…but Africa takes the back seat despite being the region most lagging behind
By MKPE ABANG
This year marks 150 years since the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) was established, and there is perhaps no other occasion most fitting for celebrating the one century and a half anniversary of this United Nations agency charged with the onerous task of guiding and guarding the world’s information and communication technologies – resources, technologies, potentials, challenges and benefits for the good of all humanity – than the ITU Telecom World 2015, which opens in Budapest, Hungary, on October 12.
Hinting on the core of the event’s focus, the ITU calls attention to the “rapid pace of digital transformation” which it stated “is creating new ecosystems, players and even industries – all holding tremendous potential.”
In making that pointer, the ITU goes on to ask salient questions, which should challenge global leaders when they gather in Budapest from October 12 to 15, not to see the event as just another avenue for just talking; but one from which deliberations should push such leaders into action in their various countries.
“But how can this potential (of rapid digital transformation) be harnessed for the benefit of all? And what should the top-level priorities be?” Those were some posers by the ITU.
Although the agency says “an outstanding line-up of speakers spanning government, industry, entrepreneurs and innovators at the ITU Telecom World 2015 Leadership Summit on 12 and 13 October will debate how best to accelerate ICT innovation, open up the digital economy to all the world’s citizens, and work together to enable digital entrepreneurship as a driving force for socio-economic development,” the line-up of speakers and topics for discussion put a question mark on the place of the African continent in the entire chain.
Africa is the most backward in the digitisation process; yet, the ITU Telecom World, although sorely aware of Africa’s sorry state in ICT uptake, penetration and use, has not planned out a special focus for the continent.
If there are diseases, if there is famine, if there is high level of illiteracy, if there is palpable lack of transparency in governance due to absence of e-governance on the continent of Africa, then the UN through the ITU ought to allocate special sessions at the ITU Telecom World 2015 to discuss this continent as the last region that must be rescued.
Although key speakers on the ITU Telecom World 2015 programme shows such names as Ali Hassan Bahdon, Minister of Communication, Djibouti and Jean Philbert Nsengimana, Minister of Youth and ICT, Rwanda, the programme does not have any special place for Africa.
But the ITU paints a picture of hope as it announces the event:
“The Leadership Summit programme gathers together policy makers, decision-takers, strategists and key ICT influencers at the highest level to identify and debate the central issues affecting the industry – from the urgent need to extend access to the digital economy to the 60 per cent of the world currently unconnected, to recognising and fostering the contribution of SMEs in driving technical and economic innovation and the establishment of digital single markets,“ said ITU Secretary-General Houlin Zhao.
“As well as sharing their unique insights, the final session of the Summit will see the launch of the Budapest call for action – a global pledge underlining Ministers’ commitment to growing digital entrepreneurship, accelerating socio-economic development, and driving real change.”
It is worthy of note that Mr. Zhao’s predecessor, Dr. Hamadoun Toure, is an African from the Republic of Mali.
The line-up of speakers including ministers and regulators shows the following:
Ali M Abbasov, Minister of Communications and High Technologies; Azerbaijan, Fatima Barros, Chair of BEREC and Chair of the Board, ANACOM; Jurand Drop, Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Administration and Digitization, Poland; Begum Tarana Halim, Minister of Posts and Telecommunications, Bangladesh; Vijayalakshmy K. Gupta, Member, TRAI, India; Jack Hamande, Président du Conseil, IBPT, Belgium; Anusha Rahman Ahmad Khan, Minister of State for Information Technology, Pakistan; Tatjana Matic, State Secretary, Ministry of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications, Serbia; Nikolay NikiforovMinister of Telecom and Mass Communications, Russian Federation; and Yasuo Sakamoto, Vice-Minister for Policy Coordination, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, Japan.
The high-level industry representatives include:
Helani Galpaya, CEO, LIRNEasia, Sri Lanka; Gordon Graylish, V.P. Sales & Marketing, Intel Corporation; Kevin Martin, Vice President, Public Policy, mobile and global access, Facebook; Gabriela Styf Sjöman, CTO, Telecom Italia; Joy Tan, President, Global Media and Communications, Huawei; Karim Taga, Managing Partner, Arthur D. Little, Austria; and Jeremy Wilks, Producer, Euronews.
There will also be heads of International Organisations, UN agencies and Academia; among them as listed by the ITU, are:
Udo Helmbrecht, Executive Director, ENISA; Nicholas Negroponte, Chairman Emeritus, MIT Media Lab; Cornelia Richter, Director General, GIZ, Germany; James Poisant, Secretary-General, WITSA; Sharad Sapra, Director, Global Innovation Centre, UNICEF; and José Toscano, Director General & CEO, ITSO.
The ITU states that “in an increasingly interconnected world, ITU is the single global organisation embracing all players in this dynamic and fast-growing sector.” And this is where precisely questions may need to be asked: will the ITU Telecom World 2015 lead to a more interconnected African continent?
The agency says it is “committed to connecting all the world’s people – wherever they live and whatever their means.”
IT & Telecom Digest (www.ittelecomdigest.com) is Official Media Partner of the ITU Telecom World 2015.
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