UN chief urges more digital access for least developed countries

May 18, 2023 (MLN): The digital revolution offers “tremendous opportunities” to fast-track sustainable development, but Least Developed Countries need much more help getting online if they’re to benefit too, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a message on World Telecommunication and Information Society Day.

He insisted on the need to confront technology’s perils, including the amplification of economic inequalities, the proliferation of hate speech and disinformation, as well as the lack of governance and unchecked development of artificial intelligence, or A.I.

The UN chief said the digital revolution was a “defining force of our era.”

“The opportunities are tremendous: from transforming education and healthcare to accelerating climate action and the achievement of all the Sustainable Development Goals,” he added.

He stressed that technology must be an instrument that can reduce divides, not deepen them.

He said that while the internet becomes ever more central to value creation and innovation, “we must dramatically improve accessibility and inclusivity and eliminate the digital divide.”

This starts with supporting digital public goods such as open-source software, data accessible to all, and open content.

“We must invest in the capacities of public institutions so that they have the skills and resources to understand, oversee, shape, and engage with Artificial Intelligence and other transformative technologies”, the secretary-general added.

He called for countries to come together around a Global Digital Compact, and avoid fragmentation, safeguard human rights, and ensure technology is a force for good.

He commended the UN specialized agency, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) for working to accelerate global connectivity for all, by the 2030 sustainable development goal deadline.

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