2018 Annual Spring Meeting of the Broadband Commission

Date

May 7, 2018

Location

Kigali, Rwanda

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The 2018 Spring Meeting of the Broadband Commission was held in Kigali, Rwanda on 6-7 May at the invitation of H.E. Mr Paul Kagame, President of Rwanda and Mr Mats Granryd Director General of GSMA.

During the two-day event Commissioners had a chance to discuss and interact during onsite sessions of the four Broadband Commission Working Groups on Sunday, 6 May (Vulnerable Countries, Epidemic Preparedness, Digital Entrepreneurship, and Digital Health). This working day was followed by a full-day meeting of the Commission on Monday, 7May.

The 2018 Spring Meeting comes on the heels of the release by the Commission of its new 2025 Targets, which seek to fast-track the digital connectivity of the millions worldwide that remain unconnected.

This year’s meeting took place in conjunction with the Transform Africa Summit 2018 from 7-10 May. The event is built on the basis of 5 pillars that reflect the principles of the Smart Africa Manifesto, which are: Policy, Access, e-Government, Private sector/entrepreneurship and Sustainable Development. To support the implementation of the Pillars, they were built on four enablers: Innovation, Communications and advocacy, Capacity building and Resource mobilization.

The event’s main purpose, through these pillars and enablers is to contribute to economic growth and job creation throughout the continent.

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"Africa's economic transformation requires broadband infrastructure with an emphasis on both access and affordability. The reality is that all other digital services whether in commerce or education or healthcare run on top of broadband. Africa's size, geography and settlement patterns mean that we must rely on a variety of different technologies to deliver broadband including satellite, fibre optic and mobile. It is up to us to lead the way in driving innovation both in policy and business models in order to speed up the provision of broadband where it has been slowest to reach."

"I was honoured to join President Kagame in hosting this meeting of the Broadband Commission as we examine how we can accelerate the adoption of mobile broadband globally, but more importantly, how we can better equip society to participate in the digital world. As we will soon see the first 5G networks rolling out, it is more important than ever that governments and industry work together to ensure that all citizens benefit from this new era of hyper-connectivity."