Tallinn Digital Summit 2023
Keynote
ITU Secretary-General Doreen Bogdan-Martin
5 September 2023
Good morning, excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,
It's great to be back in Estonia, a country that lives and breathes digital — and a great example for many to learn from and follow.
The last time I had the honor to speak at this summit, I urged you to see digital as the foundation stone of our future.
That was two years ago, and we were still in the grips of the pandemic.
No one had seen it coming — the same way generative AI took the world by surprise a few months ago.
Both cases have highlighted the dramatic rise, increasing importance, and profound effects of digital technologies on our lives.
They've also made us question — question the type of future we want to build.
We at ITU know this firsthand.
We've been accompanying countries on their technological journeys since 1865 from the early days of the telegraph to the telephone, the 1st satellite, to the Internet, to the latest breakthroughs of AI.
If we've learned anything, it's that great innovation opportunities come with equally formidable challenges.
In the message shared last week by the co-facilitators of the UN Global Digital Compact, it was clear: we need to collectively harness the benefits and manage the risks of digitalization for all.
This is at the top of ITU's priorities — and we are closely engaged in the digital Compact discussions and other digital related UN processes.
Our objective is simple: we want to harness the power of digital technologies to accelerate progress across all the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
WHY?
Because The central promise of the SDGs is to leave no one behind.
But yet, today a third of humanity is still unconnected — left behind.
The Summit programme today, zooms in on many of the challenges that stand between us and a resilient, responsive, and open digital future — the central themes of this summit.
Let me come back to what I just mentioned; a third of humanity is not connected.
So, I'm here to raise the voice of those who don't have one.
Especially when digital is moving so fast.
When the climate crisis is seen in nearly all parts of the world.
And when progress on the SDGs is off track.
I want to highlight three important elements that should be included in our efforts going forward.
First, we need to make connectivity meaningful.
This means prioritizing the development of digital infrastructure in underserved areas and communities, but also prioritizing security and trust, and digital skills.
The infrastructure roll-out is fundamental.
And it's exciting to see the developments in both the terrestrial and mobile fields as well as with space-based technologies.
With about 50 satellites being launched on average every week, getting to the rural and remote communities can be achievable.
These are topics that will be discussed at our next World Radiocommunication Conference, which is just a few months away.
As I mention digital security and trust is paramount for all countries. And it is more and more a factor keeping people offline, even when they have the means. ITU works to support countries in capacity development, cyber strategies and CIRTs.
We're also committed to ensuring that emerging technologies like AI are developed and deployed in a safe and responsible manner.
In short, meaningful connectivity is the foundation of digital resilience.
An area where we are working with partners to support the Ukraine and its telecommunications infrastructure.
The second critical element is that digital transformation needs to be sustainable.
This is one of ITU's strategic priorities.
It's reflected across our work — from helping to monitor our planet — to developing green technical standards.
In a few months, ITU will hold a Green Digital Action track at COP28 to raise the ambition of the digital sector to reduce its carbon footprint, accelerate the transition to net zero emissions across the economy, and build bold new partnerships for concrete climate action.
And this takes me to my third and final point: collaboration.
All the challenges we're facing today are too big for any one player to face alone.
That's where platforms like GovStack come into play — a partnership between ITU, Estonia, Germany, the Digital Impact Alliance, UNDP, and a list of others that keeps growing.
At the core of it is the ability to design reusable, interoperable digital government services.
A concept that many thought was not achievable.
Through the Global Sandbox, countries can also experiment with new ways of tailoring digital services to their unique needs, using available digital public goods and building blocks.
Collaboration is the nucleus of the Partner2Connect Digital Coalition led by ITU, a multi-stakeholder effort to foster meaningful connectivity and digital transformation globally — 760 pledges strong, worth over 30 billion US dollars — and a target to reach 100 billion US dollars in pledges by 2026.
Collaboration is also represented by our work with the European Commission Global Gateway initiative.
These collaboration examples are all geared towards helping to put the SDGs back on track.
That's why on September 17, on the margins of the SDG Summit, and as part of the SDG Action Weekend, ITU, UNDP and our partners will hold the SDG Digital Day to bring digital to the fore at this critical time of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development — showcasing proven use cases on the use of digital technologies for each SDG — and by launching an SDG Digital Acceleration Framework, showing how to leverage digital to accelerate the SDGs.
Join us.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Achieving the 2030 Agenda is the greatest test of our times.
It's also our biggest opportunity to create a lasting, inclusive, equitable, open, resilient, and sustainable digital future for all.
Time is of the essence.
The very choices that we make today will resonate and impact generations to come.
Thank you.
