 Welcome to the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference 2022, PP22 here in Bucharest, Romania, where I got the great pleasure of being joined in the studio today by Bernadette Lewis, who is the Secretary-General of the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organization. That's right. Bernadette, welcome to the studio. Thank you, thank you. Struggling a little bit with Commonwealth Telecommunications Organization, because last time we met, of course, you were the Secretary-General of the Caribbean Telecommunications Union. That's right. And they're both very similar-ish acronyms, let's say. Now, you were appointed Secretary-General of the CTO at the height of the pandemic in August 2020. I wanted to ask you now, what is your vision for the CTO, the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organization? Right. Our view is that the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organization has tremendous potential and we are aiming to have a measurable impact in all of our Commonwealth countries. The CTO has done wonderful work in the past, but we have to take it a step further and support our members by really making a difference in the member countries. We are on a path to support our members in accelerating digital transformation and our focus areas are going to be what we call 21st century government. That is government that makes effective use of the technology of the day to deliver its services securely, efficiently, transparently to its citizens. And it is the government, it's not an eight to four thing. We're going to be its government 24-7. So that is one area, one area of focus. The second is going to be on affordable universal broadband connectivity. In the past, we talked about fiber, yes, microwave, but we have new technologies that are coming on stream. That makes it possible to reach every citizen wherever they are. And our goal is to work with the private sector very closely with the private sector in coming up with plans. We're going to talk a little bit, yes, we'll talk a little bit, but we'll come up with plans for reaching every citizen, but we'll implement them. And I think throughout the Commonwealth in many countries, there's an implementation deficit and we are determined to work with our members to develop those plans and implement it. And that is implement those plans and that is how we will have an impact. It's no sense doing a strategy for you and handing it to you. I don't know if you have the capability to implement it, the resources, anything and just walk away. We're wasting time. So we will work with our members to implement the plans that they have. And there are a lot of studies, there are a lot of studies, a lot of strategies, but they're not being implemented. And this is where we feel that the CTO is going to be making a difference and helping countries accelerate their digital transformation plans. You mentioned new technologies, someone that horizon they look more promising than others or some that are already here. Which would you identify as being so? Well, we are looking at the satellite technologies, the Leos and the Meos. Very, very promising for reaching the people who up to this point have not been connected. Yes, so we have been talking with a number of them and we are looking at getting, bringing them to the table with our members so that that collaboration could start so that we could come up with the plans and implement. Now, I wanted to ask you, in terms of impediments, what do you think are the main impediments to digital transformation in the Commonwealth? I think one of them would definitely be political will. And that may have been, that has been the case in the past, but the whole pandemic, the what people were able to do by making use of the technology, by enabling them to continue doing their business even during the pandemic, right, that should have proven comprehensively that this is the way to go, yes? So, and I think too that there needs to be greater degrees of collaboration between countries, especially neighbouring countries, greater degrees of collaboration between the private sector and the governments, more partnerships. And it's not just public and private, you have the civil society, you have non-traditional players that are entering into the free. That can make a difference to the plan that you have. So we have to really think differently at this time. We have to think outside the box. We have to recognise that the world has changed. There's no going back to December 19, 2019, and understand what the ecosystem is and leverage those relationships to deliver. So political will, collaboration is another investment, the financing technology costs, right? But if we could get countries working together, then you could achieve economies of scale, right? And if you could get our countries, our institutions working more closely together, that and harmonisation among them, it makes a huge difference because nobody wants to deal with 20 little countries with 20 different set of policies and 20 different sets of regulatory frameworks and legal, yes, harmonisation would be a great thing. Yes, for countries that are neighbours in a similar region, I believe those are some of the impediments. When the Commonwealth countries get together, as they did recently, do you think that that's at the forefront of their conversations? I think so. I think the recognition is that the governments cannot do it alone, right? And there needs to be the greater, as I mentioned, the collaboration. But the question I have to ask is, well, what mechanisms are there that would facilitate this sort of collaboration that we're talking about? And that is an area I think the CTO could help. We will be having a ministerial alliance for digital nations on the 23rd and 24th of February, where we are bringing together the private sector and our governments to the table to get those things going. So I think this is a role that the CTO could play, facilitation of those collaborative engagements that need to happen. Very much like ITU. And that's why we will work together, right? We want to build on what you do and it should be reciprocal, right? What we do, we would like the ITU to build on it. We will build on what the ITU has done. There's no sense reinventing the wheel and our activities have to be complementary so that we're not doing the same thing and wasting resources. Absolutely. I couldn't agree more. Now, I understand you're the first female Secretary-General of the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation. And prior to this appointment, of course, as I mentioned, you were the first female Secretary-General of the Caribbean Telecommunications Union. How do you feel about Ms. Doreen Bogdan-Martin's election to the position of Secretary-General of the ITU? I am absolutely thrilled about the election. She has been tremendous. She's been in the ITU system for a number of years. She does it well. She's competent. She's capable. And she has, I think, just all the right ingredients to make an excellent Secretary-General. And the thing about it is she has proven herself. And there are studies that show that organisations need... They need men and they need women. And for a very, very long time, the ITU has been pretty much... The males have been running the programme. Organisations that have a blend of male and female within the governing, they do better. So I am looking forward to great things, greater things. The ITU has done a marvellous job. I mean, you've been here for 155 years. 57. 57. Yeah. It means, you know, but you will... I believe you will see a difference because women bring different skills to the table, different approaches. They see things differently. And it's important to have both in the organisation. Yes, and I'm just looking forward to working closely, too, for forging a closer relationship with the ITU because we have Doreen Bogdan-Martin as the Secretary-General when she assumes the office. So I'm very excited about that. Well, that's a good way to end this interview. But of course, we look forward to catching up with you again very soon. But thank you very much indeed, Bandit. And look forward to, as I say, hearing more good news from the Commonwealth in the months and years to come. Thank you very much. It's been my pleasure to be here. Thanks again. Great.