Affordable and reliable ICT infrastructure is one of the main pillars of the development of e-commerce.
Ideally, there should be universal coverage of high speed broadband, with regular upgrading of infrastructure, and reduced or eliminated artificial regulatory barriers to service providers wishing to access the network or other services.
In addition, the international regulatory environment of ICT infrastructure and related services should be open, competitive and transparent. However, the broadband penetration is still low in many developing countries.
This session will explore the current situation of the broadband infrastructure, what is currently done to address the barriers and challenges and what should be done in order to facilitate greater development gains from e-commerce.
Moderator: Ms. Doreen Bogdan-Martin, Chief, Strategic Planning and Membership Department, ITU
Speakers:
- H.E. Mr. Junichi Ihara, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Japan to the International Organizations in Geneva
- Mr. Konstantinos Komaitis, Director, Policy Development, Internet Society
- Mr. Alex Wong, Head, Global Challenge Partnerships & Member of the Executive Committee, World Economic Forum
- Mr. James Lockett, Vice-President and Head of Trade Facilitation and Market Access, Huawei Technologies
- Ms. Lotte Abildgaard, Vice President, Group Corporate Affairs, Telenor Group
