2018 Annual Fall Meeting of the Broadband Commission

Date

September 23, 2018

Location

New York, USA

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Following the practice of its annual meetings held in conjunction with the United Nations General Assembly, the Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development will meet on 23 rd September in New York, during the 73rd session of the UNGA. The United Nations General Assembly session this year will put an emphasis on global peace in honour of the centenary of the birth of Nelson Mandela and the importance of partnerships to achieving the SDGs.

In this context, high-level Commissioners from across a range of government and industry sectors, and Special Guests will address the important duty of supporting the development of new broadband technologies through the commissions newly launched 7 ambitious but achievable Targets which seek to bridge the Digital divide and the Gender divide.

The sessions will include discussion on the 50/50 moment, half of the population online as well as the changing face of ICT Regulations

For updates from the meeting follow @UNBBCom and #Broadband,#ICT4SDG on Twitter.

“We are preparing to mark a new milestone where half of the world's people are accessing the Internet. While this growth is not spread evenly across the world's regions, it is nonetheless an encouraging development. With more people online, we need to think through how everyone can access the digital content safely and fairly. To take full advantage of the latest technological innovations, we have to adapt rapidly, including more innovative approaches to policy and regulation. The best way to handle this is through close collaboration among the key stakeholders, from government, the private sector, and the research community."

“Broadband is transforming all sectors and activities of our society. But many rural areas are still not connected to the Internet. Governments and regulators need to make universal connectivity a main priority for sustainable development."

“I am pleased to say that the Commission goes from strength to strength. This year saw the launch of our updated global broadband targets to bring online the world's 3.8 billion people currently not connected to the Internet, at the Special Session in Davos in January attended by many of you, as well as Heads of UN agencies and industry CEOs. The Commission's targets track some of the most important policy priorities in broadband, and will play an important role in achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals."

“We are reaching an important milestone with half of the population online. But advantages of internet access are not shared equally. Access to Internet is not enough in itself to improve livelihoods. We must put emphasis on digital skills and knowledge"

Released Reports and Materials

The State of Broadband 2018, 11 September 2018, Durban, South Africa
Digital Entrepreneurship
The Promise of Digital Health: Addressing Non-communicable Diseases to Accelerate Universal Health Coverage in Low- and Middle-Income Countries
Preventing the Spread of Epidemics using ICT