Digital development is a significant and growing part of the work of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) to connect the world and ensure an inclusive, sustainable digital transformation for all.
The ITU Telecommunication Development Sector (ITU-D) works to promote human and socioeconomic development through information and communication technologies (ICTs). Since 1992, this sector of ITU's work has helped boost the growth of digital networks, which are vital to expand access to government services, healthcare, education, agricultural services, financial services, and market information.
The sector's goals are set at the
World Telecommunication Development Conference (WTDC), normally held every four years. As the world resumes normal work amid COVID-19 and grapples with intensified international challenges, the landmark conference is dedicated to digital transformation in line with sustainable development.
The latest WTDC took place from 6-16 June 2022 in Kigali, Rwanda, preceded by the
Generation Connect Global Youth Summit on 2-4 June 2022.
Connecting the unconnected
ITU data show that 5.4 billion people around the world have used the Internet. Yet the gap between the digitally rich and digitally poor remains as a stark reflection of global inequality, with over 90% of the 2.6 billion people who are still offline living in the developing world.
ITU – in its role as the UN specialized agency for ICTs – promotes the uptake and integration of new and emerging technologies to drive an inclusive and sustainable digital transformation for all. The organization, while engaging widely through its Radiocommunication, Standardization and Development sectors, applies its long-standing commitment to connecting the world in line with the Sustainable Development Goals shared by the whole UN family.
Expanding and diversifying membership and collaboration
Uniquely among UN agencies, ITU includes not only 193 Member States, but also over 900 sector members, comprising companies, academia and research institutes, and international and regional organizations. ITU-D has strengthened its collaboration with other partners in areas including agriculture, education, finance, health care, jobs, women's empowerment, and youth engagement.
Through ITU-D's two Study Groups, members gain an opportunity to share experiences, present ideas, exchange views, and achieve consensus on appropriate strategies to address ICT priorities.
Driving digital development
ITU-D works to promote regulatory best practices, digital skills, cybersecurity, digital innovation, digital gender equality, and much more. ITU's work encompasses various priority areas including:
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Capacity development:
Building a digitally competent society
ITU-D operates the
ITU Academy platform as its main online gateway bringing together a wide range of training activities and knowledge resources in digital development. ITU-D also runs
Digital Transformation Centres (DTCs) in partnership with Cisco and publishes
Digital Skills Insights, a report promoting digital skills development. -
Cybersecurity:
Creating a trusted cyberspace for all
ITU-D helps countries to establish
National Computer Incident Response Teams (CIRT) and develops and implement National Cybersecurity Strategies (NCS) and cyberdrills. Over 80 CIRT assessments have been conducted to define national readiness to implement a national CIRT. For example, in 2021, CIRTs were set up for Barbados, Botswana, Gambia, and Kenya. -
Digital inclusion:
Building inclusive policies for equal ICT access and use
ITU-D helps decision-makers and communities scale up digital solutions to improve people's lives. ITU-D organizes an International Girls in ICT Day campaign each year. ITU also runs a project to enhance access to digital technologies and build digital skills for women in Least Developed Countries (LDCs).
ITU has introduced a toolkit and self-assessment for ICT accessibility implementation. ITU has also been working to help indigenous people gain access to and make full use of digital technologies. -
Digital innovation ecosystems:
Accelerating digital transformation through innovation and competitive digital ecosystems
ITU-D helps countries evaluate their digital innovation ecosystem. ITU-D has hosted annual
Innovation Forums and ITU Innovation Challenges to enable participants to understand how to mainstream sustainable ecosystems for entrepreneurship and innovation. -
Digital services and applications:
Creating transformative digital strategies and applications
The Digital Services and Applications programme develops and promotes digitally-enabled solutions in areas of digital health, mHealth,
digital government, smart villages,
smart islands and digital agriculture. One example is the “Be He@lthy, Be Mobile" initiative, an ITU
collaboration with WHO. -
Emergency telecommunications:
Disaster-resilient ICT infrastructure for reduced loss of lives and damages
Extreme weather events, earthquakes, tsunamis, pandemics and other human-made related hazards challenge countries and communities. ICTs are key for monitoring, analysing information, delivering early warnings, and ensuring timely flow of information following disasters. ITU-D has developed disaster connectivity maps,
training, multi-hazard early warning systems (MHEWS) and
national emergency telecommunication plans (NETPs). In 2021,
NETPs were developed for Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Saint Lucia, Ecuador, Bolivia, Dominica, Grenada, Sudan and Somalia. -
Environment:
Creating a circular economy for electronics
ITU-D works to help Member States address climate change, the transition to a circular economy, and e-waste reduction. BDT currently provides technical assistance to over five countries in the monitoring and regulation of e-waste. It has published the
Global E-waste Monitor 2020, a toolkit on
Policy practices for e-waste management, and a
report by ITU, the Digital Public Goods Alliance & World Meteorological Organization (WMO) calling for weather and climate information datasets to be made freely available as digital public goods. - (8)
Network and digital infrastructure:
Ensuring reliable connectivity
ITU-D is promoting and advancing many initiatives to improve reliable connectivity, including:
spectrum management, infrastructure maps, (with data from over 580 operators covering 20 million kilometres);
broadcasting,
conformity and interoperability,
next-generation networks, broadband networks and
rural communications. -
Policy and regulation:
Supporting collaborative policy and regulatory frameworks for digital market development and user well-being
ITU-D hosts the annual
Global Symposium for Regulators (GSR), Regional Regulatory Roundtables and Regional Economic Dialogues to enable inclusive dialogue and enhanced cooperation to help countries achieve a more inclusive digital society. In 2021, over a thousand participants from 149 countries followed
GSR-21 events, culminating in the GSR-21 Best Practice Guidelines. The ICT Eye website provides ICT indicators and statistics,
regulatory and policy profiles, and price data. The
ICT Policy Impact Lab is an online simulation tool exploring the impact of policies and regulations on ICT investment. ITU-D publishes the
Digital Regulation Handbook and Platform and
Global ICT Regulatory Outlook reports. -
Statistics:
Helping countries with evidence-based ICT policy adoption for digitally inclusive societies
Data is critical for connecting the world, and ITU is the official source of many international ICT statistics . ITU-D collects, verifies, and publishes
Data and Analytics for over 200 economies and 200 indicators, conducts world-class research to contextualize and make sense of the data, and publishes an annual
ICT Facts and Figures report. Impartial, reliable ICT data from ITU help Member States and stakeholders in faster and more effective decision-making.
Each of these ITU-D priorities incorporates a special focus on the world's least developed countries (LDCs), landlocked developing countries (LLDCs), and small island developing states (SIDS).
Partnering and connecting worldwide
ITU's Telecommunication Development Bureau also works to advance a range of special initiatives, through the
Partner2Connect
Digital Coalition, which seeks to accelerate digital transformation globally and especially in the hardest-to-connect communities, particularly in LDCs, LLDCs, and SIDS. Other ITU-D special initiatives include:
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Connect2Recover, which aims to reinforce digital infrastructure in LDCs, LLDCs and SIDS in recovering from COVID-19, to "build back better with broadband."
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Giga, a joint initiative by ITU and UNICEF, which aims to connect every school to the Internet by 2030. Giga is already active in 19 countries in Africa, Asia, the Eastern Caribbean, and Central America. Over 2,900 pilot schools have been connected by Giga partners in Kazakhstan, Kenya, and Rwanda, with similar pilots underway in Kyrgyzstan, Sierra Leone, and Uzbekistan.
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I-CoDI, an innovation platform that helps ITU and various partners re-invent their programmes, products, and services to better address the needs of ITU members and stakeholders and ultimately bridge the digital divide. I-CoDI brings together partners from business, academia, and the public and non-profit sectors together with ITU Member States to orchestrate expertise and knowledge, through which innovative products and services can be developed, brought to market, and scaled for impact.
Since 2020, ITU-D has also been strengthening its efforts to reach out to young people. Through
Generation Connect, ITU-D engages global youth as partners alongside the leaders of today's digital change, empowering young people with the skills and opportunities to advance their vision of a connected future. Through these initiatives and others, ITU and its partners aim to close the digital divide and bring the benefits of digital development to people everywhere.
Last update: November 2023
