By Melissa Muñoz Suro, Director for Innovation, OGTIC, Dominican Republic

When I was 25 years old, I found myself standing in a room full of policymakers, developers, designers, and sociologists tasked with a monumental responsibility – leading the development of the Dominican Republic’s National AI Strategy, the first in Central America and the Caribbean. 

I knew this was much bigger than me. It wasn’t just about policies or technology.

It was about the future of millions of Dominicans who were being left behind in the digital age.

Local challenges are global challenges

You see, 2.6 billion people around the world are still not connected to the Internet. And while we’re here talking about the latest artificial intelligence (AI) breakthroughs, vast parts of the world are just struggling to log on.

I was 19 when I first entered the public sector. I saw right in front of me the challenges our communities face – rural areas without Internet, students without access to digital education, or lacking electricity to even access the Internet, and businesses struggling to innovate.

It was clear to me that this digital and AI divide was not just a technical issue, but a social and economic one.

I believed that digital transformation wasn’t just for Silicon Valley or Beijing.

It had to be for everyone, from my home country to the most remote communities on the planet.

Creating space for youth leadership

But how do we bridge this divide?

One powerful answer is youth.

In my work, I’ve seen how my team of 33 young people bring creativity, passion, and fresh perspectives into policymaking. 

That’s why, for example, we launched initiatives like Semillero Digital – an incubator for young talent, where we are turning 100 young people who were neither studying nor working into skilled developers, ready to shape the future of AI in the Dominican Republic.

Governments must create spaces for youth leadership.

We need to bring young people to the table when discussing national strategies, especially in digital transformation and AI.

This isn’t just any future we’re talking about – it’s their future, and they need a voice in shaping it.

Opportunities and challenges of AI 

Artificial intelligence holds immense potential, but it also presents significant challenges.

AI gives us opportunities to enhance education, drive economic growth, and solve environmental challenges. But AI will only be as good as the data and perspectives we feed into it. 

If the training data, the languages, and the perspectives behind AI are exclusive, biased, or incomplete, we risk developing a system that reflects and amplifies these biases.

To build responsible AI, I believe we must focus on inclusion – not just in theory, but in real, concrete ways.

The role of the UN 

This is where global institutions like the United Nations (UN) play a critical role.

The UN has the unique capacity to champion AI inclusion.

This means including our data, our problems, our perspectives, and our scientists in the development of AI.

The AI for Good Global Summit has shown AI’s potential to face global challenges.

But for success, we need standards and interoperability to ensure seamless cooperation across borders. At the first AI Governance Day event, on 29 May, ahead of the summit, the world set the foundation for responsible AI with guidelines, UN values, and support for building skills in developing countries.

In AI governance discussions, we often focus on regulation alone.

Because we need regulatory frameworks to govern AI.

But the world is starting to ask, ‘What next?’

AI that benefits everyone

Regulating is not enough. We need to implement AI that truly benefits everyone.

The time has come for the UN to turn its attention to the Global South, where the urgency of making AI inclusive is being ignored in the global digital development race.

By focusing on AI projects that amplify the voices of the underrepresented, we can ensure that AI isn’t just a tool for progress but a shared good shaped by all.

Digital transformation and AI hold the power to change lives, but only if we ensure no one is left behind.

Young leaders, governments, international organizations: Let’s make sure the future isn’t just driven by technology, but driven by people.

Melissa Muñoz Suro, Director for Innovation in the Governmental Office of Information Technologies (OGTIC) in the Dominican Republic and a member of the ITU Secretary-General’s Youth Advisory Board.

This blog post is based on her remarks during an Action Days session preceding the UN Summit of the Future.

Header image credit: AdobeStock