UN Broadband Commission to government leaders: broadband can be your most powerful development catalyst

The Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development’s 13th full meeting reached consensus on the need for a new set of connectivity targets to help governments more effectively harness broadband networks and services to drive progress towards the 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

Commissioners agreed that broadband networks, services and applications have enormous potential to deliver dramatic results in education, health and socio-economic growth. A recent informal meeting of Commissioners at the World Economic Forum in Davos emphasized that connecting the unconnected and generating sufficient investment opportunities for the universal deployment of broadband networks, services and applications will be a key factor in achieving all 17 global goals. The Commission also agreed on the importance of developing National Digital Scorecards to measure national progress towards achieving broadband targets.