Promote GENDER Equality and Empower Women
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3 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. A 2010 Declaration of Broadband Inclusion for All 2. Executive Summary - A 2010 Leadership Imperative: Towards a Future Built on Broadband 3. Creating a Broadband Development Dynamic: A Strategic Framework for Action 3.1 Policy: From Clear Policy Leadership to an Enabling Environment 3.2 Infrastructure: Investing in Infrastructure for the Future 3.3 Technology: Future-proofing Technology 3.4 Innovation: The Changing Face of Innovation 3.5 Content and Applications: The Growing Importance of Content and Applications 3.6 People: Building the Network of Ideas and Information 3.7 Government: Government takes the lead in creating demand 4. Broadband and the Interlinked and Interdependent MDG Agenda 5. Broadband and Beyond the MDGs 6. Recommendations and Proposed Plan of Action Acknowledgements DISCLAIMER This Report does not necessarily represent the opinions of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) or the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) or their respective Member States, Sector Members, Associates and Secretariat. The views of the Commissioners reflected in the Report are personal and do not entail any responsibility for their respective Administrations or the Organizations to which they are elected or associated with or of which they are staff members. 5 We believe that the Internet and other information and communication technologies (ICTs) should be used for the benefit of all mankind. Beyond any physical or virtual infrastructure that has preceded it in the industrial revolution or information age, and as a catalyst and critical enabler for recovery in the wake of the recent economic slowdown, broadband will be the basis for digital invention and innovation and the foundation for digital and other investments that lie at the very heart of our shared knowledge economy and society. We firmly believe that with the strategic and innovative use of broadband ICTs, the international development community can move beyond ‘business as usual’ and that it will be possible to achieve the inherently interlinked MDG agenda by 2015 to address the existing and emerging global challenges of the 21st Century. New York, September 19, 2010 Put plainly, we believe the models of We, the members of the Broadband the mobile and Internet revolutions can Commission for Digital Development, transform global development and have address this Declaration to the world fundamentally thrived because they are leaders attending the 2010 MDG Summit bottom-up, market-led models. By forging at United Nations Headquarters. a common vision and understanding of A 2010 the needs and requirements for ubiquitous We call upon you to embrace a common and higher capacity access to the Internet, leadership vision that has profound governments have today an unprecedented implications for the accelerated opportunity to unleash the creativity Declaration and inventiveness of their citizens and achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by the internationally-agreed industries to innovate and invest in health and education. Although broadband is a deadline of 2015. That common vision is means to an end, and not an end in itself, of Broadband broadband inclusion for all. It is a vision ICTs and broadband can help generate that embodies effective and sustainable jobs, growth, productivity and, ultimately, solutions to the great global challenges long-term economic competitiveness. IncluSion of the 21st Century in poverty, health, education, gender equality, climate change Timing is everything. In September 2000, and the seismic demographic shifts in when the historic Millennium Declaration 1for All youth and ageing populations. was agreed by 189 UN Member States, 6 7 there were some 740 million mobile environment for broadband inclusion for We affirm that in order to realize its full and the establishment of related laws and cellular subscriptions and nearly 400 all via the convergent and interdependent potential, broadband must be anchored regulations. At the same time, a global million Internet users worldwide. In 2010, forces of policy, infrastructure, technology, around the concept of knowledge cooperative framework is needed as there are more than 5 billion mobile cellular innovation, content and applications, societies, including principles of freedom these issues often extend far beyond the subscriptions and over 1.8 billion Internet people and government. of expression, quality education for all, boundaries of individual nations or sectors. users according to ITU’s most recent data, universal access to information and with the majority located in the developing knowledge of and respect for cultural and Digital creators are entitled to fair While local conditions vary, there are world. It is now high time to take the next linguistic diversity. Equitable and affordable compensation. Digital networks have led some similarities in the issues affecting great digital leap forward toward our universal access to broadband networks to unprecedented levels of content piracy developed and developing countries and broadband future. and broadband-enabled applications that will be further exacerbated in the in the solutions to those issues – including are the key for the delivery of online broadband era. New models are needed The implications are enormous. enlightened political leadership, shared public goods and services, the sharing of for the remuneration of content creators, International estimates suggest that for responsibility for a shared resource and the scientific information, the strengthening distributors and network operators – every 10 per cent increase in broadband need to create a regulatory environment of social cohesion and the promotion of models that are best developed through penetration we can expect an average of conducive to investment and innovation. cultural diversity. partnership and consensus between 1.3 per cent additional growth in national policy-makers and industry. gross domestic product (GDP), and we We urge national governments not to Digital literacy and e-skills should remain concur with OECD findings that justify limit market entry nor tax broadband a key preoccupation of governments We therefore make a clarion call for rapid broadband roll-out in all OECD unnecessarily to enable the market to and business. We encourage all to seize ‘Broadband Inclusion for All’: for global member countries. ITU estimates that by achieve its full growth potential; to radically the opportunity in developing further the leadership from the top and a ground- 2015 at least half the world’s population rethink the availability of adequate radio multilingual Internet by building on the recent swell of support in shaping the broadband should have access to broadband content deployment of the first internationalized future through the deployment of National frequency spectrum in the broadband era; and communication. domain names. Preservation of cultural Broadband Plans, and for full-scale and to adhere to the guiding principles of diversity and promotion of multilingualism recognition in policy-making of technology, We believe that broadband inclusion for fair competition to promote access to all, in cyber-space will have a positive impact innovation and private sector investment all will represent a momentous economic including fair licensing procedures. At the on growth in the number of Internet users as the critical enablers of the international and social change commensurate with international level, coordinated standards around the globe. development agenda and development in the very problems that the MDGs aim to for interoperability must be established that the 21st Century. solve, and that it will be a game-changer can grow markets in devices, networks and Trust and confidence are prerequisites. in addressing rising healthcare costs, software through economies of scale and We believe that recognition is needed by With this Declaration, we submit to you our delivering digital education for all, and significantly increased user satisfaction. all relevant stakeholders that, in a digital final Report of the Broadband Commission mitigating the effects of climate change. economy, the unprecedented opportunities for Digital Development to the United Already, we see the transformational While broadband infrastructure is crucial, afforded by flows of ideas and information Nations Secretary-General. We draw your progress which digital inclusion offers to we urge world leaders to recognize that and almost limitless access to content, attention to the Recommendations and youth, women, the elderly and people with connectivity and content go hand in hand. culture, knowledge and applications, pose Proposed Plan of Action contained therein mental and physical disabilities in rich and immense challenges for existing national Therefore, it is essential that we examine with a full pledge and commitment from us poor countries alike. and international rules and regulations. all to continue the work of the Broadband ways to develop local content and Commission for Digital Development applications in order to serve the MDGs We strongly believe that getting the As broadband usage increases, issues of until 2015 specifically in service of the broadband policy and investment mix right and other key development priorities. online privacy, confidentiality and security accelerated achievement of the MDGs. requires coherent and concerted political Promoting access to education, health are becoming more