UN CHIEF EMPHASIZES USE OF BROADBAND INTERNET TO ACCELERATE DEVELOPMENT

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today stressed the need to harness the power of broadband Internet access to accelerate progress towards the achievement of the development goals intended to alleviate poverty and speed up social and economic advancement in poorer countries.

“Experience has shown that greater access to broadband technologies has meant faster progress towards all the <"http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/">MDGs [Millennium Development Goals],” Mr. Ban said in a <"http://www.un.org/apps/sg/sgstats.asp?nid=4831">message to the Plenipotentiary Conference of the United Nations International Telecommunications Union (<"http://www.itu.int/en/pages/default.aspx">ITU), which got under way today in Guadalajara, Mexico.

“The Internet drives trade, commerce and even education. Telemedicine is improving health care. Earth-monitoring satellites are being used to address climate change issues. And green technologies are promoting cleaner cities.

“Last month the Broadband Commission for Digital Development – a distinguished group of government officials, businesspeople and content developers, brought together under the leadership of ITU and <"http://www.unesco.org/new/en/unesco/">UNESCO [UN Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization] – offered a blueprint, and I look forward to working with all partners in bringing it to life,” the Secretary-General said.

Mr. Ban praised ITU’s central role in the development of the global communications system for 145 years, stressing its invaluable contribution as member of the UN system for the past 60 years.

“From the birth of telegraph to radio, television, satellite communication and the Internet, the ITU has been at the forefront of ‘Connecting the World,’” the Secretary-General said.

He noted that there are currently five billion mobile cellular subscriptions worldwide, and almost two billion people with Internet connection, pointing out that the work of the ITU, its member States, and its “sector members” continues to show how powerful a partnership for development can be when it is based on transparency, openness and cooperation.

“But despite important headway in expanding the benefits of information and communication technology, there is much work ahead. As was emphasized at last month’s Millennium Development Goals Summit in New York, while the digital divide has narrowed, it has far from disappeared,” the Secretary-General said.

“Your work in developing the next generation of communications networks, ensuring cyber-security, and putting the power of ICT [Information and Communication Technologies] networks to good use in disaster relief and mitigation is vitally important to us all,” he added

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