Ministerial Roundtable
21h30, 14th Oct 2021
- Your Excellency Mr. Houlin Zhao, Secretary General of ITU,
- Excellencies, Ministers,
We have changed our name from Telecom World to Digital World. It is right decision. The integration of telecom technology, information technology and digital technology, like cloud computing, big data, IoT and AI, has created a revolution under the name Digital Transformation.
In the last 3 days, Ministers and leaders of telecom, IT and digital industry, from around the world, have shared our views, policies and initiatives on digital transformation.
2.400 colleagues from 159 countries have joined our sessions. 1 Prime Minister, 1 Deputy Prime Minister, 32 ministers, 8 vice ministers have been participating in our online meeting. 90 speakers from welknown institutions and technology corporations have shared their ideas with us.160.000 visitors visting our booths.
Online has made us even closer, like in the same room. The online world is small. Developed and developing countries are facing the same pandemic and digital challenges.
In the Ministerial Roundtable, we discussed the key factors for digital transformation: Broadband infrastructure, Cutting the cost and The new role of the government in digital transformation.
The policy of one country could be very useful for others. Success or failure of one country could be valuable for others. In this process, the ITU has a key role to play, in sharing best practices, promoting investment, and leading global initivatives.
We all share one goal, and one mission: get everyone connected by 2030. With nearly 50% of world population still unconnected, this is almost impossible mission. But, we can make it happen if we are together, if governments are side by side with ICT sector.
Digital transformation is a fundamental change. Digital transformation is not only technology transformation but mindset transformation.
For a company, success of digital transformation depends mostly on CEO, not CIO. For a country, success of digital transformation depends mostly on Prime Minister, not ICT minister. And this is very key difference between IT application and digital transformation.
Excellencies, Ministers,
We have come to the end of our Ministerial Roundtable. What we discussed, what we shared, will be useful for all ITU members to accelerate digital transformation.
On our online platform, the virtual exhibition and video clips of our discussions are now available for everyone. We welcome all colleagues from ITU members to visit the virtual booths and explore the sessions of the Ministerial Roundtable.
Finally, I would like to thank Mr Houlin Zhao and his team, for supporting Việt Nam in hosting the virtual ITU Digital World 2021.
And I thank you, Ministers, speakers for joining and sharing your views in this Ministerial Roundtable.
Thank you and I wish you all good health and every success!
And see you next year!
