Live streamed from Ha Noi, Viet Nam, the vibrant Opening Ceremony celebrating the 50th anniversary of ITU Telecom events, the launch of the ITU Digital World 2021 Ministerial Roundtables and the opening of the Virtual Exhibition, demonstrated Viet Nam’s commitment to digital transformation in dazzling style.
Calling for the global ICT community to work together to accelerate the pace of digital transformation, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said: “This event will contribute to the exploration of the values of digital transformation and digital technologies, in the interest of a collaborative and sharing digital economy, for the benefit and progress of all people in all countries.”
“Ha Noi is the capital of ITU Digital World today,” stated ITU Secretary General Houlin Zhao, who expressed his delight to be in Viet Nam in person for the launch of the event. He praised Viet Nam for its remarkable achievements in ICT development, which made it “a great model for the region and the world – hosting this event in Viet Nam is the right decision!”
This is a milestone year for ITU Telecom, as 2021 marks the event’s fiftieth anniversary. “Over the last half-century, ITU Telecom events have supported marvellous innovation,” Zhao recalled. “They have provided a window into an industry that has been at the heart of life-changing advances in ICT, from the advent of the Internet to the powerful rise of wireless networks and emerging technologies like 5G, artificial intelligence, and others.”
Nguyen Manh Hung, Minister of Information and Communications, expressed ‘s the host country’s “heartfelt gratitude to the ITU and its Secretary-General Zhao Houlin, for having entrusted Viet Nam with the honour of organizing this event twice in a row – the 49th and 50th events, both convened virtually.”
As the world recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic, digital technologies are more important than ever, both in mitigating the effects of the crisis and in enabling rapid, sustainable development as the world adapts to the new normality of the digital space for increasing numbers of daily activities.
COVID-19 has caused great hardships and challenges but also provides a unique opportunity to push for digital transformation, driving more digital growth in one month than would have taken place in one year before the pandemic. Accelerating digital transformation in daily life will enable us to build a prosperous, secure, compassionate and green digital future for all.
Highlighting the importance of collaboration and public private partnerships, a key theme of ITU Digital World 2021 debates, the government of Viet Nam is focused on working with digital enterprises as the engine of growth, aiming for the digital economy to account for 20% of GDP by 2025 and 30% of GDP by 2030 – an ambitious but eminently achievable target given the full commitment of all branches of the government. The Prime Minister, Minister of Information and Communication Technologies, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Chairman of the Science and Technology Committee and ITU Secretary General took their places on stage for the dramatic, digitally-enhanced countdown to the official opening of the event – and the start of the Ministerial Roundtables on governing digital transformation.
See the full agenda for the week’s discussions and speaker line up: https://digital-world.itu.int//events/2021-event/calendar/
Register to join: https://digital-world.itu.int//events/2021-event/register/
