The Communication Initiative
Development action with informed and engaged societies
The Communication Initiative
After nearly 28 years, The Communication Initiative (The CI) Global is entering a new chapter. Following a period of transition, the global website has been transferred to the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in South Africa, where it will be administered by the Social and Behaviour Change Communication Division. Wits' commitment to social change and justice makes it a trusted steward for The CI's legacy and future.
 
Co-founder Victoria Martin is pleased to see this work continue under Wits' leadership. Victoria knows that co-founder Warren Feek (1953–2024) would have felt deep pride in The CI Global's Africa-led direction.
 
We honour the team and partners who sustained The CI for decades. Meanwhile, La Iniciativa de Comunicación (CILA) continues independently at cila.comminitcila.com and is linked with The CI Global site.
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ICTs for a Sustainable World #ICT4SDG

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"Promoting the most practical and efficient use of information communication technology #ICT for the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals #SDGs..."

The aim of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU)'s #ICT4SDG campaign is to help promote awareness of the role played by information and communication technologies (ICTs) in addressing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a set of 17 aspirational Goals developed by the United Nations (UN) and affiliated specialised agencies, including the ITU, in an effort to address the most pressing global issues by 2030. Using the tagline "fast forward together #ICT4SDG", ITU seeks to clearly highlight the potential of ICTs to be catalytic drivers towards achieving the SDGs. The idea is that ITU partners can use this tagline - and all the resources made available to ITU stakeholders and everyone - to communicate about the SDGs interchangeably - e.g., fast forward health, fast forward education, fast forward climate action, etc. - depending on which specific SDG they may be interested in highlighting. The campaign is anchored in SDG9c (universal and affordable access), and ITU is striving to demonstrate how achieving global connectivity will lead to significant progress towards achieving all the other SDGs.

Communication Strategies

This communications campaign includes a number of communication tools that are flexible in nature to enable a broad buy-in by all those seeking to encourage global decision makers and key influencers to ensure that ICTs are central to the global development agenda. An online resource, a Trello board, offers messaging, sound bites, visuals, social media content, and more - all of which can be used and adapted as needed. For instance, the concept for the #ICT4SDG campaign is to have black and white photographs superimposed on a colourful background, the colour of which is linked to the colour of the SDG logo to which it is referring (e.g., SDG17: Partnerships for the Goals, which is navy blue).

The SDG Mapping Tool follows the structure and content of the ITU strategic plan and demonstrates how the ITU activities contribute to the SDGs and related Targets.

The ITU SDG Member Toolkit [PDF] provides links to blogs ITU has published on the SDGs and encourages people to share their own stories on social media - for example, via Tumblr and Twitter. The concept of the booth is to have stakeholders interact with the #ICT4SDG campaign and re-create the designs live with a picture taken on the spot, by choosing the poster in person at the booth and sharing them in their own social (media) circles.

Development Issues

Information and communication technology for development (ICT4D)

Key Points

According to ITU, ICTs are catalytic drivers to enable the achievement of all the SDGs but are specifically referenced in the following SDG targets:

  • SDG4 Quality Education (4b)
  • SDG5 Gender Equality (5b)
  • SDG9 Industry, innovation and Infrastructure (9c)
  • SDG17 Partnerships for the Goals (17.8, as a means of implementation)
Sources

ITU SDG Member Toolkit [PDF], January 30 2017.