Global leaders to share broadband vision

With key recommendations to be presented to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on 19 September

Global leaders to meet with Ban Ki-moon

Members of the Broadband Commission for Digital Development will meet with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on 19 September to share their recommendations on the international rollout of broadband.

Meeting ahead of the UN Millennium Development Goal Review Summit in New York, senior figures from government, industry, civil society and UN agencies will present key findings from their final outcome report, which is designed to serve as a global blueprint for rapid broadband development.

The Commission is made up of 58 leaders from across the public and private sectors. It was founded in May 2010 by the International Telecommunication Union and UNESCO, with a mission to find practical ways in which countries at all stages of development can provide broadband networks for their citizens, in co-operation with the private sector.

Rwandan President Paul Kagame of Rwanda and Carlos Slim Helú, honorary lifetime chairman of Grupo Carso, are co-chairs. ITU secretary-general Hamadoun Touré and UNESCO director-general, Irina Bokova, serve as joint vice chairs.

The Commission believes broadband should be viewed as a basic national infrastructure.