BDT Director Doreen Bogdan-Martin participated in the third event of ITU's ''Road to Addis'' series, ''Connect to Include. Include to Connect.'' In the lead up to the 2021 World Telecommunication Development Conference to be held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, this session addressed the specific needs for digital inclusion of women and girls, youth and elderly, persons with disabilities, children, indigenous people and people living in remote areas, to achieve true and meaningful universal connectivity.
While opening the event, Ms Bogdan-Martin drew attention to the urgent need for more and better data and targets for digital connectivity and affordability, and also metrics to measure the digital inclusion of all groups. She additionally underscored the importance of linking data to people and to real stories, and thereby invited expert panelists to share their insights.
She posed them the questions: What concrete actions are needed to ensure inclusive, equal access and use of ICTs for all? Which countries, private sector companies and international organizations are leading the way, and what can the global community learn from them? What types of partnerships and global cooperation efforts are proving most effective?
The Honorable President of Ethiopia H.E. Sahle Work-Zehde delivered a keynote address. Speakers across sectors then shared their views on strategies to drive digital inclusion, including: Ms Emilce Portillo, CONATEL; Ms Emma Randall, Youth Engagement, ITU; Ms Joanne O'Riordan, Activist and Sports Journalist; Ms Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women; Dr Judith Williams, Head of People Sustainability and SVP, Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer, SAP; Ms Claudia Gordon, Director of Government and Compliance, T-Mobile Accessibility; Mr Michael Hodin, CEO, Global Coalition on Aging; Ms Monica Duhem, CEO, HearColors; Ms Lissette González Romero, Telecomunicaciones Indígenas Comunitarias A.C., Mexico; Dr George Anthony Giannoumis, Vice-rapporteur in ITU-D SG Q7/1 and associate Professor of Universal Design of Information and Communication Technology, Oslo Metropolitan University; Mr Roland White, Director, Global Diversity and Inclusion, Microsoft UK; Mr Othman Almoamar, Research Lead, Misk Foundation; Mr Hans Vestberg, Chairman and CEO, Verizon Communications.
As panelists made meaningful contributions on diverse aspects of digital inclusion, Ms Bogdan-Martin stressed the importance of partnerships to achieve common objectives. She detailed a number of ITU initiatives that have scope for partnership (including the GIGA project with UNICEF to connect all schools to the internet, and the EQUALS Global Partnership to bridge the digital gender divide) and invited all participants to join ITU and work together to make ''universal digital inclusion a reality.''
