DOREEN BOGDAN-MARTIN Doreen Bogdan-Martin took office as secretary-general of the International Telecommunication Union on 1 January 2023. She was director of ITU’s Telecommunication Development Bureau from 2018 to 2022, and previously served as executive director of the ITU-UNESCO Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development for more than a decade. She also led ITU’s Strategic Planning and Membership Department and the ITU Telecommunication Development Bureau’s Regulatory and Market Environment Division and Regulatory Reform Unit. Before joining ITU in 1994, she worked in the National Telecommunication and Information Administration of the US Department of Commerce.
@ITUSecGen : www.itu.int
Summit was the launch of the Impact Initiative that links innovators with problem owners to scale AI solutions across all 17 SDGs and every region of the world. ITU’s technical standardisation community – open to all – has published over 100 AI-related standards, with another 150 in development. But we can do much more. As the world’s leading economies, G20 members have an opportunity to foster not only an innovative but also an inclusive and responsible digital landscape that thrives on healthy competition. By supporting initiatives such as indicators for universal meaningful connectivity – part of ITU’s work as a G20 Knowledge Partner of Brazil’s G20 presidency – G20 members can help get more developing countries connected and participating in the AI revolution. This can also involve committing to initiatives that build digital and AI capacity in developing countries, and contributing to broader skilling, infrastructure and research collaborations. Examples include the Partner2Connect Digital Coalition, which has mobilised over $50 billion in support of universal meaningful connectivity. It also includes supporting the Global Digital Compact, which builds on existing multistakeholder UN processes for digital governance, such as WSIS and its upcoming 20-year review. ITU is working with other UN agencies to support the follow-up to the Compact, taking on a considerable share of the substantive work to implement its outcomes. Together, we can set the world on a path where the benefits of technologies like AI are accessible everywhere, no matter where a country is on its digital transformation journey. That is how we can ensure that AI never stands for advancing inequality.
a great deal, from promoting digital inclusion to supporting capacity building and skilling so that more people – regardless of their economic status – could reap the benefits of connectivity. Today, over five billion people, equivalent to more than 60% of the world’s population, use the internet. But our work to close the digital divide is not done. A third of humanity is still offline, and many countries continue to struggle with connectivity. Still, the incredible progress made in just two decades did not happen by itself. ITU was, and continues to be, where 194 countries can advance connectivity infrastructure, standards and digital development on an equal footing. And just as the world joined together to bridge the digital divide as the internet went mainstream, we can leverage global multistakeholder cooperation to prevent a growing AI divide. EMPOWERING EVERYONE When it comes to conversations on how AI will shape our shared digital future, everyone deserves to participate with an equal voice. The role of standards in ensuring the socio-economic gains from AI are shared equitably cannot be overstated. ITU’s role as a neutral platform to develop common technical standards is crucial when it comes to levelling the playing field and supporting inclusive AI innovation. One key outcome of our AI for Good Global
people currently use the internet 30 countries hold most of the world’s AI development capacity 5 bn
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2024 — G20 BRAZIL: THE RIO SUMMIT
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