Doreen Bogdan-Martin, Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), leads one of the world’s most powerful yet least-known organizations from her base in Geneva. The ITU is responsible for everything from managing global radio frequencies and satellite orbits to bringing 2.6 billion people online and shaping the digital future.
This conversation goes far beyond acronyms and infrastructure. It’s about power, inequality, space governance, and the foundational role connectivity plays in modern life.
Key topics include:
The cost of connecting the unconnected: why $1.6 trillion is needed by 2030
How the ITU governs satellite orbits and global radio spectrum
The geopolitical tug-of-war behind technical standards and spectrum access
Why AI cannot serve humanity until the digital divide is closed
Partnerships with the private sector and governments across 194 member states
Early-warning systems, disaster risk reduction, and space sustainability
How Geneva’s ecosystem of international organizations enables global cooperation
The future of the ITU in a time of budget pressure and rising nationalism
From space debris to digital literacy, this episode explores the invisible infrastructure behind everything from your smartphone to international security.
