2.1.4 Broadband Commission for Digital Development
ITU and UNESCO set up the Broadband Commission for Digital Development in May
2010, in response to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon’s call to step up UN
efforts to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The Commission aims
to boost the importance of broadband on the international public policy
agenda and defines practical ways in which countries — at all stages of
development — can expand broadband access, in cooperation with the private
sector, to facilitate the achievement of the MDGs by 2015.
While not addressing the topic of ICTs in education directly, the Broadband
Commission argues that progress towards achieving each of the MDGs can be
accelerated with ICTs, in general, and broadband in particular. This is not
because ICTs and broadband are not end-goals in themselves, but because they
are cross-cutting drivers of socio-economic development like no other
technologies in the modern world. ICTs can bring healthcare, education and
government services to people wherever they live, as well as leveraging
training opportunities around the world. 29
At the Broadband Leadership Summit in Geneva in October 2011, the Broadband
Commission established four targets for making broadband policy universal and
for boosting affordability and broadband uptake, which in turn will also
affect school connectivity. The targets are:
/Target 1: Making broadband policy universal. By 2015, all countries should
have a national broadband plan or strategy or include broadband in their
Universal Access / Service Definitions./
/Target 2: Making broadband affordable. By 2015, entry-level broadband
services should be made affordable in developing countries through adequate
regulation and market forces (amounting to less than 5% of average monthly
income)./
/Target 3: Connecting homes to broadband. By 2015, 40% of households in
developing countries should have Internet access./
/Target 4: Getting people online. By 2015, Internet user penetration should
reach 60% worldwide, 50% in developing countries and 15% in LDCs.30/