ITU Telecom blog

How Zimbabwean SME Purple Signs are bringing ever more Africans the benefits of affordable, accessible sign language tools – thanks in part to ITU Telecom World Purple Signs is set to impact the lives of at least 300 000 deaf adults and children, and enable up to 10 000 front office service providers to communicate with the deaf without prior …

Despite being a formidable challenge, the global pandemic presents an enormous opportunity for the information and communication technology (ICT) sector. The invaluable role of digital technologies in the response to the COVID-19 crisis is universally recognized, and now is the time to use that momentum to fast-track digital transformation, drive economic recovery, promote social inclusion and tackle the digital divide. …

There’s only one news story dominating all outlets, social and mainstream media, online and offline conversations these days: COVID-19, the novel, highly infectious and potentially lethal coronavirus. The situation is new to us all and changing so quickly that by the time you read these words, you will probably have experienced the impact of new restrictions, new statistics and new …

Today’s connected world offers infinite possibilities. The rapid pace of technological change and the impact of market forces are driving the evolution of the digital economy.  By the end of 2018, 5.1 billion people around the world subscribed to mobile services, accounting for 67% of the global population. In 2018, almost 300 million people connected to mobile internet for the …

Freedom of speech research nowadays mainly concentrates on issues around communication processes on social media platforms  – with special regard to finding a legal solution to the phenomenon of social media platforms uniquely affecting the plurality of democratic discourse during their activities. The most fraudulent promises stemming from publicity expanding intensively due to the technology of the internet were that …

We are well past the point of speculating about the consequences of unchecked use of technologies like automated decision-making systems, biometrics, facial recognition or blockchain on our lives and societies. Loss of privacy and autonomy, digital exclusion and the widespread erosion of trust in democratic institutions are only some of the unintended consequences with social repercussions that are becoming more …

The first move towards the creation of a digital nation is to provide every citizen, institution, company and government with the chance of having an active participation in the digital economy and in developing digitally-driven social interactions. According to the World Bank, globally 1.7 billion adults remain unbanked. In this sense, Her Majesty Queen Máxima of the Netherlands, Special Advocate …

Does digital transformation even exist without the personal digital transformation? I recently came across an interesting imaginary dialogue in relation to the labour market transformation. During the late-stage industrial revolution when automobiles took over the place, one said: You see? We don’t have to worry about that much. In the past, we had carters and carts and today we have …

Electronic waste, or e-waste, is often seen as one of the telecom industry’s biggest global challenges. But what if it’s actually a huge opportunity for business and society? Buying Green It’s on the agenda for just about any large organisation: green procurement. Ecovadis’ research in 2017 mentioned that some 97% of all corporates, municipalities and national governments aim to buy …

Encouragingly, ICT investment across the world, and especially amongst emerging nations, remains positive and is growing fast. This investment is made in the hope and expectation that nations will benefit economically. However, it is not without risk. Whilst internet access is the foundation of economic growth in the digital era, economic growth is not directly driven by access alone – …