BDT Director Doreen Bogdan-Martin participated in ''Finance2Connect: Innovative Ways to Finance Connectivity'', in the Road to Addis series of events ahead of the upcoming World Telecommunication Development Conference (WTDC).
ITU's Connecting Humanity report estimates that $430 million will be needed to connect 90% of the world's unconnected people. The event considered innovative ways to finance this connectivity despite economic damage inflicted by the COVID crisis.
President of the General Assembly, H.E. Volkan Bozkir delivered a keynote address. Expert speakers included: Ms Aya Miyaguchi. Executive Director, Ethereum Foundation; Mr Hiro Mizuno, United Nations Special Envoy on Innovative Finance and Sustainable Investments, Member of the board of PRI (Principles for Responsible Investment) Association; Ms Mmabatho Motsamai, Founder The Afrolutionist and member of ITU Generation Connect Visionaries Board; Mr Andile Ngcaba, Founding Partner & Chairman, Convergence Partners Investments; Ms Charlotte Petri Gornitzka, Assistant Secretary-General and UNICEF Deputy executive Director, Partnerships; and Ms Preeti Sinha, Executive Secretary, United Nations Capital Development Fund. The panel was moderated by Mr David Kirkpatrick, Founder & Editor-in-Chief, Techonomy Media.
In her opening remarks, Ms Bogdan-Martin asked panelists, how do we convince governments to prioritize connectivity at a time when there are so many other urgent calls on the public purse? And, once we have succeeded in convincing them, how can we help them find the resources they need to make their digital development strategies a reality?
She suggested five broad areas of focus, including a top-level commitment to broadband networks as basic infrastructure, just as vital to national development as transport, energy, and water networks; new models for multi-stakeholder collaboration; enabling regulatory policies and incentives that leverage the principles of 5th generation 'collaborative regulation'; a Whole-of-Government approach; and an openness to emerging technologies which provide new ways to monitor, measure and manage digital resources.
At the close of the event, Ms Bogdan-Martin underscored the point put forth by multiple speakers that the resources already exist, and creative, multistakeholder collaboration will be necessary to leverage them innovatively to connect the unconnected.
