TMT
The United Nations ’ Sustainable Development Goals ( SDGs ) represent the 17 critical objectives that the world needs to work towards . Its ambitions represent nothing short of fundamental transformation – tackling poverty , ensuring peace , reversing climate change , and ensuring equal opportunities for all people .
This blueprint has been adopted by all of the UN member states . And , through GSMA , the mobile industry was notably the first industry to commit to the SDGs .
Relating the SDGs to telecoms The history of the International Telecommunication Union ( ITU ) long predates that of the SDGs . The ITU has a 150-year history , bringing governments , industry leaders and experts together under one roof to enact change .
“ We ' re a vital part of the engine that powers the internet . We are the global platform for emerging technologies . Our role is key , in everything from harmonising the radio frequency spectrum and satellite orbits to developing the global technical standards that underpin the digital world , and to promoting digital development in the global south ,” asserts Doreen Bogdan- Martin , Secretary-General of the ITU .
Speaking at this year ’ s Mobile World Congress , Bogdan-Martin outlines how the telecommunications industry can use the SDGs to measure its success , and why the digital cooperation ITU facilitates is more important now than ever before .
© ITU / S . Acharya
44 May 2023