 Welcome to ITU Telecom World 2018 here in Durban, South Africa. We're very pleased to be joined in the studio today by Andre Borges, who is the Brazilian Secretary of Telecommunications. Mr Borges, thank you very much indeed for joining us in the studio today. No, thank you for having me here. It's very nice to be here. Now, I'd like to start off by talking about smart digital innovation, which is the theme for this year's Telecom World. What does it mean to you and what does it mean to Brazil? It means very much, actually, because Brazil is in the process of transforming the entire society. So we have approved a plan for transformation into digital society. And that means enabling the digital technology to support economy and support social life and support government as well. So it's like a foundation that is transversal and it's going to influence life as a whole. Now, Brazil is an enormous country. How easy is that to put into practice? It's actually very difficult. It's easier in some areas. Brazil has many differences. So in some parts of society, it's something quite easy to do and it's going to happen quite naturally. In other parts, it represents a huge challenge. And with regard to my responsibility, my challenge is to bridge the digital divide and take connectivity, firstly, to all geographies and then enable this connectivity to all citizens. And in terms of broadband, for example, how easy is it to implement the rollout of broadband to a very, like you say, a very wide-ranging societies both economically and geographically? It's quite a challenge. But once again, for the attractive markets, and we have many, Brazil is a huge economic market. This happens quite naturally. But for the places where there's no return on investment, then it relies on public policy, which means that you have to rely on budget. And when government is facing a financial crisis as we are, it's very difficult to roll out public policy. What are the principle, technical, regulatory and policy challenges that are facing you? Well, one of the challenges is rolling out infrastructure. And in Brazil, we have three public entities, the federal, state and municipal. And there's difficulty obtaining licensing from the municipalities to install the infrastructure. That's one of the challenges that we have to address. And then the challenge is also, again, going back to the budget aspect, obtaining resources in order to connect 100% of the municipalities. We are a country with 5,570 municipalities. But 80% of our population lives in 300. So we really have to take care of the remainder of the population. I think that's one of the main aspects. When I mentioned connectivity, I'm always referring to good quality broadband to enable the user to make the best use and benefit of the technology. Do you see any parallels in Africa in terms of the challenges and the opportunities? Certainly, certainly. Many parallels. I mean, Africa has been a colony. It also has this paradox situation, contrast society, very modern cities and very underdeveloped or developing villages, let's say. So we don't find that there's no giraffe in Brazil, but otherwise, many similarities. What about digital literacy and awareness-raising programs in areas such as cybersecurity and digital adoption? Well, in some areas, that's asking way too much. But where you already have a heavy use, I think it's one of our objectives. It's something you have to do. You have to take care of that. I think education is really important with this development of this technology. Life is going to be somewhat easier, but somewhat more vulnerable. So we have to take care of everything we do online, as a person, as businesses and as a government. So you're optimistic for the future in Brazil? I think we have to be optimistic. It's the way to go about life. We have to be optimistic and constructive. Nevertheless, we have to be very careful with the dangers that these things may imply and address them adequately. I think that's definitely a global challenge. In terms of being here at ITU Telecom World, what's the value of you attending this event? Obviously, you've travelled a long way to be here. It's enormous because this challenge, since we're going to be connected, we're not going to be connected as a country or as a village. We're going to be connected as a globe. So every country has to take due care and do its part. So it's more than sharing best practices. It's really collaborating and coordinating. This is an excellent venue for that. André Bourges, thank you very much indeed. Thank you.