ITU summit served a channel to ‘connect the unconnected’

TDT | Manama       

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

‘Connecting the unconnected’ remained the major goal at the Generation Connect Global Youth Summit being held at the Intare Conference Arena, in Kigali, Rwanda, last week, which saw the participation of five youth leaders from Bahrain.

The summit was organised by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) with the set objective of encouraging and inspiring the youth from across the world to become an agent of change through the use of technology.

The Daily Tribune had a unique opportunity to interact with the youth participants from the Kingdom at a ‘Meet the Press’ event held at Telecom Regulatory Authority (TRA) Headquarters in Seef.

Speaking at the event, 19-year-old Ali Al Toblani, a finance student at American University of Bahrain and one of the participants at the summit, said the ‘Draft Call to Action’ was the major highlight at the summit.

“It consisted of recommendations submitted by us, the youth representatives, to the ITU. “We are certain that our recommendations will be implemented in the future and the ways to implement them will be discussed during the next summit.”

Mr Ali said it has been a great opportunity to take part in the summit, which had representatives from across the world. Fatema Almearami, 17, a student of West Riffa Secondary Grade School, the youngest of participants from the Kingdom, said she cherished every moment of being at the summit.

“In light of constantly developing technologies, it is up to the youth to seize the opportunity and become future leaders while contributing towards the nation-building process,” she said.

Environmental specialist Shahd Alrabia, another participant, said the summit offered a real platform to ‘connect the unconnected’. “The youth from across the globe are different when it comes to the challenges they face. And the summit has offered a platform to connect these youth from totally different backgrounds by the latest advancements in technologies.”

The 22-year-old said the future of nations lies in the hands of the youth, who are the first to explore any of the latest technologies. “It is up to us to adopt the positive side of all emerging technologies to ensure that youth are always brought to decision-making tables. And such a move would guarantee youth engagement and youth empowerment.”

Salma Alhashemi, 25, the fourth participant, who is employed at TRA as the Regulatory and Policy Development Officer, said innovation is the cornerstone towards the development of any nation.

“Such summits offer the best room for the youth to know how important the concept of innovation is. The more innovation, the more productivity and subsequently, the more economic growth.”

She said latest technologies can positively contribute towards women empowerment amidst women constituting a huge share of Artificial Intelligence and new technology workforce. Abdulla Almubarak, 27, the fifth participant is a mechanical engineer working in the Kingdom’s oil and gas sector. He said the participation of five youths in the summit offers concrete evidence regarding the importance the Kingdom attaches to youth empowerment.

“Youth are the main contributors in building the technical infrastructure of any nation and such summits offer a channel for them to grow their visions and plans for their nations. “Bahrain is an emerging leader in the tech sector encompassing fintech and AI. It has had many milestones including Amazon Web Services setting up its regional headquarters here.

Many tech giants are on the way to invest here. The talented workforce is also an added advantage for the country.” This year’s summit was held in a hybrid format, with physical participation, as well as virtual youth engagement, and the TRA of Bahrain took this chance to select and sponsor an exemplary delegation of Bahraini youth to attend and participate in the summit.

The Summit brought together young leaders, entrepreneurs, social change-makers, engineers, policy specialists, students, and others and put them in touch with Business leaders, influential decision makers, and community advocates that also attended the event.

The Summit aimed to address the digital divide and related topics, including digital skills, gender, climate change, online safety, the future of work, entrereneurship, digital dependencies, and more.

A “Call to Action” document themed “My Digital Future” was also issued. The consultations brought together students, young professionals, digital entrepreneurs and youth networks from around the world to co-create the draft Call to Action.

The aim of the process is to enhance youth engagement in building an inclusive, sustainable digital future for all through participation in government, ITU and the wider UN system.

The Youth Summit was co-designed with young people from ITU’s Generation Connect Youth network, of which one of our very own Bahraini delegation was a part of, included students with a passion for digital solutions, social change-makers, young entrepreneurs, promising young engineers and policy specialists from government, business and universities.