UN Leaders dialogue on the progress and future of digital cooperation

UN leaders advocate for inclusive digital cooperation to achieve sustainable development goals at WSIS summit

At the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), a distinguished panel of leaders from various United Nations agencies and international organisations gathered to discuss the critical role of digital cooperation in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the objectives of Agenda 2030. The conversation centred on the transformative potential of digitalisation across multiple sectors and the necessity of ensuring equitable access to technology’s benefits.

A central theme of the discussion was the digital divide, with panellists underscoring the urgency of fostering inclusive access to technology, particularly in developing countries. They stressed that while digital technologies present significant opportunities for growth and inclusion, concerted efforts are required to bridge disparities in access and connectivity to prevent the divide from widening further.

Human rights and ethical considerations in digital governance were emphasised as paramount. Panellists advocated for the application of human rights principles in the digital sphere to ensure equitable governance structures and the protection of human dignity. They called for an end to outdated ideological perceptions of human rights and for these rights to be at the heart of digital cooperation discussions.

The panel explored the sector-specific impacts of digitalisation, noting its transformative effects in areas such as agriculture, trade, postal services, environmental governance, work and employment, and industry. For example, digital tools in agriculture can enhance production, improve nutrition, and contribute to a more sustainable environment. In trade, digitalisation is seen as a particularly promising area, with digitally delivered services growing rapidly and offering inclusivity for SMEs, women, and youth.

Environmental governance was highlighted as another area where digital cooperation has been transformative. The panellists discussed how digital tools have increased transparency and public engagement in environmental decision-making. The use of Digital Product Passes in the garment and footwear sectors was cited as an example of how digitalisation can promote sustainable consumer behaviour.

The future of work and the impact of artificial intelligence and digitalisation were also addressed. The International Labour Organization (ILO) is embarking on an ambitious research agenda to harness opportunities while minimising risks associated with these technologies. The ILO advocates for a human-centred approach that respects fundamental principles and rights at work.

The panellists called for key principles for digital cooperation, including inclusiveness, responsible artificial intelligence, sustainability, and multistakeholder engagement. They stressed the importance of technology serving humanity broadly and not just a few individuals or countries.

In conclusion, the panellists underscored the need for collaboration across sectors and breaking down silos within the UN system to effectively leverage digital technologies. They recognised the potential of digital cooperation as a significant opportunity for growth and inclusion and called for concerted action to ensure that digital technologies benefit all segments of society and contribute to the SDGs. The panel concluded with a call for a multistakeholder approach to address digital challenges, emphasising that collective action is key to overcoming hurdles in the digital landscape.

Noteworthy observations from the discussion included the recognition of the UN system’s role in leading by example in digital transformation and the need to enhance internal capacities, promote digital public goods, and ensure cybersecurity. The panellists also highlighted the importance of open data and open source solutions in democratising access to technology and making the future of digital cooperation more inclusive and sustainable.

Ms. Doreen Bogdan-Martin:
Dialogue, I’m going to hand to my colleague, Selina, who will provide some additional guidance.

Moderator:
Thank you very much, Secretary General. Congratulations again to the Swiss Confederation, and thank you very much to Slovenia. Before we have the exciting panel, I’d like to acknowledge Saudi Arabia as a Gold Plus partner, demonstrating unwavering commitment to the business process. Their leadership in digital transformation and inclusive information societies sets an inspiring example. And let’s applaud Saudi Arabia’s dedication to bridging the digital divide and fostering sustainable development for all, and hear more from them. And for that, I have the pleasure to invite His Excellency, Mr. Mohammed Saud Al-Tabimi, Governor of the Space and Technology Commission of Saudi Arabia. Please, let’s give His Excellency a huge and warm round of applause.

Dr. Mohammed Saud Al-Tamimi:
So, thank you, Selina. Good morning, everyone. I will deliver my talk in Arabic. Madam Secretary General of the ITU, the Chair of the U.S. Summit, Mr. Al-Bilrazi, and the Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, very warm greetings to you all. It is my pleasure to… to talk to you today at this World Summit on the Information Society. This year is really a milestone to look at the progress achieved towards the implementation and the outcomes and the WSIS action lines over the last 20 years. Thus, we can craft a pathway for the future and be able to look even further at the objective and look at the SDGs as well. At the outset, I would also like to convey my utmost gratitude to the ITU and all of the working group that has worked tirelessly to convene this summit. Ladies and gentlemen, today we are at a turning point, looking towards 2025 and to undertake a review of the outcomes of the World Summit on the Information Society. Therefore, we will be able to look at the future for the digital era. Also, we will adopt the Global Digital Compact, the GDC, during the Summit of the Future which will be held in September this year. As was rightly said by the Chair of the Summit, Mr. Albert Hojti, it is critical to avoid any overlapping with the WSIS and the outcome of the Global Digital Compact, the GDC. Therefore, it is important to forge this GDC in a way so that it is in alignment with the objectives and goals of the sustainable development. The Tunis Action Plan is an ambitious Today, we must assess what we have undertaken since the adoption of this declaration. Moreover, we should be proud of what we have achieved, but also look at lessons learned from the past. Despite the work undertaken and the path taken, as his colleagues have said before me, the potential which must be harnessed is still ahead of us. Therefore, quite simply, our mission is to bridge the digital divide and to ensure that the most important technologies are accessible for one and all. At the same time, this mission has not yet been accomplished, 20 years following the first WSIS. We have just heard that 15% of the SDGs are on target, yet there are still 2.6 billion people who are unconnected, and 96% of these people live in developing countries. Given these figures, we must really ensure we accomplish our mission. Saudi Arabia looks at these objectives with great importance, especially under the auspices of sustainable development, and that is why, for the Connect 2030 programme, this is a really important programme for us in order to guarantee connectivity. We have looked at connectivity, which is at 96% in our country, given a number of initiatives that were underway. and initiatives to manage e-waste, which we launched in cooperation with ITU. This is an initiative which will allow us to accelerate digital transformation and to move towards a circular economy. Moreover, we’ve also launched an initiative with the CEO to implement an agreement, global, in its reach for the digital economy. We are very proud of this initiative with the ITU to implement a female leader network to improve female participation in telecommunications sector as a whole. We’ve also attended a number of different initiatives to involve women in ICT domain in particular. In telecommunications sector, 35% of women have participated in Saudi Arabia. We’ve also been able to reap the benefits of the digital revolution in terms of digital space. We’ve also convened a seminar and workshop in parallel with the WRC, the World Radio Communication Seminar and Conference. We’re able to work with international leaders to see how the space sector can contribute to the global economy. We’ve also undertaken initiatives with the ITU, with the United Nations Office on Space Affairs as well, to set up an international dialogue platform with a view to address the considerable challenges in this area. Saudi Arabia would like to express its steadfast… a commitment to make headway in the areas of cooperation and to undertake the outcomes of the WSIS and to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals through our joint efforts and to forge a digital future which is better for the future generations. Thank you very much.

Moderator:
Recording stopped. Thank you very much to His Excellency, Sadiq Rehman, our Go Plus partner. We count on you, Excellency, as we do on our platinum partner, the United Arab Emirates. I see the Director-General in the front row and I’d like to acknowledge a greeting to him. And now it’s time for our exciting UN Leaders Session. And I’d like to welcome the Secretary-General of ITU back to the stage. You’ll be doing a lot of back and forth on the stage today, I’m afraid, Secretary-General. And with her, I’d like to also invite the UN Leaders who will be – okay, I think they’re stuck with the photographers. May I invite you all on stage, please, leaders from FAO, UPU, WTO, OHCHR, UNECE, UNICC, ILO and UNIDO. Here they are, ladies and gentlemen, let’s give them a warm welcome. Thank you. I hand over to you now, Secretary-General. Thank you. Okay, can you hear me?

Ms. Doreen Bogdan-Martin:
Yes. Good. So, good morning. Good morning again and welcome to this UN Leaders Dialogue. I’m delighted to be here this morning with my UN colleagues. Always wonderful when we’re all together because it’s through working together that we can really get things done. So this morning we’re gonna look in our session at where we’ve been, where we are and where we are headed. So I thought I would start quickly and kind of take you back two decades ago to the first phase of the World Summit on the Information Society hosted, as I said previously, right here in Geneva. Back then we didn’t call it digital cooperation because we didn’t quite have that in our vocabulary to describe our common vision of creating an equitable, sustainable and inclusive digital society. But actually that’s what we were doing. 193 member states, the private sector, civil society, they were all gathered together at the same table. And it’s hard to overstate how visionary it was back then in the early 2000s when just 12% of the global population was connected to the internet. Then of course came the Millennium Development Goals, the SDGs and I think many of you know that when we look at the Sustainable Development Goals and I know my UN colleagues know this well, digital was only mentioned once in the 2030 agenda. If I fast forward to July 2018, the UN Secretary General set up the high level panel on digital cooperation to look at the question of digital cooperation to address the social, the ethical, the legal and economic impact of digital technologies in order to maximize their benefits and also minimize their harms. That panel came up with recommendations. led to the Secretary General’s roadmap on digital cooperation, which had eight key areas of action from achieving universal connectivity in 2030, to supporting global cooperation in artificial intelligence, to building a more effective architecture for digital cooperation. And of course, as many of you know, ITU’s work spans those action areas with our own strategic goal being focused on universal connectivity. So my colleagues this morning will share what their agencies are doing to contribute to these different action areas. And as you know, over the years, the WSIS process has been a model for digital cooperation, I think as it should be, being open, being transparent, inclusive, accountable to all stakeholders, being consultative, and also being innovative. I think we find ourselves today at a critical juncture. We look at the WSIS process and the way ahead. And we’re also looking at our own and our collective digital transformation journeys inside and outside the UN. I think it’s fair to say that we are making progress. We are moving forward together, including last week’s launch of the UN Digital Community, which is looking at our system-wide abilities so that we can better respond to member states’ needs when it comes to digital capacity development. We also have our SDG Acceleration Agenda that looks at how digital technologies and solutions can help accelerate all 17 SDGs. And I think that’s why digital is core to all of these conversations in the UN system taking place from the Human Rights Council to WHO that has their assembly this week, ILO, WTO, WIPO, and of course, all of the agencies joining me this morning. I think here in Geneva, we have to leverage the fact that pretty much every organization is dealing with digital. And what we have to look at is how we can add value as a system by working together. We have incredible opportunities before us with the Summit of the Future, the Pact of the Future, which will be the resulting outcome from that ambitious summit. And of course, the Global Digital Compact, which forms part of the Pact of the Future and our own WSIS Plus 20 review next year. I think there’s never been a greater urgency to get it right. And so with that, ladies and gentlemen, I’m going to turn to my distinguished panelists. And I’m going to start on my right with the director general of FAO, Mr. Dongyu Chu. And if you can tell us kind of from your perspective, how you see the WSIS process evolving beyond 2025, and in particular, in terms of improving food security and nutrition. Over to you, please.

Mr. Dongyu Qu:
Hello, Excellencies, ladies, gentlemen, dear colleagues. Sorry, first of all, and I congratulate the ITU. After 21 years, you bring the WSIS back to the stage. And I’m so delighted to come here to share some thoughts with you, all the colleagues, because I work on the food and cultural affairs. I’m pleased to be able to participate in this important forum, take the stocks of the achievement, the challenges, opportunities since the Geneva Plan of Action in 2003, proposed in December 21st, 2001. By that time, the UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan. So at that time, I was just newly appointed Vice President of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences. So I always promoted digital at ICT, digital e-commerce, digital value-generated development that time in China. So five years ago, when I came to FAO as a director general, first thing I decided to do related to AI is assemble with IBM, Microsoft, RAC, and the Italian Ministry of Innovation to have a first-ever ROMA call for AI ethics. That was almost five years ago. We cannot be just a passive witness to the history. As leaders, we are all active participants. It’s our duty to reflect on the past and the progress made until now. And to continue contributing effectively and coherently to shaping the course of our collective future for the benefit of the whole international community. And we are dedicated to serving, especially those most in need. The UN has a key catalytic role to play in leveraging the power of digital technology for achievement of SDGs, especially SDG 1, 2, and 6, and 10, SDG 14. Of course, we need SDG 17, partnership. We must lead by the examples. ROMA call for the AI ethics by FAO, IBM, and Microsoft, along with the Holy See, endorsed by the Holy Father, I just mentioned. Digitalization is reshaping our world. And it is very cold and having a deep impact on our society and economies, and our mindset even. How about the AI thinking and the digital thinking? I always challenge my student when I was a professor. People think that the computer is computer, but it is. computed by machine, calculated by machine, is different from by a human being. So we should work together to make them more efficient, more inclusive, more resilient, and more sustainable to serve all four areas, better production, better nutrition, better environment, better life, and even one behind. This is crucial for FAO’s mandate, reflect our organization’s deep commitment to eradicate hunger and poverty globally. New emerging issues related to safe, ethical use of the digital culture should be taken into consideration to ensure the holistic perspective and open, free, secure digital future for all. As outlined by the Global Digital Compound, are the key UN leader initiative towards which we are working together. Since the beginning, I already put efforts on the strength of cooperation between FAO and ITU. And Doreen, I remember she was a deputy secretary general here and responsible technical. So I think the air culture is one of the bigger challenges for the world, especially, not only for the developing country, also for all the world, because the rural areas is much left behind, any country in the world. So I think now it’s time for us to achieve this cause together, to fill in the gap between the able and the rural affairs. FAO is committed to continue to work closely with all of you in an efficient, effective, coherent manner to address the global challenges and establish a new healthy global digital ecosystems. And I sincerely hope to welcome you to the fourth edition of the FAO World Food Forum. I established it four years ago. It’s in the middle of October. It’s a birthday of the FAO, October 16. So annually, we have global events. And last year, we attracted 65,000 participants, thanks to the digital approach. And in the higher quarter, it was more than 5,000 participants in physics, in person, I mean. So we are facing, we are living in the digital world. We have to change our business model. model, to be physically and also virtually. That’s a way to transform agroforestry to be more efficient, more effective, and to be able to be inclusive, sustainable, and beneficial for all. Digital. Digitalization is one of the most powerful, cost-effective approach, based on my 30 years experience. So you can count on FAO. You can count on me personally. Thank you.

Ms. Doreen Bogdan-Martin:
Thank you. Thank you so much. And we will count on you, DG. So with that, ladies and gentlemen, I’m going to turn to ITU’s slightly younger brother. Sometimes people think UPU is older than ITU, but we’re actually the oldest, 1865 versus 1874. So with that, ladies and gentlemen, we’ll hear from the Director General of UPU, Mr. Masahiko Mitoki. We’d really like to get your perspective, the postal perspective, on how we can leverage digital when it comes to postal services. Over to you, please. Thank you very much, Sister Doreen.

Mr. Masahiko Metoki:
We are a sister organization, one year, unfortunately, younger than ITU as a UPU. Thank you very much for your question. Actually, it’s a question for, as a UPU, as a catalyst for the digital cooperation, digital innovations. I wonder if you know my first major in the university is chemistry. So I know the role of catalyst is actually does not change itself, but facilitate a reaction. UPU is not only facilitating the actions, but also we changes, we are changes itself. As we are not only the real facilitator, but also we are one of the largest user of the digital solutions. Nowadays, for example, for the control of the e-commerce, and also the data exchanges, the remittance, and the everything really due to the real digital technologies. So we have to make huge investment every year. However, at the same time, we are more than really the facilitator. We are actually the facilitators, the users, and also drivers of course with the cooperation with the UN organization, our sister organization ITU, and also the cooperation with the member countries, government, regional organizations, and private sectors. Our way of really the digital, to drive digital transformation is very, it is through our postal network. Only global physical network all over the corner of the world. So especially, for example, post office in the remote and regional place is actually only is a really place available for public services. We can have an advantage of e-commerce, e-governance, and the digital financial services at that point. And the UPU, as our unique initiative, we have now started Connect.Post. We try to linkage all the post office in the world. It’s around 60,000, 60,000 to 50,000 post offices. Try to provide a meaningful connection and digital inclusions. So let’s try to make more digital. Thank you. 10 minutes. 10 seconds. It’s okay. If you give us 10 minutes. Yes, digital inclusions and the future more inclusive world together. Thank you very much.

Ms. Doreen Bogdan-Martin:
Thank you. Thank you so much. And I should have mentioned in the beginning that we would have a little bell ringer to help keep us on time. Thank you. Thank you for that. Now I’d like to move to our next DG and that is Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. And actually Dr. Ngozi and I were on the same college campus last week and didn’t realize it. And she gave a speech to the Georgetown School of Foreign Service. And just to say, I heard through the crowds, your message was very inspirational where you encouraged young people to look beyond the bleak environment that we see and to ask yourselves what solutions can I bring to the challenges around. And I actually think that’s quite relevant to our discussion this morning. Linking it to trade, to digital, bleak world, what can we do? Over to you, Dr. Ngozi.

Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala:
Well, thank you, Doreen. And good morning, everyone. I want to start by congratulating you and ITU and the Swiss government for the WSIS forum. And hello to all my colleagues. I want to make four points. I think the first point is to say that digital for development is probably one of the most exciting areas in trade today. And it links to what you’re saying about we have bleak, we’re surrounded by bleak things today and we have to look for what is exciting and promising. For us in trade, this is one of the more exciting areas. From the issue of digitizing border processes to interoperability of e-payment systems to AI, we see digital reducing the cost of trade, particularly the logistics of trade, and bringing increased productivity. So this is very important for us, and we are quite excited by it. Added to that is the fact that digital trade, and especially digitally delivered services trade, is the fastest growing segment of trade today. That’s my second point. Digitally delivered services trade is everything from accounting services to education services to even health, delivered digitally to entertainment, streaming. This is growing at 8% to 9% per year and is worth about $4.25 trillion today. 73% of this market is in developed countries, but what we see is that the fastest growth is in developing countries, from India to Philippines, Brazil, Nigeria, Kenya, Uruguay, Chile. So it’s a very promising area for developing countries. My third point is that it’s good for inclusion, because we see that SMEs, small and medium enterprises, women-driven enterprises, youth-driven enterprises, are prominent in this area. So if we are looking for a way to grow the economy, another source of growth, and also to be inclusive by involving women and those who are left behind, I think this is one of the areas that we need to look to. And then fourth, my fourth and last point is, what is WTO doing about it? And we’re doing a range of things. We have a trade facilitation agreement that drives digitalization of border processes, so that’s very helpful in reducing costs. We have an information technology agreement that covers, reduces duties and tariffs on all the equipment, telecommunications equipment, computer equipment, mobile phones, that underpin the digital economy. And 87 of our members are members of this agreement. They cover 97% of world trade worth 3 trillion, so the industry loves us for that. We are also negotiating an e-commerce agreement to underpin digital trade, a plurilateral agreement with about 97 of our members to lay down the rules for digital trade. And finally, two quick points. One, we just approved a further two-year extension at our 13th ministerial meeting in February of the exemption of electronic transmissions from customs duties, and this is part of what creates a good ecosystem for digitally delivered services trade. And finally, we are working with the World Bank to help bridge the digital divide in a pilot project with eight countries in Africa, because they have the money, we have technical assistance, we are combining to try and help solve this problem. Thank you.

Ms. Doreen Bogdan-Martin:
Excellent. Thank you so much for those very concrete points. And I’m going to turn next to Volker Turk, who is the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Welcome, Volker. You have been a very strong, global, active voice underscoring the needs for human rights to underpin discussions around governance, in particular in the use of digital technologies, so that we can be able to truly harness those technologies for their benefit. So as we look forward, give us your perspective about how we can make human rights central to digital cooperation.

Mr. Volker Türk:
Great. Good morning. Great to be here and to see my fellow partners in not crime, but in friendship and in moving forward. I’d like to share with you a couple of observations. I think the digital cooperation world is really a microcosm of where we are in today’s world. And it goes to the issues of equity, equality. It goes to the issue of human-centered, people-oriented way of looking at things, human dignity and human agency. It goes to the world of what governance means. And governance is always about power relations, who actually has power and who do we give power to. And it’s about fundamentally our future. And of course, human rights has an answer to all of this. Because first of all, human rights is a normative framework that was established over 75 years ago now, but it was established to inform governance in the most transversal form. And it applies both offline as well as online. And that was recognized by the General Assembly. It was recognized by different institutions at the intergovernmental level that actually human rights apply to the issues that we are discussing in the digital area. And that’s very important because it gives us, because very often we hear there are gaps. Of course, there are gaps, but the gaps are often implementation and understanding, because you do have a normative framework that is applicable. And that normative framework goes to precisely the issues of governance. who do we give the power to, making sure that we understand how it affects people, both in terms of those who are marginalized, those who are vulnerable, but also, in a way, it is a response to the digital divide because from an equity perspective and from an equality perspective, one would argue that you have to close the digital divide also from a human rights perspective. Unfortunately, there is still a lot of ideological and old thinking about human rights that influences even today’s discussion and we really need to overcome it because the old ideological thinking goes back into, well, that’s something Western or it’s the old ideology of power politics. Well, actually, the contrary is true. It covers each and every aspect of our lives. It covers each and every aspect of a relationship with and among each other and it covers each and every aspect of our relationship with nature. So we need to overcome that and I think here in Geneva, I have seen in the discussions, we have actually embraced a different vision of human rights. When I look at some of the New York discussions, including around the summit of the future, I have to say the old ideological thinking is back and we really need to overcome it, especially in the digital area. So thank you very much for that. Thank you so much, Volker. I was planning to go to a quiz,

Ms. Doreen Bogdan-Martin:
but I’m going to hold that till the end because we are short on time. So we’re going to jump straight to Tatiana. Tatiana is the Executive Secretary for UNECE and we’re going to pick up a different aspect and that is the aspect of environmental governance. And Tatiana, if you can share with us how you see digital cooperation enhancing transparency and environmental governance, particularly when it comes to monitoring and also

Ms. Tatiana Molcean:
promoting sustainable practices. Over to you. Thank you. Thank you very much, first of all, for this invitation and for this discussion focusing both on more wider and conceptual things, but also narrow ones and very concrete ones. And I would like to continue with this more concrete approach and on environment and sustainability. It has, you know, the governing of environmental issue is quite challenging. And in this case, digital cooperation is not really a tool. It’s more the transformative power to the sector. At UNECE, we have one of our most effective instruments. It’s a convention that obliged or enforces governments to offer access to the population on environment. So it’s the Orhus Convention. So public has to have access to environmental information. And I have to say that it’s been for a while, this convention, and it’s been quite effective. But by applying the digital tools, really, and having access to open digital records to providing really information and more details has really made a change in applying and having really a meaningful engagement between the public and the governments in sharing decision on environment. And this has made it possible for not only having this sharing information, it’s engaging in information and delivering concrete policies. And I would like to say that in some cases, we don’t only receive this information, we use this information. And I know that some of us were saying that sometimes we have community being turned into environmental detectives by using this information. And another sector where we engage quite closely in sustainability and promoting sustainability and where we have seen the impact of digital, using digital tools. It’s the, for example, Dr. Ngozi was talking about value chains, about the importance of different aspects. For us, for example, circularity of value chains for garment and footwear. It has, we have seen that this sector has an impact of 10% of global carbon emissions. And now we are working with producers, we are working with the large part of those involved in this value chain, who are developing digital product passports. So with this digital product passports, the consumers know exactly what they are consuming, so what they are procuring. And this has made really, has had a very transformative power. Once you are an informed consumer, then you can influence and have more sustainable approaches in the sector. So I would say that by applying digital tools, we have seen very concrete transformative effects to the, some of the practices and behaviors, I would say, in the society. That’s very two concrete examples from my side. Thank you.

Ms. Doreen Bogdan-Martin:
Thank you, Tatjana. So I’m now going to turn to my right to you, Samir. Samir is the Director of UNICC. And Samir has quite a unique role in convening stakeholders around digital cooperation, but looking inside and helping to bolster and further support internal capacities in the UN system. So if you want to share your reflections of how the UN system should be prioritizing digital cooperation in the future and what the role of UNICC is in that regard. Over to you.

Mr. Sameer Chauhan:
Thank you so much, Doreen. Good morning, Excellencies, distinguished guests, and esteemed attendees. I think it’s a very pertinent question for us at UNICC. And when you framed it, the first thought that came to mind is leading by example. First thought that came to mind is leading by example. I think we as a UN system need to bring key actors to the table to strengthen digital cooperation and discuss its future. But as we do that, we ourselves must be at the forefront of adopting new technologies. technologies, and advancing our own digital transformation. This will not only put us in a better position to promote global dialogue, but it will enable us to serve the world more efficiently, accelerating progress and development. So at UNICC, I believe all of us internally in the UN system need to cultivate a whole new set of digital capacities. I’ll highlight three of them today. The very first one is digital goods. To unlock the full potential of digital technologies, we need to continue to promote the concept of creating digital goods within the UN system, both for reuse within the family, but also to serve the nations. What this entails, in my opinion, is promoting open source solutions, ensuring that we have reuse and scalability of these solutions, and of course, knowledge sharing amongst all of the sister organizations. The second aspect is data. We need to build modern data expertise within the UN system. And coincidentally, or not coincidentally, the UN 2.0 vision that just came out also outlines this. So we need to emphasize within the family how we strengthen the way we collect, handle, govern and use data. Because we are actually the best repositories, if you will, for all the insights and data, and we need to then turn them into better actions. And when I mean being at the forefront in digital cooperation, data governance and processing are top priorities. That’s capabilities we need to really build within the family. And through that, we can help with all of the data and digital sovereignty issues that we all face within our agendas. The last point that I think I’d like to highlight is cybersecurity. The third capacity is around cybersecurity, because we need to ensure that we have a secure environment. So we need to create a cybersecurity posture where every UN entity, regardless of size or nature, adheres to the highest cybersecurity standards. And we acknowledge that we are as strong as our weakest link. So we need to make a collective commitment to security. And now to your point about what role does UNICC have in this, very quickly, we were created by the system or the system. So we’ve been around 53 years now. And we are the main partner of the entire UN family in developing trusted digital and cybersecurity solutions. When I talk about the capacities and capabilities and the ability to have better digital cooperation, we are working to provide a very solid and secure digital foundation for the entire UN family. Thank you.

Ms. Doreen Bogdan-Martin:
Thank you, Samir. So let me turn to ILO, to the Deputy Director General. We have Celeste Drake. If you can give us your perspective in terms of the world of work, the future, and how digitalization is impacting that, and what ILO is doing to respond. Over to you.

Ms. Celeste Drake:
Thank you, Doreen, for that very important question. As the facilitator for Action Line C7 on e-employment, the ILO is pleased to offer our perspective on the world of work issues with artificial intelligence and digitalization, which are already affecting the world of work, presenting challenges and opportunities that are affecting both job quality and job quantity. And in response, the ILO is embarking on an ambitious research agenda and working with our tripartite constituents so that we can make the most of the opportunities while minimizing the risks. In terms of the world of work, we do know that AI will replace some jobs, primarily in the clerical sector and primarily in the global north. But for many more, it will transform the jobs, requiring new skills and new approaches to deal with some of the risks. For instance, AI can embed existing discrimination and bias because AI learns through what’s happening currently. So how do we? recognize that, address it, and prevent it. There’s also a potential for misuse of surveillance to prevent workers from organizing. But on the other hand, there’s such a potential, as everyone has mentioned, for higher productivity, more efficiency, faster and more accurate analysis. So we really are working to make sure that we can harness these by making sure that workers and firm have the resources to get the skills that are needed and to make sure that we can shrink the digital divide by employing AI and not making it worse. In terms of what the ILO is doing, we are advocating a human-centered approach that makes sure that we are respecting, promoting, and realizing fundamental principles and rights at work. And I wanna echo what Volker Turk said. We do have norms in this area. We do have a framework for what it means to have rights in the workplace. And we have to make sure that we are advancing those even as we look for gaps that may exist in the new digital workplace. And on that front, the ILO is already embarking in 2025 on a standard setting for work in the platform economy, which is one corner of the AI world. And we are also establishing an observatory on artificial intelligence and work in the digital economy. And we will be working with UN partners like ITU to make sure that we’ve got the latest data and analysis out there to make sure that our workers’ organizations, employers’ organizations, and government members can make good decisions as we move forward in the world of work.

Ms. Doreen Bogdan-Martin:
Thank you very much. Thank you so much. And many of the aspects that you mentioned linked to artificial intelligence, we’ll actually be picking up some of those points at our sessions later this week. Hope you’ll be joining us for AI for Good. And we’re delighted to be partnering with ILO. on so many of those issues related to the future of work. So now, ladies and gentlemen, I’m going to turn to the deputy DG from UNIDO, Mr. Siyang Zhao. And sir, if you could share with us your perspective in terms of the key principles for digital cooperation and how we can ensure that technology benefits everyone. Over to you. Thank you.

Mr. Ciyong Zou:
Thank you very much, as CEO of LTU, for this really excellent, I would say, question, which is pertinent to UNIDO’s mandate and the vision on inclusive and sustainable intellectual development. Of course, the future of digital cooperation for us means that we must adhere to key elements to ensure that technologies serve humanity and broad world, not just a few people and even fewer countries. So for this, of course, we need to place, say, addressing digital divide as top priority of intellectual cooperation. Say, technology, transfer, cooperation, peer-to-peer learning, and similar practices must remain central to the international community’s tools. These practices level playing fields, increase development opportunities, and leave no one behind. The digital divide already costs many regions in the world economic opportunities, considering the current pace of innovation in the digital sphere. This gap will widen. The digital divide will get worse. So therefore, we are the right for a set of core principles for digital cooperation. Actually, in the previous sessions already, a few speakers touched on that. The first one is inclusiveness. No one should be left behind. We need to spend more efforts on addressing the digital divide and creating a digital environment accessible to all. Second, responsible AI. We need to develop AI that is transparent, safe. and addresses potential biases. Sustainability, the third one, digital tools can be powerful allies in our fight against climate change. And at the same time, development and application of digital technologies must drive to minimize its impact on the planet. Finally, multistakeholder engagement like AWESIS is critical for us to not only agree on the main principles, also importantly that we turn these principles into practices in different sectors, being in the trade sector, in the agriculture sector, and others. I believe that the cooperation in those four areas is what we have been advocating for and is within our DNA. For example, I said you need a portfolio of technical cooperation projects or knowledge products in open access and the global alliance in AI for industry and manufacturing. Yet, we understand the challenges and the growing concerns that technology development increasingly inclusionary. We must work towards the exact opposite, the democratization of technology development and use to ensure that we address today’s challenges. UNIDO develops and promotes digital public goods in cooperation with UN system agencies and partners from private and public sectors. Open data and open source are important mechanisms to democratize access to technology and make the future of digital cooperation more inclusive and sustainable. We use it that we must work against the growing digital divide and advocate for more cooperation and solidarity. Sustainable practices in digital development must take center stage in all our efforts. We must ensure it is done responsibly and escalate so we can provide a level of inclusiveness that can help all economies foster. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Ms. Doreen Bogdan-Martin:
Thank you so much for that. I know again, we’re short on time, but I’m gonna go to Celeste first, just run down the panel. If you can say in kind of 30 seconds or less, what do you see as the biggest opportunity? for digital when it comes to the Agenda 2030 and the ambitions of the Summit of the Future? Celeste, over to you first.

Ms. Celeste Drake:
I think the biggest opportunity is to really ensure that workers can have decent work, and that’s because AI can be used by governments, for instance, to help their inspectorates be more direct, find the risks, and address them. Multinational firms can use AI to perform their due diligence to find the risks and to correct them, and this is a terrific opportunity to make sure that we have decent work for all workers across the globe. Thanks.

Ms. Tatiana Molcean:
I would say that increasing transparency, that is the key aspect when we look at the future, that digital tools provide us with this opportunity to increase transparency, also raise accountability, and also making the society, the public at large, really an actor and be involved. I think we have a few chapters talking about meaningful engagement. I think digital tools are the one that allow us to provide to a large circle this meaningful involvement in decision in policymaking.

Mr. Volker Türk:
Yeah. Well, I think that we, first of all, that we overcome siloization, because very often, in different areas, silos become quite entrenched, and that we see human rights as the one thing that underpins everything that we do, including in the digital area, and I think that’s really important. So we need more of human rights knowledge. We need to acknowledge that it’s a binding legal framework, that it’s multi-stakeholder, that it puts human dignity and human agency at the center of our considerations, and that is absolutely key for the global digital compact.

Mr. Masahiko Metoki:
I cannot get at really technological and really big social matters. However, actually, And no doubt, digital information advancement is necessary. It really depends upon the necessity of the human and the society’s changes, for example, the aging society. Actually, to try to find the good solutions, applicants, it’s a key to further improvement. Thank you. Thank you.

Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala:
I see a big opportunity in digital as a source of growth for the world economy and also as a means of inclusion, because those who couldn’t access markets before can now access them through digital. But what does this mean? It means that policymakers, multilateral organizations must focus very intently on bridging the digital divide. And I think we all need to focus on that electricity, connectivity, so that people wherever they are can make use of this to grow. Thank you. Thank you.

Mr. Sameer Chauhan:
So, sitting in the middle of the U.N. system, since we support all the U.N. organizations as partners, we see that each one of them is on a journey of digitalization. And they can really be role models and show the rest of the world how that particular sector can be digitized and do it in a meaningful way, in a collaborative way, kind of like WSIS here, where you have a forum where you bring in both the member states, but also the public sector, the private sector, civil society. So, an inclusive approach. I think that’s what the U.N. can truly do here, is for every single sector, bring in that inclusivity. So, when you’re leading the digital future or defining the digital future, nobody’s left out in that discussion. Thank you.

Mr. Ciyong Zou:
Again, from my side, the digital divide should be the top priority for U.N. systems, kind of like collective efforts. So, in this regard, how should we make best use of the benefits that are generated by technology from digital? And that is, I think, the key issue we need to consider and work together. Thank you. Thank you.

Ms. Doreen Bogdan-Martin:
Thank you so much. Ladies and gentlemen, please give a round of applause for our brilliant panelists. It’s been a delight to moderate this session this morning and I think it helps kind of feed and inform the sessions that will follow throughout this week. And Volker, I’ll pick up on your point. That’s siloization, I think that’s what it’s all about. Breaking down the silos and looking at how digital can cut across all sectors of the economy. And what we saw from the panel this morning is how digital impacts agriculture, how digital impacts industry, how it impacts trade, post the importance of human rights, the environment, and of course the world of work. And I really feel inspired by the remarks of all of our panelists. And something that came across, I think from each of you, really is that importance of inclusion. Leaving no one behind, electricity, connectivity. I think ladies and gentlemen, with this kind of connectedness amongst the leaders here this morning, that is how we can get it done. And of course with you, our multi-stakeholder community that is gathered here at the WSIS. So thank you again for joining us and a big thanks to our panelists. Thank you.