ITU Press conference: ITU’s 2024 priorities

Good afternoon

and welcome to this press conference

with ITU Secretary General Doreen Bogdan Martin

Secretary General Bogden Martin is the first woman to

lead ITU in its nearly 160 year history.

She also does so at a time that ITU is leading on all things digital

in radio communication and standardisation

in development.

Things that sound technical but yet touch on our everyday

lives in the form of advancing technologies like artificial intelligence,

space and satellites,

and the complex but important challenge

of connecting the 2.6 billion people around the world who are not online.

Secretary general has about 30 minutes with us today,

so I'll move it quickly to questions.

I'll ask reporters to keep questions, please, if you can, to one question

at first at a time with a with a connected follow up. If it's,

uh, if there is one,

we'll recognise questions here on the floor first and

then go to our colleagues who are joining remotely

and importantly, we ask you if you can please to identify your name

and your outlet when asking questions.

OK with that, I'll hand it over to the secretary general, Madam Secretary General.

Thank you. Thank you, David. And, uh,

good afternoon.

Uh, good afternoon. To our our colleagues here in Geneva,

Uh, and to those that are are joining us remotely.

Uh, I had heard about this, uh,

this new press room, but, um, it is quite stunning. It's beautiful.

Uh, it's wonderful to have this opportunity to be able to share with you,

uh, this afternoon, uh, the work of the ITU

and help the public to better understand

the work that we do

in what I would call a defining a time in terms. A defining moment, I should say,

in terms of of technology,

I think the the best way to describe ITU,

uh, is really to think about what makes global communications possible.

And I'm talking about radio spectrum

about satellites,

about standards,

technology, development, posi,

um, policies, and all of the things that we need

to be able to make our digital lives possible.

So the ITU is the UN agency. That's behind all of this. Uh, and we've been around

for a pretty long time since 1865.

Uh, from the telegraph

to the telephone, the television,

um, to the internet. And of course, now. Artificial intelligence.

Uh, we work on all the technologies that are actually transforming

our world today from a i to the metaverse to quantum computing.

Uh, we ta we tackle all of these, uh, big topics, Uh, from cyber security

to sustainability.

And of course, connectivity is really at the core of all of our work.

Uh, we have 100

and 93 member states.

Uh,

they've given us a very strong mandate at

our last What we call plenty potentially conference,

uh, where I was elected.

Uh, we have, uh, these two big strategic goals.

Uh, the first is universal connectivity,

and the second is sustainable digital transformation.

Uh, those goals are ambitious, and those goals are bold.

Uh, but we're firmly committed and dedicated to delivering on those goals.

Um, so I actually took office 14 months ago.

Uh, and I've been very busy.

Uh, but as I said,

those those two goals of universal

connectivity and sustainable digital transformation have been

my number one priority.

And what I've seen since my time in in office,

um, is I've seen women who

can't afford a smartphone,

uh, women in countries where

entry level handsets

can exceed 70% 70% of average household monthly incomes.

and I think it's appropriate to mention

that as tomorrow is International Women's Day,

so

sticking with that theme, I'll mention something else.

Women still account

for a disproportionate and growing share of the global offline population,

outnumbering men

by some 20%

in least developed countries. Only 30% of women

have access to the Internet.

I've met with

refugees.

I've met with migrants with displaced persons who rely on this connectivity

for their education, for their health care

and for their livelihoods.

And I've experienced

in my time as ITU secretary general

two worlds, I would say one

in high income countries where almost 90% of

the population is covered by a five G network

and a much bigger and also poorer world

where service is nearly absent

and when available, it's not affordable.

I think the bottom line is that 2.6 billion people today

are not connected.

They've never, ever connected

to the Internet,

and this is really one of the biggest challenges of our generation.

And it comes at

a time

of both hope

and also uncertainty,

uncertainty because emerging technologies like artificial

intelligence can be used to erode trust

in our elections

in our institutions, and it can threaten our jobs,

our privacy.

And I think also our very future.

It's also a world where we feel less safe with more than 2200 cyber attacks each day.

But I think there's also a lot of hope

in

this world,

and I recently came back from Mobile World Congress, which was held

in Barcelona last week.

Uh, and I had the great honour

of announcing $9

billion in commitments

for accessible and affordable network connectivity through

our partner to connect Digital Coalition.

And I think that

that new commitment in addition to previous commitments it gets us to 46 billion.

Our target is 100

but I think that that new commitment really sends a message of hope

to millions of people that are in need.

Um, and the hope takes takes different forms.

The same technologies that can harm us

can also help us solve some of the world's most pressing challenges.

A. I can help mitigate

10% of greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. I think that's

quite exciting.

The SDG digital acceleration agenda that we launched a couple of months ago.

Together with our partner U NDP

actually shows that digital solutions like artificial intelligence

can help to boost progress on things like climate change

on education, poverty, health care

and, frankly, all of the UN 17 sustainable development goals.

And I think that's why digital is such an important part

of the conversations that are taking place right here in Geneva,

from the Human Rights Council to discussions right now happening at ILO

in WHO and YO. I won't name them all. But

pretty much every organisation here in Geneva

and elsewhere is focusing on digital.

Digital is also going to be front and centre

in the upcoming UN Conference on Small Island developing states

on the landlocked developing countries summit that will that will follow that

and from the UN

to the World Economic Forum

to the G7 to the G 20.

I think it's fair to say that digital is not just on top of the agenda,

but digital is the agenda.

And I think this moment

was made for ITU

and the next few months are going to be critical

in 100 and 99 days to be precise. The UN

summit of the future will kick off.

We also have the, um

the A I for good global summit that the ITU

will be hosting in in May.

we have our World Summit on the Information Society plus 20 review.

Uh, and of course, the ITU has

its World telecommunication standardisation assembly.

That also happens in November.

I think in our 160 year history,

we've learned something very important, and that is that

great innovation opportunities often come with equally formidable challenges

and whether it's ensuring that that no one is left behind

or it's actually tackling

climate change, which is a critical topic,

uh, every day

to harnessing space

as an engine of sustainable development

or striking a balance between innovation and

regulation when it comes to emerging technologies,

ITU

stands ready to address

these pressing issues head on

working with partners, working with our multi stakeholder membership.

Uh, and I think with that, David, I will, uh, I'll pause and look forward to, uh,

your comments and questions.

Thank you,

and I'll take my spokesperson's badge away if I

If I don't say more questions and comments,

please in the limited time that we have today.

Thank you, Secretary General, for, um,

that compelling case for technology in our

lives and for understanding for explaining,

uh, I two's role and all that. So open the floor to questions,

please, If I can,

if you can please state your name and outlet, please.

Yes. Thank you for taking my question. And thank you for this briefing.

Yuri

A

from

R

Novosti,

the Russian Agency.

I have two questions. The first one is about the international

artificial intelligence. You talked about it here. We have regularly.

We hear, for example, Volker

Turk

or other

representative of the UN saying that they are dangerous, they can be dangerous.

Not that they are, but they can.

Do you think that it is the case that we have to be careful with them?

And what can we do in order to protect ourselves about that?

And my second question,

can we start with one question? First we get to everybody and then

take it

from there. Thank you, Secretary General.

Well, thank you. Thank you very much. Uh, for for the question.

And of course, here in Geneva, we hear

Oops. We hear from from from Volker.

Uh, and

and frankly, probably all of, uh,

all of the the UN agencies I know ILO,

uh, will be talking about this, um, this next week.

Uh, from our perspective,

we've been looking at, uh, artificial intelligence for a number of years,

and I think it's important to remember a I is not new.

Uh, what's new?

And I think making headlines is generative a I And probably

if we were having this conversation this time last year,

we might talk about it a little,

Uh, but today it's everywhere, and, um and I think it's for good reason.

Uh, because there are incredible opportunities,

uh, that we can, um, we we can leverage from a I in general from generative A I,

um

But there are risks, and we need to be able to manage and mitigate the risks.

Um, it's a challenge,

uh, to find how to balance, uh, between regulating,

uh,

and stifling innovation. And that's the current debate that we're seeing.

Not just here in Geneva,

but I think globally,

uh, as you know, I mentioned the summit of the futures.

We have this global digital compact.

The Secretary General has constituted

the high level advisory body on artificial intelligence. Who? They will be here,

Uh, next week, Uh, and maybe you'll have an opportunity to engage with them,

and they're looking at exactly, uh, these issues and trying to,

uh, make some recommendations about future

future governance models.

Um, in the context, as I mentioned, um, of of our work and our a i for good summit

in particular,

we are very focused on the good,

uh, but we are very aware that we need to manage the risks and the bad.

Uh, we're focused on issues around transparency,

uh, around predictability around safety privacy data.

Uh, the ethical dimensions, of course, are are critical.

And when we, uh, gather at the end of May this year for our summit,

we have a specific day on the 29th of May,

uh, which is called the A I Governance Day. Uh, we'll be gathering here in Geneva

all of the different initiatives that are happening from what's happening in

the EU to the United States to what's happening in China.

Uh, the G7, the G 20

we will bring those initiatives together to have some discussion

and see if we can find ways to

move this debate forward,

uh, together with, As I said, the UN Secretary general's, uh,

H lab.

Thank you, Secretary

General. So we go to a couple of of questions that we have lined up here on the floor.

Jamie, please.

I'm sorry.

No

problem.

Thank you. Um, Madam

a Bagger Martin. I'm Jamie from Associated Press.

Um, I wanted to ask you about,

uh, what ITU is doing and can do in the future to mitigate the risks of cyber attacks.

Um, and,

uh, other nefarious activities. Um, online,

Um, that, uh, could jeopardise, uh,

a number of national elections that are occurring around the world this year.

Um, in the United States and many other places.

Um, what are you doing? And what can ITU do

to help, uh, reduce those risks?

Yeah. Thank you. That's, um that's a great question.

And indeed, uh, many countries will be voting this year.

I think some 2 billion people will go to, uh,

to the ballot boxes this year, and, um,

cyber security and misinformation disinformation are are

front and centre and being discussed in in in different fora. And we, um,

are also paying close attention to the UN Secretary general's, uh,

policy brief on information integrity, which I think gives a good, uh,

framing to the issue.

So the ITU, uh, as some of you in this room know, uh, well, uh,

and I'm looking to my colleague in the in the front row.

Uh, we've been engaged in cybersecurity issues for many, many years,

going back to the World Summit on the Information Society 2003 2005, uh,

which gave the ITU specific mandate,

uh, to look at building confidence, uh,

SEC and security when it comes to information and communication,

uh, systems and technologies.

Uh, back in 2010, we launched the global cyber security agenda.

Uh, and we started to

support countries first when it came to child online protection.

Uh, that was the first focus, and we've developed since then. And it's still,

uh, very strong. Our

our child online protection partnership,

the guidelines and the trainings that we do very focused on Children.

Uh, but we also work directly with our member states

to help them develop policies and strategies.

Now, our, uh, our data show us that, um,

well over 100 countries actually have policies and strategies,

which wasn't the case before. Uh, that's usually the first step.

Uh, when a country begins to develop their cyber capacity,

uh, we're also helping countries could put in place certs,

uh, which is another, uh, critical component.

And we do quite a lot of training capacity development.

I think we did some 8080 or so cyber,

uh,

where we're working with countries directly doing simulations, uh,

trying to make sure that they have the necessary skills to prevent in the first case,

Uh, and to be able to respond should an attack happen.

Um, but I think as I mentioned, attacks are happening every day

and it's up, kind of. I think it's 80%

year on year. And so it is an area of growing concern,

and we are ramping up our support to countries in that domain.

Thank you.

Uh, Kathrin Fion

Combo

conga

for

FK.

Uh, I'd like to come back to your opening remarks, uh, regarding the access to mobile

the phone.

Um, as you mentioned, the cost is quite high for, um, the biggest parts of the world.

And I'd like to know if you found some solutions.

Um during the meeting in Barcelona, Maybe with companies, uh,

indian companies or Chinese companies to get cheap mobile phones.

Um, what are the solutions to to bring these 2 billion people

in in in the world of communication? Thank you.

Thank you. That's, um that's a great question and very much the focus of our efforts.

Because when we target that issue,

that's how we're gonna get the unconnected connected.

Uh, so the big issue, uh, certainly around around cost,

uh, it's around the cost of the device, but also the cost around the service.

Uh, so it's sort of two fold.

Um, but, uh, I'll come back to it in a second, but I just wanted to also add

when it comes to

connecting the unconnected.

What we've understood is it's not just the connection and the device.

There are also other factors

that have to be addressed if we're going to make that connectivity meaningful.

So we place a lot of emphasis and work with different partners on

digital skill building, which is key.

Uh, we also place a lot of emphasis on multilingualism, making sure, uh,

that the content is available, uh, in local language languages.

Um that the content is actually relevant.

Uh, and then also coming back to the previous question that we build in

kind of cyber hygiene.

Um, cyber security practises as well, because

with the increase in cyber security

challenges, it's actually keeping people off line,

especially women who are more subject to online harassment and bullying.

What's really exciting about,

um, the affordability issues linked to the devices is that there's a lot happening.

I think our industry has recognised

that if they don't bring down the handset,

uh, cost that,

it's just they're they're not gonna be able to get people uh, connected.

Uh, I was recently, um, in Rwanda

where,

uh, they have launched,

um, a smartphone.

I think it is around 13 or $14.

Uh, and then the package.

I think it's a dollar a month, and it's a pretty big, uh, amount of data

uh, that you have access to might even be unlimited during that month.

Um, and it's a partnership, uh, that they've done

with, um with Airtel, um,

and others and we're seeing that same kind of sort of experimentation

happen in other neighbouring African countries.

MTN has a programme. Safaricom has a programme

and

it it's

it's working. We're seeing it. It start to to take off.

And they have a pretty long list of, uh,

of users waiting to be part of those programmes.

Uh, you mentioned India.

Uh, we saw this very clearly in the context of the presidency of the G 20.

The efforts that they're making also to bring down the cost of the handset

and another factor,

uh, to keep in mind is we do have many countries over 100

that have universal service funds, and in many cases,

those Universal service funds have been used and are being used to

subsidise and offset the cost of smartphones.

And all of that being said, I think it's important to remember that

feature phones still have value.

And so we shouldn't exclude

feature phones when we look at at at benefits that connectivity can bring.

So it's not just a smartphone. A feature phone can still have at least some value.

Thank you.

We have a couple of questions online on the floor. Christo. I.

I thought I saw your hand raised earlier. I don't know if you have a question. Still,

John, please.

Yeah. Good.

Yes, Uh, Secretary General,

uh, I was wondering if you could elaborate a bit on

the 2200 cyberattacks daily.

Uh, has the ITU got any interesting data

on the impact this is having on ecommerce

and identity theft

on a daily basis?

Secondly, the attacks on critical infrastructure, especially on health care,

as we saw

in the past week in the US.

And thirdly, many of the

member states

spending

we have some people online.

We'll

get if you want to take one of those two questions, please, Secretary General.

OK,

under the table.

Uh, thank you. Good question.

So, um I mean, our our our research indicates,

as I said that that attacks are increasing by some 80% year on year,

and daily numbers obviously go up and down.

Um, and

we

are all I think it's fair to say, um,

more concerned.

Um, now, more than ever, when we see these increases in in in attacks and

whether it's, um,

health care institution or establishment or

financial institutions or or government,

attacks.

Um, I think every attack needs to be taken seriously, and we need to find ways to

to address it. Um, I mean, I think I heard at the end of that question

the submarine cable issue.

And maybe I'll I'll just jump right into that because that

that is, uh, in the headlines. Um, and I think we're seeing, um,

more and more concerns about submarine cables.

And, of course,

what's important to remember is that submarine cables are

a fundamental piece of our global communication system.

Uh, carrying voice, data, et cetera.

I What's also important to note is that we have some.

I think it's close to 500

cables. Uh, and

unfortunately, outages happen probably 100 or so or what the the the data tells us.

And it's not always clear what causes those, um, outages.

Uh, the current outage, uh, in the red Sea I know is, is being discussed and

investigations are still ongoing.

Um, I just wanted to add what the ITU. Does in that context.

Um, and this is linked to our universal connectivity work. Uh, our standards work.

Uh, is we focus on the resilience angle.

Uh, we have a lot of discussions happening in the standard A

study groups

that are looking

at the resilience angle. How can we build better resilience,

Uh, and also looking at it from the smart cable angle, Uh,

which is quite an important, uh, work agenda in the context of our standardisation

work.

Thank you, though. We'll go now to a couple of questions that we have online.

We have a couple of minutes left with the secretary general.

I'll turn it over first to Antonio from FA.

Thank you very much.

My question is about the regulation of, uh, artificial intelligence.

Uh, what is, in your opinion,

the main questions that have to be taken into account for this regulation?

And do you think that ITU should be the leading regulator of this technology?

Thank you.

Yeah. Thank you.

so, as I mentioned, we've been engaged on these topics for a number of years. And

when it comes to specific work topics,

uh, we started to approach this through a standards lens,

Uh, looking at, uh, artificial intelligence in different groups.

Uh, that we have. We call them focus groups.

Uh, we've been addressing a I

in health care,

um, autonomous driving, uh,

in

disaster management in agriculture

and looking at it from a standards angle and working with a number of UN Partners.

Uh, WHO is a big partner in our in our A I,

uh, for health group,

uh, together with Wi

O.

and they've done some, uh, important,

um, contributions, um, in four different topic areas, and they call it through, uh,

an open,

open code effort.

I think when it comes to to a I, we have to be focusing on

the transparency issues,

the accountability issues.

As I mentioned, uh, as I mentioned before the safety dimension Security, ethics,

uh, the data piece, the algorithms,

Uh, again, I have to say this because tomorrow is International Women's Day.

Uh, there's a huge bias. Uh, when it comes to,

uh, the data sets,

uh, there were some, I think, 130 plus systems that were analysed,

uh, a i systems. And they found that there were

I think it was 40. Something percent had

a significant gender bias. So that's kind of concerning,

uh, when it comes to regulating again,

we have to be careful not to over regulate and stifle innovation.

We have to find that balance.

Uh, and ITU,

uh, is doing its part in that we gather

we're the only institution that gathers the world's digital right

regulators the the the world's IC T regulators.

We have our global symposium for regulators coming up in July in Uganda.

Uh, we will have a big focus on a I

and we'll also have the focus on, uh, a I governance at our A I for good summit.

But the

the issues of who should govern

and I often get the question,

um which is what? There are too many governance efforts happening.

Uh, I'm not sure that that's a bad thing.

Uh, for me, it means that

there's an important focus on a topic that we need to be looking at clearly now.

Uh, but what we need to be doing is learning from each other.

Where do we really need to be regulating?

Where can we let innovation,

uh, take its course?

How can we look, um,

at at things on a more global level when it comes to water marking

and red teaming so that we are sure that when things get out there,

that they're actually safe.

Um, this is a big part of the work of the Secretary General's advisory body.

Um, as a UN specialised agency, we co chair a UN interagency group.

Uh, we have just made an important,

input, uh, to a UN committee. It's also going to be shared, uh, with, um,

with the H lab.

And what's interesting is in this group of more than

40 agencies is that we have identified a significant number.

When I say significant is, I think is more than 50 of normative frameworks,

uh, regulations, guidelines that we can draw from international ones within our,

um, constituents

That can help us as we try

to navigate. Um, the the the pathway forward for a I

OK, I do note that we're at time. We have two questions are online. Uh, a FP.

And I have, uh, UN brief. Maya plans online.

I don't know, Secretary General, if we took two very short questions

beginning

at, uh, to finish this up. So then we'll go to Nina first to you and then Maya.

Yes. Hi. Thank you for taking my question.

Um, I was gonna ask you about, uh,

what your biggest fears are around the developments we're seeing in a I

if what is basically keeping you up at night and on that issue?

I wanted to come back on what you were saying on the bias. Um,

because UEO had a report out today about

the unequivocal evidence of prejudice against women.

Uh, within on, uh, all the most popular A I tools.

Um, how do you counter that? Uh, that,

uh, algorithmic bias and sexual sexism. Thank you.

Thank you. Um,

I think my biggest fear and what keeps me up at night

is the 2.6 billion people

that are not connected. And I say that because if you're not part of the digital

world,

then you're not part of the A I world. And I do think

we have to We have to close that gap.

Um, and

in parallel find ways to

make a i safer. Um, so I'll I I'll I'll

stop on that point. But, um, in terms of the bias issue and UNESCO's,

um, launch,

we have to remember

that

women

are less connected,

that women are less represented in this sector.

So I'm the first woman to lead ITU in almost 100 and 60 years.

I hope I'm not the last.

there are not enough women in stem.

There are not enough women in a I There are not enough women in quantum,

not enough women in space.

And I do think when it comes to

to the data, um, the algorithms we need to have more women at the table

in stem fields in general.

But in particular, as we look to the future of a I,

we need to get more women in a I like now.

Thank you. And we'll close out the list. Maya plans you in brief.

Yes.

Thank you very much for taking my question, Secretary General, uh,

when you talk about the 100 billion needed

to bring 2.6 billion people online by 2026.

can you give us a breakdown? How did ITU arrive at this number?

Thank you for the question.

so the 100 billion that we're targeting by 2026 is the first step,

but it does not close.

The digital divide.

Uh, partner to connect was constructed,

uh, as a pledging platform as a global pledging platform to encourage

countries companies, uh, civil society,

academic institutions to come forward and make a commitment

to help connect the hardest to connect.

It's focused on the access piece, The adoption piece,

the skill building piece and also the value creation piece, which is

being able to create applications and

services so that people can actually leverage

their participation in the digital economy.

But when it comes to overall numbers,

we did a study

called Connecting Humanity.

Uh, and our study showed that it would take over 428 billion

to connect the unconnected. And we're actually in the process of, uh of revisiting

that exercise to see how the calculations may have shifted

because that work was done on the basis of just connecting.

And we know that just connecting is not enough.

Uh, so that's a work in progress.

And I would also say another piece of that work, uh, actually started in Africa,

went together with the World Bank

and the Broadband Commission. Uh,

we came up with an African Moonshot

that said, if you wanted to close the gap in Africa,

which has one of the biggest gaps when it comes to digital, we would need 100 billion.

And so building on that methodology,

we came up with a connecting humanity construct.

Uh,

and we will be going deeper to understand the numbers and where we need

to be focusing targeting our interventions and

hopefully bringing the needed investment with it.

Madam Secretary General, thank you for the time that you've given us.

Thank you for your questions when we have gone over time,

but we look forward to the next opportunity to be able to do this. Thank you very much.