 We're here at the ITU Planet Potentiary Conference 2014 in Busan in the Republic of Korea and I'm very pleased to be joined by Minister Mobler Johnson, who is a Minister of Communication Technology of Nigeria. Minister Johnson, thank you very much for being with us today. Thank you for having me. It's good to be back again. I'd like to start off by talking about the new GemTech Awards which we're launching this year. What's your opinion about these awards? These awards are a great thing. I think the ITU has done a tremendous job in terms of creating that awareness of the importance of having girls and women in ICTs. And I think what the awards has done is actually moving from awareness building into actually getting something done. And you know how human beings are, what gets measured gets done, and really what gets rewarded will definitely be accomplished. So I think rewarding countries, individuals, NGOs who have done something to move the needle in getting girls and women into ICTs, I think it's a great thing. So I really commend the ITU. And also, teaming up with UN Women I think was a very major strategic decision because UN Women has this as their own sole agenda. It's about women inclusion, empowerment of women. Teaming up with UN Women just ensures that I think it ensures that we'll actually get more traction in this getting girls and women into ICTs agenda that we have. For those people who aren't aware, what are the GemTech Awards as such? It's actually mainstreaming gender into ICTs. That's really what it is. And it really is about trying to close that digital divide, which has been very well researched. There's a big divide between men and women in terms of how they use ICTs. And if we all say that ICTs empower people, empower development, health, education, then if we're leaving out half the population, then this has become really a national agenda for all countries, not just an ITU agenda. What does it mean to be a woman in technology? What would you like to see for the female citizens in the ICT world? Do you believe that it's achievable, that mainstreaming can happen? I think a woman in technology means that you're quite alone, because we've just talked about the fact that there are not enough women in technology, but it means that you're quite alone. But I think that what it does mean, even if you look at the ITU member states, I think there are 190-something member states, there are probably about a dozen female ministers. And so you're quite alone, but that's not a bad thing. What it means is that at least for those of us that are in this kind of position, we can actually influence how we use ICTs to empower women, how we use ICTs to be more women. Whether it's in terms of careers, it's in terms of being more producers than consumers of content on the internet, all those things matter in terms of closing this digital divide. So that's what it means to me. It's just being in a position that you can actually influence and ensure that we close this digital divide. For young women in ICTs, what I would love to see, honestly, is that if we had the industrial revolution, engineering, very much a male dominated field, male dominated revolution, we now have the ICT revolution internet, I would like to see a better balance between men and women. And really this is possible. I see what's happening all over the world. We look at software development. It's not about brawn, it's about brains, it's about intellect, it's about creativity. All of these things women have in equal proportion as men. I think that my vision is to have many more women. It shouldn't be a gender thing anymore. Many more women should not be called geeks. Many more women should be involved in ICTs and all these ramifications. And really I think this is very, very possible. And my vision is that when it comes to an ICT revolution, women will be just as included and just as empowered as men are. But I think just to add to that, there are a number of things that we found in the research that we did, particularly in Nigeria, where one of the reasons for this digital divide is because when it comes to other parts of disempowerment of women, education, access to education, that really does have an impact on access to ICTs and utilization of ICTs. So we still need to team up with other sectors to ensure that if we get women better educated, their likelihood of using ICTs is actually greater than it would be if they weren't educated. So that's another way in which we need to team up and ensure this thing happens. And this is a cross-generational name, is it? A cross-generations, yes, but I think that what we do find, thank you for reminding me of that, what we do find is that the younger women are and the younger they are introduced into ICTs, the more likely they are to embrace ICTs growing up. So yes, you're absolutely right. So really what the ITU has done starting off with the girls in ICT today is tremendous because what it does very early on in a young girls' life is to show her that this is not a man's field. You can also be a telecoms engineer, you can also be an ICT person, you can also be a software developer and once that is inculcated and ingrained in their minds, it's very much easy for them to continue to curate in ICTs and be, like I said, producers of content and not just consumers as the cases today. Are you satisfied with ITU's push for more women and girls to embrace technology and what else do you think can be done to get more women and girls into ICT? Well, I think first of all, ITU has done a tremendous job because they have been the ones that have put this on a national agenda. Girls in ICT day, the GemTech Awards, which I think are tremendous. Are they doing enough? There's more to be done because this divide is just so wide. I think what they've done with UN Women, which is to bring a women-focused organisation, also UN, a multilateral body into this, I think is also very significant because they get a much wider hearing and it's a much wider audience that they're speaking to now, not just ICT ministers but also ministers that are in charge of women, rural development and all of that, social development. And I think that just widens the context that we have in terms of girls in ICTs and women in ICTs. So I think that they've done quite a lot but there still needs a lot more needs to be done. We're all, when I say we now, all the different countries are coming up with different initiatives to close the digital divide. I think ITU has a role to play in showing that we share best practices. I met up with the Pakistani Minister of ICT who happens to be a woman who's also doing things around girls in ICTs and we've agreed to share the curriculum that we use in our digital girls programme in Nigeria. So coming together, bringing together best practices, sharing ideas, sharing best practices, I think that's one thing that ITU offers for all of us as a platform. I think that's one thing that they can also do. But again, looking for organisations and institutions that they can team with and partner with who also have a women agenda, I think it's one thing that we can continue to do but doing a tremendous job so far but still a lot to be done. And it's not just inspiring girls of course, it's also getting the men on board as well, isn't it? It's making sure that the culture changes and that men are supporting very much these initiatives. Absolutely, that's absolutely correct. So all our male ministers must ensure they also have girls in ICT programmes and programmes that actually bring women into the world of ICTs, definitely. Minister of Model of Johnson, thank you very much indeed for your presence in the studio today and thanks for those great answers. Thank you.