The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) has announced a significant investment of $4.8 billion to enhance global connectivity. This announcement was made during the plenary session of the 2024 World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS+20) forum held in Geneva, Switzerland, by the UN Agency for digital technologies.<\/p>\n
With this new investment, the total pledges aimed at closing the digital divide through ITU\u2019s Partner2Connect Digital Coalition (P2C) have reached $50.96 billion. This milestone brings the total commitments toward global connectivity to more than half of the $100 billion goal set for 2026.<\/p>\n
Among the new commitments announced at the WSIS Forum were pledges to leverage artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance digital access, adoption, and inclusion. These initiatives aim to provide more accessible and affordable digital technologies to millions of people worldwide.<\/p>\n
Commenting on the new investment, ITU Secretary-General Doreen Bogdan-Martin expressed her enthusiasm:<\/p>\n
\u201cClosing the digital divide requires a team effort, and today we scored a huge win for global connectivity. I am thrilled to see these amazing new commitments and that we have united P2C and WSIS to break through the halfway point in our goal to help bring the benefits of digital connectivity to everyone, everywhere. Because of the leadership, vision, and ambition of P2C\u2019s pledgers, millions of people will be given the opportunity to have more accessible, more affordable digital technologies for socio-economic growth, improved health, and everything that makes connectivity meaningful. It\u2019s extremely exciting to see new pledges begin to leverage the power of artificial intelligence to transform the inclusive digital societies we all aspire to build.\u201d<\/p>\n
The latest funding commitments include significant contributions from major investors. American telecom giant AT&T has committed $3 billion to connect 25 million people in the hardest-to-reach areas in the United States by 2030. This pledge brings AT&T’s total commitment to $5 billion since 2021 in efforts to narrow the digital divide.<\/p>\n
The Canadian government is also among the new investors in global connectivity. Canada is investing in computing infrastructure to support AI businesses and researchers through the CAD 2 billion (USD 1.46 billion) AI Compute Access Fund. Additionally, Canada is committing an extra CAD 400 million ($292 million) to integrate AI across its economy, assist small and medium-sized enterprises in adopting AI, protect workers through skills development, and establish a new Canadian AI Safe Institute to better understand and mitigate the risks of advanced AI systems.<\/p>\n
Microsoft has also made a new pledge to support projects and prioritize partnerships to rapidly accelerate the inclusion and representation of people with disabilities in technology systems, designs, and features, including AI.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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