2016 ICT4D Conference

Over the past several years, an expanding number of global organizations have focused attention on supporting socioeconomic development through expanded leverage of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). This has been represented in the WTDC's Dubai Declaration in April 2014, and more recently within the Addis Ababa Action Agenda in July of 2015. The establishment of the new 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for 2015-2030 in September 2015, in combination of ITU's Connect 2020, further highlight and strengthen this ICT4D commitment.

Within the SDG's, specific attention is highlighted by Target 9, where with respects to those countries most in need of socioeconomic development, the Least Developed Countries (LDCs), there needs to be a priority focus on expanding affordable Internet access by 2020. This theme is further expanded by ITU's Connect 2020 Agenda, though it reaches even beyond the LDCs. Connectivity is one of the themes reflected within the SDG-ICT Playbook as it is a fundamental cross-cutting topic needing attention.

This presentation will build off this growing global consensus by drilling down and adding definition to this Digital Challenge linking the connectivity challenge to the #1 SDG priority of eliminating poverty with the current connectivity divide. Further, it will put forward a suggested ecosystem approach for addressing not simply the connectivity shortfall, but also the need for addressing the essential value-added content and services and adoption by those most in need.