The Partner2Connect (P2C) Digital Development Roundtable in Kigali and videoconferencing was held on 7-9 June at the World Telecommunication Development Conference (WTDC).
The event was attended by delegates from ITU member-states, as well as observers from international and regional organizations.
Representatives of the Communications Administrations of the Regional Commonwealth in the field of Communications: Republic of Armenia, Republic of Azerbaijan, Republic of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Russian Federation, Republic of Uzbekistan, as well as management and staff of the RCC Executive Committee participated in the Partner2Connect (P2C) in a hybrid format.
The Partner2Connect Gala was opened by the Director ITU BDT, Doreen Bogdan-Martin, Chairperson of the WTDC, Minister of Information and Communication Technologies and Innovation of Rwanda, Ms. Paula Ingabire, Maria-Francesca Spatolisano, UN Secretary-General's Acting Envoy for Technology and Juliana Novaes Member of the Board of Generation Connect.
The moderator of the roundtable was Fiona Naringwa, Africa.
The P2C Digital Development Roundtable provided an opportunity for member-states, members of the ITU-D sector and other stakeholders to engage in a high-level discussion on the challenges and opportunities related to digital development, make concrete commitments and forge new partnerships to advance digital transformation for everyone.
The high-level panels of the Partner2Connect Roundtable informed participants about the needs, commitments and resources available to each stakeholder to bridge the digital division and build new partnerships for universal meaningful connectivity.
Rovshan Murvat oglu Rustamov, Deputy Minister of Transport, Communications and High Technologies of the Republic of Azerbaijan, made a speech at Partner2Connect.
The participants then moved on to a discussion of the following themes:
- Partnerships for Transforming Education;
- Promoting the Doha Action Programme through Partner2Connect;
- Secret ingredients for investing in the “last mile”;
- Accelerating universal meaningful connectivity through the UN Global Digital Compact;
- Closing Session.
The final session of the Partner2Connect Digital Development Roundtable highlighted the key outcomes of the event, some of the commitments announced during the high-level sessions, potential project implementation, and tracking and self-reporting of pledges through the P2C platform.
There was also a presentation on the prospects and next steps for the Coalition.
At the end of the Partner2Connect event, Director of the ITU BDT Doreen Bogdan-Martin, Chairperson of the WTDC, Minister of Information and Communication Technologies and Innovation of Rwanda, Paula Ingabire, Minister of Communications and Digitalization of Ghana Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, ITU Secretary General Houlin Zhao thanked all the participants for their hard work and wished all continued excellence.