BDT Director Doreen Bogdan-Martin gave opening remarks to the very first I TU Inter-Regional Week on “Emerging Technologies for Development" in the Arab and African Regions. The objective of the meeting was to promote the wide-scale deployment of emerging technologies including, Artificial Intelligence, IoT, Big Data, low orbiting satellites, and 5G, to ultimately contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
An event that will be held annually, it will consider a new theme each year that focuses on specific emerging technologies and target a number of SDGs. This year, the week focused on SDG 3 (Health and Well Being), SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth) and SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure).
As the rapid pace of technological evolution makes it hard to stay abreast of the latest developments, Ms Bogdan-Martin affirmed ITU's hope that the Emerging Technologies Week would help Member States develop their preparedness to embrace new technologies to meet a range of development challenges.
She recounted, ''from physical meeting rooms to virtual 'Zoom Rooms', we now hear affirmed far and wide the critical role that ICTs will play in achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals by our deadline of 2030.''
Considering SDG 3 on Health and Well Being, Ms Bogdan-Martin described how we are already seeing that e-health is playing an increasingly important role in tele-diagnosis and healthcare, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. The joint ITU/WHO Be Healthy, Be Mobile programme is already active in a number of African countries.
Looking to SDG4 on education, she noted that this year has thrown a particularly sharp spotlight on the vital importance of e-learning. ''In the wake of widespread school closures, affordable access to broadband connectivity has meant the difference between continuing their education for the lucky few, and a complete halt to their education for billions of others. Tragically, some, especially girls, may never get the opportunity to resume their studies,'' she said.
For this reason, ITU's new Giga partnership with UNICEF and others is so timely and important. Giga aims to connect all schools to the internet, and every young person to information, opportunity and choice. Ms Bogdan-Martin drew attention to the fact that ITU is accelerating efforts to ramp up Giga implementation, with several African countries included in the first wave of implementation— including Benin, Kenya, Niger, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Togo and Zimbabwe.
Highlighting the first World Telecommunication Development Conference (WTDC-21) that will be held in the African continent, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia next year, Ms Bogdan-Martin said ''in just a few short months, the COVID crisis has convinced the whole world of the power and importance of digital technologies in building social and economic resiliency, and prosperity. We have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to harness that tide of political will and translate it into a comprehensive and concrete connectivity plan that will truly transform the world.''
