 We are here today with Dr. Cosmas Zabazzava, who is the chief of the projects and knowledge management department at ITU. Thank you, Dr. Zabazzava, for being here. You're welcome. Tell us why ITU member states have gathered here in Kigali this week. Actually, it's more than the member states of ITU. We have member states here, but we also hear about the stakeholders. Because on Monday this week, we had what we call a regional development forum, and it brings together all the stakeholders, ranging from United Nations organizations to member states and to the private sector. In some cases, we have members of academia. What do we do during that event is to discuss about development issues and emerging technologies and also explore possibilities of cooperating and forging partnerships. Then, out of that meeting, which is a one-day meeting really, we take the report into the regional preparatory meeting, which is the RAPM, and this is what is going on right now. During that meeting, we are preparing, in fact, for next year, when we are going to World Telecommunication Development Conference in Buenos Aires in Argentina. That is very important because that defines exactly what we will be implementing on behalf of the member states for the next four years. That's very interesting. Thank you. What was going back to the regional development forum, which, as you said, took place on Monday? What was the outcome of that event and what, for the regional preparatory meeting, what will be the outcome of this meeting? In fact, the regional development forum was a great success. It was very interactive. We got people from various walks of life in the area of technology, including those that deal with social media like Facebook and others. We were discussing basically how we could harness or leverage imaging technologies to include big data, internet of things and other such technologies like artificial intelligence. What came out clearly was that the African region was doing pretty well. It was demonstrated by our recent measuring information society report. In terms of growth, you will see that mobile broadband is growing fastest in Africa than in any other. Why is Africa used to look at challenges like political turmoil or civil strife and other such ills? Now it is a moment to look and go beyond the horizon and look at the opportunities that Africa presents because many of the other regions are saturated. When we look at basic telephony, mobile broadband and so forth, but in Africa there are still a lot of opportunities to explore. So three key things came out of it. You alone can do it, but you can do it alone. So we need it partner. Second, we have to mobilize resources and the market is worth the money, but we have to find win-win formulas so that everybody can bring their money to the table and they will win in the process. Wireless, the ordinary person will also benefit. Third, it is important of course for us to listen to the grassroots. The people know exactly what they want and we should address that through governments, through other institutions. And we also have regulators here who are the referees of the ICT or telecommunication market. So when they are coming up with regulations, they have to be pro-ICT regulations so that we could establish a truly universal access regime or maybe information and knowledge society. And actually you mentioned the word keyword, partners. So how important is partnership in the work you do and also for the benefit of social economic development? I think there is very little that we could do without forging partnerships. I see technology as just the pipes and waves, nothing else, but it is what you do with it, which matters. So I think first of all you must buy in by the users of the technology that you are putting in place. So the general people, the young people, the elderly women and men in rural communities, semi-event or peri-event or in urban areas must show excitement and must use the technology that we are putting in place to change their lives. That's point number one. Point number two, the governments must come up with the appropriate public policy which will pave way for an appropriate legal framework and also regulatory framework that will further what we want to achieve, i.e. universal access for people to use technology to save their lives, to improve their livelihoods and so forth. So that's another partnership. Then within the sub-region and globally we need to harmonize practices so that we make sure that the uptake is good. But as ITU is trying to bring these pipes and waves, it also realizes that it does not have the moral authority or the mandate to deliver education, they say, because we have our sister organization in UNESCO, we should work with them. And we also know that there are children that need specific help, like when we come up with online child protection, UNICEF is critical to work with. Then we also have WHO, which is the World Health Organization, who deliver medicines or make sure that we cope with epidemics. That is important for us to work with them. And you will see that ITU already started working with other sectors to make sure the ecosystem is in place. In other cases, while these projects or initiatives are led by government, it is not government actually that possesses all the money in the world, the private sector. But when the private sector does that, they expect to return on investment, they have behind them stakeholders and shareholders. They want to reap some kind of profit out of it. And it's not a sin to get a profit as long as it is going to save the public good and to deliver. So the partnership is a wholesome one. Everybody who has a role to play, including the use of the services, must play a part and be consulted. And can you also explain how the work of the ITU telecommunication development bureau contributes to the achievement of the sustainable development goals that were adopted in 2015 by the international community? I like to use the word equalizer, the common denominator. Technology is a common denominator. It is an equalizer. Everybody has an opportunity to exploit it. So because of that reason, I think every sector can use technology to achieve their objectives. So if I look at food production, I would look at climate change. When I look at climate change, particularly now that it is changing and wrecking havoc. You have El Nino or El Nino causing havoc, shortage of water, then the plants, there is no food security, but I can use technology to monitor the environment. And then inform the experts on what kind of variety of plants they should come up with so that maybe they have to be drought resistant, but also to tell them when the rains are coming. And when they know when the rains are coming, they will know the time to plant and they will also know the time to pluck. And that is for me quite critical. Having said that, I would say alleviation and eradication of poverty is critical. So in everything that we do, we should be able to use technology to make sure all the sectors are functional. I call it oiling the rules of industry and our society. So I would envisage a situation whereby everybody who wants to do business will use technology for electronic commerce or any other transactions that they do. And we are dealing these days with financial inclusion. And I think that is very important because there are people who do not have direct access to the banks, but they have their mobile phone and they couldn't transact it there. There are issues of gender, mainstreaming gender, and also making sure that people in rural areas are not left behind. But even those people that have got certain challenges like disability, we have to make sure the technology is there. They have equal opportunity to exploit it and use it to better their lives. But there are many other things. Disaster risk reduction is quite critical. We have to make sure that people are prepared. They are well informed in time when the disasters or hazards are pending so that we can use technology to set up early warning systems, warning systems, warning people to evacuate before the disasters do strike. That way we save lives and we improve people's lives across the board. So every one of the 17 sustainable development goals can be assisted or supported or facilitated by technology. And that's why we are in the business of doing what we are doing. Thank you. And speaking of natural disasters and disaster risk reduction, as chief of the project and knowledge management department, you are responsible for the emergency telecommunications program of ITU. And I understand there is a workshop this week here in Kigali. Can you tell us more about this workshop, what it is about? Yes, I have a confession to make. When it comes to saving lives, using information and communication technology, I am addicted. So it's the real thing for me. I think it is important to make sure that we use the technology first and foremost to save human lives. And we have seen across the globe because of the climate change which is taking place from 2011 to 2015. These years were recorded to be the hottest in the history of mankind. And 2015 was the hottest year ever. And coming with that, you naturally have disasters being triggered because of this phenomenon. And I can tell you also that 90% of natural disasters are weather related. And the weather is also related to the climate change. Epidemics are emerging as a result of rising temperatures. We have many epidemics that are emerging, but we harness the technology and we make sure we use the technology to save human lives. And that's why after doing on Monday the Regional Development Forum and the next three days the Regional Preparatory Meeting, we basically come up with a meme that is discussing how we could help countries and communities and people to develop. But the development that does not take into account disaster risk reduction and disaster management is almost self-defeating. Effort because we know when disasters strike within the first three minutes in most cases a country loses 25 billion dollars. So we have to incorporate the issue of saving lives in everything that we do because it's not only the life, the infrastructure is also destroyed. This is why the government of Rwanda decided that after coming up with all these resolutions, all these documentations, all these plans for the future, let us also discuss and bring all their stakeholders to the table on Friday this week to discuss and to consult and to see how best we can set out a number, which is a one number that everyone can remember easily to call when a disaster strikes. That's point number one. Point number two, to design a national image and telecommunication plan that takes into account things like climate change, but also point number three, to see how the national stakeholders can work together and the best way we can do that is to design for them and to work with them to design what we call standard operating procedures that define who does what and when to avoid chaos when a disaster does a strike. And Rwanda is also vulnerable to volcanic eruptions and no country is immune to disasters, so it is important. And we are looking forward to it and the government is excited about it, the stakeholders are excited about it. And in the end, I think we are going to come up with a very good product that can be implemented within given time. And I know that Rwanda is busy now trying to ratify the temporary convention, which is 60 to eliminate cross-border regulatory barriers when we wanted to move telecommunications resources if a country is struck by a disaster. So we are excited and we look forward to it. That's great. This was very interesting. Thank you very much, Dr. Zawadzawa, for your time. Thank you. You're welcome.