ITU Digital World 2021

Opening Ceremony live from Ha Noi, Viet Nam

an ITU Telecom event

Building the digital world. Together.

The 50th anniversary edition of the UN global tech event for government and industry took place online, September to December 2021

ITU Digital world 2021

Read the Ministerial Roundtable Outcomes

2021 highlights

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Session
summaries

Session
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Executive
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ITU Digital World 2021 SME Programme

Opening the door to opportunity for innovative tech SMEs with real social impact. UN credibility, expert mentoring, visibility and networking in our SME Awards and Masterclasses.

The 2021 Award winners

The Masterclasses

Our events bring together public and private sector leaders, SMEs, academia and experts from around the world to explore the impact of digital technologies and accelerate digital transformation. We bring you world-class content, debates, exhibition and networking opportunities, whatever the format.

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Global meeting place

Expert, international perspectives

Government and industry leaders

Technology, policy & strategy trends

Universal connectivity

ICTs for development

Who is it for

Programme summary

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Forum sessions

27 Oct, 13:30-15:00 (Geneva time):
Regulatory Roundtable - Ensuring participatory regulation for an equitable and safe digital future

5 Nov, 13:30-14:45 (Geneva time):
Upskilling us all: digital skills for a digital world

17 Nov, 13:30-14:45 (Geneva time):
Human at heart: privacy, transparency and accountability in AI

24 Nov, 13:30-15:00 (Geneva time):
Greening our own house: addressing the environmental footprint of digital technologies

26 Nov, 13:00-18:00 (Geneva time):
2nd joint ITU/WHO workshop on digital COVID-19 certificates

30 Nov, 13:30-14:45 (Geneva time):
Securing cyberspace and protecting privacy: meeting the challenges of a digital world

SME Awards

26 Oct, 12:00-14:00 (Geneva time):
Pitching Day 01: Connectivity

2 Nov, 12:00-14:00 (Geneva time):
Pitching Day 02: EdTech

9 Nov, 12:00-14:00 (Geneva time):
Pitching Day 03: Smart Cities

16 Nov, 12:00-14:00 (Geneva time):
Pitching Day 04: E-health

23 Nov, 12:00-14:00 (Geneva time):
Pitching Day 05: Digital finance

1 Dec, 15:00-16:30 (Geneva time):
ITU Digital World 2021 SME Awards Ceremony

Partner sessions

11 Nov, 13:00-15:00 (Geneva time):
The 10th GTI Spectrum and Technology Online Workshop

18 Nov, 08:30-09:45 (Geneva time):
Beyond chocolate: cutting-edge digital solutions from Switzerland

SME Masterclasses

28 Oct, 15:00-16:30 (Geneva time):
Sustainable startups and SME-corporate collaboration

29 Nov, 14:00-15:30 (Geneva time):
Finding the perfect connectivity product to market fit for SMEs

How to take part

Debate

Expert speakers, industry and government leaders, world-class debate. Exploring the new realities of digital transformation.

Sponsor

Your brand, message and thought-leadership. At the heart of the international ICT community.

Network

Connect with speakers, peers and participants in our informal online networking sessions.

Exhibit

A global virtual exhibition platform for the tech industry, featuring National Pavilions and business booths.

2021 Speakers

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Jessica Rosenworcel

Chairwoman
Federal Communications Commission
United States

Full bio

Ziyang Xu

Chief Executive Officer
ZTE Corporation

Amir Algibreen

VP Regulatory Affairs
Saudi Telecom

Mira Tayyiba

Secretary General
Ministry of Communications and Informatics
Indonesia

Iveta Lohovska

Principal Data Scientist and AI Ambassador
Hewlett Packard Enterprise

What they said

Fixed wireless access will play a key role in bridging the digital divide.

Technology Leadership Officer, Nokia

Mikael Rylander

Better data, more focus on mid-band spectrum and more funding are the ticket to making sure that 5G new technologies and broadband reach everyone, everywhere.

Acting Chairwoman, Federal Communications Commission, United States

Jessica Rosenworcel

Spectrum does not respect borders

Head of International Spectrum Policy, Office of Communications

Stephen Michael Talbot

5G is a highly flexible and constantly evolving innovation platform that integrates many different technology building blocks – wireless connectivity with very high performance, edge computing, integrated positioning, time sensitive networking and many more – and may become the digital backbone of digital transformation.

Chief Expert, Communication Technologies for the IoT, Robert Bosch GmbH

Andreas Mueller

Meaningful connectivity is achieved when everyone can use the internet every day using an appropriate device with enough data and fast connection

Minister of Transport, Communications and High Technologies of the Republic of Azerbaijan

Rashad Nabiyev

The fundamental constraints on the market have changed, and that's going to encourage more operators and more development, which eventually will lead to lower prices as well

Director of Satellite Policy, Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX)

David Goldman

The ability to blend together the capabilities of terrestrial networks with satellite networks to help provide a more sustainable solution that covers everywhere on the planet has a great deal of merit

Head of R&D, Vodafone

Luke Ibbetsen

Next generation networks require dense and heavy fibre deployment. This can be offset by careful resource sharing and planning, together with lowering the cost of core network operations as they become a software defined commodity