UN leaders chart inclusive digital future at WSIS+20
With global crises escalating and technology advancing at breakneck speed, UN leaders are uniting to ensure that digital transformation becomes a force for equity, resilience, and human dignity worldwide.
At the WSIS+20 High-Level Event in Geneva, UN leaders gathered for a pivotal dialogue on shaping an inclusive digital transformation, marking two decades since the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS). Speakers across the UN system emphasised that technology must serve people, not vice versa.
They highlighted that bridging the digital divide is critical to ensuring that innovations like AI uplift all of humanity, not just those in advanced economies. Without equitable access, the benefits of digital transformation risk reinforcing existing inequalities and leaving millions behind.
The discussion showcased how digital technologies already transform disaster response and climate resilience. The World Meteorological Organization and the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction illustrated how AI powers early warning systems and real-time risk analysis, saving lives in vulnerable regions.
Meanwhile, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN underscored the need to align technology with basic human needs, reminding the audience that ‘AI is not food,’ and calling for thoughtful, efficient deployment of digital tools to address global hunger and development.
Workforce transformation and leadership in the AI era also featured prominently. Leaders from the International Labour Organization and UNITAR stressed that while AI may replace some roles, it will augment many more, making digital literacy, ethical foresight, and collaborative governance essential skills. Examples from within the UN system itself, such as the digitisation of the Joint Staff Pension Fund through facial recognition and blockchain, demonstrated how innovation can enhance services without sacrificing inclusivity or ethics.
As the session closed, speakers collectively reaffirmed the importance of human rights, international cooperation, and shared digital governance. They stressed that the future of global development hinges on treating digital infrastructure and knowledge as public goods.
With the WSIS framework and Global Digital Compact as guideposts, UN leaders called for sustained, unified efforts to ensure that digital transformation uplifts every community and contributes meaningfully to the Sustainable Development Goals.
