On World Health Day (April 7), Global Minnesota partnered with the World Health Organization (WHO) to produce and host the 2021 World Health Day Symposium. UNITED Co-Founder Ali Diallo and his partner Jean Paul Smets, CEO of Nexedi et CTO of Blutel Wireless (a UNITED company) were invited to speak about health equity and the opportunities that lie at the intersection of telecom and telehealth.
Ali and Jean-Paul share some insights on UNITED’s ongoing broadband initiatives in the US and in African countries such as Rwanda and Senegal. They also discussed UNITED’s efforts to bring 5G-ready Internet to rural America and to Africa through Blutel Wireless, the group’s newest portfolio company that powers a low-cost 5G solution using vRAN (Virtualized Radio Access Network).
Ali and Jean-Paul were joined by Mark Ritchie, President of Global Minnesota and former Secretary of State of Minnesota, and Niousha Roshani, Co-Founder of Global Black Youth.
The 2021 World Health Day Symposium was streamed live on YouTube, and featured some of the world’s most impactful leaders, including:
- Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, PhD – Director-General, World Health Organization (WHO)
- Peggy Flanagan – Lt. Governor, State of Minnesota
- Juan Jose Gomez Camacho – Ambassador of Mexico to Canada
- Ed Bastian, CEO – Delta Air Lines
- Helen Clark – 37th Prime Minister, New Zealand
- Michael J. Nyenhuis – CEO, UNICEF USA
- Pierre R. Theodore, MD – Vice President, Johnson & Johnson
- Jakub Tolar, MD, PhD – Dean, University of Minnesota Medical School
- Geoff Martha – CEO and Chairman, Medtronic
- Sister Carol Keehan – Head, Health Task Force of the Vatican COVID-19 Commission
- Anton Decker, MD – President, Mayo Clinic
- Phyllis Kurlander Costanza – CEO, UBS Optimus Foundation
- Paurvi Bhatt – President, Medtronic Foundation
Click here for the full list of speakers.
Click here for the event’s agenda.