13 October 2017: Governments discussed information and communications technology (ICT) for development, during a meeting of the UN General Assembly’s (UNGA) Second Committee (Economic and Financial). Speakers highlighted the continuing digital divide and the need for international investment in capacity building and improved Internet access, especially in developing countries.
The Second Committee meeting on ICT for development took place on 13 October 2017 at the UN Headquarters in New York, US.
Shamika Sirimanne, the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), presented the report on progress made in the implementation of and follow-up to the outcomes of the World Summit on the Information Society at the regional and international levels (document A/72/64). Sirimanne noted that more than half the world’s population is still offline and the digital divide remains very wide: while 84% of the population has Internet connectivity in Europe, only 18% does in Africa. She added that women are 12% less likely to use the Internet globally, compared to 25% in Africa, also stressing that the gender divide is widening.
ASEAN said the group is guided by the ASEAN Information and Communications Technology Masterplan and that the bloc is currently transforming into a digital economy. He also noted the inaugural ASEAN Ministerial Conference on Cybersecurity.
Trinidad and Tobago, for the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), explained that the work of the Caribbean Single ICT Space aims to enhance the attractiveness of the regional environment for investment and to provide “fertile ground” for digital production, commerce, entrepreneurship and innovation.
The LDCs called for coupling ICT services with modern infrastructure and service delivery systems.
Bangladesh, for the Least Developed Countries (LDCs), noted that policies to ensure ICT services, including broadband technologies, need to be coupled with modern infrastructure and service delivery systems, adding that the full participation of women must be ensured.
Maldives, for the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), called for enhanced support and technical assistance from the international community in strengthening data collection and analysis, as well as for help to leverage the use of ICT for financial services.
India said the e-services offered by the government include tele‑education, tele-medicine and agricultural information services that provide crop prices, weather forecasts and new farming techniques. Singapore noted that governments should help workers acquire the skills they need, along the lines of his country’s ‘Skills Future’ programme.
United Arab Emirates (UAE) announced that the government established a council for the fourth industrial revolution, which seeks to build relations between public and private institutions for technological diplomacy. Qatar called upon the international community to create a common strategy to fight cybercrimes.
Togo stressed that STI must be beneficial to the poor, women, children, the disabled, marginalized, and to regions affected by humanitarian crisis and terrorism. Vanuatu urged a multifaceted approach to bridge the digital divide between developing and developed countries. Nigeria called for digital inclusion and financial access by lowering the cost of ICT devices, traffic, applications, technician and educator trainings, software, maintenance and infrastructures.
Welcoming progress achieved at the Internet Governance Forum, Brazil said he hoped that Member States could jointly advance implementation of the concept of enhanced cooperation to improve mechanisms that address international public policies related to the Internet. The Russian Federation encouraged international cooperation on the research of cloud computing and artificial intelligence (AI). [UN Press Release][Second Committee Website][Second Committee Calendar of Meetings]