Setting the stage for two and half days of co-creation and active exchange of knowledge and experiences, the first forum session of this year’s event begins in landmark participatory style. The panel will discuss – and answer – the leading questions asked of the Broadband Leadership Summit prior to the event as posed by the online community, providing feedback from the Summit and setting clear challenges to the forum delegates and online audience alike.
The debate will then focus on how we can remove the barriers to the expansion of ICTs that currently leave huge rafts of the global population digitally disenfranchised, despite the fact that in theory, over 90% of the globe’s population has access to cell coverage. Major factors at play across both the developed and developing world include the lack of communications infrastructure and resources, patchy cell service, and the prohibitive cost of Internet access, electricity and computers. Wireless networks have the potential to deliver Internet access to almost everywhere in the world, yet there are still some countries where there is no supply-side competition. How can we identify the underlying causes of bottlenecks in the supply chain?