Excellency’s and Honourable Ministers,
Commonwealth Secretary-General, Patricia Scotland,
Secretary-General, International Telecommunication Union, Doreen Bogdan-Martin
Distinguished Guests
Bula vinaka and good morning.
I am delighted to join you virtually and to welcome you to the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation’s (CTO) inaugural Ministerial Alliance for Digital Nations addressing ICT issues for Commonwealth Transformation which shares the theme “Action for Impact”.
As you know the CTO has charted a new course to support its members in accelerating digital transformation and will focus on two very important elements of digital transformation: affordable universal broadband connectivity and 21st Century (digital) governments, and for this reason this inaugural Ministerial Alliance for Digital Nations will focus on affordable universal broadband connectivity.
Article 19 of the United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights states: “Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice.”
This statement speaks to the right of every individual to communicate. Therefore, it is incumbent on us as international civil servants and persons of influence in these areas to ensure effective means for communication are available to all.
Being connected to information systems is the starting point for enabling the enjoyment of that right to communicate and the opportunity for digital inclusion and digital transformation. Every human being must be connected, and as the Minister for Communications, I am committed to bridging the 5 percent digital divide in Fiji.
The CTO has been concerned about the ever-widening digital divide between developed nations and emerging economies. While some countries are getting ready for 6th generation wireless technologies, many of our members are still using 2nd generation technology. While some countries are embracing the Internet, others in our Commonwealth are struggling to provide basic Internet access. While the world may be inequitable by nature, that does not absolve us from our responsibility to do everything in our power to ensure that our citizens enjoy that basic right to communicate.
We are now in the 4th Industrial revolution – with technology available, but why haven’t we been able to acquire it and effectively adopt it to achieve affordable universal broadband connectivity, throughout the Commonwealth?
To answer this question, the CTO has invited 23 Government Ministers from the Commonwealth and beyond, to share their challenges in achieving meaningful and affordable universal broadband access for their citizens alongside ICT industry representatives and stakeholders to respond to the Ministers’ concerns. .
The goal of this event is to foster and initiate collaborative action for achieving affordable universal broadband connectivity for our citizens.
The process of digital transformation is a collective responsibility that Governments cannot achieve alone. The private sector, civil society and non-traditional stakeholders all have an integral role to play in the process, and collaboration and innovation are imperative for success. We are encouraging our Ministers to make the alliance a reality by collaborating in this forum and agreeing to act.
I look forward to the innovative solutions that will be discussed over the next two days to formulate the solutions that are right for you – and solutions which help us achieve affordable universal broadband connectivity. Let’s act decisively to implement and have an impact!
I wish you all a productive Ministerial Alliance for Digital Nations and look forward to seeing the tangible impact.