Houlin: Digital countryside is the need of the Times

Editor's note last year's Expo wind blew, and this year's 5 17 World Telecommunication Day theme is "Information and communication technology to make rural life better" to ensure that information and communication technology (ICT) will bring a better future for the countryside. It times journalist Linfei with the rapid development of information technology, ICT has become a necessary condition for the achievement of the United Nations MDGs in recent years. Since ICT is increasingly determining lifestyles and behavioural patterns and promoting trade and business growth, as the leading United Nations agency for ICT Services, ITU believes that rural communities must not be left behind by cities in their quest for connectivity.　　On the eve of World Telecom Day, "It Times" reporter interviewed the ITU Deputy Secretary-General Mr. Houlin, he elaborated the information and rural indissoluble bond.　　"It Times": Last year's World Telecommunication Day theme is "Information and communication technology to make city life better", and ITU this year's World Telecommunication Day theme as "Information and communication technology to make rural life better", is the continuation of the consideration? Houlin: As you know, more than half of the world's population lives in rural and remote areas outside the city. According to the United Nations agencies, about 1.4 billion people around the world are extremely poor. These populations are largely denied access to modern information and communication technologies. The purpose of the International Telecommunication Union is "to connect the entire human race with information and communication technology", therefore, following the theme of last year's use of "better information and communication technology for better city Life", ITU has identified this year as the theme of "better information and communication technology for rural life", mobilizing social attention to the promotion and development of ICTs in rural areas,　　The use of modern information and communication technology to help rural population improve living standards, help rural areas to change poverty and backwardness as soon as possible, promote the balanced and harmonious development of human society. "It Times": The global scope, the country's rural information development level gap is very large, what are the characteristics present?　　Compared with urban informatization, what problems do rural informatization encounter? Houlin: From a global perspective, the development of information in the vast rural areas and the information development gap between the city and its surrounding areas is indeed very large.　　After years of efforts, mobile communication services have been extended to the vast rural and remote areas, and in many developing countries, particularly in Africa, mobile phone penetration has long been far exceeding that of fixed-line penetration. The problem is that the development of broadband communications in the vast rural areas is hampered by many constraints and is in many areas even blank. In addition, in developed areas, broadband tariffs are low, and in many already have broadband communications in rural areas, expensive.　　The uneven use of information is bound to create imbalances in many areas of society. "It Times": China's rural informatization of the current progress? What are the deficiencies compared with the developed countries?　　What are some things that are urgent to be solved? Houlin: After more than 10 years of hard work, China's rural informatization has made great strides. Village phone calls have become a fact. In this regard, theCountry is a global model.　　But there are still great differences between the informatization of China's countryside and the informatization of Chinese cities. The difference between the broadband construction mentioned above and the difference of people's delivery rates are also the problems that need to be solved. China's mobile network size, fixed telephone network size, internet network size is the world's first, but the per capita level and the percentage per hundred people have been hovering in the middle of the global rankings after the position.　　To separate the city from the countryside, the informatization degree of Chinese cities can be comparable with that of the developed countries, while the information degree regions and regions in rural areas are unbalanced, and some regions may even lag behind many other developing countries.　　"It Times": the promotion of information on rural development will bring how to help and influence? Houlin: poverty, hunger, health and education are urgent problems in the vast rural areas, especially in many rural areas of the continent. ICTs will be able to play a positive role in all aspects of rural development. Rural development, the development of the city can be sustainable, but also can be further improved. Conversely, the rural area lags behind the city for a long time, the development of the city will be faced with great pressure and even danger. It is the country's need to help rural development.　　It is the need of the times to promote the development of information and communication technology in rural areas. "It Times": rural informatization for operators and related industries, is a huge opportunity?　　What suggestions do you have in promoting the development of rural informatization in the country? Houlin: More than half the population of rural markets, is undoubtedly a large market.　　For example, distance education, telemedicine, e-government and other services, the rural population is more than the urban population needs. There will be many new business opportunities after the rural and urban markets have been linked. The more developed the market, the more information and communication technology can be used.　　In view of the huge scale of the rural market and the huge business opportunities, in addition to the use of national power to help, we should also mobilize all sectors of society, especially the financial sector and industry, to actively invest in rural information and communication services investment construction.　　In line with ITU's 2011 theme goals, ITU called on countries to develop overall planning and policies for promoting information and communication services in rural areas, and to promote the construction of information and communication infrastructure in rural areas, with a focus on broadband communications.　　To the construction of rural informatization in China, I think we can combine the whole plan with the country's overall thinking of rural modernization construction, publicize the close relation between informatization and modernization and promote each other, and mobilize all the people of insight to advise and contribute to the rural informatization.　　It times: What steps will ITU take to promote the development of rural informatization? Houlin: As the United Nations ' highest specialized agency for global Telecommunications, ITU has actively appealed to countries around the world to put the development of rural information and communication technology in a very important position.　　The positive role of information and communication technology in other fields is becoming more and more visible to people. From 2006 onwards, every year in mid-May, ITU and the United Nations Organization for UNESCO, United NationsUNDP, as well as the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, to jointly organize the World Information Society Summit Forum, inviting experts, academics, industry leaders and political dignitaries from all over the world to meet in Geneva to discuss global ICT development and to focus on the development of information and communication services in developing countries, especially in remote rural areas, Towards achieving the goals set by the United Nations Millennium Development Plan in 2015.