{"id":14698,"date":"2023-12-13T11:37:44","date_gmt":"2023-12-13T10:37:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/telecomkh.info\/?p=14698"},"modified":"2023-12-13T11:43:05","modified_gmt":"2023-12-13T10:43:05","slug":"new-resources-targeting-tech-offer-hope-for-connectivity-challenges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/telecomkh.info\/?p=14698","title":{"rendered":"New resources targeting tech offer hope for connectivity challenges"},"content":{"rendered":"

ITU\u2019s Partner2Connect Digital Coalition reports 2023 gains to close the digital divide<\/strong><\/p>\n

ITU’s Partner2Connect Digital Coalition has identified new connectivity projects worth USD 7 billion worldwide in 2023, the UN tech agency announced at Partner2Connect’s second annual meeting in Geneva, Switzerland.
\nThe new commitments increase to nearly USD 37 billion the value of resources mobilized by Partner2Connect (P2C) since the pledging platform opened in March 2022.
\nITU reported earlier this year that 2.6 billion people around the world still live without a connection to the Internet. The new resources are expected to help increase access to affordable and meaningful connectivity for those that who remain offline.
\n\u201cPartner2Connect is about big numbers but even bigger human impact stories,\u00bb said Doreen Bogdan-Martin, ITU Secretary-General. \u201cBehind the numbers are people and organizations committed to making a difference in the lives of hard-to-connect communities.\u00bb<\/p>\n

Closing the digital divide<\/strong>
\nData presented at the annual meeting show strong focus on programmes targeting the gender digital divide and benefitting the globe’s Least Developed Countries (LDCs).
\nWomen are specified among the beneficiary groups in over half of the pledges in the Partner2Connect platform. Earlier this year, ITU’s Facts and Figures 2023 showed that only 65 per cent of women use the Internet compared with 70 per cent of men.
\nOne-third of the pledges target at least one of the world’s Least Developed Countries. The Internet is currently considered to be affordable in only two of the 46 LDCs.
\nIn 2023, ITU’s Telecommunication Development Bureau held a series of regional matchmaking roundtables to ensure that the needs or priorities of individual countries and regions were matched with partner pledges to help operationalize the announced commitments.
\n\u201cThe Partner2Connect Digital Coalition is one of ITU’s key global multi-stakeholder initiatives,\u00bb said Dr Cosmas Luckyson Zavazava, Director of the ITU Telecommunication Development Bureau. \u201cThe matchmaking roundtables are crucial for guaranteeing tangible impact on the ground and enhancing people’s quality of life through universal and meaningful Internet connectivity.\u00bb<\/p>\n

Funding the way forward<\/strong>
\nEarlier this year, ITU called for USD 100 billion in pledges by 2026 to mobilize the expertise, resources, and investment for projects to reach those in the hardest-to-connect communities.
\nOverall, the number of pledges received by Partner2Connect this year increased by 55 per cent, with the number of pledging entities rising by close to 60 per cent. By the end of 2023, almost three-quarters of the 280 pledges reported on were in progress.
\nAmong other commitments highlighted at the annual meeting were pledges dedicated to providing connectivity for refugees and advancing digitally-driven climate action. The commitments related to refugee connectivity were made ahead of UNHCR’s Global Refugee Forum, at which additional pledges involving ITU will be announced.
\nUpdates on existing pledges and announcements of new pledges were also made by the P2C Champions \u2013 Amazon, Microsoft, and ZTE \u2013 organizations who have all committed to helping maximize the impact of the P2C Digital Coalition, broaden support for its activities, and strengthen coordination with similar platforms.<\/p>\n

EQUALS in Tech Awards<\/strong>
\nThe second Partner2Connect Annual Meeting closed with the 10th EQUALS in Tech Awards Ceremony, introduced by Her Royal Highness Princess Beatrice of York, a prominent advocate for women’s rights who has championed initiatives that promote inclusivity and equality.
\nThe EQUALS in Tech Awards celebrate initiatives, projects, organizations, and institutions that have displayed extraordinary commitment to bridging the gender divide in the realm of digital technologies.<\/p>\n

The award winning projects in their respective categories and countries are:
\n\u2022 Thaki: Unlocking Potential (Access\/Lebanon)
\n\u2022 IT and Entrepreneurial Skills Training Great Lakes Region (Skills\/Democratic Republic of Congo)
\n\u2022 Centro de G\u00e9neros en Technolog\u00eda (Leadership in Tech\/Argentina)
\n\u2022 (Re)building Ukrainian Businesses (Leadership in SMEs\/Poland-Ukraine)
\n\u2022 Preventing and Mitigating Gender Bias (Research\/Mexico)<\/p>\n

To mark the 10th anniversary of the awards, finalists were selected from more than 132 nominated initiatives from 54 countries.<\/p>\n

Above, image credited to ITU<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ITU\u2019s Partner2Connect Digital Coalition reports 2023 gains to close the digital divide ITU’s Partner2Connect Digital Coalition has identified new connectivity projects worth USD 7 billion worldwide in 2023, the UN tech agency announced at Partner2Connect’s second annual meeting in Geneva, Switzerland. The new commitments increase to nearly USD 37 billion the value of resources mobilized … <\/p>\n

Continue reading \u00abNew resources targeting tech offer hope for connectivity challenges\u00bb<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14699,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[16],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/telecomkh.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14698"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/telecomkh.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/telecomkh.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/telecomkh.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/telecomkh.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14698"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/telecomkh.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14698\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14701,"href":"https:\/\/telecomkh.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14698\/revisions\/14701"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/telecomkh.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14699"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/telecomkh.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14698"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/telecomkh.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14698"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/telecomkh.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14698"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}