Boston Consulting Group (BCG), a leading global consulting firm, and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the UN specialized agency for ICTs, announced today a global partnership to help close the digital divide through Giga, the bold initiative of UNICEF and ITU that aims to connect every school to the Internet and every young person to information, opportunity, and choice.
Over 3.7 billion people in the world do not have access to the Internet, of which 369 million are young people. Closing the digital divide requires global cooperation, leadership, partnerships, and innovation in finance and technology. BCG’s knowledge, expertise and global presence will contribute to Giga’s efforts toward universal connectivity, providing every child with the skills they need to transform their future.
I’m proud that BCG is partnering with the ITU to close the Digital Divide globally. Helping to accelerate Giga, the UNICEF and ITU co-operation to connect all schools, will be incredibly important in closing the digital divide. Every one of the 369 million young people currently unable to access the Internet deserves information, opportunity and choice.
As a Knowledge Partner of Giga, BCG will help to further develop school connectivity operating models, based on different country typologies, forming a basis for helping countries achieve universal connectivity. BCG will also help identify enablers of success from top countries across key dimensions such as: Financing; Roles of public and private sector; Procurement and Government skills/capacity challenges; and synergies and economies of scale between the different efforts of Giga and other ITU programmes in order to expand and scale connectivity solutions to additional countries.
The operating models include how connectivity is configured, how it operates, and how the business models would work for the network so that it is sustainable. BCG will also develop frameworks comparing the pros and cons of each operating model depending on the type of country involved. This work will also be applied to current active Giga countries as case studies.
I am pleased to welcome BCG to ITU and the Giga family as a Giga Knowledge Partner. BCG’s expertise and long-standing record as leading strategy advisor will help Giga optimize its country operating model and bring us closer to our vision of having every school and every child connected to the Internet
BCG’s work with the ITU will also contribute to the Broadband Commission Working Group on Digital Learning, with a specific focus on the infrastructure and connectivity operating model strand.