About UMC

Today’s digital landscape is marked by deep divides, creating the risk of a “multi-speed” digital world. In such a scenario, a privileged few—equipped with infrastructure, skills, and resources—drive and benefit from AI innovation, while marginalized communities are left behind. Without UMC, the inequalities of the analogue world risk being amplified in the digital one.

Recognizing these challenges, UMC has emerged as a critical policy objective. UMC does not imply constant connectivity but enables everyone to access the Internet in optimal conditions, at an affordable cost, whenever and wherever needed.

UMC is built on six interdependent dimensions: Quality of the connection; Availability for use; Affordability; Devices; Skills; and Security. Each dimension contributes to a meaningful digital experience, and strength in one cannot compensate for weakness in another.

Achieving UMC requires holistic strategies—encompassing infrastructure development, policy frameworks, education initiatives, and multi-stakeholder engagement. The UMC framework is deliberately agnostic about specific interventions (such as policies, investments, or regulations), recognizing that there is no one-size-fits-all path and that many factors shape the digital landscape. It is also neutral regarding how people use connectivity: the goal is to empower choice, not prescribe digital behaviour.

To track country progress towards UMC, ITU maintains a Dashboard for Universal and Meaningful Connectivity on the ITU DataHub.

The UMC measurement framework is meant to be a flexible tool that can evolve and incorporate new concepts and indicators to ensure continued relevance through 2030.

Framework for universal and meaningful connectivity

Universal and meaningful connectivity means that everyone can access the Internet in optimal conditions, at an affordable cost, anytime and anywhere.

This framework is built around six key dimensions:

Quality: fast and reliable
Availability: ubiquitous and permanent
Affordability: affordable
Security: safe and secure
Devices: through appropriate devices
Skills: enhanced by adequate skills

Each of these dimensions can be available to no one, a few, many, or everyone.

Connectivity is only truly universal and meaningful when all six dimensions are available to everyone.

Learn more: Achieving universal and meaningful digital connectivity: Setting a baseline and targets for 2030.

Background and endorsements

According In 2018, the United Nations Secretary-General convened a High-level Panel on Digital Cooperation. In 2020, the Secretary-General issued his report Roadmap for Digital Cooperation, which includes, at its core, a commitment to “connect” all people to the Internet. In 2021, as part of the implementation of the roadmap, a multi-stakeholder working group led by ITU and UNICEF was tasked with proposing a baseline and targets for digital connectivity. The group developed the concept of UMC and its analytical framework, identified indicators for the baseline, and set aspirational targets for each, which were released in 2022 alongside the working group’s background document.

Since 2021, the concept of UMC has garnered much attention. In 2022, ITU made UMC a corner stone of its Strategic Plan. Since 2023, the European Union has been funding an ITU project on promoting and measuring UMC. Adopted in 2024, the Global Digital Compact acknowledges the pivotal role of UMC in unlocking the full potential of digital and emerging technologies. In 2024, under the G20 Brazilian Presidency, the ministers of digital economy adopted the G20 DEWG Maceio Ministerial Declaration, where they commit to achieving UMC. The measurement of UMC and its financing was also a priority issue under the G20 South African Presidency.

History of the concept of UMC