In today’s fast-evolving digital age, data has become a foundational asset — powering economic development, innovation, public service delivery, and social transformation. Yet without effective governance, data’s potential can quickly give way to risks: privacy breaches, algorithmic bias, security threats, and deepening digital divides. The lack of coherent, rights-based, and

The following report was developed by the Working Group on Connectivity for MSMEs, which has sought to define the key challenges and opportunities associated with MSME connectivity and its enablement in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

The 2023 Working Group report of the Broadband Commission The report takes the position that data for learning is a double-edged sword that hangs in a balance between benefits and risks. The potential power of leveraging data to improve learning is unevenly distributed around the world, resulting in global asymmetries related to data access, skills, and sovereignty.

The report, ‘Strategies towards universal smartphone access’ by the Broadband Commission Working Group on Smartphone Access represents the first multi-stakeholder analysis on the topic of smartphone access.

Written by the Broadband Commission Working Group on AI Capacity Building, the Working Group Report introduces a competency framework for civil servants, spelling out the Artificial Intelligence and Digital Transformation Competencies needed today.

The Broadband Commission Working Group on Virtual Health and Care was launched to examine virtual health and care in context of the COVID-19 pandemic: the trends, forecasts, key role of policy in influencing adoption, challenges, and ways of overcoming them. Co-chaired by Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of the WHO,

The need for action against disinformation has been recognised at the ITU/UNESCO Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development.  The Commission created a Working Group on Freedom of Expression and Addressing Disinformation, that in turn commissioned this comprehensive global study in 2019. The research underpinning this study was conducted between September 2019

The Working Group on Data, Digital, and AI in Health ​is the 3rd work-stream of the Commission around the theme of digital health, proposed with the vision of generating knowledge on successes, challenges, and learnings from AI solutions in health. Additional resources Executive Summary Infographic

Education, the Internet and broadband connectivity have a tremendous potential to solve some of the world’s most pressing challenges including the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).   Nevertheless, today 3.6 billion people still have no access to the Internet and about 258 million children are out of school.

There are more than 2 billion children under the age of 18, with the majority living in the developing countries in Sub Saharan Africa, Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean. Many children have access to and are being impacted by the Internet. They may also be exploited by its

Digital technologies and the digital economy will have a transformative impact on development. Today’s economy is being driven by digital transformation across all sectors and digital technology is increasingly at the center of people’s daily lives. Indeed, several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) require information and communication technologies (ICTs) as an

Affordable, reliable connectivity is now coming to more countries than ever. It has the potential to transform children’s lives, giving them access to previously unimagined educational, cultural, and economic opportunities. But too often, children cannot realize these opportunities, because the Internet is also a place, in which the vulnerable are

Digital technology is revolutionizing healthcare delivery. Worldwide, digital tools are leading to better and faster healthcare – healthcare that is more empowering and accessible for patients, more efficient for providers and more cost-effective for health systems. Additional resources Executive Summary – English Executive Summary – Spanish Executive Summary – French

ICT has also actively joined such efforts. Explosive growth in mobile broadband penetration in the last decade has been contributing to resolving universal challenges of mankind (poverty, famine, disease, etc.) through mobile services, and big data analysis based on data science is drawing increasing attention as a key ICT solution

The digital revolution has changed everything. But it has changed few things more than it has changed the way the world does business.

In March 2017, the Broadband Commission’s Working Group on the Digital Gender Divide, co-chaired by the GSMA and UNESCO, launched a report that outlines a set of recommendations for action that stakeholders can take to address the gender gap in Internet access and use. In response to that publication, we

Broadband Internet offers significant benefits for Least Developed Countries (LDCs). It is a transformational tool that can help these countries overcome vulnerabilities, grow their economies and enhance the livelihoods of their citizens. This report reviews experiences of leveraging broadband infrastructure for development in four LDCs: Cambodia, Rwanda, Senegal and Vanuatu.

In March 2017, the Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development’s Working Group on the Digital Gender Divide, co-chaired by the GSMA and UNESCO, launched a report that outlines a set of recommendations for action that stakeholders can take to address the gender gap in Internet access and use. The report also

Digital technologies now underpin effective participation in key areas of life and work. In addition to technology access, the skills and competencies needed to make use of digital technology and benefit from its growing power and functionality have never been more essential.

The world is undergoing an extraordinary technological revolution in satellite and high altitude communications. A dramatic increase in broadband capacity across the globe, spurred by new technologies (including geostationary high throughput satellites, massive constellations of non-geostationary satellites, and recent innovations in broadband High Altitude Platform Station (HAPS) systems), is bringing

Digital technology is today touching the lives of individuals and businesses across the world. A social and economic revolution is enabled by digital technology, often underlined by the power of the Internet. The revolution is rapidly extending beyond people to objects, illustrated by the new-found potential of the Internet of

On 15th March 2017, the Broadband Commission Working Group on the Digital Gender Divide launched its report “Recommendations for action: bridging the gender gap in Internet and broadband access and use” during the Annual Spring Meeting of the Broadband Commission, held in Hong Kong, SAR of China. The report identified four specific

The digital age is upon us and it has the potential to revolutionize how healthcare is delivered. Digital tools can increase access to health, empower patients, and provide better health information and education for all. They can also facilitate the use of real-time data to ensure that surveillance systems are

Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs), combined with innovations in broadband connectivity and the rich ecosystem of applications and services, can transform the lives of individuals and entire countries. Yet in reality, many do not enjoy the benefits, and despite growing efforts to get the underserved population online, we need to

The main objective of this Discussion Paper is to call attention to emerging trends and to start discussions on the implications of these trends on efforts to advance gender equality and the empowerment of women in the digital age. This paper recognizes the wide array of issues related to ‘cyber-violence’

We are witnessing one of the deepest transformation processes in our societies through the so-called Digital Economy Transformation. The broadband has emerged as the true backbone of this Digital Economy.

As we approach 2015, a new global partnership is being forged to carry on the work of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and shape a new sustainable development agenda involving all sectors of society. We, the members of the Broadband Commission for Digital Development, consider broadband to be a vital

Doubling Digital Opportunities: Enhancing the Inclusion of Women & Girls in the Information Society frames the challenges and opportunities we face in achieving gender equality in an era of rapid technological change. It closely examines critical gender issues with respect to new information and communication technologies (ICTs) and broadband. Most

Broadband technologies continue to expand our horizons, pushing back frontiers of time and knowledge, and overturning long-established precepts and outdated ways of doing things. The ability of broadband to improve and enhance education, as well as students’ experience of education, is undisputed. A good and well-rounded education is the basis

The Earth Institute at Columbia University presented the following report to outline the Millennium Villages Project and its scope of work in health, infrastructure, and education.

Broadband offers unique opportunities to spearhead the transition to a carbon-constrained world. But to reach its full potential, broadband needs to be a component of climate change strategy, backed up with strong policies in support of economy-wide emissions reductions. In many countries, it is this integrated regulatory framework that is

Broadband connectivity has become a basic infrastructure of modern society, just like roads, electricity or water. Science and education communities depend on “e-Infrastructures” that build on broadband connectivity to provide online services supporting the communities’ work. Not only have these services today become indispensable, they have also transformed the scientific

Governments are using ICT to provide services between government agencies and citizens, businesses, employees and nongovernmental agencies. E-Government initiatives in developing countries are not only struggling with a lack of financial resources and incentive design, but also with restricted skills and capacity within the governments. An increasing number of initiatives