In a press release coming from the ITU, the Broadband Commission for Digital Development of the United Nations has agreed on four targets to ensure that the global population has the opportunity to engage in the emerging digital society.
Quoted from the press release, the new targets cover broadband policy, affordability and uptake, in terms of households and people:
- Making broadband policy universal. By 2015, all countries should have a national broadband plan or strategy or include broadband in their Universal Access / Service Definitions.
- Making broadband affordable. By 2015, entry-level broadband services should be made affordable in developing countries through adequate regulation and market forces (for example, amount to less than 5% of average monthly income).
- Connecting homes to broadband. By 2015, 40% of households in developing countries should have Internet access.
- Getting people online. By 2015, Internet user penetration should reach 60% worldwide, 50% in developing countries and 15% in Least Developed Countries (LDCs).
The announcement from the Broadband Challenge commission also calls on industry for innovation in business models to help achieve these goals. It also calls on governments to develop a policy framework for online health and education services. It calls also the civil society to encourage and stimulate local content production as well as localization of digital content to further increase local demand for broadband services.
There is one more suggestion I would like to see in this announcement, and that is, apart from healthcare and education, to suggest the development of innovative policy frameworks promoting tele-working as an alternative employment status.
Read more here.
