UN Member States outline ICT roadmap to achieve sustainable development | Division for Inclusive Social Development (DISD)

With the curtain closed on the two-day review by the United Nations General Assembly of the outcomes of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), Member States have adopted an outcome document which aims at bridging the digital divide, ensure freedom of speech, and address Internet governance to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

“ICT [information and communications technology] has played an increasingly important role in promoting economic and social development, such as enhancing productivity, facilitating trade, creating quality jobs, providing ICT-based services such as e-health and e-learning, and improving governance,” said Mogens Lykketoft, UN General Assembly President, who convened the conference, known as the WSIS+10 High-Level Meeting, which began Tuesday and wrapped up last evening.

Sounding a similar note, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said ICTs could be an engine for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly as this High-Level review came just three months after the adoption of the 2030 Agenda. “They can power this global undertaking,” he said.

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