A digital revolution is unfolding before us. Breakthroughs in information and communication technologies (ICTs) are transforming sectors as diverse as health, education, employment, transportation, agriculture, nutrition, social inclusion and poverty. With the potential to accelerate progress across each and every one of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), ICTs holds great promise to deliver digital dividends for people everywhere. At the same time, they also bring with them profound challenges and significant implications of risk for widening digital divides.

This gives rise to the question — what can we do to ensure that this digital revolution turns into a development revolution for all?

As the Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) — the UN specialized agency for ICTs — I believe that all stakeholders need to work together to focus our collective efforts on connecting the unconnected by prioritizing action on the following “Four Is”:

● Extending infrastructure to unconnected communities, as well as upgrading the current infrastructure, with new technologies such as 5G;

● Mobilizing public-private and private investment by fostering an attractive environment for investments, for e.g. through ITU international standards;

● Finding innovative ways to do business. Competitiveness, in an increasingly open global economy, requires new approaches to develop an enabling digital environment across sectors. Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and entrepreneurs are critical to this effort.

● Making inclusiveness a priority and building the principles of non-discrimination, transparency and accountability into the technologies themselves. Bringing traditionally marginalized groups (such as women, persons with disabilities, youth, indigenous people, rural populations, older people etc.) into the fold through targeted programmes for digital literacy and skill development.

Having been at the centre of advances in communication and innovation for over 150 years — from the telegraph to the telephone, mobiles to satellite, the Internet and now emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), 5G etc. — ITU has led the UN’s efforts to bring us to a more inclusive and connected world today than ever before. As society stands on the cusp of the fourth industrial revolution, ITU once again stands at the forefront of this digital revolution with the mission to ensure that no one is left behind.

ITU strongly supports cross-sector collaboration, and in that, it benefits from a wide membership of 193 Member States and nearly 900 companies, universities, and international and regional organizations, thereby reflecting the rapidly changing nature of today’s digital society. Together with these members, among other things, ITU promotes investment in infrastructure; develops global standards on communication technologies and services; manages spectrum and satellite orbits; encourages innovation and participation by SMEs, start-ups and young entrepreneurs in its activities; assists developing countries in strengthening and implementing their digital development strategies; and drives the development of new and emerging technologies.

Going forward, all current paradigms will be tested by emerging technologies such as AI, Blockchain, IoT and 5G that are currently changing economies at warp speed and scale. As industries and technologies converge, and new market structures, business models, investment strategies and revenue streams emerge, it is vital to ensure the trusted, safe and inclusive development of these technologies and to prevent any deepening of existing inequalities and social biases – all of these being areas where ITU devotes significant effort.

A core function of ITU is the harmonization of world-wide use of spectrum and the ITU World Radiocommunication Conference from 28 October to 22 November 2019 in Egypt will identify and allocate globally harmonized spectrum for a wide variety of services, including for 5G above 24GHz, and will finalize the 5G radio interface standards, among many other decisions.

The annual World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) Forum plays a critical role as the world’s largest multi-stakeholder ICT4D platform that facilitates global discussions on concrete ICT solutions for development issues. The WSIS Forum is hosted by ITU and organized together with UNESCO, UNDP and UNCTAD, in close collaboration with the entire UN system, and this year it celebrated its 10^th anniversary, attracting over 3000 stakeholders from over 150 countries. The WSIS Forum, focusing on ICTs for development, and the IGF focusing on Internet governance matters, complement each other as outcomes of the 2003 and 2005 Summit.

As a global platform, ITU provides many such opportunities for all key stakeholders to come together and develop a common understanding of the challenges facing the ICT sector and the solutions required, whether through events such as the AI for Good Global Summit, Global Symposium for Regulators and ITU Telecom World or its study groups. It is a unique platform where all voices are heard and where any resulting standards have the consensus-derived support of the growing and diverse ITU membership.

ITU Telecom World, for instance, provides a leading global platform for governments, companies, investors and other stakeholders to create new business opportunities in areas as diverse and promising as mobility, 5G, artificial intelligence and smart cities to name a few. This year, more than 150 SMEs from over 40 countries joined the dialogue. SMEs are on the frontline of today’s digital transformation and their positive impact on innovation and job creation is unmatched. I am pleased to see more and more SMEs engaging with such platforms.

Given that society is now at an inflection point, the role of multilateral, multi-stakeholder, consensus-based organizations, such as ITU, will continue to remain critical to strengthen action and cooperation towards bringing the benefits of ICTs to everyone everywhere.

We must bear in mind that the digital divide has many faces – gaps in coverage, speed, skills, local content, access, security and affordability between developing and developed nations, between cities and villages, and even between men and women online – and the path to a transformative but also a safe, trusted and inclusive digital space will, therefore, require unprecedented collaboration at a global and local level between government, industry, academia and civil society.

At a time when almost half of the world’s population – 3.7 billion people – is still not connected to the Internet, and growth is dangerously slowing for many of the access indicators, there is an urgent need for all stakeholders to come together and develop agile and innovative models of partnership as well as utilize trusted mechanisms/platforms for collaboration that can evolve to keep pace with the rapid rate of technological change.

At the end of the day, multi-stakeholder cooperation and collaboration is the cornerstone of a truly inclusive and empowering global digital space. I am confident that we will continue to strengthen our efforts together to effectively bring the power of ICTs to all nations, all people and all segments of society.