ITU
The rise of digital technologies and ways of working offers extraordinary new opportunities to further global sustainable development and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, from increasing economic resilience to mitigating the damage of COVID-19 and delivering more effective public services. Yet not everyone is equally able to take advantage of these opportunities, particularly as the rapid pace of digital change places further demands on resource-constrained governments and societies.
Bridging the world’s digital divide is increasingly urgent, as those who left out of today’s digital transformation are in danger of falling further behind. This means ensuring that digital services are available everywhere, as well as affordable and accessible to all.
ITU
The last of six regional preparatory meetings for the ITU World Telecommunication Development Conference (WTDC) brought policy makers and experts together to take stock of digital challenges and opportunities in the Americas region.
The region has recorded sustained growth in information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure, access, and use, with an impressive 90 per cent of youth online. Yet it still grapples with a significant urban/rural digital divide.
Across the Americas, only about half of households in rural areas have a home Internet connection, compared to nearly three quarters of those in urban areas, according to the latest study on regional digital trends by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).
ITU
The sun is rising on a Japanese rooftop fragrant with muskmelons. Amid the greenery, a network of monitors and sensors pulsates reassuringly.
The idyllic, glass-enclosed roofscape provides a real-life platform for digital agriculture – one of many applications with the potential to feed smart cities of the future. But before this verdant vision can become reality, certain enabling conditions must be in place.
Information islands
Current methods of smart city governance are challenged with huge volumes of accumulated data and fragmented “islands” of information and services increasingly straining the limits of operational management.
To address such atomization, smart city planning must shift increasingly from products and services to unified platforms, which can boost data integrity, encourage data sharing, support more applications, and reduce costs. Smart cities applications need to be interoperable and scalable, aligned with robust international standards and reinf
Human-centered connectivity at the United Nations
H.E. Mr. Volkan Bozkir, President of the UN General Assembly, organized the UN’s first-ever High-Level Thematic Debate on Connectivity and Digital Cooperation. My topline conclusions from yesterday’s event are:
The human costs of the digital divide must be addressed as we build back from the pandemic, and
Stakeholders from governments, private sector, international organizations and civil society need to work together to end the digital divide by 2030.
More than 70 nations spoke out on the theme Whole-of-Society Approaches to End the Digital Divide. Connecting people with the internet has new urgency and commitment around the world.