UN wants $100 billion to boost digitalisation in poor countries

GENEVA: The United Nations on Wednesday demanded a tripling of pledges aimed at filling the global digitalisation gap, asking countries and the private sector to hike the funding to $100 billion by 2026.

Around 2.7 billion people around the world were offline in 2022, according to data from the International Telecommunications Union, the UN´s telecoms agency. “The digital connectivity divide separating the least developed countries from the rest of the world is widening,” the ITU warned, launching an appeal for far more resources towards ensuring meaningful connectivity and digitalisation in the world´s least developed countries (LDCs).

“Tech is at the top of the global agenda, but the benefits of digital technology are still out of reach for too many people,” ITU chief Doreen Bogdan-Martin said in a statement.

“If we are serious about digitalising the world in a way that is meaningful and sustainable, we must take action to accelerate digital transformation for everyone.”