By Ross Jackson Staff Reporter
Dr Hessa al-Jaber, the secretary general of the Supreme Council of Information Technology (ictQATAR), yesterday described broadband as a “citizen right”.“Our target by 2015 should be that no one is denied access to any form of digital communication, and everyone is part of the connected web regionally and globally,” al-Jaber said at the opening of the Connect Arab Summit 2012.Meeting this target would “effectively position broadband as a citizen right,” added al-Jaber, who went on to say that broadband “is the simplest form of digital communications we will accept for our times”. This sentiment was echoed by Hamadoun Toure, secretary general, International Telecommunication Union (ITU), who said that broadband was the key to the “new technological era”.The Connect Arab Summit, supported by the ITU, a specialised UN agency, has brought together heads of state, government ministers and key stakeholders to address the information and communication technology (ICT) challenges and opportunities facing the Arab world. In her speech, al-Jaber explained that “if we want to grow our economies at a pace exceeding 7% year-on-year and over sustained periods so that income and output double every decade, create 75mn jobs by 2020, and create societies that can achieve the level progressiveness that our century demands, then we must be equipped with the digital technologies that will support our march into this prosperous future. Recent research is showing that a 10% improvement in digitisation can trigger 0.6% gain in gross domestic product, and nearly 1% reduction in unemployment, along with a marked increase in innovation levels. And, the same 10% increase in digitisation can contribute to more than 1% increase in the Better Life Index, and another 1% increase in the government Transparency Index.” She added that it was “encouraging that some nations in the Arab world already rank in the top 30 globally in terms of overall connectedness. We also find it disheartening that other Arab nations are severely falling behind in terms of network readiness, even in relation to their economic standing.”Jeffrey Sachs, director of the Earth Institute, Columbia University and a Commissioner in the Broadband Commission for Digital Development, said that there was now a “chance for convergence of progress, and for poor countries to leap ahead” of more developed societies and economies. He said that mobile banking in rural Africa was sometimes more advanced than in New York City, as the technology is finding users who can make the most of it. At the opening of the summit, heads of state from Sudan, Djibouti and the Union of the Comoros and a representative from Egypt presented their countries’ various ICT projects and initiatives, as well as their shortcomings. Each country has a unique set of challenges, and they are hoping to work with their regional partners to improve infrastructure and access to mobile networks and broadband Internet, with improved connections to neighbouring countries. Mohamed Salem, Minister of Communications and Information Technologies, representing the head of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Armed Forces, said that a key goal for the region as a whole was to develop Arabic digital content and preserve culture and heritage.He said that while digitising books and documents was important for education and research, generating new Arabic content could also help tackle youth unemployment. Participants in the summit are hoping to put the $46bn of available investment funds to use in projects across the region that might reduce the disparity in ICT access, as well as tackle the critical issues of economic and social development.Conference organisers say that the coming days will see some major announcements regarding projects and partnerships in the ICT field which will work towards these goals.