Neelie Kroes

Neelie Kroes, Vice President of the European Commission,
Commissioner for the European Digital Agenda and a Commissioner of the Broadband Commission for Digital Development, shares her thoughts on the importance of broadband.



--- T r a n s c r i p t ---

Whether your focus is your business, our democracy, local culture or government efficiency -- broadband helps to improve it all.

That is why the EU is committed to broadband access for all. That is why we want to get Every European Digital, and that is why I am supporting the Broadband Commission.

Without broadband for all, I cannot get Every European Digital. And without a global effort to connect citizens and businesses, we will not progress as we could.

This Broadband Commission set up by the ITU and UNESCO will help to deliver sustainable economic growth around the world. It will contribute to liberate more and more people with access to information they have previously only dreamed of. This work deserves our full support.

Some people compare the roll-out of broadband to the way railway and electricity networks have transformed our lives over the last 150 years. And it's true that fast internet is transforming our world. But those people often forget to mention that we are not yet there and we have to work hard to achieve our goals.

This is one hell of a task. But it is not unrealistic because we each have so much at stake. Your jobs, your health, your standards of living and your ability to leave the world a better place than when you arrived -- this all pivots around maximising the potential of ICTs through fast internet on broadband networks.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• broadband
• commission
• united
• nations
• itu
• unesco
• digital
• development
• mdg
• millennium
• goals
• ict
• internet