June 14, 2020
Nearly half of the global population, 46.4 percent, cannot connect to the Internet at a time when digital technology is vital to mounting an effective response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the International Telecommunication Union, half of the world thus remains unable to fully participate in the digital age.
Women are disproportionately affected with only 48 percent connected globally. Meanwhile, as efforts to connect more people proceed, new vulnerabilities have arisen. Cyberattacks and misinformation threaten human rights, privacy, and security, the United Nations says.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has presented a set of recommendations for the international community to help ensure all people are connected, respected, and protected in the digital age, especially when digital technology is vital in combating the coronavirus pandemic.
“Far from distracting us from the urgency of digital cooperation, COVID-19 is making it more important than ever, and demonstrating the interconnected nature of the challenges we face”, he told Thursday’s “High-level Thematic Debate on the Impact of Rapid Technological Change on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Targets”, taking place in the UN General Assembly.
He emphasized that digital technology is central to almost every aspect of effective pandemic response – including vaccine research, online learning models, e-commerce, and work-from-home tools.
But, he pointed out that the digital divide between those on and offline, is threatening to become “the new face of inequality”, reinforcing the social and economic disadvantages suffered by women and girls, people with disabilities and “minorities of all kinds”.
Guterres told the meeting that we are only beginning to understand the social implications of a post-COVID world.
“To fully reap its benefits and contain potential harms we must ensure the digital age is defined by increased international cooperation,” he said.
“There are no borders in cyberspace. Today I call on all UN member states and our partners in industry and civil society to expand cooperation on digital technology issues. Only by working together can we connect all people by 2030, respect human rights online, and protect the most vulnerable from the potential perils of the digital age,” said the UN chief.
The secretary-general’s Roadmap for Digital Cooperation is the result of a multi-year, multi-stakeholder, global effort to address a range of issues related to the internet, artificial intelligence, and other digital technologies, according to a press release.
The Roadmap for Digital Cooperation comes at a critical inflection point for digital issues, with the COVID-19 pandemic accelerating digitization and magnifying both opportunities and challenges of digital technology.
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