Main Session | Policy Network on Meaningful Access

Summary

This plenary session focused on eight possible ways to consolidate access with meaningful connectivity. The discussion highlighted various approaches to bridge the digital divide and ensure that internet access is not just available, but also meaningful and beneficial to users.

Participants emphasized the importance of data collection and analysis in understanding and addressing digital gaps. The ITU presented statistics on global internet usage and affordability, stressing the need for countries to invest in data capabilities. Several speakers shared experiences from different regions, including Pakistan’s efforts to reduce the gender digital gap and Lithuania’s initiatives to improve digital skills among elderly populations.

The role of governments in promoting digital inclusion was discussed, with examples of public-private partnerships and targeted investments in infrastructure and skills development. Speakers also highlighted the importance of community-based approaches and the need to consider local contexts when implementing digital inclusion strategies.

Innovative technologies were presented as potential solutions for expanding connectivity, including the use of IoT sensors for climate monitoring in Central Asia and non-terrestrial networks for rural connectivity. The discussion also touched on the importance of addressing cybersecurity and data protection concerns, especially for vulnerable groups.

Cultural aspects of digital inclusion were addressed, with emphasis on the role of entertainment and storytelling in driving internet adoption and engagement. The session concluded by stressing the need for collaboration between public, private, and academic sectors to make technology more affordable and accessible, ultimately aiming to provide meaningful connectivity to underserved populations worldwide.

Keypoints

Major discussion points:

– The importance of measuring and collecting data on meaningful connectivity and digital inclusion

– Strategies for closing the digital gender gap, especially in developing countries

– The role of governments, private sector, and public-private partnerships in expanding access

– Innovative technologies and approaches for connecting rural and underserved areas

– The need to focus on digital skills and literacy, not just infrastructure

Overall purpose:

The goal of this discussion was to explore different approaches and best practices for achieving universal and meaningful connectivity, with a focus on closing digital divides and ensuring access leads to tangible benefits for underserved populations.

Tone:

The tone was largely informative and collaborative, with speakers sharing experiences and insights from their respective regions and areas of expertise. There was a sense of urgency around addressing digital inequalities, but also optimism about innovative solutions and progress being made. The tone became more action-oriented towards the end, with speakers emphasizing concrete next steps and priorities.

Speakers

– Alhagie Mbow: Co-moderator, Member of the African Union Parliament

– Vint Cerf: Member of the IGF Leadership Panel

– Giacomo Mazzone: Co-moderator

– Roberto Zambrana: Online moderator

– Martin Schaaper: Senior ICT Analyst at the International Telecommunication Union

– Talant Sultanov: Policy Advocacy Advisor of Global Digital Inclusion Partnership, Chair and Co-Founder of the Internet Society ISOC Assistance Chapter

– Bobby Bedi: Content Follow Studios, LLC

– Mohamed-Slim Alouini: Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Chair of Education on Connected at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology

– Syeda Shafaq Karim: Director of the Pakistan Telecom Authority

– Oscar G Leon Suarez: Secretary General of CITEL (Inter-American Telecommunication Commission)

– Judith Hellerstein: Online moderator

– Lina Viltrakiene: Ambassador-at-Large for Economic and Digital Diplomacy from Lithuania

Additional speakers:

– Mary Uduma: Member of a group focused on meaningful connectivity and community networks in Nigeria

– Nermeen Salim: Secretary General of Creators’ Union of Arab Economic Consultative Estates, expert in intellectual property

Expanded Summary of Plenary Session on Consolidating Access with Meaningful Connectivity

Introduction:

This plenary session, moderated by Alhagie Mbow and Giacomo Mazzone, brought together experts from various sectors to discuss ways to consolidate access with meaningful connectivity. The discussion aimed to explore different approaches and best practices for achieving universal and meaningful connectivity, with a focus on closing digital divides and ensuring access leads to tangible benefits for underserved populations. Alhagie Mbow introduced the Policy Network on Meaningful Connectivity (PNME), which has been working since 2022 to address these issues.

Key Themes and Discussion Points:

1. Defining and Measuring Meaningful Connectivity:

The session began with Vint Cerf emphasising that the definition of meaningful access changes over time and depends on network functionality and system capabilities. Martin Schaaper from the ITU provided a comprehensive definition of universal and meaningful connectivity as “the possibility for everyone to enjoy a safe, satisfying, enriching, productive online experience at an affordable cost”. This definition set the tone for the discussion by highlighting the multifaceted nature of meaningful access.

Speakers agreed on the crucial importance of data collection and measurement for effective policymaking. Martin Schaaper presented ITU statistics on global internet usage, including that 67% of the world’s population uses the internet and that 96% of the world’s population is covered by a mobile broadband network. He stressed the need for countries to invest in data capabilities and highlighted affordability issues, noting that in some countries, entry-level broadband costs can exceed 20% of GNI per capita.

2. Addressing Digital Divides:

Participants emphasised the persistence of digital divides across various dimensions, including gender, geography, age, and socioeconomic status. Syeda Shafaq Karim from the Pakistan Telecom Authority provided a striking example of the gender digital gap in Pakistan, where women make up 50% of the population but only 30% of mobile users and 21% of mobile broadband users. She presented Pakistan’s Digital Gender Inclusion Strategy, which involves collaboration with various stakeholders to address these disparities.

Lina Viltrakiene, Ambassador-at-Large for Economic and Digital Diplomacy from Lithuania, shared experiences of improving digital skills among elderly populations through the “No One Left Behind” initiative. This program provides free digital literacy courses and has reached over 500,000 participants. The speakers agreed that addressing these divides requires a multifaceted approach, including infrastructure development, skills training, and tailored interventions for specific demographic groups.

3. Strategies for Expanding Access:

The discussion explored various strategies for improving access and digital inclusion. Alhagie Mbow highlighted the effectiveness of public-private partnerships in expanding access. Innovative technologies were presented as potential solutions for expanding connectivity. Mohamed Slim Alouini discussed the use of unlicensed spectrum and non-terrestrial networks for rural connectivity.

Talant Sultanov, representing the Global Digital Inclusion Partnership (GDIP), shared a project using IoT technologies for climate monitoring in Central Asia. This initiative demonstrates how practical applications can drive technology adoption in remote areas and contribute to addressing global challenges like climate change.

The role of governments in promoting digital inclusion was a recurring theme. Lina Viltrakiene emphasised the importance of government investment in digital infrastructure and skills training. Mary Uduma raised the issue of properly utilising universal service funds, which remains an unresolved challenge in many countries.

4. Applications and Benefits of Meaningful Connectivity:

Speakers highlighted various applications and benefits of meaningful connectivity. Syeda Shafaq Karim noted that digital services can reduce corruption through increased transparency. Lina Viltrakiene discussed how e-government services improve public sector efficiency.

Bobby Bedi offered an interesting perspective, arguing that entertainment and social engagement are primary drivers of internet adoption. He emphasized the importance of engagement and entertainment in making internet access meaningful, citing examples from the entertainment industry in Saudi Arabia. This view challenged the predominantly utilitarian approach to connectivity and broadened the discussion to include cultural aspects of digital inclusion.

5. Policy and Regulatory Considerations:

Judith Hellerstein raised concerns about data protection and privacy, especially for vulnerable groups. An audience member highlighted the importance of addressing intellectual property protection in the digital environment.

The discussion also touched on potential risks, such as over-reliance on single commercial providers like Starlink for satellite internet in remote areas. Vint Cerf emphasised the importance of maintaining policy networks like the IGF beyond 2025 to continue addressing connectivity challenges. He also stressed the need for accessibility features to ensure meaningful connectivity for users with disabilities.

Conclusion:

The session concluded with a general consensus on the importance of universal and meaningful connectivity, while acknowledging the complexity of the challenge. Key takeaways included the need for continued data collection efforts, government investment in digital infrastructure and skills training, exploration of public-private partnerships, and the persistence of policy networks beyond 2025.

Unresolved issues and areas for further discussion include effective utilisation of universal service funds, balancing commercial and social strategies for connecting the unconnected, addressing data protection concerns, mitigating risks of over-reliance on single providers, and incorporating intellectual property protection in digital inclusion efforts.

The discussion highlighted the multifaceted nature of achieving meaningful connectivity, encompassing technical, social, cultural, and regulatory dimensions. It emphasised the need for continual reassessment and improvement in approaches to ensure that access is not just available, but truly meaningful and beneficial to users worldwide. The session underscored the importance of collaborative efforts, innovative technologies, and targeted interventions to address persistent digital divides and create a more inclusive digital future.

Alhagie Mbow: good morning And welcome to the plenary session on the PNME on meaningful connectivity. This session is entitled Eight Possible Ways to Consolidate Access with Meaningful. The concept of meaningful access has emerged in response to the growing body of evidence that even when people have connectivity, they might not have been fully benefiting from the Internet. How one gets connected to the Internet and to the content and services one access is equally important, challenging to the experience that a person will have once they are online, even more so to the community or country they live. Since 2022, the PNME has been working on three overarching thematic areas. One was connectivity, which is infrastructure and access and business model. The second one, digital inclusion through a citizen-centric approach. And the third one on capacity development. So in 2023, the network expanded its analysis and set experiences with implementation of a repository of good practices. Then in 2024, the network has contributed to assist and advocate for the implementation of policy solutions for the key issues previously raised while monitoring ongoing experiences. The plenary session this morning will focus on two aspects. The traditional highlights of meaningful access stories. This time we’ll focus on the Arab region and the role of meaningful access in the proper setup, use and reporting. Now we have my co-host, that is Giacomo Mazzone on my right here. And we also have online moderator, Judith, here. And we also have Roberto Zambrano. And a special guest that we actually have online, that is Vint Cerf. Now, our speakers this morning, we’re gonna have Saida Safar Karim from Pakistan Telecom Authority. We also have Professor Mohamed Selim Alwini and Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering. And Mr. Martin Scheper, Senior ICT Analyst at the International Telecommunication Union. And Mr. Talant Sultanov, Chair and Co-Founder of the Internet Society ISOC Assistance Chapter. And Mr. Bobby Bedi, Content Follow Studios, LLC. And Ms. Lina Viltrakiene , Ambassador-at-Large for Economic and Digital Diplomacy from Lithuania. I’m gonna continue. We’re gonna hand over to my co-host, which is Giacomo, to continue. Thank you.

Giacomo Mazzone: Thank you very much. I use this opportunity to invite the PNMA network members to come in front because we feel alone with you so far from us. So please, if you can move in front in the first line will be better for us. So just to explain how we were supposing to make it work this session. The idea was to have two rounds with the speakers here, but some of the speakers asked for more time. So let’s say that we will have three speakers that will be longer in the first round and they will be more silent in the second round. And between the two rounds of speakers, We will have questions from the audience because we want to be more interactive as possible during the session. So a special thanks to Vint that is with us from very far and very early in the morning, or late in the night, I don’t know. Vint, if you are ready, I will give the floor to you because you have been in the past the one that have mentioned the importance to conjugate properly the access with the meaningful. So you are here since the very beginning. And I see that also the other speaker remote, Ms. Seed, is with us. Welcome. Thank you. So Vint, what has changed since the last two years in this field?

Vint Cerf: Well, thank you, first of all, for inviting me to join you this morning. It is indeed early. It is about 1.10 in the morning for me. So I am starting my day earlier than usual. First, let me bring you greetings from the leadership panel. And thanks for all of your work. Meaningful access policy network is one of the most important of the activities of the IGF, in my opinion, anyway. After all, access that isn’t useful can’t possibly be meaningful. And the definition of meaningful access changes over time. It depends a lot on the functionality of the network and the capacity and capabilities of the system that people have access to. And so early days of internet, dial-up access was considered useful. These days, that would be less so. We wouldn’t be able to do the things that we’re literally doing right at this moment. So the definition of meaningful access is going to change over time. And that’s why your group needs to persist in its analysis and evaluation. There are many words that I associate with meaningful access. I think of safety, I think of security, I think of utility, I think of affordability, I think of reliability, and there are many other words that I’m sure you have all used from time to time. The real question is, can we measure this in some way? And I yesterday had the opportunity to spend time with the UNESCO team. As some of you will know, they have developed something that they call Internet Universality Indicators, IUIs. They started with a rather elaborate collection of metrics. They have telescoped this down to a smaller number to make it a little easier for people to actually do measurement. It’s important for us to find ways of actually measuring how well we are doing, how well are we achieving meaningful access. And that’s one of the reasons that the PNMA is such an important activity. It’s something that goes on during the course of the year, and as I said earlier, over the course of time, the metrics for meaningful access will change depending on the capabilities of the system. I’d like to overemphasize the point about accessibility in the sense of accommodating people who have various disabilities that might make it difficult for them to make use of the Internet. I’d like to observe that at this very moment, I am making use of an automatic captioning system using the Chrome browser from Google so that I can see what people are saying. And of course, we have online sign language interpretation, as you can see on the screen.

Giacomo Mazzone: I want to thank our hosts in Saudi Arabia for arranging for all of these accessibility improving techniques. So I want to overemphasize the importance of accessibility so that all… people are accommodated. The last point I’d like to make from the leadership panel is that we are relaying a message to the United Nations, to the Secretary General, and to the Undersecretary of DESA that we believe that the Internet Governance Forum should persist beyond the World Summit on the Information Society plus 20. This operation has been going on for 19 years. By the time the June meeting in Norway comes in 2025, we will have been around for 20 years. Our work is not done. Our work continues to be extremely important. And I believe that we should persist beyond the WSIS plus 20 time marker. More important, I think your work must persist. And among the things that the Internet Governance Forum can do is to continually evaluate Internet’s utility around the world. I’d like to see an increasing amount of interaction between the annual IGF meeting, the policy networks, and the dynamic coalitions, and the national and regional Internet Governance Forums that have popped up almost, I would say, automatically like mushrooms after a spring rain without benefit of specific UN support, but evidence of a great deal of interest around the world in the Internet and its utility. So I will stop there. And thank you for this opportunity to intervene and congratulate you on this session in the 2024 IGF. I have to leave in about 15 minutes, but I will stay here as long as I can before I get to the next meeting. So back to you, Roberto.

Alhagie Mbow: Thank you very much, Vint. Yes, you are quite right. Our work. is not done, and we’re going to continuously to ensure that we close this gap. We’re going to move over to Professor Mohamed Selim Alouini, who is a distinguished professor of electrical and computer engineering, to tell us, and also the chair of education on connected at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, so that you can take the floor.

Mohamed Selim Alouini: Thank you very much and thank you, Giacomo, for the invitation and for giving me the opportunity to share with the audience some of the work we are doing at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in this general area of connected and unconnected. So, as mentioned, I am a professor of electrical and computer engineering at KAUST. It’s a university that is on the west coast of Saudi Arabia, one hour drive north of the city of Jeddah. And my area of expertise is wireless communication, and of course, when we talk about wireless, we talk about these days about beyond 5G and 6G, and a lot of the research community is focusing on how to send information at faster speeds, lower latencies, how to densify the network, in the sense, increase the number of connected IoT devices. But there is another important aspect that 6G is recognizing. 6G is expected to be deployed in the early 2030s, is this digital divide that we need to kind of mitigate. And those of you who were here yesterday, there was this interesting opening remark by Ms. Doreen, the Secretary General of ITU, where she reminded us that we still live in a world where one third of the population is unconnected or under-connected. Of course, this is affecting mostly least developed countries, but it does affect also rural areas, low-income neighborhoods in more developed countries. So in KAUST, we established UNESCO Chair on focusing on connected and unconnected. The idea is to develop technologies that can be, let’s say, easier to deploy from an accessibility, from an affordability perspective, to bring more people online. One of the technologies we are pursuing is non-terrestrial network, how we can bring connectivity. from the sky, and a few weeks ago we had a big event here in Saudi Arabia, in Riyadh, in collaboration with ITU and CST, CST being the Commission of Space and Telecommunication Technology here in Saudi Arabia, looking at different approaches to connect people via satellite or high altitude platform stations. But what I would like to focus on today, on one of our examples of research activities, is how to capitalize on unlicensed spectrum, or spectrum sharing techniques. One of the main issues behind the cost of connectivity is spectrum licensing, which of course is needed, and that’s what makes the whole system sustainable from a business perspective. It works very well in a highly dense populated environment, and in an area with relatively good income, but it may sometimes make connectivity not affordable in low income neighborhoods or in rural areas. So, one of the projects that we worked on is a project where we brought connectivity to a relatively low income neighborhood, in terms of a worker camp. It was a project co-founded by our university and META, and was done in collaboration with the Saudi Commission of Communication Space Technologies. And we have a video showing this project, and I think that will give you an idea on how unlicensed spectrum, Wi-Fi, millimeter wave, free space optic, can be used to connect some of the unconnected. So, maybe we can play the video. Can we have the video, please? As-salamu alaykum wa-rahmatullahi wa-barakatuh. Ma’akum Fahad Al-Qurashi, Taleb Doktorat, Bi-Jama’at Al-Malik Abdullah Al-Uloom Wa-Al-Tanweer. Tukaddim Jama’at Al-Malik Abdullah haraman fareedan min nawaihi, haith innahu madina laisa laha hudud, lil tajarub, wa thukafa tadfa’ lil ibtikar. Innahu haraman jama’een dhakeer, latamayiz bil ta’aleem wal ta’allam, wal ma’eesh al-mubtakar. Yuzid kharij hadhi jama’a qariyat Thuwal, bi-mujtama’iha al-fareed, wal mutanawaih min al-sukkan, wa tukasim al-jama’a shati al-bahr al-ahmar min janib, wal kuthba’a al-ramliya min al-janib al-aakar. Talab Jama’at Al-Malik Abdullah, dawar al-ra’eesiyan fi tatweer Thuwal min al-bunyi al-tahtiya ila al-amaliyat al-bahriya, wal madaris, wal masajid. Yuzid hanak shirikat Ma’ak, hi shirikat insha’at wa siyana saudiya 100%. fi majal al-itsalat. Bi-shirakat ma’at al-smart, wa kaos IT, network and communication, wa ma’ak. Shira’ al-fareed fi hadha mishroo tajreebi al-lidhiya tadhaman. Rabat al-mabrid al-itsalat, Jama’at Al-Malik Abdullah. Yes, everywhere in town, we can connect and the service is very excellent everywhere there. You can connect everywhere in our town. Yes, so far it’s okay. Let’s work on finding out where you are in terms of funding. So, yeah, just in conclusion, the same paradigm has been used actually to connect also one island in the Red Sea. As you know, there is quite a bit of development on the Red Sea on the west coast of the Arabian with many construction sites. Some of the islands are 15, 19 kilometers away. It’s very expensive to connect them, especially when they are seen in the construction mode via fiber optic or under sea cables. And the same approach using free space optic and light spectrum plus maybe Wi-Fi access point at the receiver end can bring connectivity to this construction site. And finally, I would like also to mention the very strong connection between this kind of work and another very important aspect that was highlighted yesterday in the opening remarks, which is resilience. Those of us who live in a very well-connected environment, we tend to forget that this connectivity can be lost overnight due to any kind of natural disaster. And investing in this kind of technology would allow us to deploy this kind of network on demand when needed when we are subject to these kind of disasters. Thank you.

Alhagie Mbow: Thank you, Professor Selim Alouini. We see here that a very, I would say strange, but it’s not the right word, but unusual cooperation between the university and the territory in which it operates. That seems to me very interesting that, and these are model that could be eventually replicate elsewhere. So very, very interesting example. And thank you for this. Now we move to remain in the Asia region, but we move a little bit Easter and we go to Pakistan. We have with us Ms. Syeda Shafaq Karim. That is director of the Pakistan Telecom Authority in charge of wireless. And the experience that you will present us concerns gender, because of course, there is a problem with gender. We have seen yesterday the statistics provided by the host country about the gender gap in the internet. And you are trying to make something concrete in your country. Can you explain how we are doing it in maximum seven minutes, if possible?

Syeda Shafaq Karim: Thank you very much. Yeah, thank you very much to PNMA team and Giacomo. Yes, in Pakistan, as you have already explained that you have moved towards more of the Eastern side. So our Pakistan is located in one of the most important socioeconomic region of the South Asia. So here in Pakistan, we are having a huge population of 250 million. And we are currently reaching around 200 million because we are currently standing at 196 million mobile users in the country. So out of this population of 250 million, we the women are making 50% of the total population. But when it comes to the numbers of mobile usage, there we see that there is a huge gap, which is being explained through my slides. And if I’m allowed to share my screen, I’ll be- presenting you quickly through the digital gender inclusion strategy which is one of the you can say the most implementing kind of strategy for reducing this gender gap and for which the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority has taken lead to bring all the public and private stakeholders together and collaborate with each other to truly reduce the gap and create a difference in this regard. So I’ll be sharing my screen and getting it over in seven minutes hopefully. So here we go. Yeah so I’ll be quickly taking you through the digital gender inclusion strategy which Pakistan Telecommunication Authority has developed to tackle with this very critical critical aspect of the telecommunication connectivity which is equally important for men and women of the society to make a society digital as a whole. For this holistic approach we can see some of the legislative and policy environment which is already in place in Pakistan but you can see starting from the constitution of Pakistan and then moving towards the 2030 agenda all of them are highlighting and creating an enabling environment for women. And with the recent Pakistan’s Five East framework here we can see that in along with the exports and e-Pakistan energy environment and climate change we see that equity and empowerment is one of the government’s focus area where we need to work together to make our women to play a role in digitalization of the country as a whole and for improvement of the socio-economic sector of the country. So when we talk in terms of the digital gender gap in Pakistan here we see that we are improving on the numbers from 2022 to 2024 and starting with the the mobile internet awareness, here we see that the gap was actually 30% in 2018, which has been reduced to 2% in 2024. That means that awareness is being created through some of the strategic steps which have been taken by all the stakeholders and duly initiated by the government sector itself. Then if we talk in terms of the mobile ownership, there we see that there is a huge gap and that is actually because of the social norms of the country, where we see that males are usually taking over the responsibility of all the females to have their mobile or their same ownerships also. While you’re talking about the mobile internet users, here we also see that there is a gap of 38%, which is a huge gap and we all are looking forward to reduce this gap as early as possible to allow the women of the country to play their roles for the digitalization of the country. Then if we talk in terms of, similarly, the social media usage and practice banking, there are also huge numbers which we are working together to improve this number. So if we talk in terms of the coverage gap, we can see that there are certain studies from GSMA as well, where coverage gap is being replaced by usage gap now. That most of the areas are already having the mobile broadband coverage, but the people are not using it for their benefit and there are no usage of the internet in a meaningful manner. So if we see that around 38% of the global population that live within the footprint of the mobile broadband network, but they’re not using it. So here we see that the 38% of this global population is usually a part of the global population, which is female-based, which is women. So to tackle this whole issue, PTA has taken lead for developing a digital gender inclusion initiative and we started with identifying the basic challenges which we had. generate some innovative ideas to bridge the digital divide and then formulate a concrete plan with some specific actionable items for gender mainstreaming. As a telecom regulator, we decided to liaison with partner organizations to implement joint projects aimed at bridging the digital gender divide. So we hashtagged our aim with the name of Third Digital Pakistan as we all are moving toward digitalization of the country. And yesterday, there was a digitalization bill which was already also passed in the country. So Third Digital Pakistan will focus more on the female’s participation for the same. So as we collaborated with various stakeholders, initially, there was a former Alliance for Affordable Internet. We had to react and react in a manner with the rights, education, access, content, and targets which we had to meet for reducing the gender gap for usage of ICTs. Then, we decided to collaborate and identify with some of the areas with the existing telecom operators. We are a Tehsilab-owned PTCL and Jazz, a Vion-owned company, Zong, a China mobile company, Telenor, a Telenor Norway-based company, and then SEO. We joined hands with them for different project areas like basic digital skills, entrepreneurship trainings, and awareness campaigns, e-safe and e-education, and some disability inclusion as well for reducing, for including them also for the usage of telecom, and then financial inclusion and gender inclusion policies at company level. Online safety and security campaigns were also one of our main agenda, and then some digital ICT labs for females and enhancing the female subscriber base for mobile broadband usage. So internationally, we collaborated with some international organizations. We became a partner with International Telecommunication Union by pledging with the Party to Connect for the digital gender inclusion strategy development, which we… delivered to ITU in the last working year and its first implementation has already been started. Then GSM Association has been part of us and we have developed we have developed our mobile internet skills training toolkit in our national language which is Urdu and that is being used to disseminate the information and awareness of the females in rural areas of the country. Then we partnered with Alliance for a Portable Internet for creating this sensitization as a process for all including everybody around and different government and private sectors and then UNESCO which was definitely our strategy building partner and it supported us technically as well and financially for development of the strategy and I’m sure that here is the website short for you this is a telecom regulator website the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority here on the right end you can see that on the main page you’ll find a link for gender inclusion in ICTs and there are certain aspects the strategy itself is available then there is a video clip which you can play and see about the digital initiatives and our international collaborations and how do we celebrate International Women’s Day and the different press releases this is just going to educate some of the regional countries who can also get some experience from our lessons and they can also follow the same for their benefit. Then for International Women’s Day we usually follow the theme and create some different awareness campaigns and messages through social media and through print media electronic media as well. Coming about the digital gender inclusion strategy the best part of this strategy is that we connect with all the public and private stakeholders and we have brought some technical advisory bodies who are working internationally and globally they are making a positive impact for helping such countries like us with which Pakistan is struggling for reducing the gender gap. gap. The key pillars on which the strategy is based is affordability, improving digital skills, creating awareness, safety and security, access, and gender disaggregated data. And because all the themes and all the reports are based on the gender disaggregated data, which still remains a challenge from the supply side and demand side as well. Then understanding local context was very important for us while development of the strategy. We integrated gender perspective and policy initiatives and addressing key barriers. And the final approach that was the collaboration with stakeholders, because we believe that without it, we cannot be able to manage a comprehensive or holistic approach. So to create this strategy, we adopted many themes like public perception surveys. We conducted the IVR surveys with the assistance of our telecom operators. We had the GSMA consumer survey as well. Multi-stakeholder workshops were conducted, expert interviews, and all these details are available on my website from which you can have a look and get further details and insights. And there were certain online surveys as well. And after all the survey and development, we see that there were certain barriers and challenges. And one of the most important was the fear of the unknown, that is the safety and security concerns with the females had for using internet. And some of the male members of the society also had that women, it was not safe for the women to use internet and it could be some harmful for them. Then there was no positive awareness and positive perception about use of internet and device and service affordability and gender desegregated data. Another challenge, digital literacy and local content, infrastructure and access and patriarchy controls within the family that women were not allowed to make use of internet and mobile services for their meaningful access and lack of stakeholder collaboration. That was also one of the biggest challenge and barrier, which was identified while or after our data collection. So in this strategy, we have developed a Pakistan Digital Gender Inclusion Forum, which gives a three years action plan. And then we have distributed the work in six working groups, working group on research and data collection, a working group on affordability, working group on access of high CTs for women, working group on safety and security, then a working group on women’s digital literacy and working group on inclusion. And they’re led by the leading public organizations and you’ll be supported by the private organizations, telecom sector, and international technical advisory bodies. Thank you. I am aware that we have very little of time. So there were certain key conclusions, you can quickly go through it. And I will come to the areas of collaboration, but for which we can see that for affordable connectivity, we need to look at the collaboration areas on which we can work together with the private sector and other bodies to make a positive and meaningful impact for the women to play their role. And thank you very much. You can find the strategy on PTA’s website. And thank you very much. Let me stop sharing my screen. Sure. That’s wonderful. And thank you very much. Sorry, I tried to wrap it up a bit quickly, but it was a huge work. And so I took maybe a little more of your time. Thank you very much. Thank you.

Alhagie Mbow: Thank you very much, Ms. Syeda, for that wonderful work that you guys are doing in closing the digital gap, particularly on the areas of gender. Now we’re going to move to Mr. Martin Saper, Senior ICT Analyst and also ICT Data and Analytical Division. That’s from the ITU. And we also want to thank you also for the work ITU is doing across the globe to ensure that they’re closing this gap. And you are welcome, Mr. Scheper.

Martin Schaaper: Thank you very much. And good morning. And thank you for having me. It’s a real pleasure. I have slides that should be coming on, maybe. Yes, can we get the slides for Mr. Martin? So last year at this session at the IGF, I spoke about a product that we had started a few months before on promoting and measuring universal and meaningful connectivity. It really came into full swing this year, so I’m actually gonna give you an update of that project. So, I have a bit of a problem because I cannot see the next slide, please. They’re not on the, can they project it on the Zoom as well? And can I have the next slide, please? Okay. Okay. Yes, that’s on. So, we define universal and meaningful connectivity, the possibility for everyone to enjoy a safe, satisfying, enriching, productive online experience at an affordable cost. So, meaningful rush is not what you do with it, but that you can use it whenever you want to for a reasonable price. So, we already heard the importance of data, and that’s basically also the core of the product, bringing the data to the policy makers and the other way around. Evidence is really crucial in all of this. And at the ITU, we’ve been measuring basically ever since the existence of ITU, which is more than 150 years ago. So, we have a long tradition of data and a lot of data. So, I’m gonna show you a few data from our publication, Facts and Figures, that came out less than a month ago. And now I lost them on the Zoom again. So, It was mentioned by the ring yesterday in the opening session, 5.5 million people are online, but 2.6 million people are not using the internet yet, about one third of the population. If we look at this region in the Arab states, it’s a little bit around the global average, 70% of people are using, 30% are not, but the real gap, as you can see here, is in Africa, where only 38% of the population is online. In most other regions, except for Asia, we’re approaching already universal usage, especially Europe and America. Now, this morning it came up a little bit, the difference between the coverage gap and the usage gap. So the usage gap is people not using, the coverage gap is people not being able to even connect to a mobile network. So here we see it, can they come on the Zoom? So I have to turn around. We can see that, especially in the high income countries, we’re already at 84% of 5G, and then if you move to low income countries, there’s almost no 5G, and even half of the population doesn’t have 4G yet, and even 20% of the population doesn’t even have any mobile broadband network at all. So there’s a big infrastructural gap, especially in the low income countries, as we heard before as well. Affordability is also a very important barrier for people to call in line, so even if the infrastructure is there, you need to spend some part of your monthly income to get a signal, and we can see that mobile is affordable in most regions of the world, being less than a percent, sometimes less than 2% of someone’s monthly income, except in Africa, where it’s 4%. Fixed broadband, on the other hand, even if there is a signal, in some regions of the world, it’s completely unaffordable. 13% of one’s income to spend on a fixed broadband connection, which may not even be that good, is of course a lot of money. So, that’s very, we have a lot of data, we also have data on the gender gap, rural gap, on the age gap, on traffic, so there’s a lot of other data and more data in our publications I really encourage you to go there. So how do we bring this to the policy makers because data is crucial and policy makers need to be aware of the data and policy makers also need to inform us as a decision which data we need. So to promote and measure universal and meaningful connectivity we got funding from the EU, a 3 million euro global project for three years to promote and measure universal and meaningful connectivity. Officially it started on the 1st of May but by the time we got everything in motion and we hired people to put it in place we were a few months later, but in 2024 this year we really have undertaken a lot of work. So there’s basically four work streams leading to four outputs and eventually hopefully impacts. We have an advocacy work stream leading to an increased awareness of the whole concept. Data collection and dissemination which is really what we do at the ITU, this is how bread and butter, capacity building to enhance statistical capacity and also the awareness to measure UMC and research but eventually should lead to better policies for achieving UMC. So on the advocacy part, I mean that’s something I’m doing here at the moment so to spread the word, go to all kinds of events inside the UN, outside of the UN. We have our own World Telecommunicators Symposium, there’s a G20 and lots of other events. UMC is already mentioned in the UN Digital Global Compact. It’s taken up by the G20 where there’s now guidelines for measuring UMC and then we are also active on social media, et cetera. Data collection and dissemination as I said is really the heart of the work that we are doing and that’s also… We developed a set of targets that are part of the UN Secretary General Roadmap for District Cooperation. We have our own website, but we also now have a dashboard where we have data on those targets for all countries in the world, where you can compare where your country is or how countries are doing compared with each other, or how indicators are doing compared with other indicators, et cetera. We have an online course on the collection and use of UMC indicators, of course this is also a capacity building part, manual and price data, and we’re starting to use secondary data sources, big data, et cetera, to support UMC measurement. The capacity building part, which is also an important part of the project, we’re basically going to all the regions in the world, region by region, and then we bring together the users and the producers of the statistics from each of the countries of the region, so that at the end of the workshop, there’s a solid understanding of the concept of UMC, a greater awareness of the critical role of data and policy making, and the ability to advocate for investment in data infrastructure capabilities, eventually leading to an improved capacity to produce reliable data on UMC, which are then being used in the policy process of the countries. So we had workshops already in the Caribbean, here in the Arab states, and in the CES region. As we speak, there’s a workshop in Bangkok going on. Next year we’re going to Africa, both Francophone, Anglophone, the Pacific, and Latin America. And finally, research in 2022, we have the global connectivity report, and in the framework of the project, we’re going to do another report every year for the next three years. So the next report, we’re planning to bring it out probably somewhere in the second or the third quarter of 2025. And then also some smaller regional and thematic analysis. So really, this was in a nutshell, the product and the data, that there’s a wealth more. There’s two links there on the slide. If you just Google ITU data, then you get on a website and you can find everything. So with that, I hand back to the moderator and I thank you for your attention.

Giacomo Mazzone: Thank you very much, Martin. I remember for everybody that this project is already in our repository on the website and will be up to you. You will find all this precious information. As Vint was mentioning at the beginning, measuring is essential if we want to be sure that you are doing the right thing. So we have another set of tools that can help in this. The next experience will be about Latin America. So we shift from continent to another. And we have a video of Mr. Oscar León, that is the Secretary General of CITEL, the telecommunication organization. Can I ask Regi to the control room to send the video, please? Can we have the video of Mr. León from CITEL? And then, OK. No? Yeah. And then we will change a little bit the program because we are quite late, so we will try to make our best.

Oscar G Leon Suarez: Hello. This is Oscar León, Executive Secretary of the Inter-American Telecommunication Commission, CITEL. We are proud to present this transformative initiative. as a global best practice in using ICTs to improve lives and empower rural and underserved areas. To initiate policy reforms and forward-thinking telecommunications regulations, CITEL has bridged the digital divide in Latin America and the Caribbean. Guided by 21 impactful OAS General Assembly guidelines, the initiative includes tailored country diagnostics, strategic roadmaps, and an observatory to ensure effective implementation. By optimizing universal service funds, fostering public-private partnerships, eliminating regulatory barriers, and adopting innovative technologies, CITEL enhanced access to the internet, education, and essential services, driving social, economic, and cultural progress in vulnerable communities. These efforts showcase a powerful example of impactful and exchange-deserving recognition. In a moment, I want to share my screen just to show you some details. Well, the digital inequality in Latin America and the Caribbean, exacerbated by outdated and inefficient regulatory policies, limits the economic, social, and educational development of the region, perpetuating inequities in key areas such as education, employment, and health. This is compounded by collateral issues such as high internet costs, lack of political interest, digital skills, and deficient infrastructure, which hindered the implementation of new technologies, the entry of new players, and aid in disconnected areas. This 21 guidelines serve as blueprints for progress encompassing in-depth diagnostics of country-specific needs, the development of strategic roadmaps with short, medium and long-term objectives, and the establishment of a dedicated observatory to monitor and validate implementations. Key measures include optimizing the use of universal service funds to enhance connectivity, fostering public-private partnerships to drive information, innovation and investment, removing regulatory barriers that hinder access, and promoting the adoption of cutting-edge technologies. These actions directly improve the quality of life of rural populations, fostering their social, economic and cultural well-being, and fundamentally transforming communities. Moreover, CTEL’s management observatory plays a pivotal role in supervising and adapting the execution of projects, policies and regulations. This ensures that efforts remain aligned to create equitable opportunities for access to the Internet, education and essential services in the most vulnerable regions, effectively narrowing the digital gap and fostering inclusive development. The technical support provided by the CTEL Secretariat in Ecuador, the Dominican Republic, Panama, Colombia, Paraguay and now in Bolivia has generated significant progress, including the reform of laws and regulations to measure the impact of solutions and facilitate rural digital transformation projects, as well as the promotion of inclusive policies that prioritize gender equity and essential services in rural or other suburban areas. Additionally, the sharing of technological infrastructure has been encouraged to expand coverage and improve affordability and community telecommunication networks have been promoted to reduce the digital divide. Furthermore, legal and regulatory frameworks have been updated to maximize social well-being through the quality of telecommunication services and stimulate investment in remote areas. The actions taken have achieved greater social inclusion in rural or hard-to-reach areas, connecting communities through self-sustaining systems, which reduces the digital divide in the Americas. It has decreased forced immigration by enabling local job creation, facilitated access to funds for new community networks, and promoted technological adoption with access to basic services. Additionally, public-private investment in telecommunication has been encouraged, improving quality of life, economic, social, and cultural development, as well as access to essential services such as health and education. Reducing the digital divide and connecting disconnected rural areas has required new technical support, focused on implementation of effective public policies and regulatory reforms in the short, medium, and long term. It has been essential to foster multi-sectoral collaboration among governments, private companies, NGOs, and local communities. Developing sustainable business models and integrating flexible public policies that attract investment in telecommunications. Additionally, it has required a governmental commitment to modernize legal framework. and make significant investment in infrastructure to drive inclusive and sustainable digital transformations.

Giacomo Mazzone: Okay, thank you very much for this contribution. As you have seen, when we move to the regional scale, the problem are different, but also the solution are different and can be possible. We have a concrete example there. We make a change of a schedule because we are running late. So I will give immediately the floor to our two remote moderators, Roberto and Judith. Could you tell us if there are questions from remote before to go to the room? And in the meantime, I ask people that in the room want to intervene to go to the podium over there in order to give them the floor, if any. Thank you. Judith, Roberto.

Judith Hellerstein: Hello? Yes. We don’t necessarily have questions in the room, but there was one question we had here is that people were asking about corruption and that, is there any, let me just get the question. Hold on a minute. They wanted to know about, let me just get, hold on. There is, yeah, what’s the impact of, because as we have the digitalization, we have a reduction in the corruption issues and wanted to ask some questions about that because they wanted to see how that is factored into the discussion that we’re having.

Giacomo Mazzone: Okay, thank you. I don’t see people in the room moving to the podium, so we can start. We cannot see very well, because we have the light just in front of us. But OK, so I think we can start.

Roberto Zambrana: No, no, we still have time. If there is anyone that would like to contribute with a question, we have, as Giacomo said, the two podiums to my left and right.

Giacomo Mazzone: OK, but in the meantime, we can start to answer to this question. I think that this is a question for Ms. Sieda, because in your experience as a regulator, the fact to move digital to reduce the corruption has been useful. Transparency in procedures and digitalization. Thank you. Please.

Syeda Shafaq Karim: OK, thank you very much for this question. Regarding the corruption aspect, we at Pakistan, we have obviously seen a definite change in terms of digitalization in relation to the corruption. Because as soon as the processes go online, there is very less room for making any manipulations or any kind of things which could be more unclear and untransparent. An actual, if I talk about one of the digital systems that Pakistan has recently introduced is the public procurement system, through which we buy everything online, whether it is the procurement of services, whether it is the procurement of goods. So all the services which are bought online, they have to pass through certain procedures through an automated system, which is called an electronic procurement and disposal system. And through this system, all the things are streamlined and automated. Nobody can make any changes in between. So we believe that making things automated. or creating an online setup for the same. It not only expedites the process, but also adds transparency to the system. So this can definitely lead to a reduction in the corruption processes, which are no doubt there in every country. So this is how we feel as a regulator. And apart from that, we have already developed some online systems for a procurement of, for a selling of licenses and issuance of licenses. And then some tower clearance procedures, they are also being automated in the country. So this makes the processes more efficient. They are computed in a timely manner and they have become more transparent. People are more aware about their application statuses. And apart from that, in a very near future, Pakistan is working on the right-of-way automation system also. And that will be creating a one-stop shop for the people who want to have right-of-way for the telecom infrastructure. And that can also reduce the hassles for procuring the right-of-way issues and such things. So the automation and digitalization is definitely a catalyst for reducing corruption in itself. This is how we think about it as a regulator.

Judith Hellerstein: Thank you so much. We do have one other question and this is from Omar Farouk. He says, considering the increasing use of biometric data for online verification, how can we ensure the security and privacy of young people’s sensitive information, especially in countries with limited data protection laws? And what role does international policy frameworks play in setting global standards?

Giacomo Mazzone: Okay, and we have a question from the floor, please.

Audience: Hear me? Yes, you can go. Thank you. This is Samogratis from ICT Italy. I have a question about if you’re actually collecting the, let’s say, Starlink constellation, and the provider that they’re providing now with the satellite. Because my concern is that what I’m seeing is that more and more people, especially living in remote areas, are actually depending on this constellation. And what concerns me is that there would be so many population actually relying on one commercial company is going to be basically providing the internet. And as well, if they decide to raise the price and this will not become affordable, what will the effects? Especially in relation as governments might lose the interest to build a local infrastructure due to the very good and fast internet services. Thank you.

Giacomo Mazzone: Thank you very much. OK, I think that this question addressed to everybody, but specifically to government representative. Do you think that your Lithuanian experience bring in the spot Miss Lina from Lithuania, representative of the government? You are dealing with these two issues.

Lina Viltrakiene: Yes. Thank you. Thank you very much for the questions. They are really very good ones. From the government perspectives, of course, government have to take a really, really active role in providing, well, both connectivity, but also meaningful access in terms of skills, in terms of programs, in terms of standards. From the Lithuanian government perspective, I have to say that in terms of physical infrastructure or connectivity, we really laid down a very strong foundation, digital inclusion. We have developed a fiber broadband internet, which reaches 90% of households and 95% of population has access already to 5G. For the remote area, we used mobile internet. net solution which really helps to connect people where fiber broadband could be difficult. However, coming back to standards and coming back to real challenges for meaningful access, I have to say that real challenge is equipping all citizens and particularly vulnerable groups with skills and confidence to navigate the digital world. And here we apply a number of measures. I don’t know if I have another chance to talk about elderly people.

Alhagie Mbow: I think that still we have another question. Mary, please.

Mary Uduma: Okay. Thank you very much for giving me the floor. My name is Mary Uduma. I’m from Nigeria and I belong to a group that is passionate about meaningful and community networks. We realize that in most countries and clients, the universal access fund is being collected and millions of dollars have been collected. I don’t know whether there’s an example or experience on how to deploy this or activate these funds that are accumulated to be able to provide connectivity to the rural and the underserved. That’s one bit. The second bit is which strategy works. Is it the commercial strategy of connecting the unconnected or the social strategy of connecting the unconnected? I would like any of you to share with us what has happened in your own environment because our community needs it. And if we are to provide digital justice for our people, we should look at the commercial strategy work. I think Sita, the last person in the video, they were talking about public-private partnership. Is it working better, or do we look at the social strategy? Thank you.

Giacomo Mazzone: Thank you, Mari. Can I ask Alaji, not as co-moderator, but in his role as a member of the African Union Parliament, I think that this kind of problem that has been mentioned by the last two persons that intervened from the floor are your daily bread, the African Parliament, how you deal with that?

Alhagie Mbow: Thank you very much. You are quite right, Madam Uduma. In fact, there are countries in Africa that are actually collecting the universal access fund, but yet still they are unable to provide to the low-income and also to the underprivileged. However, there are also countries that are actually using it, for example, for community networks. For example, when you go to Tanzania, they have very good examples on community networks. Now, the other question deals with the first person that asked the question about competition, for example. You realize that in most African countries now, governments actually are moving away from privately-owning telecom companies. Now, they are opening up to the private sector, which means, for example, if you go to Gambia, which is one of the smallest countries in Africa, you have four or five different telephone companies. The government actually has, but the private sector actually has more. Now, if you look at even the broadband that we provide, you will see that the majority of it is actually controlled by the private sector. And I think this trend is seen in Nigeria, is seen in Ghana, in South Africa. So, governments actually are controlling less the telecom sector, but the private sector is coming more and more and more to control. that is quite good in the sense that it’s going to create competition and it’s also going to ensure that the prices actually are not, you know, hogged by only one company. So the more companies you have, the better the competition. And I think the trend going on now in Africa is that the private sector are getting more and more into the telecom sector and also in the provision of broadband, you know, across the continent.

Giacomo Mazzone: Thank you. We have another question in the floor, please. And then we close because we have the other speakers to go ahead, please.

Audience: Hello, everyone. I appreciate your efforts and wish you all the success. It’s not a question, it’s a suggestion. I’m Dr. Nermeen Salim, the Secretary General of Creators’ Union of Arab Economic Consultative Estates. And as an expert in intellectual property, I suggest to include the intellectual property in the global measurements taken to include only in the digital environment. And we are as an organization concerned with intellectual property, we have launched the platform to protect intellectual property in the digital area. So I hope to include this idea in the global measurement. Thank you.

Giacomo Mazzone: Thank you very much for this contribution. Yes, we count on your written contribution that will be included in the final report of the policy network. Thank you very much. And so we have to be very short, unfortunately. So talent, can you bring one of the experience that could be interesting answering also to the question that we have listened till now? Thank you.

Talant Sultanov: Thanks so much, Giacomo. Here I’m wearing my new hat of Policy Advocacy Advisor of GDIP, Global Digital Inclusion Partnership. And I’m really happy that the organization GDIP has participated in actively in working for Pakistan’s gender digital transformation strategy. GDIP is currently working on an initiative called Women in Digital Economy Fund on closing the gender digital gap. And I’m very happy that yesterday at the plenary, all of the speakers highlighted the importance of this issue. And one of the core areas for closing the gender digital divide and digital divide in general is access to relevant tools and products and content. And I’d like to bring one example of how we are providing access to weather tools, climate monitoring tools and data for rural communities using IoT technologies in Central Asia. And just to give you a brief background, I come from Kyrgyzstan, which is a mountainous landlocked country in Central Asia, and it’s part of what is called the Third Pole, largest water reserves outside of North and South Poles. And if you look at the NASA statistics that they’ve been tracing since the 1950s, the biggest climate change has been happening in Central Asia. And what that means is the glaciers, which are storing all this fresh water, are melting rapidly. And this water feeds a quarter of the global population. At the same time, together with water shortage, there are increasing number of disasters happening. And to be able to monitor and to help populations, especially in rural areas, to be better prepared for disaster risks, we launched this project together with ISOC Foundation, Internet Society Kyrgyz chapter and ICT in Trieste to monitor climate using new technologies. And today in Kyrgyzstan, for example, there are only 80 weather stations for a population of 8 million. And that means that the accuracy of weather data, especially in rural communities, is not very strong. And thus the communities may not be aware of potential disasters accumulating in the area. And this project that uses IoT, Internet of Things, sensors and low-relevant technology, communication technology that can send data to hundreds of kilometers, theoretically, if you have a clear line of sight, could help improve the situation. Using this technology, you can install these sensors high in the mountains to monitor glaciers or mountain lakes. You can install them in mud, low or flat potential areas. You can put them under the ground to monitor temperature of the soil and the moisture. You can put them in the water. But there are many uses. And we’ve been testing this technology in Central Asia. And we are really happy that this technology has proven to be viable. We tested them together with ordinary stations to see if the data correlates with the big weather stations. And it actually does. Plus, you can have more uses for these sensors, not just for climate monitoring, but also for smart agriculture, wildlife monitoring. And here we have a colleague from Finland, Samo, who is also doing this kind of project in Finland monitoring deers and this brings me to conclusion of my presentation is the next step so we’d like to be able to also monitor wildlife and you know it’s in Central Asia we have snow leopards we’d like to use for that and as for the reindeer you know the New Year holidays are coming up and Santa Claus if we believe in Santa should be able to deliver all the goods to the children and the scientists from I think Sweden decided that Santa should be located in Kyrgyzstan to be able to deliver the gifts to all the children in the world and there is a mountain peak in Kyrgyzstan called peak Dankova from which it’s a longest line of sight in the world 550 kilometers into a mountain peak in China called Hindutak and last year we’ve been discussing with Professor Slim and other colleagues at ICTP that we should be able to establish a link between these two peaks and see if science and these technologies are possible to connect these kind of locations and these are the some of the next steps for our project all the applications that we are planning to do is using all this data that these weather stations will collect and apply machine learning there is a concept called tiny machine learning which would could help us to monitor and potentially forecast disaster risk so this is a quickly very briefly about this project but I’ll be happy to expand more later on thank you

Alhagie Mbow: thank you very much Sultan thank you very much Talan Sultanov we move to Lina Biltrakini Ambassador-at-Large for Economic and Digital Diplomacy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Lutenia you can have the floor thank you thank you very much

Lina Viltrakiene: thank you very much and in my first intervention I referred already to to the role of the government in bridging gaps bridging digital gaps and I would like to focus a little bit on digital digital skills for the elderly how to of the elderly people. And here, the government has to allocate some, well, from Lithuanian experience, I can share that the government has to allocate specific resources for this purpose. In our case, we recently just invested 2 million euros for specifically to improve the digital skills of socially vulnerable groups, and in particular, elderly people and residents of remote residential areas. The government has to set clear tasks, clear targets. For example, in Lithuania, by 2030, we aim to equip 80% of adults with the skills to perform everyday digital tasks. And also, by the same year, we provide 100 of key public services online in a public sector. So with these ambitious tasks, indeed, the governments alone can not achieve them. So we need to involve all the society. We need to involve other public institutions, academic institutions, private sector, civil society. And I would like to share with you one example from Lithuania. We have such initiative called No One Left Behind, which was launched more than a year ago by the Communications Regulatory Authority of Lithuania. And it particularly focuses on improving digital skills among seniors. And well, as I’m lacking time, so I will be very brief just presenting that with this initiative, we managed to grow a very robust public and private partnership that answers the question that was raised from the floor. In our case, it involves more than 140 collaborators, including state authorities, private sector, municipalities. municipalities, media, and others, and we call this initiative now All Lithuania’s Project. And the main results of this project are that during one year, seminars were held at 18 third-age universities, remote seminars reaching rural areas through digital platforms like Senior World or Zoom. We established partnerships with 33 municipalities who were supporting by providing facilities to the elderly people. The initiative trained 3,500 seniors and 1,500 schoolchildren addressing different issues including like cyber threats and fraud prevention, and that is very important because that also builds confidence of these people on digital world. And well, 40 municipalities involved broadcasters and so on and so on, and further on, next year we plan to expand this project and also train other vulnerable groups such as jobless and socially isolated people. And well, perhaps as a last remark is that I would like to mention that it’s very, very important for all the projects, for all the stakeholders involved in bridging the gaps to be close to those with whom you are working. So be as close as possible, be it libraries in the case of Lithuania, be it postal offices. In the case of Kenya, where we have a project of our company working on providing trainings and skills to elderly people there. like in Estonia or any other places, community hubs which are very close to those in need.

Alhagie Mbow: Thank you very much. It’s interesting to see that what you say is very near to what Mary from Nigeria was saying. So we need to build through communities. And in order to reach the communities, our last speaker is Bobby Bedi. There is a question of identity, cultural identity. You can build the communities, keep the communities around their identities. And audiovisual media are an important way to build these identity fields, feelings. What is your experience? What are you doing in this?

Bobby Bedi: Thank you very much. I think being the last person to speak gives you the chance of being a disrupter. I was going to show you some beautiful pictures of the work that I’m doing in the region, but I think given the time, this is better just to say what I have to say. See, the main thing is, let’s look at the two words we’ve been discussing, meaningful and access. I think the most meaningful is an adjective. Access is the main word. And the reason that we have access, frankly, is because the world is obsessed with engagement and entertainment. The reason we have internet, the reason for the existence of internet, is of the intense desire of humanity to engage and entertain. I don’t necessarily mean entertainment in terms of dancing and singing. Any intertwining of people, any mixing of people is entertainment. I’m in the business of telling stories. I think the internet exists because people like to tell stories and listen to stories. That’s why people subscribe and we thrive on each other’s stories. And whenever we have a moment, we use it to engage and entertain. So, for me, the four words follow in that order. Engage, entertain, inform, educate. It’s very difficult to just jump to the last two. That’s the process. That’s why the guard outside my house, that’s why the child working with my working help, my friends, everybody has internet. It’s because of these reasons. Now that we have it, what can we do? And that’s the first part of the word, which is meaningful. And then I can tell you that in India, where we have one billion, almost a billion people who have internet access. It’s a percentage, it’s still not the largest in the world or anything, but a billion people is a billion people. You know, it’s connections. Half of them are urban, half of them are rural. All of them access the internet. Most of them do it through a smartphone. And all of them use it to engage and entertain. But in this process, what has happened is, whether it is crop prices, whether it’s market, whether it’s weather conditions, whether it is health, whether it is COVID regulation, all of it is the benefit that you’re getting. And just recently, Delhi has had a huge air pollution problem. Every single school shifted, doing classes. And, you know, there were children doing their classes on the phone. And you know what? It was working. It was something new had happened. And they were actually sitting in their uniforms, in their little rooms, and actually doing their classes. attending class. So, for me, it’s very important to keep focusing on this aspect of engagement and people meeting and talking to each other and then all of the agencies and the government and all of them take advantage and then are able to make it more meaningful in many ways. But there again, I think that even that is meaningful, even the emotional support that it gives you, even the social support that it gives you makes it meaningful. It’s not just medical meaning, meaningfulness or you know, whether all these things are meaningful. Now, I’ll just come to the last bit, which is what I’m doing in this region. But this, especially the country that we’re in, Saudi Arabia, entertainment is in reality two years old. I mean, it started five, six years ago with the opening up of entertainment, but then COVID came, etc. And then, so it’s really two to three years old. It’s already, in terms of cinemas, this is 60% of the Arab box office. That was the hunger you saw. Now here, what we’re doing is we’re creating, we’re trying to bridge a major time gap. We’re making the old fables, the mystical stories, we’re bringing in Shakespeare, relocating it in situations where it’s relevant in Jeddah, you know, like setting Maghreb in a Jeddah story, etc. We’re bringing these stories to them so that they engage with each other. And if they engage, you use the form, you use the connection to educate, to inform, improve their health, improve their mental balance and all of that. And I think it’s a relationship that we need to nurture and keep between the entertainment and the meaningfulness of it. So, I think really, the last thing is that… For the internet to be meaningful, it needs to all encompass, and it needs to engage first. It needs to entertain first. It will inform and educate. And then lastly, also, let’s not forget the role of advertising, which none of us really like. But it funds the entire process. And it makes a lot of what we’re trying to do possible. Thank you.

Giacomo Mazzone: Thank you, Bobby. We have to go to a close. So, Alhagie.

Alhagie Mbow: Thank you very much for that wonderful conversation. We are really running out of time. And I will suggest my co-facilitator. We give them maybe 30 seconds each to see really what we need to do generally. Because I think Mr. Seva has given very, very good data. And data is very important in what we do nowadays. And again, we have seen the linkage with the university, public university, working with the private to be able to provide. So we want to give you each maybe 30 seconds just to give us in very clear and straightforward time, what do you think we need to do to help close this gap, to shrink it, so that the underprivileged can actually be connected.

Mohamed Selim Alouini: Yes, thank you. So I think from my perspective and hearing all what has been said during this panel, clearly there is an opportunity to establish strong collaboration between private for investment and managing this project, public sector to facilitate regulation, but also academia, universities to bring innovation and research and try to make this technology more affordable and more accessible.

Martin Schaaper: Thank you. Data is absolutely critical and crucial, especially on socioeconomic backgrounds to measure all the digital divides. Unfortunately, we don’t have enough data, so it’s very, very important that countries around the world invest in data capabilities.

Giacomo Mazzone: Okay, thank you. Sieda is still with us online. If you want to say 30 seconds, if not, we will go to a close because we are already late. So thank you very much for being with us. You have listened to eight different models to make meaningful the access from the entertainment to talking with the families, to teaching to the elder, to protect life through early warning system, through a university cooperation with the territory and through statistical measures in order to know what exactly to do. So I thank you everybody for being with us patiently and sorry for the next session that we are taking some time to them, but I think that was a passionate travel around the globe to understand how we can better behave for the future. Thank you very much.

Alhagie Mbow: Thank you very much. Once again, we want to also thank our consultant, Daphne, on this very important program because she worked day and night to ensure she put the team together and also she put all the documentations. So we want to thank her very much and also thank the audience as well as our co-facilitators, Zambrana and Linda. Thank you all very, very, very, very much for being with us today. Thank you.

Agreement Points

Importance of data collection and measurement

Martin Schaaper

Syeda Shafaq Karim

Data collection and measurement crucial for policy-making

Digital services reduce corruption through increased transparency

Both speakers emphasize the importance of data and digital systems in improving policy-making and reducing corruption through increased transparency.

Need for targeted digital skills training

Lina Viltrakiene

Bobby Bedi

Elderly and vulnerable groups need targeted digital skills training

Online education platforms expand learning opportunities

Both speakers highlight the importance of providing digital skills training to specific groups, including the elderly and students, to ensure meaningful access and participation in the digital world.

Role of government in digital infrastructure and skills development

Lina Viltrakiene

Alhagie Mbow

Government investment in digital infrastructure and skills training critical

Public-private partnerships effective for expanding access

Both speakers emphasize the crucial role of government in developing digital infrastructure and skills, either through direct investment or by facilitating public-private partnerships.

Similar Viewpoints

Both speakers advocate for the use of innovative technologies to address connectivity and monitoring challenges in remote areas, highlighting the potential of non-traditional solutions.

Mohamed Slim Alouini

Talant Sultanov

Unlicensed spectrum and innovative technologies can connect remote areas

IoT and sensors enable climate/disaster monitoring in remote areas

Both speakers emphasize the need to address digital divides affecting specific demographic groups, such as women and the elderly, through targeted interventions and training programs.

Syeda Shafaq Karim

Lina Viltrakiene

Digital gender gap remains significant in many countries

Elderly and vulnerable groups need targeted digital skills training

Unexpected Consensus

Entertainment as a driver for internet adoption

Bobby Bedi

Talant Sultanov

Entertainment and social engagement drive internet adoption

IoT and sensors enable climate/disaster monitoring in remote areas

While Bedi explicitly argues for entertainment as a primary driver of internet adoption, Sultanov’s focus on climate monitoring unexpectedly aligns with this view by demonstrating how engaging, practical applications can drive technology adoption in remote areas.

Overall Assessment

Summary

The speakers generally agree on the importance of data collection, targeted skills training, government involvement in digital infrastructure development, and the potential of innovative technologies to address connectivity challenges. There is also consensus on the need to address digital divides affecting specific demographic groups.

Consensus level

Moderate to high consensus on key issues. This level of agreement suggests a shared understanding of the main challenges and potential solutions in achieving universal and meaningful connectivity. However, speakers approach these issues from different perspectives (e.g., regulatory, technological, social), which could lead to diverse implementation strategies.

Different Viewpoints

Approaches to expanding connectivity

Alhagie Mbow

Mary Uduma

Public-private partnerships effective for expanding access

Community-based approaches important for reaching underserved areas

Mbow emphasizes the role of private sector competition in expanding access, while Uduma suggests community-based approaches may be more effective for underserved areas.

Unexpected Differences

Overall Assessment

summary

The main areas of disagreement were subtle and primarily focused on different approaches to achieving universal and meaningful connectivity.

difference_level

The level of disagreement among speakers was relatively low. Most speakers presented complementary rather than conflicting viewpoints, focusing on different aspects of the same overarching goal. This suggests a general consensus on the importance of universal and meaningful connectivity, with variations in emphasis and approach based on speakers’ specific areas of expertise and regional contexts.

Partial Agreements

All speakers agree on the importance of addressing digital divides, but focus on different aspects: Schaaper emphasizes data collection, Karim highlights gender gaps, and Viltrakiene focuses on elderly and vulnerable groups.

Martin Schaaper

Syeda Shafaq Karim

Lina Viltrakiene

Data collection and measurement crucial for policy-making

Digital gender gap remains significant in many countries

Elderly and vulnerable groups need targeted digital skills training

Similar Viewpoints

Both speakers advocate for the use of innovative technologies to address connectivity and monitoring challenges in remote areas, highlighting the potential of non-traditional solutions.

Mohamed Slim Alouini

Talant Sultanov

Unlicensed spectrum and innovative technologies can connect remote areas

IoT and sensors enable climate/disaster monitoring in remote areas

Both speakers emphasize the need to address digital divides affecting specific demographic groups, such as women and the elderly, through targeted interventions and training programs.

Syeda Shafaq Karim

Lina Viltrakiene

Digital gender gap remains significant in many countries

Elderly and vulnerable groups need targeted digital skills training

Key Takeaways

Universal and meaningful connectivity remains a significant challenge globally, with persistent digital divides across gender, geography, age and socioeconomic lines

Data collection and measurement are crucial for effective policymaking and tracking progress on digital inclusion

Public-private partnerships and community-based approaches are effective strategies for expanding access, especially in underserved areas

Innovative technologies like IoT, unlicensed spectrum, and satellite internet can help connect remote regions

Digital skills training, especially for vulnerable groups like the elderly, is essential for meaningful access

Entertainment and social engagement are key drivers of internet adoption, which can then enable other beneficial uses

Resolutions and Action Items

ITU to continue data collection efforts on universal and meaningful connectivity indicators

Governments should invest in digital infrastructure and skills training programs

Stakeholders should explore public-private partnerships to expand access

Policy networks like PNMA should persist beyond 2025 to continue addressing connectivity challenges

Unresolved Issues

How to effectively utilize universal service funds to improve connectivity

Balancing commercial vs. social strategies for connecting the unconnected

Addressing data protection and privacy concerns, especially for young people

Mitigating risks of over-reliance on single commercial providers like Starlink

Incorporating intellectual property protection in digital inclusion efforts

Suggested Compromises

Combining entertainment/social engagement drivers with educational/informational content to promote meaningful use

Leveraging both public and private sector resources through partnerships to expand access

Using a mix of terrestrial and non-terrestrial (e.g. satellite) technologies to reach remote areas

After all, access that isn’t useful can’t possibly be meaningful. And the definition of meaningful access changes over time. It depends a lot on the functionality of the network and the capacity and capabilities of the system that people have access to.

speaker

Vint Cerf

reason

This comment insightfully frames the core issue of meaningful access as an evolving concept, highlighting that it’s not just about having access, but about the quality and usefulness of that access.

impact

It set the tone for the discussion by emphasizing the need to continually reassess and improve what constitutes meaningful access as technology advances.

We define universal and meaningful connectivity, the possibility for everyone to enjoy a safe, satisfying, enriching, productive online experience at an affordable cost.

speaker

Martin Schaaper

reason

This definition provides a comprehensive and holistic view of what meaningful connectivity entails, encompassing safety, satisfaction, enrichment, productivity, and affordability.

impact

It broadened the scope of the discussion beyond just technical access to include qualitative aspects of the online experience.

We have a huge population of 250 million. And we are currently reaching around 200 million because we are currently standing at 196 million mobile users in the country. So out of this population of 250 million, we the women are making 50% of the total population. But when it comes to the numbers of mobile usage, there we see that there is a huge gap

speaker

Syeda Shafaq Karim

reason

This comment highlights the significant gender gap in mobile usage in Pakistan, bringing attention to a critical aspect of the digital divide.

impact

It shifted the conversation to focus on gender-specific challenges in achieving meaningful access and prompted discussion on strategies to address this gap.

The real question is, can we measure this in some way? And I yesterday had the opportunity to spend time with the UNESCO team. As some of you will know, they have developed something that they call Internet Universality Indicators, IUIs.

speaker

Vint Cerf

reason

This comment introduces the crucial aspect of measurement and metrics in assessing meaningful access, highlighting concrete tools being developed.

impact

It steered the discussion towards the importance of quantifiable data and standardized indicators in evaluating progress on meaningful access.

The main thing is, let’s look at the two words we’ve been discussing, meaningful and access. I think the most meaningful is an adjective. Access is the main word. And the reason that we have access, frankly, is because the world is obsessed with engagement and entertainment.

speaker

Bobby Bedi

reason

This comment offers a unique perspective by emphasizing the role of engagement and entertainment as primary drivers of internet access and usage.

impact

It challenged the predominantly utilitarian view of internet access presented earlier and broadened the discussion to include cultural and social aspects of connectivity.

Overall Assessment

These key comments shaped the discussion by expanding the concept of meaningful access beyond mere connectivity to include evolving technological capabilities, gender equity, measurable indicators, and cultural engagement. They highlighted the multifaceted nature of the challenge, encompassing technical, social, and cultural dimensions, and emphasized the need for continual reassessment and improvement in approaches to achieving universal and meaningful connectivity.

How can we ensure the security and privacy of young people’s sensitive biometric data used for online verification, especially in countries with limited data protection laws?

speaker

Omar Farouk (audience member)

explanation

This is important due to the increasing use of biometric data for online verification and the potential risks to young people’s privacy and security.

What are the potential impacts of populations in remote areas becoming dependent on satellite internet constellations like Starlink?

speaker

Samogratis from ICT Italy (audience member)

explanation

This is important to consider the long-term effects on local infrastructure development and potential risks of relying on a single commercial provider for internet access.

How can universal access funds be effectively deployed to provide connectivity to rural and underserved areas?

speaker

Mary Uduma (audience member)

explanation

This is important to address the issue of accumulated funds not being utilized effectively to bridge the digital divide.

Which strategy works better for connecting the unconnected: commercial strategy or social strategy?

speaker

Mary Uduma (audience member)

explanation

This is important to determine the most effective approach for providing digital justice and connectivity to underserved communities.

How can intellectual property be included in global measurements of the digital environment?

speaker

Dr. Nermeen Salim (audience member)

explanation

This is important to consider the role of intellectual property protection in the digital landscape and its impact on meaningful connectivity.

How can we measure meaningful access in a standardized way across different countries and contexts?

speaker

Vint Cerf

explanation

This is important to develop consistent metrics for evaluating progress in achieving meaningful connectivity globally.

How can we improve the collection and availability of gender-disaggregated data on digital access and usage?

speaker

Syeda Shafaq Karim

explanation

This is important to better understand and address the gender digital divide.

How can we develop sustainable business models for providing meaningful connectivity in rural and underserved areas?

speaker

Oscar G Leon Suarez

explanation

This is important to ensure long-term viability of connectivity initiatives in challenging environments.