ITU Conference Sets 2020 Broadband Connect Agenda

Countries participating in the 2014 ITU Plenipotentiary Conference (PP-14) in Busan, South Korea -- 171 of them including the US -- have unanimously committed to a Connect 2020 Agenda, a strategic plan for an "interconnected world," setting targets to be achieved by 2020.

It is described as an effort to create an "information society, empowered by the interconnected world, where telecommunication/ICT enables and accelerates socially, economically and environmentally sustainable growth and development for everyone” based on what it calls the four pillars: growth, inclusiveness, sustainability, and innovation and partnerships and is meant to encompass government, the private sector, academia and civil society groups. Those include that, worldwide, 55% of households should have access to the Internet, 60% should be using the Internet, and 40% of broadband should be "more affordable."