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Workshop on Meaningful Connectivity: Projects and Impact

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Time and place: Monday, 8 May 2023 from 16:00 to 17:30, Geneva (Room C, ITU)

ITU projects make a difference in the lives of people and offer sustainable and innovative solutions around the world to achieve sustainable development through the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs.)
This workshop took place in conjunction with ITU-D Study Group 1 Rapporteur Group Question (RGQ) meetings. It was open to non ITU-D Members and the public at large. It addressed the mandate of ITU-D Study Group 1 namely "Enabling environment for meaningful connectivity”. Meaningful connectivity is a level of connectivity that allows users to have a safe, satisfying, enriching and productive online experience at an affordable cost.
More specifically, the workshop looked ITU led projects geared towards achieving Meaningful connectivity with impact at country level. This workshop is facilitated by the Project Support Division of BDT.​

[16h00 – 16h10 ] Setting the Scene

Speaker:​
​Mr Jose Maria Diaz Batanero, Head of Project Support Division, ITU [Biography]

[16h10 – 16h30] Use of ICTs in emergency and disaster situations in the Caribbean region- Phase 1

    Sensitive to the devastation and the loss of lives from a number of recent hurricanes in the region, the Caribbean Countries have identified emergency communications as a critical action item for 2018 and beyond. This project is designed to assist and support the beneficiary countries in improving their emergency telecommunications capacities and their emergency and disaster response through an emergency toolkit allowing them to integrate a regional emergency telecommunication network based on Wilink. [​Project flyer]​​
    Speaker:
  • ​​​Mr Clifford A. Bostic, Director (Ag) Digital Infrastructure, Ministry of Industry, Innovation, Science and Technology (MIST), Barbados [Biography​​] [Presentation​]
  • Mr Sylvester Cadette, Programme Officer,​ ITU [Biography​] ​[Presentation​]​​​​

[16h30 – 16h50] Advancing Women Entrepreneurship through Meaningful connectivity

    To maximize the positive impact of technology for women, a joint project of EIF and ITU, contributing to the EQUALS Global Partnership has been implemented to enhance the digital ecosystem and build digital skills for women in least developed countries (LDC). The project works with policymakers to mainstream a gender perspective in domestic policies and regulations to ensure women participate fully in the digital economy and it provides skills and opportunities to drive women's economic opportunities in the textile and apparel industries in Ethiopia and Haiti and agricultural sector in Burundi. [Project flyer]
    Speakers:
  • ​​​​Mr Simon Hess, Head Monitoring & Evaluation, Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF) [Biography] [Presentation​]
  • Mr Kindy Vereus Montreuil, CEO, CITE, Haiti [Biography] [Presentation​]
  • Ms Fozia Endrias, Founder and Executive Director​, FoziaEndrias [Biography​] 
  • ​​​​[Video on the project in Burundi]

[16h50 – 17h10 ] Digital Transformation Centers for digital skills to attain Meaningful connectivity

    The Digital Transformation Centres (DTC) Initiative was launched in September 2019 by ITU in partnership with Cisco with the objective of supporting countries to strengthen digital capacities of citizens, particularly in the underserved communities. The DTC in Ghana, the Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communication (GIFEC) is implementing a project funded by Norad and ITU, to reach rural and underserved communities. Working through GIFEC's existing network of Community ICT Centres across all 16 Regions in Ghana, the DTC project aims to provide basic and intermediate digital skills training opportunities. In total the project will reach 17,200 (70% female) Ghanaian citizens, comprising youth, students, teachers, small business owners and marginalised individuals. [​Project flyer]
  • ​​[Video on the DTC Project in Ghana]
    • Speakers:
  • ​Mr Prince Ofosu Sefah, Administrator – Chief Executive Officer CEO of the Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communications (GIFEC) [Biography​] [Presentation​]
  • Mr Lucas Binnah Koomson, GIFEC Training Instructor [Biography​] [Presentation​]​​​

[17h10 – 17h30] Panel discussions and Q&A

W​ith speakers and ITU-D SG1 Coordinator Mr Sunil Kumar Singhal (vice-Chair, India) [Biography​]​

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