Highlights October 2024
21 - 25 October
Cybersecurity: Asia and the Pacific
The ITU Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific organized sessions on ‘Online Safety and Child Online Protection Training of Trainers’ for educators and ‘Global Cybersecurity Index Policy Recommendations Sensitization’ as a part of National Cyber Security month held in Male, Maldives.
Digital inclusion: Asia and the Pacific
The Commonwealth Women’s Forum took place as part of the Commonwealth High Officials Government meeting held in Apia, Samoa. The ITU Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific delivered a presentation in the session, “Digital Inclusion: The Dynamics and Dangers,” which focused on empowering women and girls. During the Forum, the Office shared updates on the Pacific Girls in ICT programme, along with the Smart Villages and Smart Islands initiatives, highlighting the newly published Digital Impact Story on the Smart Islands project currently being implemented in Manono Island, Samoa.
14 - 18 October
Digital services and applications: Asia and the Pacific
Under the EU STREIT Program, the ITU Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific launched a series of online e-commerce trainings for youth and farmers in the remote Houaraheng Village, located in the Yangoru District of East Sepik Province. These sessions, conducted via a Learning Management System (LMS) platform developed by ITU, introduced participants—including youth, women, and farmers—to the basics of e-commerce. The Office, in collaboration with UN agencies such as Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), International Labour Organization (ILO), and United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), is supporting local communities in cocoa production, vanilla cultivation, fish farming, community empowerment, and enhancing digital connectivity, fostering sustainable development in the region.
Other: Arab States
The ITU Regional Office for the Arab States held a meeting with the Generation Connect - Arab States Youth Envoys to kick off the regional consultation process in preparation for the upcoming Global Youth Summit. The objective was to help the Youth Envoys identify key challenges specific to the Arab region that align with ITU Development’s priorities and the region's ICT and telecommunications needs, contributing towards the 2025 World Telecommunications Development Conference (WTDC-25).
The group was divided into five teams, each responsible for addressing a distinct challenge identified within the region’s ICT landscape. They were encouraged to focus their research and project proposals on critical areas such as digital inclusion, innovation, cybersecurity, and youth empowerment through ICT. During the meeting, two of the Youth Envoys presented their developed project ideas, serving as practical examples for the rest of the group to model their efforts on.
The final draft of the projects will undergo further review in an upcoming consultative meeting scheduled for 11 November 2024, allowing the Youth Envoys to receive feedback from key stakeholders before being finalized as a contribution to the Arab region’s preparations for WTDC-25.
The meeting served as a strong starting point for empowering the Arab regional youth to actively participate in shaping the region's digital transformation.
7 - 11 October
New Members: Europe
Metalkom Infrastruktura, a leading turnkey solution provider in the Hungarian telecommunication market, joined the ITU Telecommunication Development Sector (ITU-D) as a Sector Member.
Statistics: Arab States
The ITU Telecommunication Development Bureau in collaboration with the European Union and the Communications Regulatory Authority of Qatar, organized a Regional Workshop on Promoting and Measuring Universal and Meaningful Connectivity (UMC) for the Arab States, held in Doha, Qatar. The event brought together participants from 17 Arab countries, including telecommunications regulators, policymakers, and statistical officers. The workshop provided a platform to discuss strategies for advancing UMC in the region, focusing on improving ICT data collection and fostering collaboration between the users and producers of statistics. Key sessions covered the UMC measurement framework, country case studies, ITU statistical standards and innovative data sources. Through panel discussions and group exercises, participants identified critical indicators and best practices to support digital transformation and policy implementation across the Arab States.
[This activity is the result of a BDT project. You can find more details of the project here]
30 September - 4 October
Cybersecurity: Asia and the Pacific
The Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific delivered a presentation at the Cyber Safety for Children Workshop in Hanoi, Vietnam organized by the Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development (AIBD) and Voice of Vietnam (VOV). The presentation focused on ongoing efforts to safeguard children in the digital space, highlighting key progress that promotes digital literacy, online safety, and youth empowerment across the region, as well as the Child Online Protection Trainings on ITU Academy and the online application resources for children. The workshop brought together regional stakeholders, including broadcasters, regulators, and child protection agencies, to discuss strategies for strengthening online safety frameworks and ensuring a secure digital environment for young users.
Digital services and applications: Asia and the Pacific
The Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific participated in the Papua New Guinea Digital Transformation Summit 2024 and shared insights on the whole-of-government approach and GovStack. The Summit brought together representatives from government agencies, industry, civil society and academia across the country. This event is part of ITU’s ongoing support for digital government transformation in Papua New Guinea, facilitated through GovStack with the backing of DITRDCA Australia and GiZ.
Digital services and applications: Africa
The ITU Regional Office for Africa, in collaboration with the Ministry of Digital Economy of Cabo Verde, conducted a consultation workshop in Praia as part of the ITU/Cabo Verde Smart Island initiative. This workshop served as an initial assessment to identify priority digital services and strengthen digital transformation, particularly in rural communities. It brought together community leaders, government officials, technology experts, and representatives from international organizations, NGOs, and academia, all of whom provided invaluable perspectives for co-creating impactful solutions for Cabo Verde. Findings from the assessment will be presented to national stakeholders for validation and to foster local ownership.
Environment: Global
The carbon footprint and energy consumption of the digital technology sector is growing with global demand for hardware, network services, data storage and emerging technologies, according to a report co-authored by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the World Benchmarking Alliance (WBA).
Alongside commitments expressed across industry to embrace both digital growth and environmental sustainability, the report reveals an overall decline in progress towards climate goals. Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and energy consumption in the global tech sector have increased, while transparency and accountability remain a challenge.
Greening Digital Companies 2024 offers insights and best practices to help tech companies worldwide accelerate their emissions reductions, achieve low-carbon operations, and improve climate reporting.
Network and digital infrastructure: Asia and the Pacific
Building on the impactful collaboration of 2023, the ITU Telecommunication Development Bureau and the International Think Tank for Landlocked Developing Countries (ITTLLDC) co-organized a seminar in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, with the support from Australia’s Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts. The seminar highlighted how satellite and space services can promote affordable, resilient and universal connectivity.
The event featured 10 country case studies and sessions focused on national satellite regulations and space policies. Around 50 Participants from over 15 countries attended in person. A notable segment was the P2C session, where, for the first time, new pledges from Mongolian entities were presented. Connectivity and satellite-related pledges were also highlighted, allowing delegates and countries to express interest and facilitating potential matchmaking among speakers and attendees.
Policy and regulation: Asia and the Pacific
The Ministry of Trade, Co-Operatives, MSMEs, and Communications of Fiji hosted a Stakeholder Meeting to discuss the draft “Fiji National Digital Strategy”. This initiative seeks to gather input on the draft and is supported by ITU and UNOPS under a joint programme supported by the SDG Fund. The Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific presented the strategies and activities proposed to position Fiji as the Digital Hub in the Pacific. The Ministry expressed appreciation for ITU’s support and indicated that more socialization events are planned in the coming weeks.
Statistics: Arab States
The Regional Workshop for the Arab Countries on Promoting and Measuring Universal and Meaningful Connectivity (UMC) was held in Doha, Qatar. This workshop, held in hybrid format gathered over 85 participants from Algeria, Bahrain, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, State of Palestine, Qatar, Somalia, Tunisia, Yemen and UAE. It provided a platform for productive dialogue among policymakers, regulators, industry players, and ICT statistics producers, including national statistical offices and regional bodies.
Key discussions focused on the role of UMC frameworks in shaping national digital policies. The workshop highlighted the importance of cross-border collaboration in data collection, encouraging countries to participate in ITU expert groups, like EGTI and EGH, to better integrate their national data into global databases. Regional organizations were recognized for their critical role in aligning national ICT strategies with regional and global trends, including the Arab Digital Agenda, while strengthening partnerships with ITU.
This event reinforced ITU's commitment to supporting evidence-based policy development in the Arab region and further strengthened relationships between ITU and key data providers, ensuring the region's active role in shaping global ICT policies and statistics.
New Members: Americas
The Information and Communications Technology Council (ICTC), joined as a new Member of the ITU Telecommunication Development Sector (ITU-D). ICTC collaborates with the government, industry leaders, and the workforce, to drive tangible results for the digital economy. Simultaneously, ICTC equips Canadians with the essential skills for success in a rapidly changing economy and empowers businesses to thrive in an increasingly dynamic marketplace.