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<h2 style="text-align: center;" align="center">World leaders define vision for
globally connected society</h2>
<h3 style="text-align: center;" align="center">ITU, UNESCO host top names from industry,
UN agencies and civil society at first meeting in Geneva;<br>
Commissioners begin to define their vision for harnessing the transformational
power of high-speed, always-on networks </h3>
<p><b>Geneva, 12 July 2010</b> - Leading lights from industry, civil society, UN
agencies and the creative sphere, who together comprise the Broadband
Commission for Digital Development, have emphasized the critical role of
broadband networks in future global development.</p>
<p>Commissioners met in private session in Geneva on 11 July to set about
defining a vision for accelerating the deployment of broadband networks
worldwide, with the aim of improving the delivery of services across a huge
range of social and business sectors, and accelerating progress towards the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).</p>
<p>The Commission is co-chaired by President Paul Kagame of Rwanda and Mr
Carlos Slim Helú, Honorary Lifetime Chairman of Grupo Carso, with ITU
Secretary-General Dr Hamadoun Touré and UNESCO Director-General, Ms Irina
Bokova, serving as joint vice chairs.</p>
<p>It will deliver its outcomes to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on 19
September 2010 at an official side event of the UN MDG Summit in New York,
which starts on September 20.</p>
<p>These outcomes will be presented in the form of two reports, the first of
which will reflect expert input from the Commissioners, and the second of which
will comprise in-depth analysis of the challenges and opportunities in
deploying broadband across a range of different types of economies.</p>
<p>The first report will also include a series of top-level Recommendations
designed to serve as a global blueprint for rapid broadband development
worldwide, while the second report will take into account local needs,
financing constraints and technical hurdles, and make practical proposals on
possible routes towards deployment of ubiquitous high-speed networks at
affordable prices in every country worldwide.</p>
<p>“The global deployment of broadband networks will be as powerful a
transformational force for the 21st century as the progressive installation of
electricity networks was in the first decades of the 20th century,” said Dr
Touré. “Just as connection to the power grid is now seen as a basic element of
social and economic empowerment, so ubiquitous connectivity to broadband
networks will be vital to the ongoing development of every nation worldwide.”</p>
<p>“The latest information and communication technologies (ICTs) have created
new opportunities for the creation, preservation, dissemination and use of
information,” said the UNESCO Director-General, Irina Bokova, who was
represented at the meeting by Assistant Director-General for Communication and
Information Mr Janis Karklins. “We aim to go further, towards the construction
of inclusive knowledge societies in which people can transform information into
knowledge and understanding that empowers them to improve their livelihoods and
contribute to their social and economic development. Universal access to
broadband-enabled applications will be vital for achieving this goal.”</p>
<h4>Taking it to the streets – can broadband help the world’s poor?</h4>
<p>How can a ‘high-end, high-cost’ technology like broadband help meet the
needs of the world’s poorest nations? ITU has commissioned a series of articles
on broadband and its social and economic impact. Read the first two, looking at
Millennium Development Goal 1 of Reducing Poverty and Hunger, and MDG 2 of
achieving Universal Primary Education at: <a href="http://www.broadbandcommission.org/media/stories.html"><span style="">www.broadbandcommission.org/media/stories.html</span></a>.
</p>
<p>Read the broadband vision statements of Richard Branson, Youssou N’Dour,
Muhammad Yunus, Vint Cerf, Jeffrey Sachs and other Commissioners at <a href="http://www.itu.int/bbcommission/commissioners.html"><span style="">www.itu.int/bbcommission/commissioners.html</span></a>.</p>
<p>Photos from the July 11 meeting can be downloaded at: <a href="http://www.itu.int/net/pressoffice/photolibrary/display.aspx?event=82&ple=200&et=s"><span style="">www.itu.int/net/pressoffice/photolibrary/display.aspx?event=82&ple=200&et=s.</span></a></p>
<p>A full list of Commissioners can be found at <a href="http://www.broadbandcommission.org/commissioners.html"><span style="">www.broadbandcommission.org/commissioners.hrml</span></a>.</p>
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