The Broadband Commission for Digital Development has named eight new commissioners drawn from technology leaders and development champions from around the world.
The new commissioners are: Dr Hessa Al-Jaber, Secretary-General, ictQATAR, Sheikh Abdullah Bin Mohammed Bin Saud Al-Thani, chairman, Qtel, Dr Saad Bin Dhafer Al Qahtani, Group CEO for Strategic Operations, Saudi Telecom, Vanu Bose, CEO, Vanu, Innocenti Botti, president, Invitalia, H.E. Jasna Matić, State Secretary for Digital Agenda, Serbia, Dr. Armen Orujyan, founder and chairman, Athgo Corporation, Jean-Louis Schiltz, legal counsel, Schiltz & Schiltz and former Minister for Communications, Luxembourg.
The new commissioners join a select group of over 50 global leaders who are putting broadband at the very centre of their organizational vision.
The commission was launched at ITU headquarters in Geneva in May 2010 in response to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon's call to step up UN efforts to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
At its fourth meeting, held in Geneva last October, commissioners agreed on a set of four 'ambitious but achievable' targets that countries around the world should strive to meet in order to ensure their populations fully participate in tomorrow's emerging knowledge societies.