WS #49 Benefit everyone from digital tech equally & inclusively

Summary

This workshop focused on how digital technologies can benefit everyone equally and inclusively. Speakers from various countries and backgrounds discussed challenges and opportunities in bridging the digital divide. Liu Chuang presented on using GIS technology to support sustainable agriculture in rural areas. Horst Kremers emphasized the importance of information governance and stakeholder involvement in disaster management. Xiaofeng Tao highlighted big data as a tool for reducing inequalities and supporting environmental monitoring. Ricardo Robles-Pelayo discussed challenges in closing the digital divide in Mexico and Latin America, emphasizing the need for universal internet access and digital skills training. Daisy Selematsela and Lazarus Matizirofa presented on democratizing digital scholarship and preserving cultural heritage through digitization in South Africa. Tamanna Mustary Mou focused on meaningful internet access for women, highlighting barriers such as affordability and digital skills gaps.

Key themes across presentations included the need for multi-stakeholder cooperation, infrastructure development, digital skills training, and policies to ensure equitable access. Speakers emphasized that digital technologies can support sustainable development goals but require intentional efforts to bridge divides based on geography, gender, and socioeconomic status. The discussion concluded with calls for continued collaboration and concrete actions to ensure digital technologies benefit everyone. Participants agreed that realizing the full potential of digital technologies for inclusive development requires ongoing dialogue and coordinated efforts across sectors and regions.

Keypoints

Major discussion points:

– Using digital technologies and big data to reduce inequalities and improve quality of life

– Challenges of the digital divide, especially for marginalized communities and women

– Importance of multi-stakeholder cooperation and governance in implementing digital solutions

– Role of education and capacity building in bridging the digital divide

– Potential of digital technologies to support sustainable development goals

Overall purpose:

The goal of this workshop was to explore how digital technologies can be leveraged to benefit everyone equally and inclusively, with a focus on reducing the digital divide and promoting sustainable development.

Tone:

The overall tone was collaborative and solution-oriented. Speakers shared insights and case studies from their respective fields and regions in a constructive manner. There was a sense of urgency about addressing digital inequalities, but also optimism about the potential of digital technologies to create positive change if implemented thoughtfully. The tone remained consistent throughout, with participants building on each other’s ideas in a collegial way.

Speakers

– Xiaofeng Tao: Professor, workshop moderator

– Gong Ke: Professor, Chair of CCIT

– Liu Chuang: Professor, Institute of Geography and Natural Resource Chinese Academic Science, Editor-in-chief of Global Change Research Data

– Horst Kremers: Chair of RIMA, Germany

– Ricardo Robles Pelayo: Professor at the University EBC campus, La Nepantla, Mexico

– Daisy Selematsela: Professor, University of Worcestershire

– Lazarus Matizirofa: University of Pretoria

– Tamanna Mustary Mou: PhD fellow at St. John’s University, New York

– Xiang Zhou

Additional speakers:

– Abdullah Swaham: Minister (mentioned but did not speak)

Digital Technologies for Inclusive Development: A Comprehensive Workshop Summary

This workshop brought together experts from various countries and backgrounds to explore how digital technologies can benefit everyone equally and inclusively. The discussion focused on challenges and opportunities in bridging the digital divide, with speakers presenting diverse perspectives on leveraging digital tools for sustainable development and addressing inequalities.

Key Presentations and Themes

1. GIS Technology for Sustainable Agriculture

Professor Liu Chuang from the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, presented on the application of Geographic Information System (GIS) technology to support sustainable agriculture in rural areas. She highlighted specific examples, including:

– The use of GIS to map soil nutrient levels, enabling targeted fertilizer application and reducing environmental impact.

– Precision agriculture techniques that optimize water use and crop yields.

– Mobile apps that provide farmers with real-time weather data and crop management advice.

Liu Chuang emphasized how these technologies can significantly benefit smallholder farmers, improving their livelihoods and contributing to food security.

2. Big Data for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Professor Xiaofeng Tao from Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications discussed the role of big data in reducing inequalities and supporting environmental monitoring. He highlighted:

– The potential of big data to contribute to the implementation of SDGs, particularly in areas such as poverty reduction and climate action.

– Challenges in realizing this potential, including the “data divide,” “computer divide,” and “algorithm divide” between developed and developing countries.

– The need for capacity building and technology transfer to address these divides.

3. Information Governance for Disaster Risk Reduction

Dr. Horst Kremers, Chair of the CODATA Germany Task Group on Methodologies of Data Handling and Knowledge Management, emphasized the importance of information governance in disaster management. Key points included:

– The need for national platforms to coordinate disaster risk reduction efforts.

– The importance of inclusive communication strategies that reach all segments of society, including vulnerable groups.

– The role of digital technologies in improving early warning systems and disaster response.

4. Digitizing Cultural Heritage and Scholarship

Dr. Daisy Selematsela and Dr. Lazaros Matizirofa from the University of South Africa presented on democratizing digital scholarship and preserving cultural heritage. Their work highlighted:

– Efforts to digitize historical papers and rock art, making these cultural artifacts accessible to a wider audience.

– The development of digital repositories and open access platforms to enhance education and research.

– Challenges in digital preservation, including funding and technical expertise.

5. Meaningful Internet Access for Women

Tamanna Mustary Mou, from the Digital Empowerment Foundation in Bangladesh, focused on barriers to meaningful internet access for women. She presented data showing that globally, men are 21% more likely to be online than women, and discussed barriers such as:

– Affordability of devices and data plans.

– Digital skills gaps and lack of relevant content.

– Social and cultural norms that limit women’s access to technology.

6. Digital Technologies in Latin America

Ricardo Robles-Pelayo discussed challenges and opportunities for digital technologies in Mexico and Latin America, with a focus on:

– The potential of ICTs to address educational equity challenges.

– Opportunities for digital health services to improve healthcare access.

– The need for policies to promote digital inclusion across the region.

Areas of Agreement and Consensus

Speakers broadly agreed on:

1. The potential of digital technologies to promote inclusive development across various sectors.

2. The existence of significant digital divides based on geography, gender, and socioeconomic status.

3. The importance of digital skills and education in bridging these divides.

4. The need for inclusive approaches in implementing digital solutions.

Key Takeaways and Future Directions

The workshop concluded with several important takeaways and suggested actions:

1. Enhance partnerships and collaboration on big data for SDG implementation.

2. Invest in digital infrastructure and skills training, especially in rural areas and for marginalized groups.

3. Develop policies to ensure universal and affordable internet connectivity.

4. Continue efforts to digitize cultural artifacts and knowledge to increase access.

5. Address specific barriers to women’s internet access and digital participation.

In his concluding remarks, Professor Xiaofeng Tao emphasized the need for ongoing international cooperation and knowledge sharing to realize the full potential of digital technologies for inclusive development.

Conclusion

The workshop highlighted both the significant potential of digital technologies to promote inclusive development and the persistent challenges in ensuring equitable access and benefits. Moving forward, realizing the full potential of digital technologies for inclusive development will require coordinated efforts across sectors and regions, with a continued focus on leaving no one behind in the digital age.

Xiaofeng Tao: Yes, he’ll join us. Yes, don’t worry, he’ll join us. I’ll just continue, but he’ll join us. Yes. And he will do the presentation with you together. Right. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yeah. We’ll share the time slot. Yes. Yes. Hello, Daisy. Good morning. Good morning. Greetings from Riyadh. And greetings to Horst also and to everybody. Ni hao. Guten Morgen, Horst. Good morning, Daisy. After so many years of acquaintance, it’s always very nice to meet friends again. Also, like Gong Ke and Liu Chuang and others. Thank you very much. Very greetings from Berlin. Hope we can meet each other in person recently. That would be a good idea, yeah. It will be early morning in Berlin, in Deutschland. Oh, well, it’s not so early. You see, now I’m retired a few years already from my official work. And then that was normal time. You see, now I enjoy a cup of coffee along in that region. Thank you. Yeah, it’s also normal time for us here in South Africa. It’s normal working time. It’s the time to be at the office now. Yes, we start to work at eight. Yeah. That’s why my colleague Lazarus is on his way. Yes. Okay. Thank you. So I think we should start in two minutes. Yeah. Okay. Okay. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Gong Ke: So, CCIT itself is the platform of multidisciplinary collaboration, linking the scientific technological society with policymakers in ICT domain in China and international dialogue, such as IGF, WCs, and so on and so forth. So today we gather here to discuss the topic as just mentioned by Zhou Xiang, benefit everyone by digital tech equally and inclusively. So I think we gather here to discuss this topic because we know on one side, the remarkable benefit brought up by the technology tech already to every country, everywhere, but not to everyone by far. So we have to explore the ways how to collaborate in the spirit of a global digital compact to help everybody, everywhere, in every eco-social status to get the benefit of digital tech. Today, even though there’s a small workshop, we have experts from Asia, from Europe, from Africa, and from America to join our hands and to share our insight, explorations, and good practices. And we also encourage all participants in this room later on site or online to join the discussion. I firmly believe with our joint discussion and joint efforts, we should make this workshop a great success and open a new opportunity for the further collaboration on the inclusive and equitably development of the digital technology for everyone. Thank you so much. I stop here and give the floor back to Zhou Xiang.

Xiaofeng Tao: Many thanks to Professor Gung and he gave us very inspiring remarks and also highlights the importance of digital tech through the multistakeholder cooperation. I think today we have a lot of experts and scientists from different fields to share their viewpoints. Actually we have six invited speakers with various backgrounds from different disciplinary on different aspects including the policy technology and also education. So our workshop after the presentation from speaker will follow by a panel discussion with all the speakers also on-site and online participants. So I would like to remind our speaker each of you will have 10 minutes to present your thoughts and ideas so I will remind you when two minutes left. So let’s move to the part of presentation. Firstly we have Professor Liu Chuang to give us an on-site presentation about GIS methodology and the technology transformation for SDGs. Professor Liu Chuang is from the Institute of Geography and Natural Resource Chinese Academic Science and she is also editor-in-chief of Global Change Research Data published in the reportatory World Data System. Now we welcome Professor Liu to give you a presentation. You have floor please.

Liu Chuang: Thank you. Thank you very much. So, ladies and gentlemen, and good morning. And then 20 years ago, and we get together. This is Geneva. So I think it is some of us in there. And then Tunis. And then also 20 years ago we coded how we work together to set up the tassel group in developing countries, I think that they see. So we we work together for that. But now, we, we focus on 20 years later so now we work. This is how the data can benefit for everybody. So, and the work. Okay, so the topic is a GIS methodology and technology transformation for STDs. So, this is from our experience so we are in China we have was the biodiversity. So, richly in the biodiversity, and we have more than 3000 t geography indications in China. However, that’ll work. Okay, go ahead. So this next. So, but the problem is not only China had the problem but a whole world. I feel initiative with the OCOP program. Then, this is a 85 countries join this each country have their diverse, different products agriculture product. However, challenging is go to the next one. Uh huh. Okay. Before that. Yeah. So the challenging is a good product, a good nutrition, a good environment, but not because the good product is not to cut the feedback of the good price in the market. So this is a big problem. So how did you seal three seals in meeting the challenges? One is the product are not well geolocated, and the special geosocio-economic assessment, which the product of the origin are not illustrated clearly and not well-known by consumers. The intellectual property or brand of these special agricultural products have not been established or well-protected. So this is the challenging, and there was a solution. One is very important is the cooperation. So then in this February, in the Chinese Academy of Sciences, so sign up MOU with the FAO. Link the FAO’s OCOP program together to Chinese Academy of Sciences GIS technology. That’s one. Then Chinese Academy of Sciences promised to work with the FAO on the GIS for three aspects. One is open science, open data and knowledge shared, and also technology transfer and capacity building. Go ahead. The solution is what is GIS solution. So we transfer the technology methodology to the whole world. This is innovative solution for linking production, environmental marketing, and the consumers of a special agricultural products. Go ahead. Then the key word, in this technology, one is geography, education, environment, and sustainability for the world. And then we saw the high quality, what does it mean high quality? We need the brand, quality, appearance, brand, modernity, and culture. So in that case, we get better product, better nutrition, better environment, and a better life, leave no one behind. So the key policy and the technologies is one is we need the multiverse stakeholder teamwork. And then we need to link science, technology, engineering, and the standard management, and also culture. We need the open data, open science, and open knowledge, and then traceable, all the information can traceable. Okay, go ahead. So the key technology is big data, professional knowledge, internet of things, retrieval, digital network, and the intelligence of the farmers, consumers, and the decision makers. So we link all this kind together. This is a good data, peer-reviewed data set, and the professional knowledge that’s published in the peer-reviewed journal, and also link all these kinds of things together. Right now, what does the solution impact? In China, we have right now 19 cases in China, and then more than 600,000 farmers get the benefit. For example, in the small village, Lanna Village, in only three years, originally the community income’s zero, and the second year, we got 100,000, and the next year, more than half a million, and then, yes, it’s more than one million. So the local farmers got benefit. This is the experience of China. Okay, next slide. And then, the… in Asia and the Pacific. We work with FEO in Asia, that is in the Bangladesh, in the Bhutan, and also in the Papua New Guinea. And now it’s not only in Asia Pacific, but the world, including the Panama and the South Africa, and also other countries right now is working on that. So I think this is a good solution. We need to work together, and then in the cooperation with the data open science, with data open data, and then the knowledge, and the link, and then network together, and the intelligence of GIS. Thank you very much.

Xiaofeng Tao: Thank you, Professor Liu, you saved the time. Okay, let’s move on the next speaker. It will be a presentation on the information governance for implementation of UN, all of society principle in data management. The speaker is Mr. Horst Kramer from his chair of RIMA, Germany. Now you have the floor, Horst, please.

Horst Kremers: Yeah, please allow me to share the screen.

Xiaofeng Tao: Okay. She wants to share a screen. Yeah. Does it work? You can share. Can you see this? Not yet.

Horst Kremers: No, no, I was unable to share a screen here. I don’t have the sign on my screen, on my Zoom. Give him the light. Okay. Okay, Horst, you can share the screen on your side. Horst, is- I don’t. I don’t sorry sorry I don’t see I don’t see that I don’t see that line that says share screen I don’t see it oh is his monitor fell here maybe can you check at the bottom host the bottom of your screen the tabs at the bottom of your screen it will be green oh not up I apologize knowledge management knowledge management yeah knowledge is very important thank you Desi great contribution okay okay we saw we see your screen okay thank you very much good morning colleagues I’m very happy to contribute to be able to contribute to that workshop today my aspect today is on information governance for the implementation of the United Nations all of society principles in disaster management since about 2025 years I ran from from environmental sustainability information into into disaster aspects and the information management in disaster and today I want to share about that principle of all of all of society I refer to the United Nations Sendai framework for disaster risk reduction and this Sendai framework has already indicates on whom to whom to involve in disaster discussion and here for us is of course always the question what is the information management aspect of all this so explicitly listed in the Sendai framework is women children and youth and so on migrants academia business media So when I show you this, and if you have a contact into disaster management, you would see that the inclusion of indigenous people is starting, but for migrants, not in every country migrants are enclosed in such discussion, and so on. So there is a lot to do, and we try of course to improve in work groups at UNDRR, the United Nations Disaster Risk Reduction Organization, and others. The role of stakeholders is defined in that framework, especially to engage in the implementation of local, national, regional, and global plans and strategies, contribute to and support public awareness, culture of prevention, and education on disaster risk, and advocate for resilient communities, and an inclusive and all-of-society disaster risk management. So that is not just an idea, it’s a mandate from the Zendai framework to work in this. During my work with UNDRR, and also nationally here and in Europe, I compiled a list of those stakeholders, which I call also existing pillars of societal resilience in all phases of disaster management. A lot of people focus on the core phase of rescue and first aid, but we have this whole circle of disaster management. Now I don’t want to read all of these here, but for instance, Gokke would be interested maybe also in chambers of engineers. How are they involved? It’s not only these blue light first aid organizations, but it’s Salvation Army, school services, medical care organizations, amateur radio associations. When all the transmission fails, when all the internet is down or something, you have to rely on amateur radio today and so on. So to make that short, you can read all these for download of my presentation with the link I give in the end. For example, then all these groups, all these actors in disaster normally should work together

Xiaofeng Tao: in so-called national platforms, which also the CEDAW framework suggests to implement everywhere. National platforms for disaster risk reduction. And I just made a short copy of the one here of the Luxembourg government here in Europe. And this platform constitutes a sustainable network that aims to stimulate a regular exchange, sharing of information and data health by different ministerial departments and all those involved. Just to give you some idea of what is also the question of how to work in these crises, the Swedish Civil Contingency Agency made a brochure just a few months ago, the new version which is titled In Case of Crisis or War. So, and this addresses all of society. That in Sweden is translated into Arabic. Well, this is the name of languages in Swedish language. So, in English, Farsi, and when you know this, even in Ukrainian language. If you know some of these names here are local languages, local ethnical groups throughout the big country of Sweden. I listed that here because of international aspects of all those people living in the country. These are not only Swedish people or in any other nation. It’s the same. But this is a good example how to include, for the information part, also other languages in the country, local languages, native languages, indigenous languages, which is also a role there. In the case of what I think is one of the best examples and best documented examples for community development is the one from Scotland here, which deals with the whole circle of disaster management from communication, inclusion, support, planning, working together, and the methods with an impact that we work together for for our society’s safety and well-being. What are today my short, because of time, recommendations for action and target achievements? We should review progress regularly at the local level and contribute to national and regional progress reviews by sharing information with the national government, develop a communication strategy, internal and external, to inform local authorities, the community, and different actors. When you see the complexity of the list of actors involved, you see what is the real challenge, because we are far from addressing all these in the, and communicate with all these in a standard way,

Horst Kremers: to inform local authorities, community, and different actors about gaps, problems, and achievements. So it’s not only about warnings. It’s absolutely important, these warnings, but the whole process is about talking about gaps, on problems, and so on. Put in place communication mechanisms that allow local leaders and the community to provide input, suggestions, and comments. Other recommendations for action are something like recording of status and situation, evaluation of documentation of previous experiments, data management plans, and so on. So also to be short, don’t want to read all this, but I just say, if you haven’t looked at this, from management point of view, the question is, do we have all professions involved in this? Not only someone, actors, some single organization or something. Do we have all the professions on board that are especially working for society here? So I think there is a long way to be done to have that all of society principle ensured in so many technical and governance way. Very short in selected aspects of governance is you would need an office secretariat. It’s a permanent… process. So it’s not a working group, it’s not a project, please. Governance in disaster is something which needs permanent support of structures. That means you need steering committees, you need working committees, focus of working groups, drafting teams, technical drafting teams who make proposals for standards. As we did, Liu Chang especially certainly would know from former times when we did so in sustainable development, environmental information and geographic information standards, you would need to sit together with colleagues from different organizations, from different professions to sit together and draft standards, technical standards for meta-information, for processes and whatsoever. We are far from this in disaster management, by the way. Promote and document lighthouse realizations, feasibility studies based on these standards to be supposed, prototypes, testbeds where others can come with their data and say, no, let’s see what your analysis tells about our data. Discuss and negotiate strategy at national Sendai platforms, that is what I mentioned already. Every nation should have one. Roadmaps for objectives, two years, five years, 20 years, is typical management things. Do you look in your country, do you see what is a two years plan? Do you know what is a five years plan, a 20 years plan? I think that is also something we could support. Now, I want to close my presentation to invite you to come to Switzerland in June. In Geneva is the 8th session of the Global Platform Disaster Risk Reduction. of United Nations, and one month later, WSIS in July also allows a discussion on Information Society. My session proposal is on Information Society in times of risk. Those who are interested and maybe consider to join for contributing to such session are invited to contact me. I thank you for your information and you see the download link for my presentation to read and see the links with the documents. Very interesting documents I recommend and thank you for the opportunity to be with you. Thank you. Okay, thank you very much

Xiaofeng Tao: and thank you for sharing very interesting information about the events to be held next year in Switzerland about WSIS last 20 years. I think we will have discussion during the panel part. So let’s move to the next speaker myself. So I will give you a brief introduction about enhancing partnership on big data for SDG. So as we know, digital tech like IoT, big data artificial intelligence, this advanced technology has greatly changed our life, but there are also increasing challenges and risks ahead, not only on economic and society, but also on the environment we live. So when we talk about achieving SDG, we normally focus on the development of human society. and economic development, but at the same time, the nature and the environmental are also concerned. So this morning, I would like to talk about importance of strengthening cooperation on tackling this environmental issue with support of big data. Please, go ahead.

Xiang Zhou: Oh, it works. Thank you. So as you can see from the screen, our world is facing myriad global changes. For example, the disaster, as Austin mentioned, occurred every day around the world. Air pollution is definitely a very severe situation in South and Eastern Asia. Frequent flooding happens not only in the rural area, but also I think we are experiencing more and more severe disaster in Southeast Asia, which is a big problem for the sustainable agriculture and production. For at the same time, the South America are experiencing severe deforestation, and meanwhile, the extreme degradation of grassland on Central Asia, and also climate change worsens the severity of the welfare worldwide. It’s too much. Okay. So as we all know, the big data can be a key tool for supporting and evaluating the implementation on SDG. The new technology not only can provide the strong powerful to give us the accurate information about the environmental and human activity, but also it can provide a lot of data, which will be a source of knowledge, can be decision making for government, academia, and also private sector for them to take action to improve our daily life and industry development and every aspect of our world and human life. So as we all know, the SDG has 17 goals with 169 targets, and we also have more indicators. If I remember right, it’s more than 213. So how can we use the new technology, for example, big data IoT, to support the implementation of SDG? And also we need to evaluate the stator and the progress of this implementation. So we need to improve the link between the observation, computing, analysis, and also the knowledge discovery. As Minister Abdullah Swaham mentioned yesterday, there are also a lot of challenges and obstacles need us to overcome, as he addressed, data divide, computer divide, and algorithm divide. So I think if we want to try to promote the application of big data, we… We need to think about how to make the new technology to play more important roles during this process. So I think there are a lot of features of big data we need to improve as a new infrastructure to align the objective of benefiting everyone. For example, the technical reliability and the stability. So we need to build reliable infrastructure all over the world at local level, national level and the regional level as the host mentioned. Also the equity and the diversity as our workshop title mentioned, these also to help the gap between the different community, different country. The other things we need to think about is the responsibility and accountability, which will help to promote application and the service by implementing data openness, integration and analysis. And also the data security is also a very important issue for us to think about because it will integrate all kinds of data source by extract the information and produce knowledge for decision-making. So there are a lot of things we need to think about. So that’s why we need to enhance our MATIC. stakeholder cooperation mechanism, which will accelerate and enhance the process of big data in our society and life. So the organizations can play more important roles in this process. For example, for research community and the commercial sector, they can work together for building the analysis platform to facilitate the computing service and maybe big data computing platform. Okay, so there are also application model and the policy aspects. The stakeholders can work together to go forward. Here I have some case because personally I’m from the technical community. So as you know, the satellites are playing more and more important roles for monitoring the natural resource environment. But there are different capacities on earth observation and data accumulation at different countries at different levels. So we try to build a data hub by reducing the data divide from this kind of framework. So you can see some organizations are working on the data integration, some working on the algorithm optimization, and also we have a private sector like Amazon and other companies which will provide a computing facility. So we can strongly support different applications with this flexible framework by multi-stakeholder cooperation mechanism. And there are other case, there are case called the knowledge hub. It’s provide more opportunity for us to cooperating together from data to information for decision making. So the algorithm can be correct and optimized for the further information extraction. So in this case, we created a knowledge graph for more than 450 remote sensing satellite and which will be very important knowledge base for information for kinds of application. There are some cases about using big data for environmental monitoring and rapid response. So I would like to spend too much time on speaking and maybe you can see with the support of this big data, we can monitor and accessing global change by deriving key variables from satellite. We also can realize real-time data monitoring by with the support of high technology. Okay, so a short summary. The first one, big data finds new knowledge, create new value and improve new capability and think it has great potential as a new emerging technology and the data resource. And also big data and AI, not only have intensive application in responding to environmental issue, but also it can be a very powerful tool by reducing the digital wide as we talked recently. from yesterday’s forum. And the third one, Big Data Governance and Collaborative Action will improve the ability of society to cooperate with the virus, public safety and health challenges. And most important, it will improve the quality of economic and social life for achieving SDG. So, I think that’s all from my presentation. Thank you for your attention.

Xiaofeng Tao: Okay, let’s move to the next speaker. Now, we welcome Professor Ricardo Robles-Pelayo from Mexico to give us a presentation. His topic is Closing the Digital Wide, Challenges and Opportunities in Mexico and Latin America. You have the floor, please. Thank you very much. I will see if that works.

Ricardo Robles Pelayo: So, good morning, everyone. I am Ricardo Robles-Pelayo, Professor at the University EBC campus, La Nepantla. And thank you again for the invitation to the IDF 2024 here in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. On this occasion, participating in the workshop benefits everyone for digital tech equality and inclusivity. I will discuss Closing the Digital Divide, Challenges and Opportunities in Mexico and Latin America. Okay, perfect. As we will know, we are living in a transformative era in which technology has become the driving force behind social, economic, and cultural change. In Mexico and Latin America, information and communication technologies have opened enormous possibilities to reducing inequalities and improving quality of life. However, this technological revolution highlights significant challenge on equal access digital. exclusion and widening economic and social gaps. Today, I want to share a profound reflection on how to close the digital divide in our region, analyzing its impact to key sectors such as education, health, labor justice, and business development while proposing transparent and sustainable solutions to address this challenge. Before finding solutions to benefit everyone for digital technology with equality and inclusion, we must observe the number of people who have first-hand access to the internet. As we observed in yesterday’s opening session, many people worldwide don’t have internet access. As we can see in the graph, leaving aside the number of people who live in each of the Latin American countries, internet access has grown significantly in Latin America, now serving as an essential social and economic participation tool. However, this reality is ordinary. Despite progress, more than 240 million Latin Americans still need to learn to use the internet. Whether due to higher costs, lack of infrastructure, and insufficient technological skills, internet access remains a luxury in many rural communities, reforcing social and economic exclusion. Internet connectivity is not just a technical matter, but a fundamental right that enables access to information, job opportunities, healthcare services, and quality education. In a globalized world, technological disconnection equates to exclusion. For this reason, we need initiatives that ensure universal affordable and high-quality connectivity for everyone, regardless of geographic location and socioeconomic status. In Mexico, protecting personal data, the right to access telecommunications and transparency, and our rights regulated in our constitution and secondary laws. However, we are currently experiencing political changes and constitutional reforms that threaten the application of those mentioned technological digital rights, which are considered as human rights in Mexican constitution. The digital divide is not solely a technological problem, but a manifestation of pre-existing economic and social inequalities. In Mexico, this divide disproportionately affects indigenous community, low-income households, rural areas, while digital devices and internet connectivity are becoming more common in urban areas. These tools remain out of reach for most or marginalized regions. It is essential to highlight that information and communication technologies can become a driving force for economic development. However, their limited adoption and marginalized context perpetuates conditions of poverty and exclusion. Ambitious and well-designed public policies are needed to ensure access to these technologies and their effective use to generate opportunities in these communities. Education is one of the areas where ICTs can have the most significant impact, especially in Latin America, where educational equity remains a challenge. Incorporation of technological tools in classrooms modernizes teaching and opens new opportunities for students, otherwise excluded for quality education. However, their implementation still needs to be be improved. In Mexico, a student still needs access to essential devices such as computers in most rural schools, and teachers must receive the necessary training to use ICTs effectively. In addition, government digital education programs often require more transparent evaluation, which limits their impact. To harness the potential of ICTs in education, we must focus on training, teacher training, investing in technological infrastructure, and ensuring that digital tools are accessible for all students. Health is another sector where technology can make a crucial difference. In Mexico, advanced tools such as the da Vinci robot used for high-precision surgeries represent the future of medicine. However, their availability is limited for a few hospitals in Mexico. Leaving millions needing access to this innovation, this unfair centralization underscores our healthcare system’s profound geographic and economic inequalities. To close this gap, we must democratize access to medical technology, ensuring that advancements reach regional hospitals and marginalized areas to achieve the above, invest in infrastructure, medical personnel training, and policies prioritizing equity in access to health services are required. Technological change transforms labor markets, driven by advances in artificial intelligence and robotics. According to the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, up to 62% of jobs in Latin America are at risk for automation, mainly affecting workers in less qualified sectors. This action can generate employment. and while labor equalities benefit fighting to those advanced skills and marginalize others. And just to try to finish as soon as possible, digital transformation also reaches the justice system, which through such electronic portals, artificial intelligence, this innovation can improve efficiency and transparency, but also raise ethical challenge, ensuring that access to digital justice is universal and now to make the decisions and understandable of our parties are crucial. Unfortunately, in Mexico, a judicial reform is implemented that would involve economic material and human resources, slowing down the advance of technological systems and resources that are being filled in other parts of the world. In conclusion, in conclusion, there are some aspects that we must consider. Guarantee universal access to the internet in rural and marginalized areas where the government and the private sector can invest in technological infrastructure, great educational programs to teach technological skills to students from early age based on inclusive digital training for teachers. Prioritize teacher training and create inclusive digital content to encourage ethical innovation, provide tax incentives, financing, and technological training to support MSMEs with the appropriate technological tool, and train workers in a digital and human skill implementing collaborative technological tools and foster a culture of continuous learning to ensure the adaptation job. Decentralize advanced medical technology to benefit all regions and implement regulation to ensure transparency and equity using artificial technology. And just to finish, just want to continue the thought that yesterday to whether we can bridge the digital divide and build a more inclusive and equitable future for people worldwide. Thank you very much.

Xiaofeng Tao: Thank you very much, Ricardo. Thanks for sharing your deep analysis and also solution proposed for better inclusion. Now we will have next speaker, Professor Desi Salamanca from University of Worcestershire and also her colleague Lazaros from the University of Pretoria. And the topic is Centering Social Justice Cohesion in Digital Technology Accessibility Equally and Inclusively. And now, Desi, you have floor, please.

Daisy Selematsela: Okay, I’m trying to put it on play mode. Just a second, Tony. He has a similar program. You’ll have to help yourself. You are an expert. We believe you. Yes, I can share, but I’m trying to minimize. Okay, good morning colleagues from South Africa and we’re happy that you are joining you from far. So we are focusing on the two aspects whilst I just want to put it on slideshow. My screen is too big here so I can’t put it on slideshow but my colleague will come shortly. So we’ll be focusing on centering social justice or social cohesion in digital technology accessibility, equality and inclusivity. And this is linking to what we are discussing this morning when we look at information society at times of risk. Also like what Professor Juha has highlighted, facilitating access at all levels and also what Ricardo just highlighted regarding the unequal access. And we are looking at this from the Global South perspective. And if we look at social integration and inclusion, I want to highlight how the Department of Sports Arts and Culture in South Africa, where the libraries for example, report to this ministry look at social cohesion. And this is how it’s defined by the ministry. The degree of social integration and inclusion in communities and in communities and society at large and the extent to which mutual solidarity finds expression itself among individuals and communities. And this leads us to how do we look at social cohesion or social justice in the South African perspective because this also impacts the Global South. And like Professor Juha has highlighted the SDGs on our site there, as you can see there. So for us, when we look at social cohesion, we have four elements here. we’re looking at libraries that stimulate social cohesion by fostering inclusivity, and that’s what we’re discussing today when it relates to technologies, libraries advancing social cohesion by supporting the sustainable development goals, also nurturing social cohesion through education, and this was highlighted also by Professor Zhu and Professor Ricardo, libraries facilitating social cohesion through information technology, and this is what we’re focusing on today. So social integration intervention to attain SDGs in South Africa, it’s quite key on how we want to address these things. When we look at social and economic disparities, and I’m glad that my colleague Professor Ricardo highlighted how on the issues around widening social and economic exclusion. Now I want to touch base on what are policy documents, for example, that are relating to this, for example, in South Africa. The intention of reducing social economic disparities, i.e. poverty and so forth, are also stated as part of the reconstruction and development program of 1994, which further is reaffirmed by the national development plan of 2012, and these documents emphasize the following. No political democracy can survive and flourish if the mass of the people remains in poverty and so forth. Then I want to move to the next slide. What is the context then of social cohesion? The context of social cohesion looks at poverty, inequality, and social exclusion, which have also received global attention in the post-2015 development agenda, and this is the Africa agenda. For more than two decades, South Africa has sought to address poverty and inequality in a wide range of initiatives, and the national development plan of 2030 predated the sustainable development goals, yet it is largely aligned with the goals of addressing poverty, inequality, and exclusion. And the context of social cohesion, again, as we can see that it also linking to what I’m saying around policy legislation documents around redress and skewed distribution of social and economic opportunities. And when we move again to social cohesion interventions, it looks at protection that aims to ensure a basic level of well-being to enable people to live with dignity, and that governments tend to introduce social cohesion policies to meet social, economic, and political objectives. And I want to highlight that social cohesion, like Professor Zhu highlighted earlier in one of the slides there, Carniki and Emilio are indicating that it is wide in many African countries, encompassing a range of social protection and interventions and societal safety nets. And I just want to quickly jump, because of the time, as part of the interventions, the African Union has made the promotion of social protection and cohesion as its defining principle, and it’s quite important with what we’re talking about today on information society at times of risk and how do we deal with it. But now the thrust of our talk is to focus more on how do we deal with these technological access issues, and we focus for us, myself and my colleague Lazarus, and we’re looking at democratizing digital technologies. What are the challenges if digital technology accessibility is left unchallenged? The role of African research in the global knowledge economy is impacted. We’re grappling with what open scholarship on open science and research agendas mean in different areas and context. Researchers in low and middle income countries are facing a lot of challenges. income countries are vulnerable, as we have heard also from Professor Ricardo, regarding the pressures on publishing, and also the issues around public data publishing. Also, the global knowledge environment and local needs and impacts are not addressed properly, and undervaluing institutional repositories, which are also the conduit to accessing the information. And these are part of the technologies that we need. Sustainable open access publishing in Africa, and funding challenges for education and research growth, because this also impacts, if infrastructure is not up to par, then it impacts all this. And the other element, when we look at democratizing digital technologies, the challenges that will impact on this is widening digital technology, and my colleagues have highlighted to that. Sustainable national and regional infrastructures, valuing indigenous knowledge and local languages are also important when you talk about access that links to digital technologies. Also, promoting inclusivity and diversity of voices, misinformation in public policy is also key, and open research to the broader community, and allowing for greater cultural and linguistic diversity to support local and regional knowledge production. And my colleague Lazaros will jump in on the technologies regarding digital scholarship transformation. OK. Thank you, Desi.

Xiaofeng Tao: OK. Welcome, Lazaros, for joining us.

Lazaros Matizirofa: Thank you, Prof. Go ahead. Yes, thank you so much. So in the university, what we are trying to do is to broaden the digital scholarship transformation and underpin our strategy to enhance providing solutions for the digital divide. So as you can see, my first slide is actually going to divide. illustrate how we define digital scholarship in higher education. So in this slide, you’ll notice this is the first planetarium of its size built in Africa, the new digital dome, which is hosted here at the University of Witwatersrand. And it is there to give our clients the in-depth understanding of the natural world as well as whatever lives in the sky. And this is a phenomenal dome that we are going to enhance as a university to ensure that we provide students both within the universities and in primary schools and secondary to have to imagine what the world looks like from this environment. Lazarus, sorry to disturb you. If you need to play the next one, just tell me, okay? Because I’m controlling the slide playing on site, okay? Okay, next slide, 15. It’s a bit slow, sorry. Okay, slide 15. Yes, so linking digital humanities to digital scholarship. This is what we are doing at the intersection of humanities and digital technology, providing digital humanities. Scholars usually engages with humanities topics through digital collaboration, creating digital projects and using digital tools to fuel research. And as such, this could mean utilizing materials and resources that were born digital, and we also digitize them for existing material objects like print books and artworks. This could also mean exploring computational technologies such as algorithms. code or data, text mining, tools to understand how large collection and information will all intersect. Also digital scholarship, we also assume this will visualize timeless maps and data organization tools to visualize and analyze and interpret text and data in innovative ways. Next, please. And on the digital scholarship in South Africa and higher education, these are some of the things to democratize digital scholarship. We need resources. We also need people who can give the instruction and how then people engage and with all this to ensure that we have a simple and complex environment, connect researchers to communities and empower scholarship and action. Next slide, please. So at Digital Humanities at VITS Libraries, we have our museums, which we are also ensuring that we provide digital solutions and also enhancing the library digital scholarship services through the archives and other things that we can digitize in our collections, artifacts, new tools, and also providing the optical character recognition for the digitized collections so that researchers can have vast amounts of textual data they can use. However, these advances are not limited to just text. We are also providing sound images and video that have been subjected to these new forms of research. Next slide, please. So you will see with our advancement on historical papers, we have the richest archive of research papers in South Africa. And so our Our agenda here is to digitize some of these collections, provided copyright will permit us, so that most of the archived material can then be accessible to our clients, and also sensitive archives from the upper third area. And also provide digital solutions to them, so that they’ve, they can transform and be accessible to, to other people outside the university. And so this includes combining stem with digital scholarship and digital humanities, through our makerspace, which combines humanities together with other in and promote cross disciplinary collaboration, that’s helping students and researchers to move beyond the historical division between the sciences and the humanities. Next slide please. Rather us. Because we still have to leave some time for panel discussion, could you please finish your presentation in three minutes. Yes, thank you, sir. So most of these things that we are going to digitize are in our, our museums, and also already we have digitized the last slides which picks on this rock art research institute. These are African rock art that presides around most of the African countries where which were collected, and we’ve digitized them to ensure that they have a wider audience. So thank you, sir. I’m at the end of the presentation. Yes. Yes. Yeah, so you see, these are African potteries that were created a long time ago, which were also digitizing and providing the 3D dimension to ensure that researchers can utilize and analyze them and write something about them. Next slide. Yes, so this is the Rock Art Research Institute, as I mentioned before, which we have digitized. Most of these materials came from different African countries. From the, you know, these are images that you will find on our mountains and caves, which we are providing here as a digital archive at WITS. I think this should be the last slide. I think so. Thank you. Okay.

Xiaofeng Tao: Very impressive presentation from Desi and Lada Ross. Thank you. Thank you for your presentation. Now, we have our last invited speaker on-site presentation from Havana Mastery Moo. She is from St. John’s University, New York, and her topic is Meaningful Access and the Football Internet for Women. She will stay on the stage to give her presentation. Good morning.

Tamanna Mustary Mou: Good morning, everyone. So I’m from Bangladesh, but this time I came from New York because I’m a Ph.D. fellow at St. John’s University, New York. So I’m presenting my slides in front of you because you know that Bangladesh and China are very friendship country, and at this time I represent the Asian women. That’s why I’m here to present these slides. topic is meaningful access and affordable internet for women. So all of we know that women are a bit behind using internet. So I have selected that topic to let you know that was the barrier for the women to use internet and this is the internet governance forum and I believe this is very relevant for all of us to know the problems and the barriers which hinders women participation especially in the South Asian country. Connectivity. I would like to focus on the meaningful connectivity that what is called meaningful because all of we know that we can use internet anywhere and everywhere but is that using are meaningful or it is like is meaningless. So a first connection 4G now is 5G is available also and an appropriate device regular internet use broadband connection at home and workplace. Those are the key points that we need to ensure for the women and since we are very limited time we are having very limited time that’s right very so now the thing is that what is the what is the situation of our country like progress challenges opportunities and way forward and we have meaningful connectivity when we can use the internet every day using an appropriate device with enough data and first connection the FAA all of you know that publisher reports that reveals one of the 10 people across nine countries in Africa Asia and Latin America have solid working access to internet and this is very very very limited because it’s just one in 10 people and these issues of our connectivity involve how the action needed to provide affordable and meaningful access and men were far more likely to engage in a range of online activities including posting comments about political social and economic issues and data men are more likely to use internet and Yesterday, when I was in the plenary session, I found that it was discussed that men are always using more internet than women. And this is the situation not only in Asia and Africa, but also in Europe and America. Next, please. And this is the scenario in politics, in economics, in business, and everywhere. And we have to admit that without the full participation of women, it is impossible to progress as a whole for the society. Because women are half and maybe more than half of the society. So if women are behind using internet, the progress in all respects will be hindered. And this is the situation. We are having some data that 144 developing countries buy up to $18 billion USD. Meanwhile, 180 million women and girls would be able to generate more income, and nearly 500 million would improve their education level. So since I’m working in the Ministry of Education, I found that if women can afford the internet and they are getting the full facility to using internet, the education sector will be developed like anything. So in education, the previous speaker has also focused on the using of internet in education. And this is a very important part that we need to change our education as a digitalized system. And nowadays, we are using chat GPT, and we are using technology, technological innovation in education. So in every sector, we need that kind of participation for women, either in business or in education or in commerce, in everywhere. Next, please. So the thing is that we found that barriers for meaningful connectivity and affordability and digital skills gap remain stubborn barriers to gender equitable access to and use of internet. Across the globe, fewer women than men use the internet. And research from Wave Foundation found that globally, men are 21% more likely to be online than women. And those are the problem. There are some barriers, that lack of digital skills, like the affordability is sometimes more expensive for the women to afford, because most of the women feeling that they have less income. So since they have less income, they cannot afford the internet, which is very expensive for them. So this is the things that women are. And there are some issues for privacy also. Some women are afraid of privacy or any kind of online harassment. They are also aware of the social harassment. They are also aware of the online harassment and the vulnerability and safety, security concern. Those are the things that interrupt using of internet, as opposed to men. So next, please. This is a source for digital divide. And other barriers found to ensure meaningful access and affordable internet for women, unavailability of broadband access, or less access to public internet center, insufficient income, and unable technological device, and cultural norms or social barriers. I have discussed this. And those are the gender-focused policy to address women. Those are the things that can highlight the use of internet by women. And less gender-focused policy to address women’s ability to access and benefit from the internet. So the policymakers should be concerned about those things that we are facing nowadays. So what policy should be women-friendly? The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting should also change their policy so that women can have access. Thank you. Next slide, please. We are at the very end of the things that we use internet in education. I’ve told that economic affairs, commerce, transportation, media communication, in production, and medical sector. We have already discussed those. And the next, please. And the thing is that to ensure that equality, no equality, no internet and no equality is just similar. So if we want to ensure the equality, we have to ensure the internet for the women. So this is just a vice versa situation. If women are far behind than men in any kind of development, the internet should be assured for the women to develop equally. So this is the data from online population, internet use, gender gap, and mobile broadband penetration. Those are the data I have found from some LNs for affordable internet, meaningful connectivity, unlocking the full power of internet access. So these are the data. We all the data focus that women are less likely using internet than men. Next please. But those are very, the situation, it is like a village situation. Now it is the situation is, assuring gender sensitive environment, and the government of Bangladesh is very much aware for the development all over the country, even in the village. So now it is the village women are using mobile phone, like smartphone and internet, you can talk with friends and family, like video calls, chat, and everything. So they are becoming changing. So this is the situation we have found from ICT source, that women empowerment is like before, it’s very much changing the situation. Next please. And key to achieving international standard of communication by using internet. Since we are here for internet governance forum, we need to change the situation as a global village. We need to change the situation for women using internet. So this is a global community, and now are here to promise to keep the internet for all the citizens, all over the global village. So this is the promise, and we think that in future, the next IGF, we will able to ensure internet for women also, as we can ensure internet for men. And this is my presentation, and thank you very much for your kindness to give me the privilege here to present my slides. Thank you very much. Have a good day.

Xiaofeng Tao: Thank you. Thank you, Tamara. Thank you for sharing your insight, idea about meaningful access for the internet for women. So we still have a few minutes for the discussion. Maybe our on-site speaker or online speaker can share your viewpoints in very compact words. Okay. Osk, do you have some words to say?

Horst Kremers: Thank you very much. I’m just, I’m just, can you read the chat? I’m just preparing a remark on my session proposal in WSIS, I’m just writing it, can I please complete and come back later, just a minute.

Xiaofeng Tao: Okay. Do not circulate WSIS after you’re finishing, okay? It’s a very good proposal, I believe. Okay.

Liu Chuang: Yeah, I think this is a very good session in a different aspect, in different regions. And I think we have a common understanding for our common future, one is we need to work together, right? Yeah. So, in order for disaster, for the GIs, for the women, and for the law, you know, we need to first thing, we need to work together, right? So yeah, so I think that’s how we can think about the next step, how we can work together, right? Yeah. And then the second one is that now we go to the intelligence area, so we need to think about how to migrate, to benefit the data, and the internet, and to the society, to everybody, leave no one behind, right? So we need action, so what action we should do, so we need to discuss about that, right? So I would like to transfer to…

Ricardo Robles Pelayo: Thank you very much. I think since yesterday at the opening session, we have a common issues to do about education, about the economic issues, and to share all the knowledge around the world, and in this forum, I think it’s a good place to do it. So I think that is very usual that consider that around the world, we have to work together as Mr. Luke says, and we can share this space to do it as well. So thank you very much for the invitation again, and let’s work together to reach that goal. Thank you very much.

Xiaofeng Tao: Okay. So, Stacy? You have some words for us?

Daisy Selematsela: Yes. I think what’s important with today’s discussions from the different presentations that we all converge with what we are trying to put forward on access, and in the use of, or the availability of infrastructure, and… also the issues around data to address societal issues. And that’s why I see the convergence that even though our presentations were different, however, they were coming together to address issues of access that links to the SDGs, issues of access that addresses societal impact, and how do we want to see all the societies being able to access information and the use of data in that aspect. Lazaros, you can come in, thanks.

Lazaros Matizirofa: Lazaros, can you hear us? Yes, thank you, Chair. I think from my side is the role that we need to play in terms of, particularly in the African context, is to digitize some of the materials that should be then be provided as information resources to a wider audience. And I think majority of Africa as a continent, be it universities or public institutions, they do have a lot of rare materials that still needs to be streamlined to access on a digital platforms. And therefore, the internet then will provide that link to everybody having access to these collections.

Xiaofeng Tao: Thank you, sir. Okay, thank you, Lazaros. Now, Tamara, you have some words to say? Maybe you, sir, next. Yeah, some short words about our workshop before cost of speaking. Okay, you can go ahead if you have some words to say.

Tamanna Mustary Mou: Thank you very much. We need to be ensure women active participation and leadership in our country as well as all the South Asian country. And we already have ensured the participation of women mostly in the European countries. Now, in Poland IGF, I have attended 2021 in Poland UN IGF as an UN fellow. So that time, that was a promise that women’s voice should be heard from everywhere. So when the women are eligible to speak out, they can ensure their own right. So my last word is that women should speak out, women’s voice should be heard, and women are the part of the world and they are the active participants everywhere. So we cannot ensure our development without women’s participation. So this is the last part that we need to ensure internet for women and as well as men everywhere. Thank you.

Xiaofeng Tao: Thank you Tamara. Host, do you still have some words? One minute?

Horst Kremers: Yeah, thank you. Yeah, to be short, I put a note in the chat with links that you may be possible to see. I will, of course, keep you informed. The question is that I have a long time and I see the situation in disaster risk reduction and I see the problem really from full scale and we can do very positive things. The question also is, just to see the importance of the thing is, now is the time that slowly starts preparation of the follow-up United Nations program on risk reduction, which must be some program from 2030 to 2045, the next 15 years. And in preparation of this, we have to argue for rewording, improving the wording of United Nations instruments in this case where I work. with UNDRR with the disaster risk reduction things. And other colleagues here certainly in sustainable development and whatsoever also could contribute to wording the next program. So that is what I see as a general positive aspect of that. Thank you.

Xiaofeng Tao: Thank you very much, Faust. As the final or last speaker for our workshop, I think we do have an intensive and informative workshop covering key issue about digital tech for benefiting everyone. Unfortunately, due to time, we have to make a concluding remark. So firstly, many thanks to all the speaker. We have such a great opportunity to communicate and exchanging regarding diverse aspects. We’ve seen one and a half hour, we talk about add some value on sustained agriculture with support of digital tech, information governance on disaster management, the principle practice recommendation at different level, local, regional, national, and so on. So also I talk quite a lot about big data as a powerful tool for reducing digital divide, algorithm, data, computing. And also there is very important for internet connectivity to foster opportunity for rural and indigenous people through education. We talk about the importance of democratic thing, digital technology, digital scholarship, and the digital humanities. And Tamara gave us very insightful understanding about meaningful connectivity and the equity. So thanks to all for your participation in workshop 14.9. For the way forward, everyone will and should be benefited from digital tech and its implication relies on the joint effort from all the stakeholder today on site and all the stakeholder in our information society for future actions. And lastly, please follow the activity of CCIT and contact us if you have any suggestion on future cooperation. So our workshop ends here. Thank you all for your active participation. Thank you. Thank you. We are organizing a training workshop in Bangladesh next February. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I will send me the agenda. We have maybe have a picture. We have an operation with local. You can also meet with John in Ghana for presenting something. Great. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Agreement Points

Digital technologies can promote inclusive development

Liu Chuang

Xiaofeng Tao

Daisy Selematsela

Tamanna Mustary Mou

GIS methodology can benefit farmers and rural communities

Big data can support SDG implementation and environmental monitoring

Digital technologies need to be democratized to address inequalities

Meaningful connectivity is crucial for women’s participation

These speakers agree that digital technologies, when properly implemented and made accessible, can contribute to inclusive development across various sectors and demographics.

Infrastructure gaps hinder digital access

Xiaofeng Tao

Ricardo Robles Pelayo

Lack of infrastructure hinders access in rural areas

There are significant digital access gaps in Latin America

Both speakers highlight the issue of insufficient infrastructure as a major barrier to digital access, particularly in rural and marginalized areas.

Similar Viewpoints

Both speakers emphasize the importance of collaboration and inclusive governance in implementing digital technologies effectively.

Horst Kremers

Gong Ke

Information governance is needed for inclusive disaster management

Multi-stakeholder cooperation is key for technology implementation

Both speakers highlight the importance of digital skills and education in bridging the digital divide, albeit focusing on different aspects (general education and women’s access respectively).

Lazarus Matizirofa

Tamanna Mustary Mou

Digital scholarship and humanities can enhance education

Digital skills gaps and affordability are barriers for women

Unexpected Consensus

Cultural preservation through digitization

Liu Chuang

Lazarus Matizirofa

GIS methodology can benefit farmers and rural communities

Digitization of cultural artifacts can increase access to knowledge

While focusing on different areas (agriculture and cultural artifacts), both speakers unexpectedly converge on the idea that digitization can help preserve and promote local knowledge and cultural heritage.

Overall Assessment

Summary

The main areas of agreement include the potential of digital technologies for inclusive development, the need to address infrastructure gaps, the importance of multi-stakeholder cooperation, and the role of digital skills in bridging the digital divide.

Consensus level

There is a moderate to high level of consensus among the speakers on the importance of digital technologies for development and the need to address access gaps. This consensus implies a shared understanding of the challenges and potential solutions in bridging the digital divide, which could facilitate more coordinated efforts in policy-making and implementation of digital initiatives.

Different Viewpoints

Focus of digital technology implementation

Liu Chuang

Horst Kremers

GIS methodology can benefit farmers and rural communities

Information governance is needed for inclusive disaster management

While both speakers advocate for the use of digital technologies, Liu Chuang focuses on GIS for agricultural development, while Horst Kremers emphasizes information governance for disaster management.

Unexpected Differences

Overall Assessment

summary

The main areas of disagreement were in the specific focus and application of digital technologies for development and inclusion.

difference_level

The level of disagreement among speakers was relatively low. Most speakers agreed on the importance of digital inclusion and the need to address various digital divides. The differences were mainly in the specific areas of focus or application, which can be seen as complementary rather than contradictory approaches. This suggests a multifaceted approach is needed to address digital inclusion comprehensively.

Partial Agreements

Both speakers agree on the existence of digital divides, but Ricardo Robles Pelayo focuses on regional disparities in Latin America, while Tamanna Mustary Mou emphasizes gender-specific barriers for women globally.

Ricardo Robles Pelayo

Tamanna Mustary Mou

There are significant digital access gaps in Latin America

Digital skills gaps and affordability are barriers for women

Similar Viewpoints

Both speakers emphasize the importance of collaboration and inclusive governance in implementing digital technologies effectively.

Horst Kremers

Gong Ke

Information governance is needed for inclusive disaster management

Multi-stakeholder cooperation is key for technology implementation

Both speakers highlight the importance of digital skills and education in bridging the digital divide, albeit focusing on different aspects (general education and women’s access respectively).

Lazarus Matizirofa

Tamanna Mustary Mou

Digital scholarship and humanities can enhance education

Digital skills gaps and affordability are barriers for women

Key Takeaways

Digital technologies have great potential to benefit everyone, but significant divides and inequalities in access still exist

Multi-stakeholder cooperation and partnerships are crucial for implementing digital technologies inclusively

Big data, GIS, and other digital tools can support sustainable development and environmental monitoring

Improving digital access and skills for women and rural communities is a key challenge

Digital technologies in education, healthcare, and cultural preservation can enhance development outcomes

Resolutions and Action Items

Enhance partnerships and collaboration on big data for SDG implementation

Invest in digital infrastructure and skills training, especially in rural areas

Develop policies to ensure universal and affordable internet connectivity

Digitize cultural artifacts and knowledge to increase access

Address barriers to women’s internet access and digital participation

Unresolved Issues

How to effectively close the digital divide between urban and rural areas

Ways to make advanced digital technologies like AI accessible to marginalized groups

Balancing open data sharing with privacy and security concerns

Funding mechanisms for digital infrastructure in developing countries

Measuring and evaluating the impact of digital inclusion efforts

Suggested Compromises

Combining open data initiatives with robust data protection policies

Balancing investment in cutting-edge technologies with basic digital access

Public-private partnerships to expand digital infrastructure cost-effectively

Adapting digital solutions to local contexts while maintaining global standards

We need to work together, right? So yeah, so I think that’s how we can think about the next step, how we can work together, right? Yeah. And then the second one is that now we go to the intelligence area, so we need to think about how to migrate, to benefit the data, and the internet, and to the society, to everybody, leave no one behind, right?

speaker

Liu Chuang

reason

This comment synthesized key themes from multiple presentations and proposed concrete next steps, emphasizing collaboration and inclusivity.

impact

It shifted the discussion towards actionable steps and reinforced the overarching goal of benefiting everyone through digital technology.

Education is one of the areas where ICTs can have the most significant impact, especially in Latin America, where educational equity remains a challenge. Incorporation of technological tools in classrooms modernizes teaching and opens new opportunities for students, otherwise excluded for quality education.

speaker

Ricardo Robles Pelayo

reason

This comment highlighted a specific, high-impact application area for digital technology in addressing inequality.

impact

It focused the conversation on the practical implications of digital technology for social development, particularly in education.

Across the globe, fewer women than men use the internet. And research from Wave Foundation found that globally, men are 21% more likely to be online than women.

speaker

Tamanna Mustary Mou

reason

This comment introduced concrete data on gender disparities in internet access, bringing attention to an important aspect of digital inequality.

impact

It brought gender issues to the forefront of the discussion and prompted consideration of targeted approaches to increase women’s access to digital technology.

Overall Assessment

These key comments shaped the discussion by synthesizing diverse perspectives into common themes of collaboration, inclusivity, and targeted interventions. They moved the conversation from theoretical concepts to practical applications and specific challenges, particularly in education and gender equity. The comments also reinforced the need for multi-stakeholder cooperation and data-driven approaches in addressing digital divides.

How can we enhance multi-stakeholder cooperation mechanisms to accelerate and enhance the process of big data in our society and life?

speaker

Xiaofeng Tao

explanation

This is important to address challenges in implementing big data for SDGs and reduce digital divides.

What specific actions should be taken to improve the link between observation, computing, analysis, and knowledge discovery for supporting SDG implementation?

speaker

Xiaofeng Tao

explanation

This is crucial for effectively using new technologies like big data and IoT to support and evaluate SDG implementation.

How can we democratize access to medical technology to ensure advancements reach regional hospitals and marginalized areas?

speaker

Ricardo Robles Pelayo

explanation

This is important to address profound geographic and economic inequalities in healthcare systems.

What initiatives can ensure universal, affordable and high-quality connectivity for everyone, regardless of geographic location and socioeconomic status?

speaker

Ricardo Robles Pelayo

explanation

This is crucial for addressing internet access as a fundamental right and reducing digital exclusion.

How can we improve the wording of United Nations instruments, particularly for the next program on disaster risk reduction from 2030 to 2045?

speaker

Horst Kremers

explanation

This is important for preparing effective future UN programs and improving global disaster risk reduction efforts.

What policies should be implemented to make internet access more women-friendly and address barriers to women’s internet use?

speaker

Tamanna Mustary Mou

explanation

This is crucial for ensuring gender equality in internet access and use, particularly in developing countries.

How can we digitize rare materials from African institutions to provide wider access through digital platforms?

speaker

Lazarus Matizirofa

explanation

This is important for preserving and sharing valuable cultural and educational resources across Africa and globally.