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As we enter the 2030 Decade of Action, digital technologies will be essential in accelerating the SDGs for young people, especially in low-and middle-income countries. To avoid a ‘lost generation’ of young people from the pandemic, new innovative approaches to technology and capital transfer may be needed to forge a COVID-19 recovery that truly bridges the digital divide and leaves no behind. One unique pathway, highlighted in the UN Secretary General’s Roadmap for Digital Cooperation, is experimenting with new, inclusive approaches to digital inclusion and localization, like open-source technologies and content, educational technologies, and Digital Public Goods. Designing localized solutions requires acknowledging the impact of this crisis on the most vulnerable and marginalized and co-designing solutions with youth as a key stakeholder, end-user, and co-innovator. Empowering digitally disadvantaged youth will help promote better education models and digital skills training, while pushing towards an inclusive COVID-19 recovery that delivers greater access to basic goods and services, quality education and information, and decent jobs.