia
- Siva Somasundram, Director of Policy, Regulations and Markets, Universal Postal Union, Video Address
- Elisabeth von Glahn, Policy Advisor, GIZ, Government of Germany, representing the EQUALS Steering Committee
- Vicky Zhang, Vice President for Corporate Communications, Chief Editorial Department, Huawei Technologies
| Closing Session |
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| Popov Room, ITU HQ, Geneva, Switzerland In-Person Meeting with a virtual component Date and Time: Thursday, 8 December 2022, 16:30 – 16:45 CET |
Session description
The Closing Session marked the end of the first P2C Annual Meeting. It highlighted the key outcomes of the day, presented the outlook and next steps for the Coalition in the new year, and invited the audience to celebrate the accomplishments made in 2022. Following the Closing Session, in person attendees were invited to join a networking reception.
Panellists
- Maximilian Jacobson-Gonzalez, Senior Communications Officer, ITU, Master of Ceremonies and Moderator
- Doreen Bogdan-Martin, Director of the ITU Telecommunication Development Bureau and Secretary-General elect
- Fayaz King, Special Advisor, Office of the SG Envoy on Technology
- Cosmas Zavazava, Chief of the Partnerships for Digital Development Department and Director-elect Telecommunication Development Bureau, ITU
P2C Annual Meeting Overview
Universal connectivity, digital transformation, digital inclusion, and digital cooperation are at the heart of the United Nations work. They are key priorities of the UN Secretary General’s Roadmap for Digital Cooperation and important foundations for outlining the Global Digital Compact‘s principles of an open, free and secure digital future for all. However, despite noticeable progress, billions of people remain offline, and hundreds of millions more still lack the connectivity required to tap into the transformative power of the Internet.
Recognizing this pressing need, ITU, in line with the UN Secretary-General’s Roadmap for Digital Cooperation and in close cooperation with the Office of the Secretary-General’s Envoy on Technology, and the United Nations Office of the High representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States (UNOHRLLS), launched in 2021 the Partner2Connect Digital Coalition (P2C) a multistakeholder alliance to mobilize, and announce new resources, partnerships, and commitments to achieve universal and meaningful connectivity.
Following a very successful year marked with very important Milestones including over 500 pledges and the mobilization of over US$28 billion for connectivity projects around the world, the Partner2Connect Digital Coalition presented its achievements and reported on progress at its very first Partner2Connect Annual Meeting. This in-person event was held on 8 December 2022 from 09:30-17:30 CET at ITU’s Headquarters in Geneva (Popov Room, Geneva, Switzerland). The meeting engaged high-level representatives and pledge makers from government, private sector, civil society, and other sectors. Over the course of this one-day meeting, attendees had the opportunity to learn about the progress on the implementation of pledges made through the Coalition, celebrate the announcement of new pledges and commitments, discuss the challenges and opportunities for connecting the unconnected at specific breakout sessions, as well as network and share experiences, which will further advance global digital transformation.
The program also included the 9th Annual EQUALS in Tech Awards Ceremony, where we celebrated those initiatives, projects, organizations, and institutions around the world that have displayed extraordinary commitment to reducing the digital gender divide.
The Partner2Connect Annual Meeting was open to all participants to register.