Doreen Bogdan-Martin, UD alumna and Secretary-General of the UN’s International Telecommunication Union

A conversation with...

The Blue Hen Secretary-General of the UN’s International Telecommunication Union

Diane Stopyra October 16, 2024

Doreen Bogdan-Martin, AS88, grew up in a science-oriented family in Spring Lake, New Jersey. Today, as Secretary-General of the UN’s International Telecommunication Union (ITU), she works to provide Internet access and communications technology to safely connect people across the globe. Here, the first woman elected to this leadership position for the ITU, shares her vision to create a more equitable digital future.

In layman’s terms, what does the ITU do?

The ITU has experts who work on radiofrequency signals that span our entire globe. Some allow our planes and ships to navigate safely. Some help your phone access the internet and download video. Some allow satellites to transmit communications signals to earth for TV and Internet service. The radio signals don’t belong to any one country, but countries work together, through ITU, to make sure radio traffic can operate without interference.

How does a small-town girl from Spring Lake, N.J. become one of the world’s most influential people in global connectivity?

At UD, I participated in two winter sessions abroad which sparked my interest in everything international. After graduation, I spent many months teaching English in Spain and backpacking around Europe, where I was constantly reminded how difficult and costly it was to have regular phone conversations with family and friends. When I returned, I decided to continue my studies at the post-graduate level focused on international communications policy.

I believe if we pull together as one global family, we can make progress.
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You’ve argued that more inclusive internet connectivity can save lives. How so?

Access to the Internet can help people living in remote areas connect with neighbors, get access to education, health care and public services. It truly is a lifeline.

Nearly one-third of the world’s population have no internet. What will it take to achieve access?

I believe if we pull together as one global family, we can make progress. Our Partner2Connect program is uniting a broad range of stakeholders to reach some of the hardest-to-connect communities in the world. This includes island communities, and countries with limited internet infrastructure. To date, we’ve received over 900 pledges worth $50 billion aimed at closing the digital divide.

After two decades spent connecting the world, what’s on the highlight reel?

Becoming the first woman Secretary-General of ITU has to be on the top of the list. It only took us 157 years to break that glass ceiling! I am a strong believer in advancing opportunities for women in all fields, but especially in technology. That’s why I encouraged my daughters to learn to code. Another highlight would be youth engagement. I launched the Generation Connect initiative to bring young people to the table, ensuring that their voices and needs were heard in our global and regional meetings.

Closing the gender digital divide is at the heart of ITU’s work to achieve digital inclusion.
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ITU has studied how the feminization of digital assistants—like Apple’s Siri or Amazon’s Alexa—reinforces gender bias. Besides changing their voices, what can the average person do to ensure that gender inequality in the physical world isn’t replicated in the digital world?

Consider that there are close to 244 million more men than women using the internet worldwide. Stronger action is urgently needed to close the gender digital divide—particularly in leadership roles in the tech sector’s emerging fields: AI, quantum computing, cybersecurity, the metaverse. The lack of women in these fields can lead to the widespread gender bias we’re seeing in machine learning and AI applications, from medical imaging to algorithmic decision-making. Closing the gender digital divide is at the heart of ITU’s work to achieve digital inclusion. This is the idea behind our Partner2Connect Digital Coalition, which has already mobilized over $32 billion worth of gender-focused initiatives. That level of investment can and does create tangible impact on the ground.

Social media has been a boon or bane to humanity, depending on your perspective. Where do you stand?

I use social media to help the public understand what the ITU is, and what we are doing to help support universal connectivity, digital equality, and to protect and support everyone's right to communicate safely. As a mother, I am deeply concerned about some of the negative impacts social media has had on youth, and believe we must work together to make our digital world a safe place for young people to confidently learn and grow. To help advance this, ITU has worked with its members and stakeholders to develop child online protection guidelines and trainings in multiple languages.