It is a pleasure to join you at this important event and let me start by thanking Dr Liang for the invitation to join you today, and Huawei for its tremendous efforts to bring meaningful connectivity to everyone everywhere, including in some of the most challenging regions, as we have just seen in the video.
I am delighted to see we have panelists here today from across the ICT ecosystem, governments, international organizations, and the private sector.
What brings us together is the drive to extend the benefits of connectivity equitably and sustainably, especially for the 2.7 billion people who are still unconnected worldwide.
Despite steady progress in coverage terms – ITU data shows that in 2022, 95 per cent of the world population is within range of a mobile broadband network – one in three individuals who could go online, do not.
Our data spotlights not one, but multiple digital divides.
For example, the share of Internet users is twice as high in urban compared to rural areas. In low-income countries, levels of Internet use stand at 22 per cent, whereas 91 per cent use the Internet in high-income countries.
But it is clear connectivity alone is not enough. It must be affordable, the content must be relevant and in the local language, users must have the digital skills to make best use of it, and there needs to be a reliable energy supply.
ITU’s mission is to connect the world. Only then will the UN Sustainable Development Goals be achieved. This priority is reflected across all ITU’s work. The focus is on enhancing universal connectivity. Sustainable digital transformation was reinforced by ITU’s Membership at ITU’s recent Plenipotentiary Conference, with new goals and targets enshrined in the four-year Strategic Plan.
Bridging the usage gap requires a concerted approach, and ITU has built a network of partnerships spanning governments, industry, and international organizations.
Our
Partner2Connect Digital Coalition embodies this approach, mobilizing resources and catalyzing partnerships for meaningful connectivity. As of today, over 540 pledges have been submitted to the platform, valued at over US$ 29 billion. I invite you all to find out more about P2C by joining our first annual meeting at our headquarters in Geneva on 8 December. It will be an opportunity to learn about the progress on the implementation of pledges made through the Coalition across all its Focus Areas.
I would like to take this opportunity to extend my sincere thanks to Dr Liang and Huawei for their support to Partner2Connect and for the commitments announced today.
Huawei’s pledges directly address some of the challenges I mentioned earlier: delivering connectivity to 120 million people in remote areas across 80 countries by 2025; and working with the government of Cambodia, our first P2C partner country, to provide 10,000 digital skills training opportunities for ICT professionals by 2027.
These and other areas are where optimal technology use can really change lives.
The beautiful videos we have just been shown have very clearly illustrated this, and I have been fortunate to see it for myself on several occasions. For example, a few years ago, I visited a village in Thailand which had recently become connected to broadband as part of a government project that received a WSIS Prize. Villagers were now selling their rice crops online, resulting in a 300 per cent increase in profits, which was partly used to connect the village school and give its pupils laptops. People who had left the village to find work in the cities were returning to the village. The head of the village was one who had worked as a telecoms engineer in Bangkok! Connectivity had really rejuvenated the village.
This is just one example of meaningful connectivity in action, bringing better productivity, education, financial inclusion, and a better quality of life to a rural area.
Underpinning all this work are three important words: collaboration, cooperation and coordination. They are my favorite three words because it is only through fruitful multistakeholder partnerships, such as Partner2Connect, that we will achieve far-reaching results.
In the face of unprecedented global challenges, we need digital technologies more than ever before to shape peaceful, sustainable societies and economies.
I look forward to hearing how we can better harness the power of partnership and our collective knowledge and expertise to make this a reality for everyone everywhere.
Thank you.
