ITU News
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) announced winners of the 2023 WSIS Prizes lrecently, with 18 prizes linking digital transformation to sustainable development across 11 internationally recognized action lines.
Prizes were awarded on March 14 as follow:
WSIS Prizes 2023
Project: Banda Ancha para Todos
Institution: Instituto Dominicano de las Telecomunicaciones
Country/ entity type: Dominican Republic/Government
WSIS Action line: C1. The role of governments and all stakeholders in the promotion of ICTs for development
Project: Jalinan Digital Negara Plan
Institution: Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission
Country/ entity type: Malaysia/Government
WSIS Action Line: C2. Information and communication infrastructure: an essential foundation for an inclusive information society
Project: Community Network for Education
Institution: UMAYUX
Country/ entity type: Ecuador/Private Sector
WSIS Action Line: C3. Access to information and knowledge
Project: Mobile Connectivity for Teachers in Poor and Remote Areas Project
Institution: National Council for Educational Promotion
Country/ entity type: Mexico/Government
WSIS Action Line: C4. Capacity building
Project: Cybersecurity Education in the Philippines in the Face of New Normal Adversities
Institution: Department of Information and Communications Technology
Country/ entity type: Philippines/Government
WSIS Action Line: C5. Building confidence and security in the use of ICTs
Project: Community Networks in the strategy of connecting rural and remote areas as licensees in Argentina
Institution: ENTE NACIONAL DE COMUNICACIONES
Country/ entity type: Argentina/Government
WSIS Action Line: C6. Enabling environment
Project: AuditOnline: Facilitating Audit in Government
Institution: National Informatics Center
Country/ entity type: India/Government
WSIS Action Line: C7. ICT Applications: e-Government
Project: Material Supermarket Revitalization Solution for Enterprises and Institutions
Institution: China Mobile Procurement Shared Center
Country/ entity type: China/ Private Sector
WSIS Action Line: C7. ICT Applications: e-Business
Project: BIPES (Individualized Personnel Training System)
Institution: Directorate General for Information Technologies, Ministry of Justice
Country/ entity type: Turkey/Government
WSIS Action Line: C7. ICT Applications: e-Learning
Project: Bone Health New Zealand
Institution: Osteoporosis New Zealand (ONZ)
Country/ entity type: New Zealand/Civil Society
WSIS Action Line: C7. ICT Applications: e-Health
Project: Advance IT & Entrepreneurship Training and Incubation for young women
Institution: Computer Applications for Girls Foundation
Country/ entity type: United Republic of Tanzania/Civil Society
Project: Early Warning Epidemics System
Institution: Ministry of Environment Water and Agriculture
Country/ entity type: Saudi Arabia/Government
WSIS Action Line: C7. ICT Applications: e-Environment
Project: Digital AgroInsurance
Institution: AGROINSURANCE LLC.
Country/ entity type: Kazakhstan/Private Sector
WSIS Action Line: C7. ICT Applications: e-Agriculture
Project: Women In Tech Maldives
Institution: Women In Tech Maldives
Country/ entity type: Maldives/Civil Society
WSIS Action Line: C7. ICT Applications: e-Science
Project: Africa Teen Geeks
Institution: Apodytes
Country/ entity type: South Africa/Civil Society
WSIS Action Line: C8. Cultural diversity and identity, linguistic diversity and local content
Project: Strategic Communication to Counter Security Threats in the Disinformation Era
Institution: University Rey Juan Carlos – Research Group Ciberimaginario
Country/ entity type: Spain/Academia
WSIS Action Line: C9. Media
Project: UAE Cyber Pulse
Institution: UAE Cyber Security Council
Country/ entity type: United Arab Emirates/Government
WSIS Action Line: C10. Ethical dimensions the Information Society
Project: Enhance VR
Institution: Virtuleap Lda
Country/ entity type: Portugal/Private Sector
WSIS Action Line: C11. International and regional cooperation
The action lines stem from the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), with ongoing implementation through the annual WSIS Forum.
The WSIS Prizes contest evaluates projects and activities that leverage the power of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to advance the United Nations agenda for 2030.
World’s least developed countries threatened by deepening digital divide
ITU data in special edition of ‘Facts and Figures’ show a decade of halting progress on connectivity for the world’s poorest
Building digital skills
Geneva, 05 March 2023
The digital connectivity divide separating the globe’s least developed countries (LDCs) from the world as a whole shows no sign of narrowing. In fact, it is widening on key factors, according to ITU’s Facts and Figures: Focus on Least Developed Countries.
While the share of the population in LDCs using the Internet has increased since 2011 from 4 per cent to 36 per cent, about two-thirds of the LDC population remains offline. LDCs also still face numerous barriers to meaningful connectivity, including lack of infrastructure, affordability, and skills.
Although no single figure can capture all aspects and complexities of the digital divide, the gap between LDCs and the world in the share of people using the Internet has actually increased from 27 percentage points in 2011 to 30 percentage points in 2022.
“The path to prosperity for the world’s least developed countries runs through digital development,” said ITU Secretary-General Doreen Bogdan-Martin. “This special edition of ITU’s Facts and Figures highlights the challenges confronting LDCs and should help strengthen commitments between the least developed countries and their development partners.”
The ITU study, prepared ahead of the Fifth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC5), focuses on trends in digital connectivity in LDCs since 2011, when the UN last held its global conference on least developed countries.
According to the research, which uses data from ITU’s Facts and Figures 2022, an estimated 407 million people in LDCs were using the Internet in 2022. The 720 million people still offline in LDCs represent 27 per cent of the global offline population, even though the LDC population accounts for only 14 per cent of world population.
The study highlights that only 83 per cent of the combined LDC population is covered by a mobile broadband signal 3G or above, the main way to connect to the Internet in most developing countries. This compares with 95 per cent coverage for the overall world population.
The latest edition of Facts and Figures, ITU’s annual overview on the state of digital connectivity, found that the cost of using Internet services inched downward across the globe in 2022. The special ITU analysis produced for LDC5 highlights that accessing the Internet is more costly in LDCs than anywhere else in the world.
According to ITU, the challenge of getting communities online has also become more complex over the last decade than just constructing physical connections.
For LDCs, the goal of universal and meaningful connectivity – when a safe, satisfying, enriching, productive and affordable online experience is available to all – remains a distant prospect. Even many of those who can access the Internet do not, because of the barriers ranging from awareness, to skills, to costs.
“The ITU special report reveals the tremendous digital diversity of LDCs, which implies different priorities and calls for different solutions,” said Director of ITU’s Telecommunication Development Bureau, Cosmas Zavazava. “The world’s least developed countries are the planet’s greatest untapped resource. Connectivity – in particular meaningful connectivity – can contribute to addressing the challenges faced by LDCs and help them achieve sustainable digital transformation.”
Among other findings from Facts and Figures: Focus on Least Developed Countries:
- the digital gender gap in LDCs remains significant and is not narrowing;
- almost half of young people in LDCs (15-to 24-year-olds) were online in 2022;
- just over a quarter of the population in rural areas in LDCs was online in 2022.
