Read this in full at:
http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/presscenter/speeches/2012/09/23/remarks-helen-clark-broadband-commission-for-digital-development/
Helen Clark: Broadband Commission for Digital Development
23 September 2012
Remarks UNDP Administrator Helen Clark
Broadband Commission for Digital Development
Session 3: B more Informed:
International Policy Frameworks for an Enabling Environment
23 September 2012, 9:45am New York, Yale Club
It is a pleasure to be participating in this meeting of the Broadband
Commission for Digital Development in New York, and to speak about the
role of ICT in development.
When the Millennium Development Goals were developed in 2000, the
vast potential for information and communication technologies (ICTs) to
support development efforts was recognized; but so was the inequitable
access to those technologies.
To reflect that, MDG 8 included a target to make the benefits of new
technologies, especially information and communication technologies,
readily available to people around the world, in co-operation with the
private sector.
Where the global development agenda goes beyond 2015 is now being
actively debated, and the role of broadband & ICTs as development
enablers is more widely understood than it was in 2000. That’s not
surprising - since then, access to new technologies, particularly mobile
phones and broadband, has grown exponentially. According to the
Broadband Commission report being launched today, The State of Broadband
2012, mobile phone subscriptions exceeded six billion in early 2012,
three-quarters of which were in the developing world. This is up from
approximately 725 million in 2000.
Growth in smartphones is projected to enable 3 billion people to
access the internet in 2017, making wireless broadband a particularly
promising way of participating in economic, political, and social
activities, and for improving service delivery.
As cited in the report, the World Bank has estimated that a ten per
cent increase in broadband penetration would yield a 1.21 and 1.38 per
cent increase in GDP growth on average for high-income and
low/middle-income countries respectively.
GDP growth per se, however, does not automatically lead to improved
living standards for all, nor to greater equity, dignity, happiness, and
sustainability. These outcomes must be pursued by complementary
policies. Nor is greater human development an inevitable outcome of the
spread of broadband and other new technologies in developing country
markets. Broadband is a means to an end. Where its rollout is linked to
global development goals and national priorities, it is a very valuable
tool for advancing equitable, inclusive, and sustainable development.
Around the world we see truly innovative and low-cost uses of ICTs
emerging, through public-private partnerships and social
entrepreneurship, with potential for wide development impact.
They range from improvements in, for example,
- healthcare delivery through remote consultations;
- agricultural development through access to pricing information and extension services;
- education and learning through online resources; and
- banking services through mobile banking.
As emergency response tools in times of crisis, basic mobile phones
with SMS capacity and phones with more complex mapping platforms allow
citizens to monitor elections, track and report violence and crime, and
provide logistical support in response to natural disasters and other
crises.
UNDP has been working in ICT for Development since 1992. We see
expanded access to broadband and ICTs supporting better delivery of
services across the board, and engaging people in democratic governance
through increased access to information and more transparency.
By the end of 2011, UNDP was supporting 211 e-governance projects in 94 countries.
In Kyrgyzstan, UNDP used crowdsourcing and Ushahidi mapping to help
monitor Election Day incidents last year. Almost 3,000 text messages
from peace monitors and concerned citizens were sent to the platform,
increasing transparency around the elections. Observers could see the
emerging picture “live,” and respond accordingly.
In the Philippines, UNDP helped establish e-hubs in select schools
across the country, to enable citizens to exchange information, share
knowledge, and mobilize support on issues such as poverty, corruption,
employment, and education. This has helped empower citizens to hold
their government accountable on development goals.
A common feature in all these initiatives has been to reach the
poorest and most vulnerable people, and expand dialogue between
governments, civil society, and citizens. In the latter respect, it is
important to note the role played by ICTs and social media in the
uprisings in the Arab States region over the past twenty months.
The 2001 Human Development Report, “Making New Technologies Work for
Human Development”, highlighted the potential for ICTs to contribute to
human development by removing barriers of social, economic, and
geographic isolation, increasing access to information, and enabling
poor and marginalized people to participate more actively in decisions
which affect their lives. It warned, however, that new technologies
could widen inequalities between North and South, and between rich and
poor.
The ‘digital divide’ described in the Broadband Commission report
being launched today is not just about the extent of the penetration of
the technologies, but also about the quality of service and about
disparities based on gender, class, geographic location, literacy, and
disability.
At the global level, a woman is 21 per cent less likely to own a
mobile phone than a man. In 2011, broadband connection costs in many
developed countries were equivalent to one per cent of average monthly
income, while in nineteen Least Developed Countries surveyed the cost
equaled more than 100 per cent of average monthly income.
As international attention focuses on what should follow the 2015
targets set for the MDGs, the UN task team on the post-2015 Development
Agenda has issued a first report arguing that “Globalization offers
great opportunities, but its benefits are at present very unevenly
shared.” It recommends a vision for the future which rests on the core
values of human rights, equality, and sustainability, with inclusive
social and economic development at the core.
Building on the outcome of Rio+20, this Broadband Commission has a
critical role to play in advocating for the use of ICTs and expanded
broadband as an enabler of sustainable human development, and as a tool
for amplifying the impact of development initiatives.
In March the Secretary-General of ITU, Dr Toure, and I wrote to all
UN Resident Co-ordinators and Country Teams to offer substantive and
technical support to them in incorporating ICT for development in their
country programmes, and in that way to help translate the Commission’s
recommendations and thinking into practice. A number have already
sought such support, and I hope many more will.
ICTs can also be used to ensure that the post-2015 development agenda
is defined through inclusive processes, giving voice to those who are
usually not heard.
To that end, UNDP is preparing - together with other UN development
agencies - national consultations in more than fifty countries; at least
nine thematic consultations on issues ranging from governance to food
security; and, in co-operation with civil society, open consultations
through a virtual platform aimed at ensuring broad-based participation.
I encourage all of you to engage in these consultations and be
advocates for ICTs, including broadband, being key enablers of the
post-2015 development agenda.
Read this in full at:
http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/presscenter/speeches/2012/09/23/remarks-helen-clark-broadband-commission-for-digital-development/
