Ibadan, 18 September 2023. – GSOA announced a new pledge to the Partner2Connect Digital Initiative led by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the United Nations agency for digital technologies. The pledge came at the SDG Digital event during the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Action Weekend at United Nations Headquarters in New York City. On the eve of the SDG Summit, the company pledged its best efforts to contribute through its members to help double the number of people connected by satellite to at least 500 million globally by 2030.
Furthermore, this pledge could result in global socio-economic benefits of more than 250 billion US dollars and would continue fostering unprecedented innovation, from integration with terrestrial services to backhaul and direct satellite broadband on land, in the air, and at sea. All of this will positively contribute to the achievement of the SDGs. This new commitment complements eight pledges made by GSOA last year, continuing to advance and bridge the digital divide, improve emergency connectivity, and support national administrations through capacity-building workshops and seminars.
Isabelle Mauro, Director General, GSOA, said, “The satellite industry has recently seen unparalleled levels of innovation and growth and is constantly investing to satisfy growing demands for resilient and secure connectivity from users throughout the world. GSOA’s P2C pledge will help accelerate inclusive digital transformation across the globe while contributing to ITU’s goal of universal connectivity.”
In addition, Doreen Bogdan-Martin, ITU Secretary-General, stated, “Satellite broadband is a potential game-changer for the unconnected and the UN Sustainable Development Goals,” The Secretary-General further stated, “We welcome GSOA’s new pledge as a major step forward in connecting the 2.6 billion people that are still offline.”
