Page 21 - SAMENA Trends - March-April 2023
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FEATURED SAMENA TRENDS
ITU Secretary-General Doreen Bogdan-Martin
Doreen Bogdan-Martin was elected Secretary-
General of ITU in September 2022 and took office
on 1 January 2023, becoming the first woman to
head the 157-year-old organization. The world's
largest technical professional organization, IEEE,
recently presented the ITU Secretary-General
with the 2023 IEEE President's Award. With over
two decades of leadership experience in global
telecommunications policy, Bogdan-Martin has
emphasized the need for digital transformation
to achieve economic prosperity, gender equality,
and socio-economic inclusion, as well as to build
circular economies, reduce climate impact, and
save lives. Prior to becoming ITU Secretary-
General, Bogdan-Martin served as Director of
ITU's Telecommunication Development Bureau
from 2018 through 2022.
According to the research, which uses data from ITU's Facts
and Figures 2022, an estimated 407 million people in LDCs
were using the Internet in 2022. The 720 million people still
offline in LDCs represent 27 per cent of the global offline
population, even though the LDC population accounts for only
14 per cent of world population.
The study highlights that only 83 per cent of the combined
"The path to prosperity for LDC population is covered by a mobile broadband signal
the world's least developed 3G or above, the main way to connect to the Internet in
most developing countries. This compares with 95 per cent
countries runs through dig- coverage for the overall world population.
ital development. The spe- The latest edition of Facts and Figures, ITU's annual overview
cial edition of ITU's Facts on the state of digital connectivity, found that the cost of using
and Figures highlights Internet services inched downward across the globe in 2022.
The special ITU analysis produced for LDC5 highlights that
the challenges confront- accessing the Internet is more costly in LDCs than anywhere
ing LDCs and should help else in the world.
According to ITU, the challenge of getting communities online
strengthen commitments has also become more complex over the last decade than just
between the least devel- constructing physical connections.
oped countries and their For LDCs, the goal of universal and meaningful connectivity –
development partners." when a safe, satisfying, enriching, productive and affordable
online experience is available to all – remains a distant
Doreen Bogdan-Martin prospect. Even many of those who can access the Internet do
ITU Secretary-General not, because of the barriers ranging from awareness, to skills,
to costs.
ITU, the United Nations specialized agency for information
and communication technologies, works around the globe to
strengthen collaborative action on universal connectivity and
sustainable digital transformation.
21 MARCH-APRIL 2023
