Report shows broadband vital for sustainability
Saturday was a busy day for the Broadband Commission, issuing three reports ahead of the opening of the UN General Assembly. We have been particularly involved in one, Transformative Solutions for 2015 and Beyond.
The discussion started in March in Mexico, where the Broadband Commission was convening its 7th meeting. Many of us were participating in a brainstorming session around how to make the benefits of broadband known in the broader sustainable development discussions.
We discussed the need for the industry to play an advocacy role in ensuring that the post-2015 sustainable development agenda recognizes the need for the ICT sector to be a major contributor to transformative solutions for development.
A task group was formed, and we were soon able to convene a group of experts from industry, government, civil society and academia, with the goal of producing a set of recommendations that could explain and highlight the need for transformative solutions, from sectors such as ICT and also cooperation in ICT and utility, transportation, healthcare and education.
We have now accomplished that by launching the report Transformative Solutions for 2015 and Beyond. The report is unique for two reasons. First, it is directly targeting world leaders, policy makers, users and consumers based on a shared belief that broadband can make a difference to so many challenges, from poverty to urbanization to climate change. Second, it presents new research – the analysis of 138 national broadband plans.
It is backed by a call to action – a manifesto signed by each Broadband Commissioner, at a time when networks are broadly deployed, in both developed and developing economies, and when smartphone penetration is reaching critical mass – that any future sustainable development discussions must acknowledge and seek to leverage existing technology, and enable all citizens to participate in the global digital economy.
As our CEO Hans Vestberg said (pictured above with ITU Secretary General Dr Hamadoun Touré and Commission Co-Chair Carlos Slim), when he presented the report to his fellow Commissioners: “Each and every person on earth should have access to broadband and the benefits it brings. New global partnerships must carry on the work of the Millennium Development Goals, and a new sustainable development agenda involving all sectors of society.”
More photos from the Broadband Commission meeting.
Written by Elaine Weidman-Grunewald
Elaine Weidman Grunewald is Vice President of Sustainability and Corporate Responsibility at Ericsson. She joined Ericsson in 1998, and she is responsible for a number of public private partnerships which explore the use of Technology for Good, i.e. the use Ericsson’s core technology to solve some of the world’s most compelling challenges and help to achieve the Millennium Development Goals , including the Millennium villages, Connect to Learn, and Refugees United. She is a leading advocate of Technology for Good and represents Ericsson in a number of external fora including the Broadband Commission for Digital Development and the United Nations Global Compact.
