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  • Tech - News - Startups
  • Updated: November 09, 2020

Tech Experts Pledge Increased Investment In Digital Infrastructure

Tech Experts Pledge Increased Investment In Digital Infrastr

The Nigerian Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, directors of telecommunications and technology companies as well as ministers in other countries have agreed to increase their investments in digital infrastructure.

The business leaders, who spoke at the Ministerial Roundtable at the ITU Virtual Digital World 2020, said increased investment had become necessary in view of how indispensable digital technologies had become to the functioning of economies.

According to them, the digital divide, both between and within developed and developing economies have been brought to the fore.

They said the terrible experience of the COVID-19 pandemic offered great opportunities for the ICT community to come together and accelerate digital transformation on an unprecedented scale.

ITU Secretary-General, Houlin Zhao, stressed the importance of cooperation between ICTs and other businesses in accelerating ICT development, based on the four principles of infrastructure, investment, innovation and inclusiveness.

He urged national government authorities to break down silos and coordinate their approach to digitisation.

“We simply cannot continue to do business as before. Let us seize this opportunity to accelerate progress towards connecting all of humanity. Let us work across borders and sectors to build back better together,” he said.

Pantami spoke on how the pandemic had accelerated the implementation of digital transformation programmes and planned national strategies.

He noted that broadband penetration in Nigeria had increased by 10 per cent in one year to date, with the country well on track to meet its target of 90 per cent penetration by 2025.

The minister stated that digital technology had sustained government services and operations throughout the crisis with increased efficiency and savings in cost and time.

“Virtual engagement in Federal Government activities is now institutionalised,” Pantami said.

READ MORE: Digital Economy, Veritable Platform For Job Creation ― Pantami

The Secretary of State, Ministry of Post and Telecommunications, Cambodia, Mohamed Jamal, said the government strategy for digital infrastructure development, technology adoption and capacity building had been accelerated by the increasing reliance on ICT for people to stay connected, informed, working, studying and doing business.

According to him, access and affordability are key, and can only be achieved by attracting investment in digital literacy, 5G and infrastructure.

The Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies, South Africa, Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams, explained that COVID-19 was an opportunity for everyone, everywhere to embrace technology and learning new ways of doing things – such as drones delivering medicines where ambulances could no longer go.

She noted that the pandemic threw the inequalities of the digital divide into sharp focus, with remote and rural areas facing a real threat to life through lack of connectivity and information.

According to Ndabeni-Abrahams, the effect of the pandemic has fast-tracked digital technologies in every government service, but human capital development remains at the heart of economic and social development.

She said, “It is time for integration. The time for silo operations is gone. Let us build the digital world as the new world.”

The Founder and Chairman, Bharti Enterprises, Sunil Bharti Mittal, said governments and regulators must provide the right support in terms of taxation policies, spectrum allocation and rights of way if they expected the industry to deliver on its promise as the provider of an essential service.

He said, “I am sure we all agree that we would not be able to imagine a world without connectivity during this vital time.

“We in the industry will remain steadfast in ensuring the best technology at the most affordable rates to all citizens of the world.”

The Global Head of Government Relations at Nokia, Marc Vancoppenolle, said accelerating investment in broadband worldwide was essential to support that demand with meaningful connectivity, at the right speed and of the right quality for multiple use cases.

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