President Paul Kagame has called for collective efforts to tackle inequalities seen in digital transformation by prioritizing public-private partnerships to expand affordable digital access and equip vulnerable citizens with digital literacy skills.

He made the call during the 8th edition of World Telecommunication Development Conference (WTDC) 2022, which kicked off in Kigali on June 6, under the theme "Connecting the unconnected to achieve sustainable development.”

WTDC gathers young leaders, entrepreneurs, social change-makers, engineers, policy specialists, students, business leaders and others from across the world to find solutions to the challenges of connecting the unconnected in order to achieve sustainable development.

In Rwanda and the rest of the world, the pandemic has accelerated the adoption of digital technologies but challenges remain, Kagame observed.

"Access to high-speed internet has not kept up with the first pace of digital transformation and digitization of the economy in general. If such inequalities are left unchecked, development will accelerate more and more in some parts of the world while elsewhere it slows down.”

The numbers speak for themselves, he added, "one-third of the world remains offline and the majority are women in developing countries. The responsibility to shape the future of digital economy and ensure no one is left behind lies with us and everyone working together.”

The Head of State echoed that no company, country, or institution has the resources to do it alone.

He emphasized that the youth should be at the forefront in the fight to achieve universal and affordable connectivity.

"Young people are already the most connected members of society but that also means they are most exposed to online safety and privacy risks. In the case of Rwanda, for example, last year, we passed personal data protection and privacy law to create a safe enabling environment for both consumers and entrepreneurs.”

The conference was also an opportunity to deliver the Generation Connect call to action entitled "My Digital Future”, to which the President responded: "Some of us have heard you very clearly.”

Despite the huge cost imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic on every country in the world, Kagame said that one of the only silver linings has been the demonstration of the power of digital connectivity as a tool for resilience, knowledge transfer and economic growth, and "we cannot let that go to waste.”

Houlin Zhao, Secretary General of the International Communication Union (ITU), reiterated the obligations to connect the unconnected and drive the development of the new technologies which is central to achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

The WTDC will also feature the Partner2Connect Digital Development Roundtable, an open global event spanning over three days from June 7 to 9.

Through the roundtable, participants will be informed about the needs, commitments, and resources available from each stakeholder to bridge the digital divide and be able to forge new partnerships for universal meaningful connectivity.

The conference is organized by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), through its Telecommunication Development Bureau (BDT) every four years to consider topics, projects and programmes relevant to telecommunication development.