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The Broadband Commission is a high-level public-private partnership fostering digital cooperation and developing actionable recommendations for achieving universal meaningful connectivity as a means of advancing progress on the sustainable development goals (SDGs).

Established in 2010 by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), HE President Paul Kagame of Rwanda, and Mr Carlos Slim Helú of Mexico, its mission is to boost the importance of broadband on the international policy agenda and expand broadband access to every country. Today, the Commission is composed of more than 50 Commissioners who represent a cross-cutting group of top CEOs and industry leaders; senior policymakers and government representatives; and experts from international agencies, academia, and organisations concerned with development.

The Commission acts as a UN advocacy engine for the implementation of the UN Secretary-General’s Roadmap for Digital Cooperation, leveraging the strength of its membership and collective expertise to advocate for meaningful, safe, secure, and sustainable broadband communications services that reflect human and children’s rights.

Digital activities

The Commission develops policy recommendations and thought leadership focused on the use of broadband connectivity to accelerate progress towards achieving the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and universal and meaningful connectivity. To mobilise efforts to bring the life-changing benefits of digital transformation to everyone, the Broadband Commission puts broadband connectivity at the forefront of global policy discussions.

The Commission’s efforts are detailed in our flagship annual collaborative State of Broadband Report and Year in Review, and throughout the year, take the form of thematic Working Groups and their publications, regular meetings, and advocacy activities on the margins of other key events such as SDG Digital, GSMA’s MWC, HLPF, WSIS, and UNGA.

The Broadband Commission outlines its seven objectives in its 2025 Broadband Advocacy Targets. These targets reflect ambitious and aspirational goals and function as a policy and programmatic guide for national and international action in sustainable and inclusive broadband development.

Each year, the Commission hosts Working Groups to dive deeper into prominent issues affecting broadband access, affordability, and use. Working Groups are proposed and led by Commissioners, with the support of external experts. The culmination of the discussion and research of these groups is a consensus-based collaborative report which provides policy recommendations for achieving the issues examined, in alignment with the Commission’s targets and elements of the UN 2030 Agenda.

Digital policy issues

Telecommunications infrastructure

The Commission promotes the adoption of best practices and policies that enable the deployment of broadband networks at the national level, especially among developing countries. We engage in advocacy activities aimed at demonstrating that broadband networks are fundamental to modern societies and the achievement of the UN sustainable development goals (SDGs). Each year, the Broadband Commission publishes a State of Broadband Report, providing a global overview of the current state of broadband network access and affordability and use, an update on the Commission’s 7 Advocacy Targets, and insights/impact stories from Commissioners on multistakeholder actions for accelerating the achievement of universal meaningful connectivity.

The Commission has launched a number of Working Groups focused on connectivity infrastructure and financing, including the World-Bank-led Digital Infrastructure Moonshot for Africa and the Working Group on 21st Century Financing Models for Sustainable Broadband Development. These initiatives aim to provide governments and policymakers, and the private sector and development partners, with a set of holistic policy recommendations to accelerate broadband connectivity, close digital gaps, and foster innovative financing and investment strategies to achieve the Commission’s targets for broadband and to provide universal and affordable access to the internet. The Working Group on School Connectivity, also identified a set of core principles to help governments and other interested stakeholders to develop more holistic school connectivity plans.

Access

When advocating for the rollout of broadband infrastructure and bridging the digital divide, the Commission underlines the increasing importance of internet access and adoption as an enabler of inclusive sustainable growth and development.

We pay particular attention to aspects related to infrastructure deployment in developing countries, inclusive and relevant digital content creation and education, connectivity for small businesses, and access to broadband/internet-enabled devices.

Recent broadband reports covering these topics include the Commission’s Working Groups on Connectivity for MSMEs, Smartphone Access, and Data for Learning. These Working Groups aim to advance progress on the Commission’s 2025 Advocacy Targets on micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), universal connectivity and digital skills development.

The Broadband Commission has also developed the Broadband Transforming Lives campaign to further illustrate the global use of broadband in everyday life, and its potential to bridge the gender digital divide, empower youth and small businesses, and improve public services like healthcare and government services.

Sustainable development

The Commission advocates for actions to be taken by all relevant stakeholders with the aim of closing the digital divide, a crucial step towards achieving the SDGs. The Commission’s annual State of Broadband Report looks at the progress made in implementing broadband networks in various countries around the world, which it regards as an essential element in addressing the digital divide. In addition, the Working Group on Smartphone Access examines the smartphone access gap and provides strategies for achieving universal smartphone ownership so that all communities may benefit from access to digital services.

In support of SDG Digital, an event hosted by ITU and UNDP with the aim of bringing digital SDG solutions to scale, Broadband Commissioners offered insights into the various use cases for digital technologies to accelerate progress towards achieving the SDGs, highlighting the crucial importance that everyone plays in harnessing the power of digital for a brighter future.

Interdisciplinary approaches: Digital cooperate

The work of the Commission contributes to the UN Secretary General’s Global Digital Compact, which outlines shared principles for an ‘open, free and secure digital future for all’. The Commission prepared a contribution to the Global Digital Compact, in which we call for the Compact to be anchored in the vision of a connected, inclusive, and sustainable world and expresses the need to ensure consistency between existing multilateral and multistakeholder forums and mechanisms, avoiding duplication and ensuring that efforts complement, build on, and reinforce existing frameworks and successful activities, which have proven to be impactful.

Through our various Working Group initiatives and the advocacy of our Commissioners, the Broadband Commission is an exemplary example of SDG 17: ‘Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the global partnership for sustainable development’ in action. The Commission’s policy recommendations advocate implicitly for global digital cooperation, providing considerations for all sectors to enhance collaboration to reach the goal of universal meaningful connectivity.

Digital tools and initiatives

Resources

The Broadband Commission’s website, social media, and various online channels feature landmark reports, which are available for free:

The Broadband Commission has also been instrumental in launching the following global initiatives and is an active participant in:

Social media channels

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UN Secretary-General issues policy brief for Global Digital Compact

As part of the process towards developing a Global Digital Compact (GDC), the UN Secretary-General has issued a policy brief outlining areas in which ‘the need for multistakeholder digital cooperation is urgent’: closing the digital divide and advancing sustainable development goals (SDGs), making the online space open and safe for everyone, and governing artificial intelligence (AI) for humanity.

The policy brief also suggests objectives and actions to advance such cooperation and ‘safeguard and advance our digital future’. These are structured around the following topics:

Digital connectivity and capacity building. The overarching objectives here are to close the digital divide and empower people to participate fully in the digital economy. Proposed actions range from common targets for universal and meaningful connectivity to putting in place or strengthening public education for digital literacy.
Digital cooperation to accelerate progress on the SDGs. Objectives include making targeted investments in digital public infrastructure and services, making data representative, interoperable, and accessible, and developing globally harmonised digital sustainability standards. Among the proposed actions are the development of definitions of safe, inclusive, and sustainable digital public infrastructures, fostering open and accessible data ecosystems, and developing a common blueprint on digital transformation (something the UN would do).
Upholding human rights. Putting human rights at the centre of the digital future, ending the gender digital divide, and protecting workers are the outlined objectives in this area. One key proposed action is the establishment of a digital human rights advisory mechanism, facilitated by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, to provide guidance on human rights and technology issues.
An inclusive, open, secure, and shared internet. There are two objectives: safeguarding the free and shared nature of the internet, and reinforcing accountable multistakeholder governance. Some of the proposed actions include commitments from governments to avoid blanket internet shutdowns and refrain from actions disrupting critical infrastructures.
Digital trust and security. Objectives range from strengthening multistakeholder cooperation to elaborate norms, guidelines, and principles on the responsible use of digital technologies, to building capacity and expanding the global cybersecurity workforce. The proposed overarching action is for stakeholders to commit to developing common standards and industry codes of conduct to address harmful content on digital platforms.
Data protection and empowerment. Ensuring that data are governed for the benefit of all, empowering people to control their personal data, and developing interoperable standards for data quality as envisioned as key objectives. Among the proposed actions are an invitation for countries to consider adopting a declaration on data rights and seeking convergence on principles for data governance through a potential Global Data Compact.
Agile governance of AI and other emerging technologies. The proposed objectives relate to ensuring transparency, reliability, safety, and human control in the design and use of AI; putting transparency, fairness, and accountability at the core of AI governance; and combining existing norms, regulations, and standards into a framework for agile governance of AI. Actions envisioned range from establishing a high-level advisory body for AI to building regulatory capacity in the public sector.
Global digital commons. Objectives include ensuring inclusive digital cooperation, enabling regular and sustained exchanges across states, regions, and industry sectors, and developing and governing technologies in ways that enable sustainable development, empower people, and address harms.

The document further notes that ‘the success of a GDC will rest on its implementation’. This implementation would be done by different stakeholders at the national, regional, and sectoral level, and be supported by spaces such as the Internet Governance Forum and the World Summit on the Information Society Forum. One suggested way to support multistakeholder participation is through a trust fund that could sponsor a Digital Cooperation Fellowship Programme.

As a mechanism to follow up on the implementation of the GDC, the policy brief suggests that the Secretary-General could be tasked to convene an annual Digital Cooperation Forum (DCF). The mandate of the forum would also include, among other things, facilitating collaboration across digital multistakeholder frameworks and reducing duplication; promoting cross-border learning in digital governance; and identifying and promoting policy solutions to emerging digital challenges and governance gaps.

Inter-Parliamentary Union

The IPU is the global organisation of national parliaments. It was founded more than 130 years ago as the world’s first multilateral political organisation, encouraging cooperation and dialogue between all nations. Today, the IPU comprises 181 national Member Parliaments and 15 regional parliamentary bodies. It promotes democracy and helps parliaments develop into stronger, younger, greener, more gender-balanced, and more innovative institutions. It also defends the human rights of parliamentarians through a dedicated committee made up of MPs from around the world.

Digital activities

The IPU’s digital activities mainly focus on the promotion of the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in parliaments, including AI. To this end, it has established a Centre for Innovation in Parliament, which undertakes research on the impact of digital technologies on parliaments, publishes the landmark World e-Parliament Report, hosts the biannual World e-Parliament Conference and coordinates a network of parliamentary hubs on innovation in parliaments.

The IPU has also recently developed new tools and resources on AI to help parliaments become stronger and more effective, as well as to share good practice from around the world when it comes to AI policy.

Digital policy issues

Capacity development

In line with its objective of building strong and democratic parliaments, the IPU assists parliaments in building their capacity to use ICTs effectively, both in parliamentary proceedings and in communication with citizens. The IPU has also been mandated by its member parliaments to carry on capacity development programmes for parliamentary bodies tasked to oversee the observance of the right to privacy and individual freedoms in the digital environment.

The IPU also encourages parliaments to make use of ICTs as essential tools in their legislative activities. To this aim, the IPU launched the Centre for Innovation in Parliament (CIP) in 2018 to provide a platform for parliaments to develop and share good practices in digital transformation strategies, as well as practical methods for capacity building. The IPU holds the World e-Parliament Conference, a biannual forum that addresses, from both the policy and technical perspectives, how ICTs can help improve representation, law-making, and oversight. It also publishes the annual World E-Parliament Report.

As of August 2023, eight regional and thematic parliamentary hubs are operating under the Centre for Innovation in Parliament, covering IT governance, open data and transparency, Hispanophone countries, Eastern Africa, Southern Africa, the Caribbean, and the Pacific. Each hub is coordinated by a national parliament and brings together parliaments to work on subjects of common interest, such as remote working methods during COVID-19.

In 2023, the IPU published a Guide to digital transformation in parliaments, in partnership with the Association of Secretaries General of Parliament.

The CIP has seen significant growth in participation, increasing from 27% of parliaments in 2020 to 45% in 2024. An additional 32% of parliaments have expressed interest in future participation. The CIP is working in partnership with the Association of Secretaries General of Parliaments and collaborating with the EU and the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA) as part of ‘INTER PARES–Parliaments in Partnership, the EU’s Global Project to Strengthen the Capacity of Parliaments’.

The IPU has established the Parliamentary Data Science Hub within the CIP, which is working on creating guidelines for AI governance in parliaments. The Hub has published a collection called ‘Use cases for AI in parliaments’ to help parliaments plan, develop, and measure AI implementation. These resources are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license.

The IPU published the World e-Parliament Report 2024, which surveyed 115 parliaments or chambers in 86 countries and supranational parliaments. The 2024 report introduced the new IPU Digital Maturity Index as a benchmarking tool that ranks parliaments across six key areas. The report identifies a persistent digital divide among parliaments, with a country’s income level being the most significant predictor of digital maturity. According to the report, 68% of parliaments now have multi-year digital strategies (up from previous years), and public engagement remains a weak spot in digital maturity for many parliaments.

Sustainable development

The IPU works to raise awareness about the sustainable development goals (SDGs) among parliaments, and provides them with a platform to assist them in taking action and sharing experiences and good practices in achieving the SDGs.

Privacy and data protection

The IPU’s October 2024 Resolution on AI and Democracy emphasises the critical relationship between democratic institutions and emerging AI technologies. Drawing on diverse parliamentary perspectives, the resolution acknowledges the need for responsive regulation that balances innovation with fundamental democratic values and human rights considerations.

The Resolution guides IPU’s work on strengthening parliaments’ capacity in AI governance. Through targeted initiatives, the IPU equips legislative bodies with essential tools and knowledge to effectively shape AI policy frameworks. Emphasising parliament’s crucial oversight role, the IPU helps legislative bodies to effectively balance innovation with ethical considerations, data protection, and human rights safeguards.

Freedom of expression

The IPU Committee on Democracy and Human Rights works, among others, on promoting the protection of freedom of expression in the digital era and the use of social media as an effective tool to promote democracy. In 2015, the IPU adopted a resolution on ‘Democracy in the digital era and the threat to privacy and individual freedoms’, which encourages parliaments to remove all legal limitations on freedom of expression and the flow of information, and urges them to enable the protection of information in cyberspace, so as to safeguard the privacy and individual freedom of citizens.

In 2023, the Committee decided to prepare a resolution titled ‘The impact of artificial intelligence on democracy, human rights and the rule of law’, for adoption in October 2024. Preparation of the resolution is accompanied by capacity development activities for parliamentarians on AI.
It offers virtual training sessions for parliamentarians. Its IPU Parline database is an open data platform on national parliaments, which includes data on the age of people in parliament, as well as a monthly ranking of women in national parliaments.

Artificial intelligence

The IPU has recently published two new resources to help parliaments unlock the benefits of AI to enhance their efficiency, effectiveness, and productivity while mitigating the risks of this rapidly evolving technology.

The Guidelines for AI in parliaments offer a comprehensive framework for parliaments to understand and implement AI responsibly and effectively.

They provide practical guidance on the importance of a strategic approach, strong governance, ethical considerations, and risk management. The Guidelines underscore the importance of using AI to augment and enhance human capability rather than replace it, especially in democratic deliberation and decision-making.

The Guidelines cover several key areas, including the potential role of AI in parliaments, the related risks and challenges, suggested governance structures and AI strategy, ethical principles and risk management, training and capacity development, and how to manage a portfolio of AI projects across parliament.

Key recommendations include:

Start with small pilot projects to build experience.
Focus on use cases with clear benefits and manageable risks.
Ensure robust human oversight of AI systems.
Prioritise transparency and accountability.
Invest in data and AI literacy across the organisation.
Engage with diverse stakeholders throughout the process.

The Guidelines are complemented by a series of Use cases for AI in parliaments, which offer potential roadmaps for parliamentary AI adoption.

A ‘use case’ describes how a system should work. It is used to plan, develop and measure implementation. Use cases translate the abstract potential of AI into practical applications for parliamentary operations.

The IPU is also tracking parliamentary actions on AI policy by documenting a range of initiatives on AI taking place in national parliaments, including legislative reviews, reports, resolutions, inquiries, working groups, and policy discussions.

Parliamentary actions have so far been observed in 26 countries. Information is sourced from parliaments and updated every month.

For more information about IPU’s work on AI, visit www.ipu.org/AI or contact innovation@ipu.org.

Social media channels

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Threads @ipu.parliament_official

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UNESCO to train media in West Africa to use digital tools to cover environmental issues

UNESCO will implement a project in four African countries – Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon and Gabon – to train news teams from leading media organisations to use digital tools for investigating and reporting on environmental issues.

Given the numerous presence of international and national extractive companies in Africa, Tawfik Jelassi, UNESCO’s Assistant Director-General for Communication and Information, highlighted local media’s role in monitoring these companies’ activities and holding them accountable in case of environmental violations.

In addition to equipping media teams with skills to use technologies such as satellite imagery, databases on climate indicators, 3-D modelling, digital maps and others, UNESCO will also instruct them on researching public records for their coverage, including environmental laws and regulations.

After completion of the project, participants are expected to be able to expose actors who are not complying with environmental laws and commitments, identify discrepancies between officially released data and reality and dispute statements made by politicians.

World Economic Forum issues ‘State of the Connected World 2023’ report

The World Economic Forum and the Council on the Connected World published the State of the Connected World 2023 report exploring governance gaps related to the internet of things (IoT). The report outlines the findings of a survey conducted with 271 experts worldwide to understand the state of IoT affairs. The COVID-19 pandemic has increased IoT demand in health, manufacturing, and consumer IoT. However, there is a lack of confidence when it comes to matters such as privacy and security.

Two main governance gaps are identified: (1) a lack of governmental regulation and implementation of industry standards and (2) IoT users are more susceptible to cyber threats and cyberattacks.

One recommendation is for businesses and governments to develop and implement practices to improve privacy and security and create a more inclusive and accessible IoT ecosystem. The need to improve equal access to technology and its benefits is also underscored.

Lockheed Martin will work with NVIDIA to build an AI-driven Earth Observations Digital Twin for NOAA

Lockheed Martin, a global security and aerospace company, and NVIDIA, a global leader in accelerated computing, will collaborate to build an AI-driven Earth Observations Digital Twin for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). It will provide NOAA with a centralised approach to monitoring global environmental conditions, including extreme weather events.

The project will use satellite and ground-based observations, which will be ingested, analysed, shared and visually represented by various platforms developed by the two companies.

Abu Dhabi’s Environment Agency launches digital system for environmental inspection and compliance evaluation

The Environment Agency of Abu Dhabi (EAD) launched ‘Eltezam’, a digital system for environmental inspection and compliance evaluation. The new system allows EAD inspectors to review any aspect of an organisation’s activities regarding potential environmental harms (regardless of whether the activities are listed in the organisation’s environmental licence).

The system is built on algorithms that connect industrial sectors with production processes and conditions.

Faisal Al Hammadi, Acting Executive Director of the Environmental Quality Sector at EAD, noted: ‘The agency has developed modern technological tools and programs that ensure compliance by industrial facilities and development projects with environmental laws and requirements.’

The Unit Head, Compliance and Enforcement at EAD, Ahmed Al Waheebi, said that this new digital system aims to strengthen EAD’s inspection role and expand its coverage to all industrial sectors, infrastructure projects, and commercial activities under its jurisdiction.

Nigeria revises enviornmental legislations to tackle e-waste crisis

A large amount of electronic waste — Nigeria revises enviornmental legislations to tackle e-waste crisis 5

On January 5, 2023, the Nigerian government announced a review of national environmental regulations to address the country’s long-lasting e-waste crisis. Nigeria is the largest gateway to the African continent for imports of electrical and electronic equipment. Annually, the country disposes and processes more than half a million tons of electronics and nearly 100,000 people make their living working in the electronics recycling sector.

The changes in the legislation were enabled by the Circular Economy Approaches for the Electronics Sector in Nigeria project, an initiative funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), led by UNEP and implemented by the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency of Nigeria (NESREA).

According to NESREA Director General, Prof. Aliyu Jauro:

“The revised regulations bind all manufacturers and importers of electrical equipment, e-waste collection centres, and recycling facilities to register with the E-waste Producer Responsibility Organization Nigeria (EPRON), marking an essential step towards the operationalization of a financially self-sustaining circular electronics network.”

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The UN CTCN is hosting a 3-day capacity building programme on the applications of digital agriculture technology

Between 14 and 16 December 2022, the UN Climate Technology Centre and Network (CTCN), in collaboration with the Seoul National University Global R&DB Centre, is holding a 3-day capacity building programme on ‘Digital Technology Applications in the Agriculture Sector’ for National Designated Entities and officers from concerned Ministries of Agriculture.

The application of digital technologies in agriculture can help transform food systems, contributing to the three stages of sustainability, namely efficiency, substitution, and redesign. The workshop will introduce digital technology enhancements in sustainable agriculture and food systems. Technology, climate finance and policy experts will present current information regarding CTCN technical assistance projects focused on enhancing national capacities and sector-specific climate challenges. Participants will have the opportunity to co-design these projects.

EU lawmakers: Batteries produced in Europe to be the most sustainable in the world

The European Parliament and Council reached a provisional agreement to revise EU rules on batteries. The new set of rules is to account for the current technological development and future challenges and will cover the entire battery life cycle: from the extraction of raw materials, to industrial production, to end-of-life disposal.

Once approved, the new regulation will be applied to all batteries sold in the EU, from portable batteries in electronic devices, to batteries used in electronic vehicles, e-scooters, and e-bikes. Moreover, all batteries must display a ‘carbon footprint declaration’, outlining the carbon expended in production. Batteries will also be required to contain QR codes that link to the information related to their capacity, performance, durability, and chemical composition.

The agreement, which is yet to be formally approved by the Council and Parliament, relates to a proposal for a regulation on batteries and waste batteries put forward by the European Commission in December 2020.