Contents - Connect-World

Developing Regions and Technology
Connecting peopleNew technologies, new hope
by Bill Owens, President and CEO, Nortel Networks
The World Bank estimates half the people in the world live on less than $2 a day and telephone
service is still a luxury for them. Half of Africas 800 million people and 75 per
cent of China’s 1.3 billion inhabitants have never made a phone call. Converged networks,
based on packet technologies, can lower the cost of communications, make it
affordable for this population, and revolutionize many aspects of their lives—how they
work, learn, receive medical services, travel and entertain.
Bill Owens is President and Chief Executive Officer of Nortel Networks. Previously, Mr Owens was chief executive officer
and chairman of Teledesic LLC and President, Chief Operating Officer and Vice-Chairman of Science Applications
International Corporation (SAIC), the USs largest employee-owned high-technology company. Prior to joining SAIC,
Owens was vice-chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the second-ranking military officer in the United States. Mr
Owens had responsibility for the re-organisation and re-structuring of the United States armed forces in the post-Cold
War era. Previously, Bill Owens served as deputy chief of Naval Operations for Resources, Warfare Requirements and
Assessments, commander of the US Sixth Fleet and as senior military assistant to Secretaries of Defense Frank Carlucci
and Dick Cheney, the senior military position in the Office of the Secretary of Defense.
Mr Owens has written more than 50 articles on national security and authored the book High Seas. Mr Owens latest
book, Lifting the Fog of War, was published in April 2000. Bill Owens is a graduate of the US Naval Academy with a
bachelor’s degree in mathematics. Mr Owens has a bachelor and masters degrees in politics, philosophy and economics
from Oxford University and a masters in management from George Washington University. Mr Owens is the
founder of Extend America, a five-year state wireless telecommunications venture and also sits on the public boards of
Nortel Networks and Daimler Chrysler AG. Mr Owens is the senior advisor to AEA Investors LLC and is a member of
several philanthropic boards including the Carnegie Foundation, Brookings Institution and the Fred Hutchinson
Cancer Research Centre. Bill Owens is also a member of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives.
Connecting people
The world is moving faster and change
is occurring at a tremendous pace.
Communications is an integral part of
that change, with its new technologies
revolutionising so many aspects of our
lives—the way we work, learn, receive
medical services, travel and entertain.
In short, communications is changing
the way we live and this can be as true
for emerging markets as it is in more
developed parts of the world.
While the broad implementation of
new technologies, and the new services
they make possible, translates into an
exciting time for the communications
industry, it holds the potential to be an
exciting time for emerging regions as
well.
These new services can have a profound
impact, by connecting people
and providing new hope for improved
standards of living, through education,
medical care, commerce and global
trade. Yet, for the great promise of
communications to be realised, great
challenges have to be overcome. The
World Bank estimates half the people
in the world live on less than $2 a day
and telephone service is still a luxury
in parts of the world.Half of Africa’s
estimated 800 million people and 75
per cent of China’s 1.3 billion population
have never made a phone call.
Although China is the world’s largest
telecommunications market in terms
of total subscribers, the number of
telephones per 100 people is still relatively
low with a large gap between
urban and rural services, an inequity
that is very common in emerging markets
in many parts of the world.
At the first World Summit on the
Information Society held late last year
in Geneva, some 11,000 delegates from
more than 175 countries, came together
to focus on shaping a global commitment
to co-operation among governments,
private business and civil
society to help bridge the digital divide
that separates emerging markets from
the more developed countries. Among
the long-term objectives confirmed at
the summit was to connect all schools,
villages, governments and hospitals
with information communication technologies
(ICTs) by 2015. Work is progressing
to the second phase of the
summit to be held in Tunis in late
2005 where the agenda will include
questions on infrastructure financing,
which is a leading concern in many
emerging markets.
"The power of information and communication
technology is removing the
boundaries of time and space, which
have long kept us apart. But too many
people in the world are deprived of
access to information and to the tools
for accessing it," International
Telecommunication Union (ITU)
Secretary-General Yoshito Utsumi told
the summit. He added: "From trade to
telemedicine, from education to environmental
protection, we have in our
hands, on our desktopsthe ability to
improve standards of living for millions
upon millions of people."
To see the transformation of communities,
when the power of communications
is provided, is empowering,
uplifting and inspiring. Connecting
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