2014 Annual Spring Meeting of the Broadband Commission

Date

March 23, 2014

Location

Dublin, Ireland

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All Spring Meetings

The 9th Meeting of the Broadband Commission for Digital Development was held in Dublin on March 22-23 at the kind invitation of Mr Denis O’Brien, Chairman of the Digicel Group and the Broadband Commissioner.

22 March was dedicated to the first onsite gathering of the Broadband Commission Working Group on Financing and Investment.

On Sunday, 23 March the discussion of 30 Commissioners – top leaders in ICTs industry and policy makers attending the main meeting of the Commission galvanized around the role of broadband /ICTs in the post 2015 agenda and to date developments of the Commission with regards to the successor framework of the MDGs. Commissioners exchanged views and new ideas on what is next and which are the priorities for the sustainable development agenda. In the context of remaining challenges for broadband ubiquity, the Commissioners revisited the broadband networks development and funding models in the rural areas.

The Commission includes some of the world’s most prominent leaders from the tech sector, government, academia and UN agencies. Broadband Commission meetings are closed to the public, but give Commissioners the opportunity to meet face-to-face to discuss game changing ideas for the industry.

“Our initial focus was on connectivity: to put the infrastructure and tools in place to connect citizens to the digital era. Onwards, our efforts need to focus on unleashing the smart use of broadband to help people use services in ways that will significantly improve their lives.”

“The MDGs constitute the attainment of basic human rights for billions of people around the world. The MDGs and emerging Sustainable Development Goals are the foundation for eliminating extreme poverty in the third decade of this new century. It is a fact that broadband can make a tremendous contribution towards their attainment. But in many countries, the telecommunication infrastructure now needs to be doubled every year. No other sector is facing a similar capex investment challenge. We need to identify viable new operating and financing models.”

“820 million new Internet users and two billion new mobile broadband subscribers in developing countries in just four years. For the first time in history, broadband gives us the power to end extreme poverty and put our planet on a new, sustainable development course,” he said.

“Broadband can be an accelerator for inclusive and sustainable growth, by opening new paths to create and share knowledge, by widening learning opportunities, by enhancing freedom of expression. But this does not happen by itself, it requires will and leadership, and this is why the Commission matters.”

“The long-sought panacea to human poverty may at last be within our reach in the form of broadband networks that empower all countries to take their place in the global economy, overcoming traditional barriers like geography, language and resource constraints,”