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Summary

This discussion focused on submarine cable resilience, examining the critical infrastructure that carries 99% of international communications traffic through approximately 500 cables spanning 1.7 million kilometers worldwide. The panel was moderated by Tomas Lamanauskas, Deputy Secretary General of ITU, and featured representatives from Portugal’s telecom regulator ANACOM, Estonia’s Ministry of Justice and Digital Affairs, Singapore’s IMDA, and China Telecom Europe. The conversation centered around the International Advisory Body of Submarine Cable Resilience, established by ITU in partnership with the International Cable Protection Committee, which now includes 40 members working to develop global best practices.

Key challenges identified included both intentional and unintentional cable disruptions, with human activities such as anchoring and fishing accounting for over 85% of cable cuts according to industry data. Estonia’s minister highlighted the particular threat of intentional cable cuts by hostile actors, while Singapore’s representative emphasized the economic importance of submarine cables, noting they account for 18% of Singapore’s GDP. The discussion revealed that natural disasters and human interference remain the primary causes of cable damage, necessitating comprehensive protection strategies.

Solutions proposed included building redundancy through diverse routing, implementing predictive maintenance systems, establishing protection zones, and developing rapid repair capabilities. Participants stressed the importance of international cooperation, particularly in supporting small island states and developing countries that lack repair resources. The advisory body has established three working groups focusing on resilience by design, timely deployment and repair, and risk identification and mitigation. The panel concluded with plans for a second National Submarine Cable Resilience Summit, emphasizing the need for continued multilateral cooperation to protect this critical global infrastructure.

Keypoints

## Major Discussion Points:

– **Submarine Cable Vulnerability and Protection**: The discussion emphasized that submarine cables carry 99% of international communications but are surprisingly fragile (demonstrated with a physical cable sample). The main causes of disruption are human activities like anchoring and fishing (85%+ of incidents), with some intentional damage from hostile actors, particularly in regions like the Baltic Sea.

– **International Cooperation and Governance**: Panelists highlighted the need for multilateral approaches through organizations like ITU and IMO, drawing parallels to the original 1865 telegraph cable protection challenges. The International Advisory Body on Submarine Cable Resilience was established with 40+ members to develop best practices and coordinate global responses.

– **Resilience Through Design and Redundancy**: Key strategies discussed included building redundancy into cable systems, route diversity, predictive maintenance, protection zones, and rapid repair capacity. Singapore’s approach of scaling from 10 to 50+ cables by 2035 was cited as an example of creating resilience through quantity and diversity.

– **Economic and Capacity Building Challenges**: The discussion addressed the economic realities of cable deployment and repair, particularly for small island states and developing countries. Issues included limited repair ship availability (only one for all of Africa), the need for simplified licensing procedures, and the importance of making digital infrastructure economically viable.

– **Stakeholder Engagement and Education**: Panelists emphasized the need to involve diverse stakeholders including maritime authorities, fishing communities, consumers, and academia. There was discussion about the lack of submarine cable expertise in younger generations and the need for better public awareness about this critical infrastructure.

## Overall Purpose:

The discussion aimed to address submarine cable resilience as critical global infrastructure, sharing best practices among government officials, regulators, and industry representatives while promoting the work of the International Advisory Body on Submarine Cable Resilience and building momentum for continued international cooperation.

## Overall Tone:

The tone was professional and collaborative throughout, with a sense of urgency about protecting critical infrastructure. Panelists demonstrated mutual respect and shared commitment to the cause. The atmosphere became more interactive and engaged during the Q&A session, with audience members from various countries and organizations contributing diverse perspectives. There was an underlying current of concern about intentional cable damage, but the overall approach remained constructive and solution-focused.

Speakers

– **Tomas Lamanauskas** – Deputy Secretary General of RTU, moderator of the panel on submarine cable resilience

– **Sandra Maximiano** – Professor, Chairperson of ANACOM (telecom regulator in Portugal), Co-chair of the International Advisory Body of Submarine Cable Resilience

– **Liisa Ly Pakosta** – Minister of Justice and Digital Affairs of Estonia

– **Lew Chuen Hong** – CEO of IMDA Singapore (Infocomm and Media Development Authority)

– **Athena Jun Xian** – Managing Director from China Telecom Europe, Executive General Manager of China Telecom on the Promenade-Folokom Global

– **Audience** – Various audience members including:

– Sabine Jones – European government representative and international expert

– Nisa Purcell – Regulator from Samoa

– Katrin Stuber – Works for GEANT, represents science innovation research organizations in Europe

– Abdi Jilir – Civil society representative from Chad

– Isaac Boateng – Head of standardization for the African Telecommunication Union

– Volodymyr Matyushko – EU digital and green transition expert

**Additional speakers:**

– **Bosun Tijani** – Mentioned as an announced panelist who was unable to attend (was on a plane)

# Comprehensive Report: Panel Discussion on Submarine Cable Resilience

## Introduction and Context

This comprehensive panel discussion on submarine cable resilience was moderated by Tomas Lamanauskas, Deputy Secretary General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), and formed part of broader discussions surrounding the ITU’s 159th anniversary celebrations. The timing proved particularly significant, as Lamanauskas noted that the original 1865 ITU founding addressed precisely the same challenge: protecting undersea telegraphic cables from intentional damage by hostile actors.

Lamanauskas opened the discussion with a compelling physical demonstration, showing participants an actual submarine cable sample to illustrate the surprising thinness and vulnerability of infrastructure carrying 99% of global communications. This tangible demonstration effectively conveyed the paradox of critical global infrastructure that appears deceptively fragile.

The panel brought together distinguished representatives from regulatory bodies, government ministries, and industry leaders to examine the critical infrastructure that underpins global digital communications. With around 500 submarine cables spanning 1.7 million kilometres worldwide and carrying 99% of international communications traffic, the discussion addressed both the fundamental importance and surprising vulnerability of this infrastructure.

## Panel Composition and Expertise

The discussion featured Sandra Maximiano, Professor and Chairperson of ANACOM (Portugal’s telecommunications regulator) and Co-chair of the International Advisory Body of Submarine Cable Resilience; Liisa Ly Pakosta, Minister of Justice and Digital Affairs of Estonia; Lew Chuen Hong, CEO of Singapore’s Infocomm and Media Development Authority (IMDA); and Athena Jun Xian, Managing Director from China Telecom Europe. The panel was notably missing Bosun Tijani, who was unable to attend due to travel commitments.

The audience participation proved equally valuable, with contributions from diverse stakeholders including representatives from European governments, regulators from Samoa, GEANT representatives, civil society representatives from Chad, the African Telecommunication Union, and EU digital transition experts.

## The Critical Infrastructure Challenge

### Physical Vulnerability and Global Dependence

The economic significance became clear through regional examples. Lew Chuen Hong emphasised that Singapore’s digital economy accounts for about 18% of the nation’s GDP, making submarine cables foundational infrastructure rather than merely technical equipment. Similarly, Liisa Ly Pakosta highlighted Estonia’s complete digitalisation, with all government services dependent on internet connectivity, making cable resilience a matter of national functionality.

Sandra Maximiano provided the broader context, explaining that whilst there are around 500 cables globally, this relatively small number supports the entire international digital economy. The concentration of such critical functionality in limited physical infrastructure creates systemic vulnerabilities that require coordinated international response.

### Threat Landscape and Causation Analysis

The discussion revealed a complex threat environment with both traditional and emerging challenges. Athena Jun Xian presented industry data showing that human activities, particularly anchoring and fishing operations, account for the vast majority of cable cuts. These incidents range from purely accidental damage during legitimate maritime activities to intentional cuts by fishing vessels.

Natural disasters, including earthquakes and undersea landslides, represent another significant category of threats. However, the most concerning development emerged through Minister Pakosta’s revelation of intentional cable cuts by hostile state actors. She specifically described incidents involving Russian shuttle fleet vessels deliberately targeting cables in designated protection zones.

This intelligence fundamentally shifted the discussion’s scope from technical infrastructure management to hybrid warfare considerations. The moderator acknowledged that such state-level threats were “above his pay grade,” highlighting how submarine cable protection intersects with broader geopolitical security concerns.

## International Cooperation Framework

### The International Advisory Body on Submarine Cable Resilience

Sandra Maximiano detailed the establishment and operation of the International Advisory Body on Submarine Cable Resilience, created through ITU partnership with the International Cable Protection Committee. The body now includes over 40 members from both public and private sectors, representing a significant achievement in multi-stakeholder coordination.

The advisory body has established three working groups addressing distinct aspects of resilience: “resilience by design,” “timely deployment and repair,” and “risk identification, monitoring and mitigation.” This structure reflects a comprehensive approach moving beyond reactive crisis management to proactive system design and threat assessment.

The body’s work builds upon historical precedent, with Minister Pakosta noting that the 1865 ITU founding addressed identical challenges of protecting undersea telegraphic cables from hostile actors. This historical continuity validates the ITU’s role whilst demonstrating that submarine cable protection represents an enduring challenge requiring institutional responses.

### Regional Cooperation Mechanisms

Lew Chuen Hong described Singapore’s leadership of an ASEAN working group developing regional guidelines and best practices for submarine cable resilience. This regional approach complements global ITU efforts whilst addressing specific geographical and political contexts within Southeast Asia.

The regional framework allows for more detailed coordination on practical matters such as repair ship positioning, emergency response protocols, and information sharing arrangements. Singapore’s experience scaling from 10 to about 28 or 29 cables today, with plans to double that to about 50 by about 2035, provides a model for other regions seeking to build resilience through redundancy and diversity.

Portugal’s approach, as described by Sandra Maximiano, involves developing national best practices that replicate the international advisory body’s multi-stakeholder approach at the domestic level. This creates nested coordination mechanisms from local to regional to global levels.

## Resilience Strategies and Technical Solutions

### Design-Based Resilience Principles

Sandra Maximiano articulated a fundamental principle that became a recurring theme: “Resilience must be designed into cable systems, so must be built into design and not improvised in crisis.” This philosophy of “resilience by design” represents a shift from reactive crisis management to proactive system architecture.

The design-based approach encompasses multiple elements: redundancy through multiple cable connections, route diversity to avoid single points of failure, predictive maintenance systems for early problem detection, protection zones around critical infrastructure, and rapid repair capacity for quick restoration. These elements must be integrated from the initial planning stages rather than added retrospectively.

Singapore’s strategy exemplifies this approach, with Lew Chuen Hong explaining how the country uses quantity to create quality and diversity. By scaling to 50+ cables by 2035, Singapore creates mesh network architecture that can withstand multiple simultaneous failures whilst avoiding strategic choke points.

### Technical Implementation Measures

The discussion revealed various technical measures for enhancing cable resilience. Sandra Maximiano described deploying armoured cables and burying them deeper in high-risk areas, whilst Athena Jun Xian detailed China Telecom’s operation of submarine repair ships and management of submarine cable landings in China.

Predictive maintenance emerged as a critical capability, with audience members asking specifically about AI-powered infrastructure for real-time monitoring and early detection. This represents a shift from reactive repair to proactive maintenance that could prevent many disruptions.

The concept of hybrid power-telecom cable systems was introduced by audience members, suggesting that combining power and telecommunications cables could provide mutual resilience benefits through guard zones and optical monitoring capabilities.

## Economic and Development Challenges

### Investment Drivers and Economic Realities

Lew Chuen Hong emphasised that economics fundamentally drives cable deployment decisions, requiring growth in digital economy to attract private sector investment in cable infrastructure. This economic reality creates particular challenges for regions with limited digital economic activity, as cable operators require sufficient traffic and revenue to justify new deployments.

The economic dimension extends to repair capabilities, with Sandra Maximiano noting that collective mechanisms are needed to support repair capacity for regions lacking resources. Small island states face particular vulnerabilities due to limited cable connections and repair capabilities.

### Capacity Building and Skills Development

The discussion highlighted significant capacity building challenges, particularly regarding workforce development. Athena Jun Xian noted the lack of submarine cable expertise among younger generations and called for industry programmes to train youth for sustainability of the sector.

Sandra Maximiano advocated for expanded academic research programmes focused on submarine cable issues, noting the current lack of dedicated research in this critical area. This academic gap limits innovation and understanding of emerging challenges.

The skills challenge extends beyond technical expertise to regulatory and policy capabilities. Audience members from smaller countries highlighted the difficulty regulators face in collecting and verifying accurate data from submarine cable companies when they lack independent monitoring capabilities.

## Regional Vulnerabilities and Specific Challenges

### Small Island States and Landlocked Countries

The discussion revealed particular vulnerabilities facing small island states and landlocked countries. Audience members from Chad highlighted how landlocked countries depend entirely on cable connections through neighbouring countries, creating dependencies that extend beyond technical infrastructure to diplomatic and economic relationships.

Route diversity challenges became apparent through observations that African traffic must be rerouted through other continents during cable cuts, creating inefficient routing patterns that affect entire regions. This geographical reality demonstrates how cable cuts in one location can have cascading effects across continents.

Questions from regulators in smaller countries highlighted how these nations often lack the resources and expertise to develop comprehensive cable cut response policies. This creates a two-tier system where larger countries with multiple cables and repair capabilities maintain connectivity whilst smaller countries face extended outages.

### Sovereignty Versus Resilience Tensions

Audience members posed fundamental questions about balancing increased resilience requirements with sovereignty concerns and affordability constraints. This tension reflects broader geopolitical trends towards digital sovereignty whilst recognising that resilience often requires international cooperation and shared infrastructure.

The sovereignty challenge extends to data transparency, with regulators needing access to cable performance data for oversight whilst companies maintaining commercial confidentiality. This creates information asymmetries that complicate effective governance and emergency response.

## Stakeholder Engagement and Multi-Stakeholder Coordination

The discussion emphasised the need for comprehensive stakeholder engagement extending beyond traditional telecommunications actors. Athena Jun Xian described education programmes targeting fishermen, shipping companies, and local communities about cable protection and legal consequences of damage.

Sandra Maximiano advocated for digital literacy programmes that include education about submarine cable importance, helping consumers understand the costs and importance of building redundancy and resilience. This public awareness component addresses the disconnect between visible internet services and invisible submarine infrastructure.

The multi-stakeholder approach requires coordination between telecommunications regulators, maritime authorities, environmental agencies, and international organisations. This complexity necessitates clear coordination mechanisms and shared understanding of roles and responsibilities.

## Emerging Threats and Security Considerations

### State-Level Threats and Hybrid Warfare

Minister Pakosta’s revelation of intentional cable cuts by Russian shuttle fleet vessels represented the most significant security development discussed. These incidents involve deliberate targeting of cables in protected zones, representing a new category of hybrid warfare that traditional industry protection measures cannot address.

The intentional threat category requires different response mechanisms compared to accidental damage. Whilst industry can address fishing and anchoring accidents through education and technical measures, state-level sabotage requires diplomatic, legal, and potentially military responses that exceed industry capabilities.

The discussion revealed the challenge of distinguishing between accidental and intentional damage, particularly when hostile actors use methods that mimic accidental incidents. This ambiguity complicates both response and deterrence strategies.

### Environmental and Regulatory Challenges

The discussion touched on environmental considerations, with audience members noting potential impacts from environmental regulations on submarine cable resilience. This highlights the intersection between environmental protection and critical infrastructure that requires careful balance.

Regulatory challenges include the need for simplified repair permitting procedures whilst maintaining environmental and security oversight. Sandra Maximiano emphasised that emergency repair situations require flexible regulatory responses that balance speed with appropriate controls.

## Solutions and Best Practices

### Redundancy and Route Diversity

The discussion consistently emphasised redundancy as the fundamental resilience strategy. Singapore’s approach of scaling to 50+ cables by 2035 exemplifies using quantity to create quality and diversity. This strategy recognises that individual cables will inevitably fail, making system-level redundancy essential.

Route diversity emerged as equally important, with speakers advocating for geographically diverse cable routes that avoid strategic choke points. This requires international coordination to ensure that multiple cables don’t follow identical paths that could be simultaneously disrupted.

### Rapid Response and Repair Capabilities

The discussion highlighted the critical importance of rapid repair capabilities, with particular attention to regions lacking adequate repair ship coverage. The need for collective mechanisms for supporting repair capacity emerged as a key solution, recognising that cable cuts anywhere affect global connectivity.

Collective mechanisms for supporting repair capacity require burden-sharing arrangements and pre-positioned resources for rapid response. This approach recognises that cable cuts affect international traffic requiring coordinated response.

### Predictive Maintenance and Monitoring

The discussion emphasised the potential for AI-powered monitoring systems to enable predictive maintenance and real-time threat detection. This represents a shift from reactive repair to proactive prevention that could significantly reduce disruption frequency and duration.

Real-time monitoring systems could provide early warning of potential failures, allowing preventive maintenance before complete cable failure. Lew Chuen Hong emphasised that “what gets seen then gets acted on,” suggesting that improved data collection and transparency could drive more effective responses.

## Key Outcomes and Future Directions

### Institutional Developments

The discussion resulted in several concrete outcomes, including Sandra Maximiano’s announcement of plans for a second summit in Lisbon. This event will build upon the momentum generated by the current discussion and provide opportunities for deeper technical and policy coordination.

The three working groups under the International Advisory Body will continue their focused work on resilience by design, timely deployment and repair, and risk identification and monitoring. These groups provide structured mechanisms for translating discussion outcomes into practical recommendations.

ASEAN guidelines for submarine cable best practices are being developed under Singapore’s leadership, providing a regional model that could be replicated in other geographical areas.

### Policy and Regulatory Developments

Sandra Maximiano mentioned that the Abuja Declaration was approved at a recent summit in Nigeria, representing a key milestone for submarine cable resilience and international cooperation.

The discussion of classifying submarine cables as critical infrastructure with specific regulatory frameworks represents an important policy development that could influence national approaches to cable protection.

## Conclusion

This comprehensive discussion on submarine cable resilience revealed both the critical importance of this infrastructure and the complex challenges involved in protecting it. The remarkable consensus among participants from diverse backgrounds and regions provides a strong foundation for continued international cooperation through the ITU’s International Advisory Body and related mechanisms.

The historical context provided by the reference to the 1865 ITU founding demonstrates that submarine cable protection represents an enduring challenge requiring institutional responses rather than ad hoc solutions. This continuity validates the ITU’s role whilst highlighting the persistent nature of threats to undersea communications infrastructure.

The emergence of intentional sabotage as a threat category represents a significant escalation that requires responses extending beyond traditional industry capabilities. The intersection between technical infrastructure protection and broader security policy creates new challenges for international cooperation and governance.

The discussion’s emphasis on “resilience by design” rather than crisis improvisation provides a constructive framework for moving forward. This philosophy, combined with the multi-stakeholder approach embodied in the International Advisory Body, offers a pathway for addressing the complex technical, economic, and political challenges involved in protecting critical submarine cable infrastructure.

The planned follow-up activities, including the second summit in Lisbon and continued working group activities, provide mechanisms for translating discussion outcomes into practical improvements in submarine cable protection. The success of these initiatives will depend on sustained commitment from all stakeholders and continued recognition of submarine cables as critical global infrastructure requiring coordinated international protection.

Tomas Lamanauskas: Hello. So it’s still sharp and bright and able to digest all this information. It’s only third day, by the way. It’s two more to go. So thank you very much for being here with us today and for my recently probably favorite topic, submarine cables. So I’m Tomas Lamanauskas. I’m Deputy Secretary General of RTU. And today I’ll be moderating a panel on submarine cable resilience. And we shall in a minute talk that where is a lot of activities in RTU about. But first, let me introduce me who I have here, this table, you know, as well. So we have Prof. Sandra Maximiano, who’s a chairperson ANACOM, so a regulator, a telecom regulator in Portugal. But it’s important for us is also she’s also co-chair of the International Advisory Body of Submarine Cable Resilience. And this is the body that we established November last year to really progress the work on the submarine cables. And I’ll speak to that in a little bit of a minute. So we have also Minister Lisa Lipakosta from Minister of Justice and Digital Affairs of Estonia. So again, Estonia has a strong interest in submarine cables, you know, and definitely has shown leadership in RTU in this regard. So then we have going further, you know, and geographically east, we have Luchuan Kong, CEO of IMDA Singapore. So thank you very much for joining us. And of course, Singapore is a major submarine cable hub, you know, so of course, you know, it will be very great to hear your experience, you know, how do you manage that very dense network of cables coming sometimes in a very narrow straits, you know, so indeed will be interesting to hear. And of course, we need to complete that with the private sector participation, you know, so that we have really, not only government speaking, but in the spirit of WSIS, in the spirit of this room, so that we have all the stakeholders. So Mr. Lew Chuen Hong, Managing Director from China Telecom Europe, and an Executive General Manager of China Telecom. on the Promenade-Folokom Global, which will bring to us the private sector perspective on that. And, of course, we have one more panelist, I think announced, Mr. Bosun Tijani, regrettably he is, I think, on a plane right now. So I don’t think even with all the communications in the plane’s connectivity these days, I think it’s still challenging to connect, so I apologize for that. Before we start, I think it’s always useful to show what you’re talking about, so I thank my colleague Andres for always delivering us the props. So this is a submarine cable, no? And because people sometimes when they speak about that, about the infrastructure, that basically makes sure that 99% of traffic around the world is carried, and 1.7 million kilometers, if I recall correctly. And we think, okay, this should be something thick and difficult to cut and kind of… But this is it, you know? This is actual submarine cable. This is not like a part of it. It’s not like additional casing around that. This is a submarine cable that lies under the sea, you know? And that, you know, this is the whole casing here. So think of this, and it’s only, you know, it’s a lot of kilometers, but in terms of submarine cable, this is around 500 of them around the world that ensure that our digital economy breathes, that our digital economy can function, that the blood of digital economy can flow, you know? So in every… It’s like with the human body, you know? Like every time you something cut yourself, you know, that’s not great. So today we’ll be discussing how we make sure that indeed this infrastructure remains resilient. And we’re building that in the great work that I’m pretty sure Sandra will talk to us about from International Advisory Body on Submarine Cable Resilience, where we now have 40 members plus two co-chairs leading us to the great work on delivering recommendations. So without further ado, maybe I’ll ask Sandra to kick us off exactly for your opening remarks, especially as a co-chair of our Submarine Cable Advisory Body. Thank you.

Sandra Maximiano: Thanks a lot, Thomas, and thanks a lot for… boasting this initiative and putting so much effort into it and bringing all us here together today. So as a co-host of High-Level Dialogue, Strengthening the Resilience of Telecommunication Submarine Cables, and as president of HANA.com and co-chair of the advisory body of the International Telecommunications Union, it is truly an honor to welcome you all to this session, which is part of this remarkable UISES Plus 20 High-Level event. The topic we address today aligns both with numerous WISES Action Lines and UN Sustainable Development Goals. It is crucial to discuss the resilience of submarine cables within the scope of this event. The unseen arteries carry about 99% of all international communications, including intercontinental internet traffic, enabling global communication and the development of markets, science, education, and diplomacy. These systems are also vital for underpinning critical functions related to peace, development, and emergency response. Without them, the world would fall silent with tragic consequences for social and economic development. As digital and technological innovation accelerates, it is imperative that the international community deepens its understanding of the technology security nexus, contributing meaningfully to the discussions, sharing best practices, and promoting the protection and resilience of the underwater digital infrastructure as a key element of global security. A multilateral and cooperative approach in this regard is particularly relevant. That is why Portugal is strongly committed to this agenda and stands ready to engage constructively in relevant and key multilateral fora. including as a candidate for a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council for the 2027-2028 term. This commitment also extends to capacity-building efforts which are essential to ensuring that all countries can benefit from the digital transition. Promoting universal and meaningful connectivity is central to enabling access to digital markets and the opportunities brought by emerging technologies. As part of our 2030 Development Cooperation Strategy which prioritized digital transformation for inclusive and sustainable development, Portugal proudly hosted the second edition of the UN Portugal Digital Fellowship in May 2025. This initiative supported least developed countries, landlocked developing countries and small island developing states in hearsening digital innovation for inclusive growth. Last but not least, I’m proud to co-chair the International Advisory Group for Submarine Cable Resilience launched by the International Telecommunication Union in partnership with the International Cable Protection Committee. In addition, 40 outstanding personalities from both the public and private sectors across the world are part of the advisory body. This ensures a diversity of knowledge and experience, including contributions from countries ranging from large economies to small island states. The advisory body provides a unique global platform of collaboration, promotes open conversations and builds trust for the benefit of global community. And I will give you some further more details of our work later on during our discussion.

Tomas Lamanauskas: Great, great, great. Thank you very much, Sandra. Thank you very much, your great leadership for this work. You know, we have an amazing international, we have an amazing first summit international.

Liisa Ly Pakosta: Thank you so much, and thank you for organizing this discussion here. So I see from the audience also that this is really a burning topic for many. This is interesting to think that 1865, the anniversary we are celebrating now, the topic was exactly the same, how to protect the undersea telegraphic cables. Because when you have connections between the countries and when you connect countries with a cable, which is undersea, there always comes somebody who is a bad guy and wants to cut down this cable. So the international cooperation that we are now having here is mentally going back to the birth of ITU and to the year 1865 when absolutely the same questions were addressed. And where it was decided that this is an organization to protect the member countries and the undersea cables in the way that is needed for the economy, for the safety of people and for the safe exchange of information. So Estonia very strongly believes in a rule-based world. We believe that a multi-stakeholder approach that is generally here, very importantly here, should lead us all together. to rules that we all obey for the good of our people. And we really see that ITU and also the IMO should very much now turn attention to the actual plan, maybe also regulations, maybe exchanging best practices, maybe there is some standards that need to be updated, maybe there is something that, for example, IMO should do with shadow fleet flags, etc. So there is a bunch of problems that we have to solve now, 160 years later, again, because we see that this is really an issue that is emerging throughout the world, that there are some countries that actually work actively to cut down the cables that are connecting other countries. And this is a real global issue, meaningful to gather and find good solutions for. So we very much believe that there is a lot of opportunities that ITU, together with IMO, should implement. We should study these opportunities together and find good solutions. This is the reason why we have gathered here. Thank you so much.

Tomas Lamanauskas: Thank you very much. Thank you very much. And a great call for action, you know, so like that, you know, so it’s something definitely to take away from this. And indeed, you are talking about submarine cables. So actually, they were telegraph cables were deployed just before ITU was established, you know, so 1850, the first cable, you know, like, and then, you know, and actually the first transatlantic 58. So we’ve just a few years before ITU was established, and we’re still working on 65 plus plus, you know, years later, you know, seem to be really talking about it. So now turning to Singapore, you know, and indeed, you know, wanted to hear from Singapore, an example, you know, as, you know, Singapore is really a hub of submarine cables. I think the homework that colleagues did says around 30 submarine cables are coming to Singapore. Indeed, in this context, how do you keep Singapore both resilient and available in terms of submarine cable resilience? How do you keep deploying the cables? What are the challenges you are facing in that? And what are the challenging opportunities you see in attracting further investments in submarine cable economy?

Lew Chuen Hong: Thank you so much, Tomas, and again, great to see everybody here. Maybe I’ll just share thoughts along two big buckets. The first, taking a step back, Singapore. Singapore, we are a very small and open economy in the physical world. We’re highly dependent on external trade. And similarly, we’re a very small and open economy. Sandra just now talked about small island states. Singapore is a small island state. Those of you who have been to Singapore, we’re about 40 kilometres breadth and 30 kilometres width, and that’s about as small as it gets. And therefore, we’re also a very small digital economy. So I think at the very core of it, digital economy today accounts for about 18% of our GDP. So if you look in your wallet, about one in every $5, give or take, has some component as far as digital. So for us, from that perspective, having a hub of submarine cables is a no-brainer. It’s at the core foundation of that openness to the rest of the world. And as Sandra just now said, the reason why it’s submarine cables is because there is no real alternative. It’s a law of physics. The ability for optics and fibre to carry that sheer volume cannot be duplicated through radio frequencies and satellites. It’s just fundamentally not possible. And therefore, because of both of these two pillars, the fact that it is critical for the economy, and at the same time that there’s no real alternative, I think that’s why it’s extremely important. And I’m very glad that the ITU has convened this IAB to place some attention on subcables. I always like to say, what is often unseen then it’s often not paid attention to. And some re-cables do suffer a little bit about that, just because it’s buried. Most people think when you enter the internet, it’s from your mobile phone and it’s sort of through some airwaves, but really the core backbone is that little fibre that happens. So I think as far as we’re concerned, that is the reason. And just to give you a sense of magnitude, over the past 15 years, we’ve grown from about 10 to about 28 or 29 today. And we intend to continue to double that to about 50 by about 2035. So if the world has about 500, about 10% will actually come through Singapore directly. And I think within here, and something to consider is that in quantity, there is quality in and of itself, not just because of the sheer capacity, but also the diversity and that resilience and forts should any one of these be cut for any reason. But maybe then very quickly on the second half, how do you think about resilience? First, it starts at home. And the way we think about it is that you need to design it well, because it’s not just about the cable, it’s about the armouring, it’s about the channels, the burying. And for us, I think we pay a lot of attention to operational cooperation for maritime port authority, to just make sure that there is surveillance and just to make sure that if there are any cuts, the repairs happen very quickly. But we also think about it as concentric rings, because it’s multi layers of defence. So by nature, submarine cables are transboundary. So therefore working very closely with ASEAN, we lead the ASEAN or Association of Southeast Asian Nations working group as far as submarine cables are concerned. We actually have guidelines that aim to set out best practices and we’re upgrading these guidelines as we speak, in Singapore’s position as chair of the ASEAN working group. And then again, very happy to be part of the IAB, where we hope to also bring that from a cross-regional perspective, so that these are enhanced and consistent across many different parts of the world. Then maybe the last bit is, I think, working with the industry is extremely key. The ICPC held their plenary in Singapore last year. And having big tech companies, as well as cable-laying companies, as well as telecoms be part of this, because very often they have a huge weight as far as convincing other governments are concerned that this is actually a critical investment to be made. And actually working very closely with our tech, as well as telecom partners, we also do a lot of capacity building as far as regional countries are concerned. So I think through sort of these different layers, I think these are worth thinking about if we’re really after overall resilience as a submarine cable. And I guess to the extent that a small country like Singapore can help shape those global rules and norms, I think it’s very, very important for the broader common good.

Tomas Lamanauskas: Thank you. Thank you very much. You make it sound very easy, you know, but like you’re going from 10 to 30 to 50, you know, and still finding place in the seabed, you know, and the port is probably not that easy indeed, you know, but great to hear about collaboration, you know, great to hear about industry engagement and indeed regional approaches. And I think these are important takeaways. And thank you very much for your strong input into the submarine cable resilience advisory body. Indeed. And, you know, as you talk to industry, you know, you spoke about industry. Indeed, you know, International Cable Protection Committee is also, you know, a very strong partner there. And I think the whole idea to kick, to set out on submarine cable resilience was with this understanding, we need everyone around the table who knows what they’re talking about, you know, so we need industry, we need those people in the companies that actually deploy and repair every day. And we, of course, need the governments who can enable, could allow things to happen as well. And I think this is really so far proving a very successful model, you know, we’ll see, of course, in the result. But now also talking about industry, now I’ll turn to Athena, you know, so indeed, you know, in China Telecom also, we have a representative from China Telecom in the advisory body as well. So, but from your perspective now, like to understand better from industry, so what do you see as the biggest causes of submarine cable disruptions? and then how do you do as a company to make sure that there are fewer of them or they repair faster? All right.

Athena Jun Xian: Thank you, Tomas. Thank you for your questions. Actually, China Telecom has been committed to the submarine cable accessibility and resilience for a long time. As a pioneer, we already have six submarine repair ships and two spare parts deports, and also we already laid more than 70,000 kilometers submarine cables as well. And also our submarine cable company has been active in the rotational duty in Yokohama maintenance zone for a long time, and we actually just work very hard to, how to say, to ensure the submarine cable resilience. According to China Telecom’s data, the most common cause of submarine cable damage is anchoring or fishing activities, which can accidentally or intentionally damage the cables. I think this aligns with the findings of ICPC as well. Natural disasters like earthquakes or undersea landslides are also key causes, but human activities remain the main cause of the damage. As a major submarine cable landing operator in China, we are managing more than 70 percent of submarine cable landing, and also the protections in China maritime areas. So we just tried – just dedicated to preventing such activities from damaging submarine cables, and has seen some success with the number of submarine cable force along Circuit breaker violation prevention and interpersonal viewpoints collection. Thank you so much. Improves the ability to detect and address the risks. And also we run a lot of programs to educate the fishermen, shipping companies, and also local communities about protecting submarine cables and also the legal consequences of the damage. And we also collaborate very closely with the maritime and port authorities to regulate vessel activity, ensure proper anchoring zones, and we check the fishing patterns around cable routes. Of course, when cable faults happened, we just deployed some very detailed, quick response plans to make sure everybody, every role, every team to coordinate together. I think that’s what we did a lot to make sure the resilience of the submarine cables.

Tomas Lamanauskas: Thank you very much. It’s super comprehensive. So I think we definitely need to make sure this lands in our best practice guidelines when the submarine cable advisory body is developing them in all these different areas that could be covered. But I think one thing is really stands out, this coordination between the different communities. I think Minister spoke about that, we spoke about RMO, about the fishing, about the port authority, about others. So we really need to bring those stakeholders together. They’re not always our traditional stakeholders. So that’s why we sometimes think in the beginning struggle, but we really now seeing the very good response also from other parts of the United Nations and other parts of the industry that when we see when we’re trying to engage that as well, because that’s the only way it can happen if we coordinate well. So now with this, I’ll come back to Sandra now. So, and indeed, from our perspective now, from ANACOM perspective and your personal perspective, which measures and best practices have you seen the most useful ones, the most effective ones? I know Portugal has a very strong coordination mechanisms, long-standing practices, you know, you know, also the, a lot of cables coming in, so plenty of experience to draw upon. So what, what we should do?

Sandra Maximiano: So as we actually just listen here, many accidents happen by human cause and some natural causes as well. And as we know, these incidents are inevitable. So what really matters is preparation and rapid response. So resilience must be designed into cable systems, so must be built into design and not improvised in crisis. And this is our lemma, and I think we should always have that in mind. So I would say that, I’ll point out really five main ways. So building redundancy, route diversity, predictive maintenance, protection zones, and rapid repair capacity. We should always be aware of these points. And I would say, first, the planning and implementation of undersea cable networks should promote this redundancy as a crucial strategy for enhancing security and resilience to ensure continuity of service in case of disruptions. And this will probably involve establishing multiple geographically diverse cable routes and mesh network architecture, deploying alternative routes, including satellite backups and terrestrial connections whenever possible, which we know that is not always possible, but avoiding also strategic choke points to minimize congestion and high risk areas, which are more susceptible to sabotage or accidents, and deploying armored cables and burying cables deeper, as it was mentioned here, in high-risk areas. So these are all, I would say, good, very important measures to build these. as well. Another point that is very relevant, is that we need collective mechanisms to support repair capacity, especially for regions and countries that lack the resources to respond on their own. This is particularly important for island states and remote regions. I would say that it’s in all our interests, even if we are a big country, it is not the case of Portugal, by the way. But it’s in all our interests that we all, as different countries, have the means to respond to incidents. Because we all suffer from any cuts in the submarine cables. So I think in that sense, if we think, incentives are more aligned than we actually think that sometimes they are. So we should be aware of that. And so this cooperation with small island states and small countries is really needed. And it’s not only needed for these countries, but it’s for the benefit of all. It’s also particularly important, the licensing and permitting procedures for repairs that must be simplified and more flexible, which is something that we are also working in our country as well, and I think discussions in that direction. Implementing repair vessels and joint capacity must be promoted as well, and we cannot postpone these priorities. Equally important is having clear plans for incident response, settings to And by being more aware of that, that this implies a cost, we are more able to also support that cost. So I think it’s really important to extend this sort of partnership to consumers’ organizations as well. Over the past year, ENACOM has deepened our partnerships, recognizing that the challenge is ensuring these diverse players speak the same language and align their efforts to heart our common goals. Firstly, as mentioned in my initial remarks, I am very, very proud to co-chair the International Advisory Group for Submarine Cable Resilience, which provides a unique global platform for collaboration. I think the work of this international advisory body must give special attention to regions, countries and remote islands, as I said, where economic incentives for prompt response are lower. And the advisory body has been making decisive progress. In particular, as Tomas mentioned before, our summit in 2025, so this year held in Abuja, Nigeria, the body approved the Abuja Declaration, marking a key milestone for submarine cable resilience and paving the way for greater international cooperation. Secondly, the body established clear priorities for 2025-2026 and decided to form three thematic working groups responsible for delivering concrete outcomes. So let me say that these groups will address submarine cable resilience from multiple complementary perspectives. By combining this approach, we aim to develop a comprehensive strategy to enhance resilience. One of the working groups will focus on resilience by design. As I mentioned, it’s extremely important to have this resilience by design, examining the importance of ensuring service continuity through redundant and diverse communication routes. The second working group will focus on timely deployment and repair of submarine cable systems, exploring how regulatory measures can expedite this process. And the third working group will be dedicated to risk identification, monitoring and mitigation. Within this framework, we’ll assess the application of new technologies and monitoring systems. And like the advisory body itself, the supporting working groups are composed of experts from different regions and stakeholders, so extremely diverse. The Advisory Board is really committed with the work of the three Working Groups. We are represented in all the three Working Groups, putting our effort and also putting our compromise into this mission. So given the progress made so far, I’m really confident that the Advisory Body will remain committed to ensuring that submarine cables are safe and resilient, and it will continue to support global connectivity and deliver high-quality outputs, grounding technical merit and best practices. So basically, this is about our commitment with the Advisory Body, but at the European level, through BEREC, the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications, and in collaboration with the European Commission, we are also taking this mission as well. We are also active on European Union Agents for Cybersecurity. So for us, international cooperation is of crucial importance, and we are delighted to know that industry also sees Portugal as a reliable and relevant partner as well. So preparing the future is very important, it’s not a task that should be done alone, and it’s a shared responsibility among regulators, as I said, industry, academia, and international communities. So I’m very pleased that all of these stakeholders are here today, and keep working together. Thanks.

Tomas Lamanauskas: So thank you very much, Sandra, it was a very comprehensive review, and I think for me what is super important, your highlight about this global solidarity and global issue, looking at the submarine cable infrastructure as a global infrastructure, because I think for a while, at least from the government’s perspective, and myself being in the regulator’s seat quite a bit, we looked at that from our own national perspective, how we protect it for ourselves. With actually submarine cable going through your territorial waters, and when it’s cut, a lot of other people can be impacted, you know, we’ve seen that when it happens in the Red Sea, or Mediterranean, and on. how you know 30% sometimes of the global traffic between Europe and Asia gets really impacted. And so it’s not only our own issue. You know, it’s an issue that everyone needs to deal with. And the same with the repair capabilities, you know, both the remote islands, but even though need to look to remote islands. I think the summit showed us that even for Africa, you know, I think there was number like, scary number like one ship that services the whole Africa, you know, so one cable repair ship. And that of course, that needs to be summoned, you know, that it really takes time just for the ship to come to the place and deliver. And of course, every day that ship goes there is always the cost that increases repair capability as well. So indeed, so now in a minute, I’ll actually open the floor. So start thinking of questions and being active on this. But before I do that, just offering ability for my panelists to react and we’ll start first with the minister.

Liisa Ly Pakosta: Thank you so much. I was thrilled to hear the fantastic work that has already been done. There is one aspect I would like to add. We have very much talked here about unintentional cable cuts. But at the same time, the issue that we are facing in Estonia, Estonia is a fully digital state. All the hospital services, the lives of the people depend on the internet service availability. All the government databases are interconnected and all the government services are based on internet. And now we have seen throughout two last years, which didn’t happen throughout the 30 years we have had our digital society. But now throughout the two last years, we have seen very many intentional cable cuts by the Russian shuttle fleet. So dropping an anchor and then pulling it through the cables in the zones that are marked as a protected zones. And we have fulfilled all the other recommendations that are here. So one of the issues we have to have the protection regulations and good.

Tomas Lamanauskas: Thank you very much, broadening our perspective to, I mean, even more deeper things, you know, not, of course, the challenges that those things might need, like even, you know, it could even be above what we call a 2-pay grade, you know, like in terms of, to use a very colloquial term, but indeed this is a very complicated matter indeed. So any other panelists would like to react to anything you’ve heard, you know, so far, so, no? If not, please.

Lew Chuen Hong: Well I think maybe one perspective that I’ll add, I think building off Sandra’s comments is transparency around the data around submarine cables is probably going to be key. What gets seen then gets acted on, and this would cover both intentional as well as unintentional. Some data that should worry us is that the number of submarine cables are going to go up, and by definition, perito, it means the number of absolute cable cuts is going to go up. And based on current design, the ICPC data is that in excess of 85% it’s actually human cost, and therefore I think the ambition to watch the data must be that, despite the increasing number, we should actually aim to reduce the absolute number of cable cuts. And actually we can put a number on it, and we can actually get transparency around it. And you know, one of ITU’s greatest strengths, historically, has been to get data transparency around everything from connectivity to coverage, and so on and so forth. So I think this is one of those key elements that I thought is worth considering, and I think is worth thinking about as we put that sort of into work group one, because that provides a basis for how do you drive towards…

Athena Jun Xian: Actually, as a member in the institute, we all see that submarine cable is a very small circle. And you can see in the submarine events always the familiar faces and also the old faces. So I think from the government point of view, we should establish more programs to train the youth to jump into the submarine cable area to make it all sustainability. I think that’s all my point. Thank you.

Tomas Lamanauskas: Yes, please.

Sandra Maximiano: Sorry, just a quick point to that. I think this is extremely important when I mention like more consumers organizations and so much. But in academia, as I’ve been realizing that if you look about research programs that are really focused on submarine cable research and into these problems are really, really few. So I think we should bring more.

Audience: The previous universal exhibition in 98 it was organised in Portugal and the topic it was about oceans and there are many publications, many films, many documentaries on that, Oceanograph Museum, there is a museum? Yes, there is and it may be the only one in that planet. It’s located in Monaco, yes, and last June the conference on oceans in this city. and here also they have important data. But what I want to share, yes, I want to raise a question. Maybe I have my own answer to my question, Tomas. But my answer could be elaborated. Because we are in dialogue and it is high-level dialogue. And shrinking the resilience. Yes, how we can shrink the resilience? By plastic. Because international negotiation on plastic, we are at the end of the step. We negotiate since a while. I think, yes, since the beginning, also in the same time more like with this process started. And the international legal treaty on plastic will be adopted soon. And last meeting it was also in Asia. But we can also shrink resilience on submarine and carbon by plastic. Because negotiation, the current international negotiation on plastic trading, various type, we can, yes, improve on that. And this is a kind of reflection. Great.

Tomas Lamanauskas: Thank you very much. Different areas, indeed. So I’ll take a few questions. Then we’ll reflect everything at the end just to give time. So first lady here. I think, Andres, you have a microphone here? Does it work?

Audience: Yeah, OK. Yes. Three things. First, I was in this conference on the ocean. And I was in the rooms of all the ministers of the planet and the first minister. And regarding plastic, there are a lot still to be done. And I would say industrial should be more invited in. Thank you for all the panelists. It was very interesting. I wanted just to add for you a comment about the consumer organization who should react. They can’t do themselves something. So, react means that they have the information from the government, from the medias, and then they have a floor to express themselves, which means by petitions or by organization, and there are different means of expressing. But they can’t do otherwise than putting a pressure, let’s put it like that. I have also a question, very fast question. I was in Estonia one month ago, invited by your government because I’m part of the Intergovernmental Baltic Sea Organization. And thank you very much to be here and to speak to the stakeholders. It’s very important that ministers are doing also this exchange. Just one question. You’ve seen the Russian minister. Did you have a word about that? You don’t have to answer, but it’s a question.

Tomas Lamanauskas: All the responses will be at the end, okay? So, because we want to give, because otherwise we’ll have a bit of a… Okay, so thank you. Could you introduce yourself just very quickly because of the time? Could you introduce yourself?

Audience: Yes, I’m Sabine Jones, part of the European government and also international expert. Thank you, thank you Sabine. First, I think Nisa was here from Samoa, and then I think… Thank you very much, Tomas, and your panel. Very exciting panel, excellent, lots to learn. My name is Nisa Purcell. I’m the regulator from Samoa. We do have a submarine cable, and I’ve learned myself. I’ve taught myself about submarine cable, and these are the main issues, and I just need to know what can the regulator do to ensure that we have a policy or something like that to prepare the country and the submarine cable on issues like the cable is cut, what will be the next. I have something in mind, but I just need an example of the best practice. And then, secondly, is about data and also the tariff. So how can I collect the data? How can I make sure that the data, the submarine cable company that’s giving me is correct? I don’t have anything to monitor. Thank you very much.

Tomas Lamanauskas: Thank you very much. I think someone was there and probably will take – I’ll disappoint some people, I’m sure, because I’ll take one and then two more questions, so it’ll be a lottery.

Audience: Thank you very much. My name is Katrin Stuber. I work for GEANT. We represent the science innovation research organizations in Europe. GEANT interconnects 43 national research and education networks in Europe. FCCN is our partner in Portugal, and we connect 110 research and education networks worldwide. We are implementing partner of the European Union’s Global Gateway Project, such as BELA, the MEDUSA program, and the Blue Raman program, which goes to India. We are a not-for-profit in this environment and therefore one more element here that we can bring to the table. We protect our submarine cable systems through backup with our partners globally because we are in a not-for-profit environment, we are not competing. We have around the world global protection. But what we also see in the Baltic Sea specifically is that we used to have just two redundant resilience links between our Baltic countries and now we need to have three. So rather than looking for other measures, we’re just increasing the amount of cable systems that we’re actually having in the regions. Across the transatlantic, we have now eight cable systems running because one of the things we’re running experiments for CERN, all science globally runs on our network. We cannot afford any cuts and therefore the need for resilience is absolutely necessary. But it makes running backbones much more expensive, it makes science and cooperation more expensive. And here’s my question. How do we deal with the need for increased resilience across the globe in our cable systems in a world where everybody keeps talking sovereignty? And cable systems need to be sovereign. How do I increase resilience, ensuring that the internet remains affordable? Thank you.

Tomas Lamanauskas: Thank you. One more here, and then after that I’ll take one more question here, and then I’ll take after that one more question, and then I’ll give you a solution if you want to have more discussion later on.

Audience: Okay, thank you so much. My name is Abdi Jilir. I’m coming from Chad. I represent civil society here, so I need to thank the professor here for putting in place also the issues of consumer is very important to have access to data. And as I’m coming from Chad, it’s land countries, we don’t have access to the sea. So the only cable that we have is from China. Cameroon, but always since that is one week, we don’t have internet one day in Chad. So what is the other alternative? We know that people have a lot of cable, but we don’t have only one. When it’s cut, the country is down. So what’s your advice about users, how we can process going to the cable submarine to have the data, is it real data, or going to the regulatory? Thank you so much.

Tomas Lamanauskas: I’ll give you the choice of the last 20 minutes. OK. Sorry, we’ll move. OK, like I said, I think someone was there. Yeah, please. All right. So good evening.

Audience: My name is Isaac Boateng. I’m the head of standardization for the African Telecommunication Union. Interesting discussions here, but I’m just thinking out loud, because from where we sit, what we have also seen is the issues that is actually related to the fiber or submarine cable disruption as a result of lack of strategies, just as has been alluded by a lot of people. And also, clearly, some real-time detection control mechanisms that are actually deployed on the links or even from the design stage. We are discussing about the issue of AI, so I’m trying to think aloud. What can we maybe at the design stage or even at the implementation stage, can there be a situation where we can deploy an AI-powered infrastructure to monitor these links, I mean, for prediction ahead of time? And also, the issue about the route diversity. I think it’s something that we have to look at it very well, because where we sit, again, if you look at the route from Africa, some part of Africa, traffic will have to be re-routed all the way to Portugal, to US, before it’s come back. When there’s a cut somewhere, the whole place is actually affected. So I’m thinking that Lady Anacom, you talked about the route diversity and the fact that we have to do something about it. What is your working group, what are you doing about this from the perspective of the African challenges that we do have? Thank you.

Tomas Lamanauskas: Thank you. I’ll give one gentleman, sorry, 30 seconds, but before that, for the panelists to know what is waiting for them.

Audience: Dear high-level panelists for your insightful speech, my name Volodymyr Matyushko. I am EU digital and green transition expert. What high-level panelists’ opinion about built submarine hybrid power telecom cable system regarding resilience. As a rule, a power cable have guard zones that increase the resilience of data transition. The mutual resilience benefit is digital technology allows status monitoring of hybrid cable via optical cable. Thank you for your answer.

Tomas Lamanauskas: Thank you very much. And now, actually, the solution is the plug here. So, actually, we’ll have a second National Submarine Cable Resilience Summit early next year. I mean, I’m not sure. I’m looking at Sandra, I’m not sure I can disclose the location yet, you know, like location, I can’t know. So, probably, yeah. So, we’re working to have that in one place that the gentleman mentioned in Lisbon. So, I think, and everyone who wants to be on our mailing list, you know, to get all the news, this gentleman here called Andres, you know, who is now standing, is the one to talk to, give you a business card, he’ll put you on the mailing list, and they’ll be engaged in that. And then, hopefully, we’ll have the not one-hour conversation, but we’ll have at least two-day conversation on submarine cables then later on. So, now, with that, and I warned you, it’s like one minute, you know. So, now, to simplify that, we’ll start with the minister, and we’ll go like that. Okay, so, minister first.

Liisa Ly Pakosta: Thank you. The answer about negotiations with Russia, we have had a lot, starting from asking them to draw back their aggression forces from Ukraine up to the massive GPS interferences that we have in Estonia. Estonia has eight cables, so the answer is to support the private sector to, I think we have here the general view, so private sector is able to, when there is low bureaucracy, when there is openness for investments, then there is a lot of interest to build submarine cables, because this is the future, as our Singapore colleague very many times has pointed out, it is a growing business.

Athena Jun Xian: From my point of view, actually I think the regulators should do more. From the industry point of view, I think during the last maybe 30 years, industries make more efforts than the regulators or than the government. But I’m really happy to see more governments set up or establish some agencies or special funds or coordinations for the submarine cable resilience. So I think this is very important. And also I think there’s a lot of collaboration between the systems or between carriers. I think now this is really, really good to make everything.

Lew Chuen Hong: I thought these are really wonderful questions, and it’s probably not possible to cover every single one. But I’m maybe going to just cover one area, and it is one work called economics. And it covers everything from whether it is going to be deployed in countries that have less cables, and therefore may have only one or two, all the way to the issue of what is it about sovereign cables. The majority of cables actually are run by consortias, and a lot of these consortias are actually private sector companies. And therefore that continues and that is the vast majority. And therefore when you think about how to both build your resilience, your capacity, as well as how do you have a boardwalk as far as sovereignty is concerned, it boils down fundamentally to economics. In Singapore, we’re a little bit unique in that I’m not actually just a regulator. As the Infocomm and Media Development Authority, I actually have a huge role, everything from the front end, as far as driving AI adoption is concerned, building out data centres, bringing in GPUs, digitalisation of companies, bringing in big tech, growing start-ups. So my encouragement would actually be that. How do you grow that part of the house? For us, we’re unique in that sort of both the regulatory and the economic promotion is under one hat. But I think in your own jurisdictions, how do you bring that up? Because then that ultimately is the driver for why somebody or some company will want to invest. And that brings you both the diversity as well as capacity that’s required. And I think that ultimately is at the core. Why do you want a cable in the first place? It is to drive that digital economy and to drive that digital society. Thank you.

Sandra Maximiano: There’s lots of interesting questions, but let me just talk in the perspective of a regulator. and thinking about what’s happening in Portugal. So I think we should all, and we are all, let’s say, different countries and different organizations, regulators with different competencies as well. But we should try to replicate what this advisory body does at the national level. And this is a big challenge, because then it means that we have to bring to the same table different stakeholders, different organizations. And in Portugal, we do that. We try to work with security entities or the Navy, of course. And so we are trying to replicate these practices and write a booklet of the best practices and what we should do to Portugal. So that should be done for each country. And also, I must say, when I was talking about these consumer organizations, I was more thinking about, when we talk about digital literacy, we should also include in this digital literacy the importance of submarine cables. Because then we are all aware of the costs of building this redundancy and resilience. And that, I think, is an important point. And at last, just not forgetting, I think it’s extremely, extremely important to classify submarine cables as critical infrastructure. And that is also one of our main goals in Portugal as well. And as I said, defining clear priorities within each cable, but defining submarine cables as critical infrastructure. And then for this critical infrastructure, have a specific regulatory framework. And that’s what we should work. But the definition of a critical infrastructure is very important.

Tomas Lamanauskas: So thank you very much, Sandra. So indeed, a great discussion here, amazing. Thank you very much, it just shows that it’s really an amazing topic for all of us to engage in, on which we all depend. So again, a reminder is, you know, give your card to undress, sorry, you know, so, and then if you need to be connected, you know, be ready for the next year’s summit and be engaged in our activities in the meantime, and let’s build this digital resilient infrastructure together. So a big hand of applause to the panelists, and to all of you. Thank you. Thank you very much.

Agreement points

Submarine cables are critical infrastructure carrying 99% of global communications

Speakers

– Sandra Maximiano
– Tomas Lamanauskas
– Lew Chuen Hong
– Liisa Ly Pakosta

Arguments

Submarine cables carry 99% of international communications and are critical digital infrastructure

Physical cables are surprisingly thin and vulnerable, with only 500 cables globally supporting the digital economy

Digital economy accounts for 18% of Singapore’s GDP, making submarine cables foundational infrastructure

Estonia is fully digital with all government services dependent on internet connectivity

Summary

All speakers agreed that submarine cables are absolutely critical infrastructure that underpins the global digital economy and national digital services, with 99% of international communications flowing through these vulnerable physical systems.

Topics

Infrastructure | Cybersecurity

Human activities are the primary cause of submarine cable disruptions

Speakers

– Sandra Maximiano
– Athena Jun Xian
– Lew Chuen Hong

Arguments

Most common cause is anchoring or fishing activities, both accidental and intentional, with human activities being the main cause

Need for transparency in submarine cable data to drive action and reduce absolute number of cable cuts despite increasing cable numbers

Building multiple geographically diverse cable routes and mesh network architecture while avoiding strategic choke points

Summary

Speakers consistently identified human activities, particularly anchoring and fishing, as the predominant cause of cable damage, with ICPC data showing 85% of cuts are human-caused.

Topics

Infrastructure | Cybersecurity

Multi-stakeholder international cooperation is essential for submarine cable resilience

Speakers

– Sandra Maximiano
– Liisa Ly Pakosta
– Lew Chuen Hong

Arguments

ITU’s International Advisory Body on Submarine Cable Resilience provides a global platform with 40 members from public and private sectors

Multi-stakeholder approach involving ITU and IMO is needed to develop rules and regulations for cable protection

ASEAN working group led by Singapore develops guidelines and best practices for regional submarine cable resilience

Summary

All speakers emphasized the critical need for coordinated international cooperation involving multiple stakeholders including governments, industry, and international organizations to address submarine cable resilience challenges.

Topics

Infrastructure | Legal and regulatory

Resilience requires redundancy and diverse routing strategies

Speakers

– Sandra Maximiano
– Lew Chuen Hong

Arguments

Resilience must be designed into cable systems through redundancy, route diversity, predictive maintenance, protection zones, and rapid repair capacity

Singapore has grown from 10 to 29 cables and plans to reach 50 by 2035, using quantity to create quality and diversity

Building multiple geographically diverse cable routes and mesh network architecture while avoiding strategic choke points

Summary

Speakers agreed that resilience cannot be improvised during crises but must be built into system design through redundant connections, diverse routing, and strategic planning.

Topics

Infrastructure | Cybersecurity

Similar viewpoints

Both speakers emphasized the importance of education and awareness programs targeting different stakeholder groups to prevent cable damage and build public understanding of submarine cable importance.

Speakers

– Sandra Maximiano
– Athena Jun Xian

Arguments

Education programs for fishermen, shipping companies, and local communities about cable protection and legal consequences

Digital literacy programs should include education about submarine cable importance to build public awareness of costs and resilience needs

Topics

Infrastructure | Development

Both speakers advocated for formal recognition of submarine cables as critical infrastructure requiring specific regulatory frameworks and coordinated international governance mechanisms.

Speakers

– Sandra Maximiano
– Liisa Ly Pakosta

Arguments

Submarine cables should be classified as critical infrastructure with specific regulatory frameworks

Multi-stakeholder approach involving ITU and IMO is needed to develop rules and regulations for cable protection

Topics

Legal and regulatory | Infrastructure

Both speakers from the industry/government implementation side emphasized the practical aspects of cable deployment, including economic drivers and the need for substantial infrastructure investment and maintenance capabilities.

Speakers

– Lew Chuen Hong
– Athena Jun Xian

Arguments

Economics fundamentally drives cable deployment decisions, requiring growth in digital economy to attract investment

China Telecom operates six submarine repair ships and manages 70% of submarine cable landings in China

Topics

Economic | Infrastructure

Unexpected consensus

Small countries and regions require collective support mechanisms

Speakers

– Sandra Maximiano
– Lew Chuen Hong
– Audience

Arguments

Collective mechanisms needed to support repair capacity, especially for regions lacking resources like small island states

Economics fundamentally drives cable deployment decisions, requiring growth in digital economy to attract investment

Small island states and landlocked countries face particular vulnerabilities with limited cable connections

Explanation

Unexpectedly, both large hub countries (Singapore) and regulatory bodies agreed that supporting smaller, less economically viable regions is in everyone’s interest, recognizing that cable cuts anywhere affect global connectivity.

Topics

Infrastructure | Development

Industry should take more responsibility for training and capacity building

Speakers

– Athena Jun Xian
– Sandra Maximiano

Arguments

Industry should establish more programs to train youth in submarine cable expertise for sustainability

Three working groups focus on resilience by design, timely deployment/repair, and risk identification/monitoring

Explanation

There was unexpected consensus that the traditionally technical industry should expand its role into education and capacity building, with both industry and regulatory representatives agreeing on this broader responsibility.

Topics

Development | Infrastructure

Overall assessment

Summary

The discussion revealed remarkably high consensus across all speakers on fundamental issues: the critical importance of submarine cables, human activities as primary threat, need for international cooperation, and resilience through redundancy. Even speakers from different sectors (government, industry, regulatory) and regions (Europe, Asia, Africa) shared similar perspectives on solutions.

Consensus level

Very high consensus with strong implications for effective policy coordination. The alignment suggests that the ITU’s International Advisory Body approach is working well to build shared understanding across diverse stakeholders. The consensus provides a solid foundation for developing unified global standards and best practices, though implementation challenges remain for resource-constrained regions.

Different viewpoints

Role and responsibility balance between government and industry in submarine cable protection

Speakers

– Athena Jun Xian
– Sandra Maximiano
– Liisa Ly Pakosta

Arguments

Industry should establish more programs to train youth in submarine cable expertise for sustainability

Licensing and permitting procedures for repairs must be simplified and more flexible

Multi-stakeholder approach involving ITU and IMO is needed to develop rules and regulations for cable protection

Summary

Athena argues that regulators should do more since industry has made more efforts over 30 years, while Sandra focuses on regulatory framework improvements, and Minister Pakosta emphasizes government-led international coordination through ITU and IMO

Topics

Legal and regulatory | Infrastructure | Development

Unexpected differences

Scope of threats to submarine cables

Speakers

– Liisa Ly Pakosta
– Athena Jun Xian

Arguments

Intentional cable cuts by Russian shadow fleet using anchors in protected zones represent new security threats

Most common cause is anchoring or fishing activities, both accidental and intentional, with human activities being the main cause

Explanation

While both acknowledge human activities as causes, Minister Pakosta specifically highlights intentional state-level threats that represent a new category of security challenge, whereas Athena focuses on traditional accidental/fishing-related causes. This reveals different threat perceptions between countries

Topics

Cybersecurity | Infrastructure

Overall assessment

Summary

The discussion showed remarkably high consensus on the importance of submarine cable resilience and the need for international cooperation. The main disagreements were subtle and centered on emphasis and approach rather than fundamental principles – specifically the balance of responsibility between government and industry, and different threat perceptions based on geographic and geopolitical contexts.

Disagreement level

Low level of disagreement with high implications – while speakers largely agreed on goals and strategies, the subtle differences in approach (regulatory vs. economic, collective vs. market-driven solutions) and threat perception (traditional vs. state-level threats) reflect deeper questions about governance models and security frameworks that could significantly impact policy implementation and international cooperation effectiveness.

Partial agreements

Similar viewpoints

Both speakers emphasized the importance of education and awareness programs targeting different stakeholder groups to prevent cable damage and build public understanding of submarine cable importance.

Speakers

– Sandra Maximiano
– Athena Jun Xian

Arguments

Education programs for fishermen, shipping companies, and local communities about cable protection and legal consequences

Digital literacy programs should include education about submarine cable importance to build public awareness of costs and resilience needs

Topics

Infrastructure | Development

Both speakers advocated for formal recognition of submarine cables as critical infrastructure requiring specific regulatory frameworks and coordinated international governance mechanisms.

Speakers

– Sandra Maximiano
– Liisa Ly Pakosta

Arguments

Submarine cables should be classified as critical infrastructure with specific regulatory frameworks

Multi-stakeholder approach involving ITU and IMO is needed to develop rules and regulations for cable protection

Topics

Legal and regulatory | Infrastructure

Both speakers from the industry/government implementation side emphasized the practical aspects of cable deployment, including economic drivers and the need for substantial infrastructure investment and maintenance capabilities.

Speakers

– Lew Chuen Hong
– Athena Jun Xian

Arguments

Economics fundamentally drives cable deployment decisions, requiring growth in digital economy to attract investment

China Telecom operates six submarine repair ships and manages 70% of submarine cable landings in China

Topics

Economic | Infrastructure

Key takeaways

Submarine cables are critical infrastructure carrying 99% of international communications but are surprisingly vulnerable, with only 500 cables globally supporting the digital economy

Human activities (anchoring, fishing) are the primary cause of cable disruptions, with intentional cuts by hostile actors representing an emerging security threat

Resilience must be designed into cable systems from the start through redundancy, route diversity, predictive maintenance, protection zones, and rapid repair capacity

International cooperation through multi-stakeholder approaches is essential, with the ITU’s International Advisory Body providing a global platform for collaboration

Small island states and landlocked countries face particular vulnerabilities due to limited cable connections and repair capabilities

Economics fundamentally drives cable deployment decisions – growing the digital economy is necessary to attract investment in cable infrastructure

Submarine cables should be classified as critical infrastructure with specific regulatory frameworks and simplified repair permitting procedures

Resolutions and action items

Three working groups established under the International Advisory Body focusing on: resilience by design, timely deployment/repair, and risk identification/monitoring

Second National Submarine Cable Resilience Summit planned for early next year in Lisbon

ASEAN guidelines for submarine cable best practices being upgraded under Singapore’s leadership

Portugal developing national best practices booklet replicating international advisory body approach

Mailing list established for ongoing engagement (contact Andres for inclusion)

Abuja Declaration approved as key milestone for submarine cable resilience and international cooperation

Unresolved issues

How to address intentional cable cuts by hostile state actors using shadow fleets

Insufficient repair capacity globally, particularly for Africa (only one repair ship for entire continent)

Route diversity challenges where traffic must be rerouted through distant locations during cuts

Balancing sovereignty concerns with need for international cooperation and shared infrastructure

Making internet connectivity affordable while increasing resilience requirements

Lack of real-time detection and AI-powered monitoring systems for predictive maintenance

Limited youth training programs and academic research focused on submarine cable expertise

Data transparency and verification challenges for regulators monitoring cable performance

Suggested compromises

Collective mechanisms to support repair capacity for regions lacking resources, recognizing that cable cuts affect everyone globally

Hybrid power-telecom cable systems that provide mutual resilience benefits through guard zones and optical monitoring

Consortium-based cable ownership models that balance private sector efficiency with public interest needs

Regional cooperation frameworks (like ASEAN working group) that respect sovereignty while enabling coordinated responses

Multi-layered defense approach with concentric rings of protection from national to regional to global levels

Industry-government partnerships for capacity building and technology transfer to developing regions

It’s interesting to think that 1865, the anniversary we are celebrating now, the topic was exactly the same, how to protect the undersea telegraphic cables. Because when you have connections between the countries and when you connect countries with a cable, which is undersea, there always comes somebody who is a bad guy and wants to cut down this cable.

Speaker

Liisa Ly Pakosta (Minister from Estonia)

Reason

This comment provided crucial historical context that reframed the entire discussion, showing that submarine cable protection isn’t a new challenge but one that has persisted since the birth of the ITU. It elevated the conversation from a technical discussion to one about enduring geopolitical realities.

Impact

This historical perspective shifted the discussion tone from treating cable cuts as modern anomalies to understanding them as persistent challenges requiring institutional responses. It validated the ITU’s role and provided gravitas to the discussion by connecting current challenges to the organization’s founding purpose.

We have seen throughout two last years, which didn’t happen throughout the 30 years we have had our digital society. But now throughout the two last years, we have seen very many intentional cable cuts by the Russian shuttle fleet. So dropping an anchor and then pulling it through the cables in the zones that are marked as a protected zones.

Speaker

Liisa Ly Pakosta (Minister from Estonia)

Reason

This comment dramatically shifted the discussion from accidental damage to intentional sabotage, introducing the reality of state-level threats to critical infrastructure. It brought geopolitical tensions directly into what had been a largely technical discussion.

Impact

This revelation fundamentally changed the conversation’s scope and urgency. It moved beyond technical solutions to acknowledge that some cable cuts may be acts of hybrid warfare, requiring different types of responses and international cooperation. The moderator even acknowledged this was ‘above their pay grade,’ showing how it elevated the discussion’s complexity.

What gets seen then gets acted on, and this would cover both intentional as well as unintentional… the ambition to watch the data must be that, despite the increasing number, we should actually aim to reduce the absolute number of cable cuts. And actually we can put a number on it, and we can actually get transparency around it.

Speaker

Lew Chuen Hong (CEO of IMDA Singapore)

Reason

This comment introduced the critical concept that transparency and data visibility are prerequisites for effective action. It provided a concrete, measurable approach to what had been discussed in more abstract terms.

Impact

This shifted the discussion toward practical, measurable solutions and accountability mechanisms. It connected the ITU’s historical strength in data transparency to this new challenge, providing a concrete pathway forward that other participants could build upon.

Resilience must be designed into cable systems, so must be built into design and not improvised in crisis. And this is our lemma, and I think we should always have that in mind.

Speaker

Sandra Maximiano (ANACOM Chairperson)

Reason

This comment crystallized a fundamental principle that shifted thinking from reactive to proactive approaches. It established ‘resilience by design’ as a core philosophy rather than treating resilience as an afterthought.

Impact

This principle became a organizing framework for the discussion, influencing how other participants discussed solutions. It elevated the conversation from crisis management to systematic prevention and preparation, and was later reflected in the working group structure she described.

It’s in all our interests, even if we are a big country… that we all, as different countries, have the means to respond to incidents. Because we all suffer from any cuts in the submarine cables… this cooperation with small island states and small countries is really needed. And it’s not only needed for these countries, but it’s for the benefit of all.

Speaker

Sandra Maximiano (ANACOM Chairperson)

Reason

This comment reframed submarine cable resilience from a national security issue to a global solidarity issue, emphasizing interdependence rather than individual national interests.

Impact

This perspective shift was crucial in moving the discussion toward collaborative solutions rather than competitive approaches. It provided moral and practical justification for international cooperation and resource sharing, influencing how other participants discussed regional and global responses.

How do we deal with the need for increased resilience across the globe in our cable systems in a world where everybody keeps talking sovereignty? And cable systems need to be sovereign. How do I increase resilience, ensuring that the internet remains affordable?

Speaker

Katrin Stuber (GEANT representative)

Reason

This question exposed a fundamental tension between the push for sovereign infrastructure and the economic and technical realities of building resilient global networks. It highlighted the cost implications of geopolitical fragmentation.

Impact

This question crystallized one of the core dilemmas facing the international community and forced participants to grapple with the practical implications of political rhetoric about sovereignty. It added economic considerations to what had been primarily a technical and security discussion.

Overall assessment

These key comments fundamentally shaped the discussion by expanding its scope from a technical infrastructure conversation to a multifaceted examination of geopolitical, economic, and governance challenges. The historical framing established continuity with ITU’s founding mission, while the revelation of intentional sabotage introduced urgent security dimensions. The emphasis on ‘resilience by design’ and global solidarity provided constructive frameworks for moving forward, while the sovereignty-versus-resilience tension highlighted the complex trade-offs involved. Together, these comments elevated the discussion from operational concerns to strategic policy considerations, demonstrating why submarine cable resilience requires coordinated international response rather than purely technical solutions.

How can AI-powered infrastructure be deployed at the design and implementation stages to monitor submarine cable links for predictive maintenance and real-time detection?

Speaker

Isaac Boateng (African Telecommunication Union)

Explanation

This addresses the need for proactive monitoring systems that could prevent cable disruptions through early detection and prediction, potentially reducing the high percentage of human-caused cable cuts.

What specific actions are the working groups taking to address route diversity challenges, particularly for African traffic routing through distant locations like Portugal and the US?

Speaker

Isaac Boateng (African Telecommunication Union)

Explanation

This highlights the inefficient routing patterns that create vulnerabilities when cables are cut, requiring traffic to take extremely long detours, and seeks concrete solutions from the advisory body’s working groups.

What are the panelists’ opinions on building submarine hybrid power-telecom cable systems for enhanced resilience?

Speaker

Volodymyr Matyushko (EU digital and green transition expert)

Explanation

This explores whether combining power and telecom cables could improve resilience through guard zones and mutual monitoring capabilities via optical technology.

What can regulators do to ensure proper policies are in place for cable cut preparedness, and what are best practices for this?

Speaker

Nisa Purcell (regulator from Samoa)

Explanation

This addresses the need for regulatory frameworks and emergency response policies, particularly important for small island states with limited cable infrastructure.

How can regulators collect and verify accurate data from submarine cable companies when they lack monitoring capabilities?

Speaker

Nisa Purcell (regulator from Samoa)

Explanation

This highlights the challenge regulators face in obtaining reliable data for oversight and decision-making when they don’t have independent monitoring systems.

What alternatives exist for landlocked countries dependent on single cable connections, and how can they access reliable data about cable performance?

Speaker

Abdi Jilir (civil society representative from Chad)

Explanation

This addresses the vulnerability of landlocked countries that depend entirely on single cable connections through neighboring countries, seeking solutions for redundancy and data transparency.

How can the need for increased resilience be balanced with affordability in a world focused on cable sovereignty?

Speaker

Katrin Stuber (GEANT)

Explanation

This addresses the economic challenge of maintaining affordable internet services while increasing the number of cable systems needed for resilience, particularly in the context of sovereignty requirements.

How can more youth be trained and attracted to enter the submarine cable industry for sustainability?

Speaker

Athena Jun Xian (China Telecom)

Explanation

This addresses the aging workforce in the submarine cable industry and the need for succession planning and skills development for future sustainability.

How can more academic research programs focused on submarine cable research and related problems be established?

Speaker

Sandra Maximiano

Explanation

This highlights the lack of dedicated research programs in academia focusing on submarine cable issues, which could contribute to better solutions and understanding.

How can transparency around submarine cable data be improved to better track and reduce cable cuts despite increasing cable numbers?

Speaker

Lew Chuen Hong (IMDA Singapore)

Explanation

This addresses the need for better data collection and transparency to monitor trends and effectiveness of resilience measures, building on ITU’s historical strength in data transparency.

How can digital literacy programs be expanded to include education about the importance of submarine cables?

Speaker

Sandra Maximiano

Explanation

This would help consumers understand the costs and importance of building redundancy and resilience in submarine cable infrastructure.

How can submarine cables be classified as critical infrastructure with specific regulatory frameworks?

Speaker

Sandra Maximiano

Explanation

This addresses the need for formal recognition of submarine cables’ critical importance and the development of appropriate regulatory frameworks to protect them.

Summary

The discussion centered on ethical considerations and human rights in the digital age, particularly focusing on artificial intelligence and emerging technologies as part of the WSIS Action Line framework. The session featured ministers and experts from Belgium, Libya, Cuba, Kenya, Poland, and other countries sharing their national approaches to digital ethics and AI governance. Belgium’s Minister Vanessa Matz emphasized the importance of digital inclusion and accessibility, highlighting their AI ecosystem that brings together public and private actors to ensure ethical AI deployment with transparent governance. Libya’s Minister Abdul Baset Albaour cautioned against delegating ethical decision-making to machines, noting that while humans make decisions based on emotion, experience, and wisdom, AI relies solely on algorithms and data, making it unreliable for ethical choices.

Cuba’s representative outlined their comprehensive approach to digital citizenship education through 642 technology centers that have trained over 5 million people, emphasizing ethical, safe, and innovative use of digital technologies. Kenya’s Stephen Isaboke discussed the balance between protecting freedom of expression and access to information while preventing hate speech and misinformation, particularly among youth using platforms like TikTok and X. Poland’s Jacek Oko proposed using AI as an educational tool to teach people about AI risks, advocating for AI-powered personalized learning assistants to help vulnerable populations understand digital literacy and identify manipulated content.

Professor Salma Abbasi identified six key ethical concerns including misinformation proliferation, algorithmic bias, privacy surveillance, behavioral manipulation, declining critical thinking, and loss of cultural nuances in AI systems. She recommended transparency in AI design, robust human oversight, and accountability frameworks with consequences for failures. The panelists collectively emphasized that addressing AI ethics requires international cooperation, investment in education, transparent governance frameworks, and ensuring that technology serves humanity while respecting cultural values and human dignity.

Keypoints

**Major Discussion Points:**

– **Balancing AI ethics with innovation and rights**: Multiple speakers addressed the challenge of ensuring ethical AI development while maintaining freedom of expression, access to information, and innovation capacity. Kenya’s representative specifically discussed the “creative tension” between media freedom and ethical regulation.

– **Human-centered AI development and decision-making**: Libya’s minister emphasized that humans and machines make decisions differently – humans use emotion, experience, and wisdom while AI relies on algorithms and data. The consensus was that ethical decision-making should not be fully delegated to machines.

– **Education and digital literacy as fundamental safeguards**: Several speakers highlighted education as crucial for ethical AI use. Cuba outlined their extensive technology training programs, while Poland advocated for using AI itself as a tool to educate people about AI risks and benefits.

– **Misinformation, disinformation, and algorithmic bias**: Professor Abbasi provided a comprehensive analysis of six key risks including the proliferation of deepfakes, persistent discrimination through algorithmic bias, privacy concerns, behavioral manipulation, and the decline of critical thinking skills.

– **Need for transparency, accountability, and regulatory frameworks**: All speakers emphasized the importance of transparent AI systems, human oversight, and robust regulatory frameworks. There was particular concern for protecting vulnerable populations including children, elderly, and those with disabilities.

**Overall Purpose:**

The discussion aimed to explore how to apply ethics and human rights principles to emerging technologies, particularly artificial intelligence, within the context of building an inclusive information society. This was part of a WSIS Action Line session focused on painting an “ethical landscape” for the digital age.

**Overall Tone:**

The tone was professional and collaborative throughout, with speakers sharing practical experiences and solutions rather than engaging in debate. While there was underlying concern about AI risks and challenges, the discussion maintained a constructive and forward-looking approach. The tone remained consistently diplomatic and solution-oriented, with speakers building upon each other’s points and emphasizing the need for international cooperation and shared responsibility in addressing these challenges.

Speakers

– **Participant**: Role/Title: Not specified, Area of expertise: Not specified

– **Anriette Esterhuysen**: Role/Title: High-level track facilitator/Moderator, Area of expertise: Digital rights and governance (described as “veteran of this space”), From: South Africa

– **Vanessa Matz**: Role/Title: Minister of Digital Transformation, Area of expertise: Digital transformation and ethics in information society, From: Belgium

– **Abdulbaset Albaour**: Role/Title: Minister for General Authority for Communication and Information Technology, Area of expertise: AI and machine decision-making, From: Libya

– **Ernesto Rodriguez Hernandez**: Role/Title: First Vice Minister, Ministry of Communications, Area of expertise: Digital transformation and AI ethics education, From: Republic of Cuba

– **Stephen Isaboke**: Role/Title: Principal Secretary from the Ministry of Information, Communication and the Digital Economy, State Department for Broadcasting and Telecommunications, Area of expertise: Information access rights and media freedom balance, From: Kenya

– **Jacek Oko**: Role/Title: President of the Office of Electronic Communications, Area of expertise: AI regulation and digital education, From: Poland

– **Salma Abbasi**: Role/Title: Founder, Chairperson and CEO of the EU Worldwide Group, Area of expertise: AI ethics, digital rights, and child protection (described as “veteran of this space”), From: Not specified

**Additional speakers:**

None identified beyond the provided speakers names list.

# Discussion Report: Ethics and Human Rights in the Digital Age

## Executive Summary

This discussion, part of the “Leaders’ Talks, Moral Pixels – Painting an Ethical Landscape in the Information Society” session on day three of the WSIS framework meetings, was facilitated by Anriette Esterhuysen. The session brought together ministers and digital governance experts from Belgium, Libya, Cuba, Kenya, and Poland to examine ethical considerations and human rights implications in the digital age, with particular focus on artificial intelligence and emerging technologies.

The conversation revealed shared priorities around education, human oversight, and transparency in AI governance, while highlighting different national approaches to implementation and regulation.

## Key Participants and Their Contributions

### Belgium – Minister Vanessa Maerts

Minister Maerts outlined Belgium’s systematic approach to digital transformation, emphasizing that digital services must be accessible to all without exception. Belgium has established requirements that for each digital service, non-digital alternatives must be provided for vulnerable groups. The country has created an AI ecosystem bringing together public and private actors to provide ethical and legal advice on AI deployment, alongside launching an observatory for AI and digital technologies to reinforce transparency and facilitate citizen dialogue. Maerts stressed that digital technology must be at the service of humans by being safe, ethical, and inclusive.

### Libya – Minister Abdul Baset Abul

Minister Abul provided a cautionary perspective on AI decision-making, drawing a distinction between human and machine processes. He argued that humans make decisions based on emotion, experience, and wisdom, while AI relies on algorithms and data. He emphasized that AI decisions are irreversible unlike human decisions, stating: “That’s in my opinion, we cannot trust the machine to take decision.”

### Cuba – First Vice Minister Ernesto Rodriguez Hernandez

Speaking in Spanish with translation, Minister Rodriguez Hernandez presented Cuba’s comprehensive digital education infrastructure through 642 technology centers that have trained over 5 million people, mostly young people. Cuba has graduated 17,000 engineers and created a university in 2022. The country has approved a digital transformation policy, digital agenda, and AI development strategy under an ethical framework, with digital technology topics taught with an ethical, safe, and innovative approach in universities.

### Kenya – Principal Secretary Stephen Mortari Saboke

Principal Secretary Saboke discussed the balance between rights and regulation, introducing the concept of “creative tension” between competing rights. He emphasized that governments must balance freedom of expression and access to information with ethical regulation, noting concerns about platforms like TikTok and X, as well as cybercrime issues. He argued that “we don’t have to abandon rights in order to respect rights.”

### Poland – President Jacek Oko, Office of Electronic Communications

President Oko advocated for using AI as an educational tool to teach people about AI risks and benefits. He proposed that AI could serve as a personalized learning assistant, particularly for people with special needs and intellectual disabilities. He referenced the EU Digital Services Act and its oversight capabilities, stating: “Let us not be afraid of AI. On the contrary, let us use it as a powerful tool in this educational mission.” He emphasized cooperation with non-governmental organizations and educators.

### Professor Salma Abbasi

Professor Abbasi provided a detailed analysis of AI-related risks, identifying six key ethical concerns in her framework: misinformation proliferation through deepfakes, algorithmic bias reinforcing discrimination, privacy and surveillance concerns, behavioral manipulation particularly affecting children, declining critical thinking abilities, and loss of cultural nuances in AI systems. She called for robust regulatory frameworks and highlighted the need for inclusive approaches, particularly for Global South countries rapidly adopting AI.

## Areas of Consensus

### Education and Capacity Building

All speakers emphasized education as fundamental for ethical AI governance. Cuba’s extensive technology center network, Poland’s advocacy for AI-powered educational tools, and other participants’ focus on human capacity building demonstrated broad agreement on educational approaches.

### Human Oversight

Multiple speakers, particularly Libya’s minister and Professor Abbasi, stressed the importance of maintaining human control and oversight in AI systems, emphasizing that machines should not make decisions independently.

### Transparency Requirements

Belgium’s observatory approach, Poland’s reference to EU oversight capabilities, and Professor Abbasi’s call for auditable algorithms reflected shared views on the need for transparent AI systems and public dialogue.

## Different Approaches

### Trust in AI Systems

A notable difference emerged between Libya’s skepticism about trusting machines for decision-making and Poland’s more optimistic stance about embracing AI as a tool, particularly for education.

### Regulatory Frameworks

Speakers presented different approaches to oversight, with some emphasizing governmental frameworks while others, like Poland’s representative, advocated for greater cooperation with non-governmental organizations and educational institutions.

## Key Challenges Identified

The discussion highlighted several ongoing challenges:

– Ensuring AI systems respect cultural contexts and local values

– Developing appropriate regulatory frameworks for rapidly evolving technology

– Balancing innovation with protection, particularly for vulnerable populations

– Addressing the digital divide and ensuring Global South participation in AI governance

– Protecting children from potential negative effects while leveraging educational benefits

## Technical Context

The session experienced some technical difficulties with computer and microphone issues, as noted by the moderator. Presentations from Belgium and Cuba included translation from French and Spanish respectively. A speaker from the Philippines was expected but did not appear.

## Conclusion

The discussion demonstrated broad international agreement on fundamental principles of AI ethics, particularly around education, human oversight, and transparency. While implementation approaches varied based on national contexts and priorities, participants showed commitment to ensuring that digital technologies serve human needs while respecting rights and cultural values. The conversation reflected growing international dialogue on AI governance, with emphasis on inclusive development and the need for continued cooperation between nations at different stages of digital transformation.

Participant: Ladies and gentlemen, we are going to start our session very soon. Dear participants, we would like to welcome you to our next Leaders’ Talks, Moral Pixels – Painting an Ethical Landscape in the Information Society. We would like to invite to the stage Ms. Anriette Estenhauer, who is going to be our high-level track facilitator.

Anriette Esterhuysen: Good afternoon, everyone who is with us. virtually and in the room. I know things are a little bit, it’s day three and things are becoming a little bit chaotic. We have ministerial meetings, but we want to start on time as close as possible because there’s another session after us. So, I’ll introduce myself. I think, have I been introduced? My name is Anriette Esterhuysen, I’m from South Africa and I’ll be moderating this session. So, we have a very distinguished panel. This session is going to look at the WSIS Action Line that deals with ethics and human rights and particularly in how we apply ethics and human rights to emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence. So, I’m going to invite the panellists to come. I think next to me I have, well, let me introduce them in order of speaking. Our first speaker, and they can all come if they are here, is Her Excellency Minister Maats from Belgium. Is she with us yet? Not yet. She’ll be joining us, so let’s move on to who’s next. We also have, sorry, this is difficult to manipulate the mic and the keyboard at the same time. From Libya, next to me, we have His Excellency Mr. Abdul Baset Abul, Minister for General Authority for Communication and Information Technology, and he’ll be our second speaker. And after him, we’ll have from Cuba, His Excellency Mr. Ernesto Rodríguez Hernández, First Vice Minister, Ministry of Communications from the Republic of Cuba. He’ll be our third speaker. Thanks very much to all of you ministers for rushing downstairs. After Cuba, we’re going to have already here, and thanks for being the first one to walk to the stage, Stephen Mortari Saboke, Principal Secretary from the Ministry of Information, Communication and the Digital Economy, State Department for Broadcasting and Telecommunications. From the Philippines, is Miss Ella Blanca López with us? Not yet. Thanks for that, Levi. From Poland, I know he’s here, I’ve just spoken to him, Mr. Jacek Orko, President of the Office of Electronic Communications from Poland. And after that, we have, last but definitely not least, Professor Selma Abassi. She’s the founder and chairperson and CEO of the EU Worldwide Group, and like me, she’s a veteran of this space. So, we will probably be joint, so don’t feel that there’s disruption. If you see other dignitaries going to the top of the stage. I’m trying to get to the top of my screen. Escaped, thank you. Just, do we have, oh, has she arrived? Perfect. Is that Miss López or Miss Lanz? Thanks very much. I’ll introduce you when I give you the floor. So, to start us, I’m going to go to our first speaker, which is Her Excellency, the Minister from Belgium. I need to get rid of this. I’m so sorry about this. Could you hold this for me, please? Thanks, Minister. So, from Belgium, Her Excellency is Vanessa Maerts. She’s the Minister from the Ministry of Digital Transformation. And the question that we have for her is, how is Belgium dealing with this challenge of applying ethics, dealing with digital transformation and building an inclusive information society, particularly with the challenges related to artificial intelligence? And you’ll be responding in French, is that right? So, please, everyone, keep your headphones on or look at the transcript. And Minister, you have three minutes and the time is in front of you. Please, go ahead.

Vanessa Matz: Merci. Thank you very much. So, ladies and gentlemen, the question of ethics in the information society is a fundamental priority that I have carried. It’s one of the mandates I have within the Belgium federal government. It’s a topic we’re all dealing with at national and international level. Ethics is not just principle. It incarnates also the accessibility and the inclusion. It is absolutely imperative that the digital services be accessible to all men and women without exception. This includes vulnerable groups for whom in Belgium we will always want to ensure alternatives, non-digital alternatives at each digital online service. This is our way to guarantee a true equality of access. I also give a strong importance to the improvement of digital public services. Initiatives like training of public agents in first line and the accompanying of the citizens and promotion of digital inclusion are one of the concrete examples. Ethics to guide the development of our technology. Let’s take the artificial intelligence. In Belgium, we have created an ecosystem AI for Belgium that brings together public and private actors of the sector. These ecosystems offer advice on ethical aspects and legal aspects of AI, ensuring that the deployment respects the norms and regulations, all the while ensuring a transparent governance. Transparency is fundamental, particularly regarding algorithms used in the public services, which is why we have launched an observatory of artificial intelligence and of the new digital technologies in order to reinforce this transparency and facilitate the dialogue between citizens and the users. We also need to take particular attention for youth who are particularly vulnerable to the ethical issues linked to digitization. Digital technology needs to be at the service of humans by being safe, ethical and inclusive for all. Digital technology cannot just be blown back from the sky, it needs to be the fruit of a constant dialogue and active cooperation between all competent authorities and at all levels. facilitate cooperation. The summit is a unique opportunity to reinforce this international cooperation and to ensure that digitization benefits everyone in the respect of ethical principles that guide our actions. Thank you very much.

Anriette Esterhuysen: You came to time absolutely perfectly. I was nervous for no reason. And Mr. Albaour, Your Excellency, the question we are asking you is could we or should we be delegating our ethical decision-making to machines? Are we doing it? And if that is happening, who should determine the framework, the rights and moral framework that guides

Abdulbaset Albaour: these systems? Good afternoon. Thank you for this question. As you know, now in these days, the most topics have been taken in AI. Before answering your question, I want to explain how the machine or how the AI take decision and what’s different between the human how to take decision and machine take the decision. Human make decision dependent on the emotion, experience, also the wisdom. But AI and machine take decision dependent on the algorithms and data. When we talk algorithms and data, we talk about the accuracy of data, also the design of algorithms, how to design these algorithms. Sometime when take the decision by human, we can maybe go back before the take decision and take another decision. But AI and machine, when take the decision, we cannot go back before the decision. That’s in my opinion, we cannot trust the machine to take decision.

Anriette Esterhuysen: Thanks very much and a very legitimate caution. Next, we have from Cuba and he’ll be responding to us in Spanish. So again, have your headphones on. Mr. Hernandez, Your Excellency, your question, I am sorry, I’m having terrible problems with my computer here. I apologize. I’m usually very well prepared. And you come from Cuba, a country that’s facing so many challenges and climate change not being least of them. And how are you facing this challenge of preparing new generations to make ethical and safe use of digital technologies?

Ernesto Rodriguez Hernandez: Before I answer your question, I would like to thank the organizers of the session for giving me the honor of participating in this session. The government of Cuba and the state of Cuba have always attached great importance to the development of information and telecommunication technologies. An example of this was ratified in the 2019 Cuban constitution, which establishes the social development plan for 2030. Additionally, we have declared that digital transformation is one of the pillars of the government, along with science and innovation and social well-being. In order to make this clear and make this a reality in 2024, the policy for digital transformation was approved. The digital agenda that implements it was also approved. And the strategy for the development and use of artificial intelligence were approved. And we believe that that should be done cautiously and under an ethical framework. Precisely, we do have what we need and we call the digital citizenship, which is related to respect to privacy, verification of sources before you disseminate information to avoid discriminatory and offensive and hate speech, and to foster the ability to denounce said practices, to have robust digital accreditation, avoiding and making sure that you carry out updates to digital platforms and their security patches. To this end, we have a network of 642 technology centers in Cuba called the Youth Computer and Electronics Club, and we have been able to train over 5 million Cuban, most of them young people. Additionally, we have specialties, specialism courses in all the universities in the country. In 2022, we created a university specialized in computer sciences, which has seen the graduation of over 17,000 engineers. As part of the general curricular strategy, digital technology topics are taught under an ethical, safe and innovative approach. These actions, together with the implementation of pedagogical modalities and the mediation of technology, ensure quality learning that contributes to coherent integration of educational centers, families and the community in general, under an ethical, safe and responsible use of

Anriette Esterhuysen: digital technologies. Thank you so much, ma’am. Thank you very much for that. If we do want human centric AI, we need to invest in human capacity, and I think you’ve outlined that so clearly. Next, we’re moving to Kenya. So, Mr. Isaboki, how do governments and how do you feel they can and should they balance, on the one hand, ensuring rights to access to information, freedom of expression and the ability to innovate, while also ensuring that there is consideration of

Stephen Isaboke: ethics and values? Thank you, thank you. I think in Kenya, including the current scenario, that there’s an ongoing kind of, I’ll call it, creative tension between the right to access information and media freedom, and obviously innovation, on the other hand, and I think the whole area of ethical regulation, to actually then ensure that there’s a balance between the access to information and also respect for the law. So, the Kenyan constitution actually provides for freedom of the media, access to information, and indeed freedom to expression, but that freedom is actually not unlimited. There are safeguards around, for example, incitement to violence, you know, anything that actually is hate speech or anything that actually causes civil disorder, and all that, and I think that’s really the balance that the authorities must balance between that and allowing for, especially the youth, who are actually very, very much sort of into the AI space, into the information space, where they apply a lot of the latest sort of technology and platforms, TikTok, X, and the rest of the platforms to communicate, and in some instances they might end up communicating or miscommunicating and misinforming, and in the process also sometimes infringe on the rule of law, and sometimes that can catch up with cybercrime and all that. But as a government, we are obviously committed to ensuring that we enable and encourage innovation, encourage free expression, but again, ensuring that there’s a balanced approach to protect rights and also build trust and resilience, you know, in that democratic and digital space. Thank you.

Anriette Esterhuysen: Thank you very much for that, and also, you know, for keeping to time, and I think, and that makes the point that we don’t have to abandon rights in order to respect rights, and in fact, as you said, there are ways of balancing rights when some rights impede on other rights. We have rights frameworks that can help us deal with that, so thanks very much for mentioning that. We’ve heard about the importance of education for AI and capability in AI in order to be able to use it ethically and well in a rights-respecting way, but Mr. Jacek Oko, you’ve got a really interesting topic, which is to talk about how can we use AI? Can we use AI to educate people about the risks of AI? Thank you for the invitation to this important forum.

Jacek Oko: The AI revolution was experienced as two sides of a coin. One, on the hand, there is a tremendous potential, and on the other hand, real risks. Therefore, as regulators and policemakers, we must first protect universal ethical values from the flood of false content. Today, generating a deepfake or disinformation that looks confusingly real is not only possible, but it’s also alarmingly easy. This is a fundamental challenge for the cohesion of our Of course, we are not totally inactive. In the European Union, we already have specific regulations. Such as the Digital Services Act. This is an important tool which gives us, the regulators, the ability to oversee the moderation of illegal content, ensure transparency of online advertisement and allows us to fight against disinformation. But regulations alone are not enough. Therefore, I want to emphasize that education is the most important. Education is crucial in building social resilience. Education that allows each and every citizen, from children to seniors, to distinguish manipulated content from the true one and to understand the intentions behind them, whether they were generated in a good or bad way. However, and this is the key part of the answer to the post-question, let us not be afraid of AI. On the contrary, let us use it as a powerful tool in this educational mission. Let us treat it as a personalized learning assistant aimed at people with special needs, with intellectual disabilities, on the different autism spectrum of the seniors for whom traditional methods can be a barrier. AI can adapt content, explain complex issues in a simple way and create interactive safe environments for learning about the digital world. Who would do that? This is the question. I think we should let’s trust not governmental organizations, let’s trust educators and let’s cooperate with them as an administration. So far, we have measured our strength against our intentions. No, our intentions remain strong, but we can fully respond to them with the power of AI. Our primary goal is to create a safe Internet. But safe Internet in the age of AI means much more than just fast and It means the Internet free from manipulation, which once again becomes what we meant to be from the beginning, a reliable and verified source of knowledge. I have at the end a call. So let’s use AI to teach about AI. Thank you.

Anriette Esterhuysen: Thank you very much and for that challenge. And I think that reminder that if we approach emerging technologies just from a place of fear, we will fail to effectively utilize the positive potential. So thanks for outlining that. And do we have, we don’t have a virtual speaker and I think our speaker from the Philippines is not here. So we have a little bit more time. But our last speaker is Professor Salma Abbasi. Salman, in an era where AI and digital technologies shape our perceptions and decisions, you know, we’ve heard from Kenya as well how that happens in terms of the media and content, online content. How do we ensure ethical accountability? And especially when it’s so much of this, when algorithms actually operate beyond human oversight or even if there’s some human oversight, it’s often not visible or transparent.

Salma Abbasi: Thank you very much. First of all, I really appreciate the opportunity to be on this stage with these distinguished panelists. And I think this is a very important question for us to discuss. As we adopt AI rapidly, we have many, many ethical considerations to have. And I believe that my colleagues have said that the biggest challenge we have is the risk of trusting misinformation, disinformation, and the deep fake. I believe that there are six components to this, and I’ll go through them very quickly. The perforation of misinformation, disinformation, every minister has mentioned. The dramatic acceleration of people believing the false narrative, especially young children, is a problem. The manipulation and the distortion of facts have been seen on the streets of the United Kingdom last year when our societies were polarized and now remains in that situation. The geopolitical dynamics and those who have the power of AI are distorting the facts and there’s no recourse at the moment. The second is the persistent discrimination of the algorithmic bias that reinforces the systemic biases that we have and the programmers that remain in that bias world. The stereotype, the inequity, particularly impacting children and women and the elderly, as my colleague has said from Poland. We need to identify and understand the inequities because they are shaping the digital environment of our kids. The third concern is the privacy and continuous surveillance, which is articulated beautifully by Meredith yesterday, the president of Signal. We have vast amounts of data that people are grasping and analyzing our behavior, our patterns, our vulnerabilities, our fears, and then manipulating that. I’m more concerned about the young and the people with intellectual disabilities. The advancement of commercial exploitation is vast. 700 billion dollars commercial industry for cosmetics frightens me. The individuals do not give consent and are being manipulated. The fourth risk of manipulation is the influence of behavior. The radical increase of gender-based violence, technology-facilitated violence, the narrative of misogyny in society, which is measured, is because our young boys are being exposed to bad social media influences. The ethics, the morals are missing. Young girls are being exploited by technology-facilitated tools hidden in games, which we are not aware of. What we have to do is understand this shift in what is being commercially exploiting as fun because it’s not. It’s penetrating private spaces. Our fears, our perceptions are being shaped. The behaviors of aggression and hate, all the ministers mentioned hate. This is an unrealistic portrayal of the decline of the well-being of children. When I look at the fifth, it’s the critical thinking. Children’s attention span is very short. I’m looking at the time I’m going to erase. It’s very important for us to understand that we’re misleading the children in showing them that this is the way and the only way, the AI way. We need to balance the offline and offline critical thinking ability. The sixth most important, which I think our minister from Libya mentioned, is the nuances of the social cultural norm. All the things that we learn from our grandparents, our culture that is not digital, AI is missing all of that in its analysis. It’s priceless because it’s our cultural knowledge and heritage that is not easily documented. There are three things that I would like to recommend very quickly. The transparency in the design and development, auditable algorithms. We need to know what data they used, what were the parameters they set, and most importantly, how do we check that it’s gender-neutral in its definitions. The second is the oversight and governance, which we will discuss tomorrow. But the human oversight is a must. Human intervention blindly following algorithms is a big mistake. It does make mistakes. The data has errors. The programmer could make a mistake. The regulatory framework needs to be robust and reinforced. My colleague from Cuba, I met your regulators and we discussed this very issue. And the third and final one is robust accountability with consequences. There needs to be a consequence if a duty of care is derelict and a child commits suicide. And finally, many countries from the global south that are rapidly embracing AI without the adequate regulatory frameworks in place and safeguards, we need to collaborate closely to work to build an inclusive framework that is localized and contextualized so that we can incorporate the voices of the global south to ensure that it is shaped by them, for them. The future of AI must be grounded in our shared values with empathy, humanity, and accountability for human dignity for everyone. This is the only way we can ensure that artificial intelligence is not just artificial, but it’s there to ensure a just, secure, and sustainable future for the next generation that we are responsible for. Thank you so much.

Anriette Esterhuysen: Thanks very much, Salma. Thanks to this wonderful panel. We’ve heard about the support for ecosystems, the integration of digital public infrastructure from Belgium, the importance of human centeredness, human rights, balancing rights, but also respecting those rights, incredible value of education and investing in future generations from Cuba. The innovative approach, let’s not be overwhelmed by fear from Poland. And then, Salma, your reminder that we do need frameworks and standards. And I think everyone mentioned the importance of transparency. Thank you very much. Thanks for joining. And thanks to our leaders for inspiring us. Thank you. Recording stopped. Thank you. Dear participants, we would like to welcome you to our final

Agreement points

Education is fundamental for ethical AI and digital literacy

Speakers

– Ernesto Rodriguez Hernandez
– Jacek Oko
– Anriette Esterhuysen

Arguments

Created 642 technology centers training over 5 million Cubans, mostly young people, in digital citizenship

Digital technology topics are taught under an ethical, safe and innovative approach in universities

Education is crucial for building social resilience and helping citizens distinguish manipulated content from true content

Human-centric AI requires investment in human capacity and capability building

Summary

All speakers emphasized that education and capacity building are essential for ensuring ethical use of AI and digital technologies, with particular focus on training citizens to navigate digital challenges responsibly

Topics

Development | Sociocultural | Human rights

Human oversight is essential in AI decision-making

Speakers

– Abdulbaset Albaour
– Salma Abbasi

Arguments

AI decisions are irreversible unlike human decisions, making machines untrustworthy for decision-making

Humans make decisions based on emotion, experience, and wisdom, while AI relies on algorithms and data

Human oversight is essential as algorithms can make mistakes due to data errors or programmer errors

Blindly following algorithms without human intervention is a significant mistake

Summary

Both speakers strongly advocate for maintaining human control and oversight in AI systems, emphasizing that machines cannot be trusted to make decisions independently due to their limitations and potential for errors

Topics

Human rights | Legal and regulatory

Transparency in AI systems and governance is crucial

Speakers

– Vanessa Matz
– Jacek Oko
– Salma Abbasi
– Anriette Esterhuysen

Arguments

Launched observatory for AI and digital technologies to reinforce transparency and facilitate citizen dialogue

Digital Services Act provides regulators ability to oversee content moderation and fight disinformation

Need for transparency in AI design, auditable algorithms, and robust accountability with consequences

Transparency is a common theme across all approaches to ethical AI governance

Summary

Multiple speakers emphasized transparency as a fundamental requirement for ethical AI governance, including transparent algorithms, oversight mechanisms, and public dialogue about AI systems

Topics

Legal and regulatory | Human rights

Balancing rights and freedoms with ethical considerations

Speakers

– Stephen Isaboke
– Anriette Esterhuysen

Arguments

Governments must balance freedom of expression and access to information with ethical regulation and respect for law

Constitutional freedoms have safeguards against incitement to violence, hate speech, and civil disorder

Rights frameworks can help balance competing rights without abandoning fundamental rights

Summary

Both speakers agreed that it’s possible and necessary to balance fundamental rights like freedom of expression with ethical considerations and legal safeguards, without abandoning core rights principles

Topics

Human rights | Legal and regulatory

Similar viewpoints

Both ministers emphasized inclusive approaches to digital transformation that specifically consider vulnerable populations and ensure no one is left behind in the digital transition

Speakers

– Vanessa Matz
– Ernesto Rodriguez Hernandez

Arguments

Digital services must be accessible to all without exception, including vulnerable groups who need non-digital alternatives

Created 642 technology centers training over 5 million Cubans, mostly young people, in digital citizenship

Topics

Human rights | Development

Both speakers identified the ease of creating convincing false content as a major threat to society, with particular concern about its impact on social cohesion and vulnerable populations

Speakers

– Jacek Oko
– Salma Abbasi

Arguments

Generating deepfakes and disinformation that looks real is alarmingly easy, threatening social cohesion

Misinformation and disinformation proliferation leads to dramatic acceleration of false narrative belief, especially among children

Topics

Cybersecurity | Sociocultural

Both countries have developed comprehensive policy frameworks and multi-stakeholder approaches to ensure AI development occurs within ethical boundaries

Speakers

– Vanessa Matz
– Ernesto Rodriguez Hernandez

Arguments

Approved digital transformation policy, digital agenda, and AI development strategy under ethical framework

Created AI ecosystem bringing together public and private actors to provide ethical and legal advice

Topics

Legal and regulatory | Development

Unexpected consensus

Using AI to combat AI-related risks

Speakers

– Jacek Oko

Arguments

AI can serve as a personalized learning assistant for people with special needs and intellectual disabilities

Explanation

While most speakers focused on AI risks and the need for human oversight, Oko presented an unexpected consensus-building approach of using AI itself as a solution to AI-related problems, particularly in education and accessibility

Topics

Human rights | Development

Cultural knowledge gaps in AI systems

Speakers

– Salma Abbasi

Arguments

AI lacks understanding of social cultural norms and heritage knowledge from previous generations

Explanation

This represents an unexpected area where there was implicit consensus – the recognition that AI systems fundamentally lack cultural wisdom and intergenerational knowledge, which wasn’t directly challenged by other speakers

Topics

Sociocultural | Human rights

Overall assessment

Summary

The speakers demonstrated strong consensus on key principles including the importance of education and capacity building, the need for human oversight in AI systems, transparency requirements, and the possibility of balancing rights with ethical considerations. There was also agreement on the risks posed by misinformation and the need for inclusive approaches to digital transformation.

Consensus level

High level of consensus on fundamental principles, with speakers from different regions and backgrounds converging on similar approaches to ethical AI governance. This suggests a mature understanding of the challenges and potential solutions, with implications for developing international frameworks and standards for AI ethics that could have broad acceptance across different political and cultural contexts.

Different viewpoints

Trust in AI for decision-making

Speakers

– Abdulbaset Albaour
– Jacek Oko

Arguments

That’s in my opinion, we cannot trust the machine to take decision

Let us not be afraid of AI. On the contrary, let us use it as a powerful tool in this educational mission

Summary

Albaour fundamentally argues against trusting machines for decision-making due to their reliance on algorithms and data versus human emotion, experience, and wisdom. Oko takes a more optimistic stance, advocating for embracing AI as a powerful tool rather than fearing it, particularly in education.

Topics

Human rights | Legal and regulatory

Approach to AI regulation and oversight

Speakers

– Jacek Oko
– Salma Abbasi

Arguments

Let’s trust not governmental organizations, let’s trust educators and let’s cooperate with them as an administration

The regulatory framework needs to be robust and reinforced

Summary

Oko advocates for trusting non-governmental organizations and educators for AI oversight, emphasizing cooperation with administration. Abbasi calls for robust and reinforced regulatory frameworks, suggesting a more structured governmental approach to AI governance.

Topics

Legal and regulatory | Development

Unexpected differences

Role of fear in approaching AI technology

Speakers

– Anriette Esterhuysen
– Salma Abbasi

Arguments

If we approach emerging technologies just from a place of fear, we will fail to effectively utilize the positive potential

The manipulation and the distortion of facts have been seen on the streets of the United Kingdom last year when our societies were polarized

Explanation

While Esterhuysen warns against fear-based approaches to AI that might prevent utilizing positive potential, Abbasi provides extensive evidence of real-world harms from AI systems, including social polarization, gender-based violence, and exploitation of children. This creates an unexpected tension between optimistic utilization and cautionary risk assessment.

Topics

Human rights | Sociocultural

Overall assessment

Summary

The discussion revealed relatively low levels of direct disagreement, with most conflicts centered around the degree of trust in AI systems and the appropriate balance between regulation and innovation. The main areas of disagreement were: fundamental trust in AI decision-making capabilities, regulatory approaches (governmental vs. non-governmental oversight), and the balance between embracing AI potential versus addressing its risks.

Disagreement level

Low to moderate disagreement level. The speakers largely shared common goals of ethical AI development, human-centered technology, and the importance of education and transparency. However, they differed significantly in their approaches to achieving these goals, particularly regarding the role of regulation, the trustworthiness of AI systems, and the balance between innovation and caution. These disagreements have important implications as they reflect fundamental philosophical differences about AI governance that could impact policy development and international cooperation efforts.

Partial agreements

Similar viewpoints

Both ministers emphasized inclusive approaches to digital transformation that specifically consider vulnerable populations and ensure no one is left behind in the digital transition

Speakers

– Vanessa Matz
– Ernesto Rodriguez Hernandez

Arguments

Digital services must be accessible to all without exception, including vulnerable groups who need non-digital alternatives

Created 642 technology centers training over 5 million Cubans, mostly young people, in digital citizenship

Topics

Human rights | Development

Both speakers identified the ease of creating convincing false content as a major threat to society, with particular concern about its impact on social cohesion and vulnerable populations

Speakers

– Jacek Oko
– Salma Abbasi

Arguments

Generating deepfakes and disinformation that looks real is alarmingly easy, threatening social cohesion

Misinformation and disinformation proliferation leads to dramatic acceleration of false narrative belief, especially among children

Topics

Cybersecurity | Sociocultural

Both countries have developed comprehensive policy frameworks and multi-stakeholder approaches to ensure AI development occurs within ethical boundaries

Speakers

– Vanessa Matz
– Ernesto Rodriguez Hernandez

Arguments

Approved digital transformation policy, digital agenda, and AI development strategy under ethical framework

Created AI ecosystem bringing together public and private actors to provide ethical and legal advice

Topics

Legal and regulatory | Development

Key takeaways

Digital services must be accessible to all populations, including vulnerable groups who require non-digital alternatives to ensure true equality of access

Human oversight is essential in AI systems as machines cannot be trusted to make irreversible decisions based solely on algorithms and data, unlike humans who use emotion, experience, and wisdom

Education and digital literacy are fundamental for building social resilience, with emphasis on teaching citizens to distinguish between authentic and manipulated content

AI poses significant risks including easy generation of deepfakes and disinformation, algorithmic bias that reinforces discrimination, and technology-facilitated violence particularly affecting children and women

Transparency in AI design and development is crucial, requiring auditable algorithms and robust accountability frameworks with consequences for failures

International cooperation is needed to develop localized and contextualized AI frameworks, especially for Global South countries rapidly adopting AI without adequate regulatory safeguards

AI should be used as a tool to educate about AI risks rather than being approached solely from a place of fear, particularly for people with special needs and disabilities

Constitutional rights frameworks can help balance freedom of expression and access to information with ethical regulation and protection against hate speech and violence

Resolutions and action items

Belgium created an AI ecosystem bringing together public and private actors to provide ethical and legal advice on AI deployment

Belgium launched an observatory for AI and digital technologies to reinforce transparency and facilitate citizen dialogue

Cuba established 642 technology centers that have trained over 5 million people in digital citizenship

Cuba approved digital transformation policy, digital agenda, and AI development strategy under an ethical framework

Need to implement auditable algorithms with transparency in design and development processes

Establish robust regulatory frameworks with human oversight requirements and accountability mechanisms with consequences

Unresolved issues

How to effectively regulate AI systems that operate beyond human oversight or with limited transparency

How to address the cultural and heritage knowledge gaps in AI systems that lack understanding of social cultural norms

How to balance innovation and free expression while preventing technology-facilitated violence and exploitation

How to ensure Global South countries can develop adequate regulatory frameworks while rapidly adopting AI technologies

How to address the commercial exploitation in AI systems, particularly the $700 billion cosmetics industry manipulation mentioned

How to effectively combat the shortened attention spans and declining critical thinking abilities in children due to AI exposure

Suggested compromises

Provide non-digital alternatives alongside digital services to ensure inclusion of vulnerable populations while advancing digitalization

Use AI as a personalized learning assistant for people with special needs while maintaining human oversight and intervention capabilities

Apply constitutional safeguards against hate speech and violence while preserving freedom of expression and access to information

Collaborate between governmental and non-governmental organizations, educators, and administrators to leverage AI for educational purposes

Balance online and offline critical thinking development to maintain human cognitive abilities while embracing AI benefits

Develop localized AI frameworks that incorporate Global South voices while building on existing international cooperation structures

Human make decision dependent on the emotion, experience, also the wisdom. But AI and machine take decision dependent on the algorithms and data… Sometime when take the decision by human, we can maybe go back before the take decision and take another decision. But AI and machine, when take the decision, we cannot go back before the decision. That’s in my opinion, we cannot trust the machine to take decision.

Speaker

Abdulbaset Albaour (Libya)

Reason

This comment provides a fundamental philosophical distinction between human and machine decision-making processes. It introduces the critical concept of irreversibility in AI decisions and highlights the absence of emotional intelligence and experiential wisdom in algorithmic processes. This cuts to the core of the ethical debate about AI delegation.

Impact

This comment established a cautionary tone that influenced subsequent speakers to address the limitations of AI. It shifted the discussion from purely technical considerations to fundamental questions about the nature of decision-making and trust in automated systems.

But as a government, we are obviously committed to ensuring that we enable and encourage innovation, encourage free expression, but again, ensuring that there’s a balanced approach to protect rights and also build trust and resilience… we don’t have to abandon rights in order to respect rights, and in fact… there are ways of balancing rights when some rights impede on other rights.

Speaker

Stephen Isaboke (Kenya)

Reason

This comment introduces the sophisticated concept of ‘creative tension’ between competing rights and reframes the discussion from a zero-sum perspective to one of dynamic balance. It challenges the false dichotomy that you must choose between innovation and rights protection.

Impact

This shifted the conversation from viewing rights and innovation as opposing forces to understanding them as complementary elements that require careful balancing. It provided a practical framework for policy-making that influenced the moderator’s summary and likely shaped how other participants viewed the regulatory challenge.

Let us not be afraid of AI. On the contrary, let us use it as a powerful tool in this educational mission… So let’s use AI to teach about AI.

Speaker

Jacek Oko (Poland)

Reason

This comment represents a paradigm shift from defensive to proactive thinking about AI. It’s counterintuitive and innovative – using the very technology that poses risks as a solution to educate about those risks. It challenges the fear-based approach that often dominates AI discussions.

Impact

This comment introduced a new dimension to the discussion by proposing AI as part of the solution rather than just the problem. It moved the conversation from purely regulatory and cautionary approaches to exploring innovative educational applications, demonstrating how emerging technologies can be leveraged for positive outcomes.

The nuances of the social cultural norm. All the things that we learn from our grandparents, our culture that is not digital, AI is missing all of that in its analysis. It’s priceless because it’s our cultural knowledge and heritage that is not easily documented.

Speaker

Salma Abbasi

Reason

This comment introduces a profound and often overlooked dimension – the loss of intergenerational wisdom and cultural knowledge in AI systems. It highlights how AI’s reliance on documented, digitized data excludes vast repositories of human knowledge passed down through oral traditions and cultural practices.

Impact

This comment deepened the discussion by introducing cultural and heritage considerations that hadn’t been explicitly addressed. It expanded the scope from technical and regulatory concerns to include preservation of human cultural wisdom, adding a more holistic perspective to the ethical framework discussion.

Many countries from the global south that are rapidly embracing AI without the adequate regulatory frameworks in place and safeguards, we need to collaborate closely to work to build an inclusive framework that is localized and contextualized so that we can incorporate the voices of the global south to ensure that it is shaped by them, for them.

Speaker

Salma Abbasi

Reason

This comment addresses a critical gap in global AI governance – the exclusion of Global South perspectives in framework development. It challenges the assumption that AI ethical frameworks can be universally applied without considering local contexts and power dynamics.

Impact

This comment brought attention to global equity issues in AI governance, shifting the discussion from primarily technical and national perspectives to international cooperation and inclusive development. It highlighted the need for collaborative, culturally sensitive approaches to AI ethics.

Overall assessment

These key comments collectively transformed the discussion from a series of national policy presentations into a nuanced exploration of fundamental questions about AI ethics. The Libyan minister’s philosophical distinction between human and machine decision-making established a foundational framework that influenced subsequent speakers to address AI limitations more critically. The Kenyan representative’s concept of ‘creative tension’ and rights balancing provided a sophisticated policy framework that moved beyond simplistic trade-offs. The Polish speaker’s innovative proposal to use AI for AI education introduced solution-oriented thinking, while Professor Abbasi’s comments on cultural knowledge and Global South inclusion expanded the scope to encompass heritage preservation and global equity. Together, these interventions elevated the conversation from technical implementation details to fundamental questions about human agency, cultural preservation, rights balancing, and global justice in the age of AI. The discussion evolved from individual country reports to a collaborative exploration of shared challenges and innovative solutions.

How can we effectively balance offline and online critical thinking abilities in children’s education?

Speaker

Salma Abbasi

Explanation

This addresses the concern about children’s shortened attention spans and the risk of misleading them into thinking AI is the only way, highlighting the need to develop comprehensive educational approaches

How can we incorporate cultural knowledge and heritage that is not easily documented into AI systems?

Speaker

Salma Abbasi

Explanation

This addresses the gap in AI systems missing social cultural norms and traditional knowledge passed down through generations, which is crucial for culturally appropriate AI development

What specific regulatory frameworks and safeguards should Global South countries implement when rapidly adopting AI?

Speaker

Salma Abbasi

Explanation

This is critical as many developing countries are embracing AI without adequate protections in place, requiring collaborative frameworks that are localized and contextualized

How can we ensure auditable algorithms with transparent data sources and gender-neutral parameters?

Speaker

Salma Abbasi

Explanation

This addresses the need for transparency in AI design and development, particularly regarding what data is used, parameter settings, and bias prevention

What constitutes effective human oversight in AI systems and how can we prevent blind following of algorithms?

Speaker

Salma Abbasi

Explanation

This addresses the critical need for human intervention in AI decision-making processes, especially given that algorithms can make mistakes and data can contain errors

How can we establish robust accountability mechanisms with real consequences for AI-related harm?

Speaker

Salma Abbasi

Explanation

This addresses the need for accountability when duty of care is neglected and serious harm occurs, such as technology-facilitated violence or exploitation leading to severe consequences

How can AI be effectively used as a personalized learning assistant for people with special needs and intellectual disabilities?

Speaker

Jacek Oko

Explanation

This explores the positive potential of AI in education, particularly for adapting content and creating safe learning environments for vulnerable populations

What are the most effective methods for citizens to distinguish manipulated content from authentic content?

Speaker

Jacek Oko

Explanation

This addresses the fundamental challenge of deepfakes and disinformation, requiring practical solutions for media literacy across all age groups

Summary

The discussion focused on enhancing digital skills for tomorrow’s workforce, moderated by Cheryl Miller from the U.S. Council for International Business. The panel featured government officials from Estonia, Tanzania, the United Kingdom, and Turkey, along with Jennifer Corriero from Taking It Global, all addressing the urgent global priority of building digital literacy and inclusion.

Maggie Jones from the United Kingdom emphasized that digital skills must be accessible, affordable, and inclusive for meaningful participation in the digital world. She highlighted the UK’s digital access program, which has helped 15 million people in underserved communities across five countries and reduced the digital gap by 26% in 2024. Estonia’s Liisa Pakosta shared her country’s comprehensive approach, noting that Estonia became fully digital after regaining independence in 1991, with 100% of government services now digital. Most notably, Estonia launched the world’s first AI program for schools in September, providing free access to AI tools for all 10th and 11th graders and teachers.

Tanzania’s Jerry William Silaa outlined five key pillars for creating an enabling environment: political commitment, infrastructure investment, legal frameworks, inclusivity partnerships, and skills development. Turkey’s Ömer Abdullah Karagözoglu discussed the BTK Academy, launched in 2017, which now serves 2.65 million users with 317 training programs covering digital skills from basic to professional levels. Jennifer Corriero emphasized the importance of experiential learning in K-12 education, advocating for virtual field trips and youth-led community projects to inspire children and ensure technology enhances rather than replaces human connection. The panel collectively demonstrated that successful digital transformation requires comprehensive strategies combining infrastructure, education, policy, and international cooperation.

Keypoints

**Major Discussion Points:**

– **Digital inclusion and accessibility as a global priority** – Multiple panelists emphasized that one-third of the world’s population still lacks internet access, and that connectivity must be both available and affordable to create meaningful digital participation for all segments of society.

– **Integration of digital skills into national education systems** – Countries shared their approaches to embedding digital literacy from elementary through university levels, with Estonia pioneering AI programs for all 10th and 11th graders, and Tanzania incorporating digital skills throughout their curriculum.

– **Creating enabling environments for digital transformation** – Panelists discussed the infrastructure, legal frameworks, political commitment, and multi-stakeholder partnerships necessary to support successful digitalization initiatives, including investment in broadband connectivity and innovation hubs.

– **Youth-centered approaches and experiential learning** – The discussion highlighted the importance of hands-on, experiential learning opportunities for K-12 students, including virtual field trips, community-based projects, and ensuring young people have agency in their digital education journey.

– **International cooperation and knowledge sharing** – Countries emphasized the value of partnerships, sharing best practices, and collaborative approaches to bridge the global digital divide, with examples of successful international programs and initiatives.

**Overall Purpose:**

The discussion aimed to explore strategies for building digital skills as a global priority, focusing on how different countries are approaching digital inclusion, education, and skills development to prepare people for meaningful participation in a digital future. The panel sought to share best practices and promote international cooperation in bridging the digital divide.

**Overall Tone:**

The discussion maintained a consistently positive, collaborative, and inspiring tone throughout. Panelists were enthusiastic about sharing their countries’ achievements and approaches, while emphasizing partnership and mutual learning. The tone was professional yet passionate, with speakers demonstrating genuine commitment to digital inclusion and youth empowerment. The moderator maintained an encouraging atmosphere, and the session concluded on an uplifting note with the youth advocate’s call to collective responsibility for future generations.

Speakers

– **Cheryl Miller** – Moderator, U.S. Council for International Business

– **Liisa Ly Pakosta** – Her Excellency, Estonia (referred to as “Liisa Pakosta” in introduction but speaks as “Liisa Ly Pakosta”)

– **Maggie Jones** – The Honorable, United Kingdom – Digital development and digital skills integration

– **Jerry William Silaa** – The Honorable, Minister of Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, United Republic of Tanzania – Digitalization and enabling environments

– **Omer Abdullah Karagozoglu** – The Honorable, Chairman of the Board and President of the Information and Communications Technology Authority, Turkey – ICT skills and digital literacy access (referred to as “Ömer Abdullah Karagözoglu” in introduction but speaks as “Omer Abdullah Karagozoglu”)

– **Jennifer Corriero** – Executive Director of Taking It Global – K-12 education and youth digital skills development

**Additional speakers:**

– **Michael Furtick** – Co-founder of Taking It Global (mentioned by Jennifer Corriero as being present in the room, but did not speak)

# Enhancing Digital Skills for Tomorrow’s Workforce: A Global Perspective

## Executive Summary

The discussion on enhancing digital skills for tomorrow’s workforce, moderated by Cheryl Miller from the U.S. Council for International Business, featured government officials from Estonia, Tanzania, the United Kingdom, and Turkey, alongside Jennifer Corriero from Taking It Global. Each panelist presented their country’s or organization’s approach to building digital literacy and inclusion, showcasing diverse implementation strategies across different national contexts.

## National Approaches and Key Initiatives

### United Kingdom: International Cooperation and Digital Access

Maggie Jones from the United Kingdom emphasized that connectivity alone is insufficient for digital inclusion. She stated, “we won’t bring them online by just making an Internet connection available to people. Connectivity must also be affordable. And for people to engage with the digital world meaningfully and safely, we must ensure they have the necessary digital literacy and digital skills.”

Jones highlighted that one-third of the world’s population still lacks internet access. The UK has launched a new digital development strategy and implemented a digital access programme that has reached millions of people across multiple countries. She noted that digital and computing roles are projected to grow more than double the rate of the wider workforce by 2030, emphasizing the economic importance of digital skills development.

### Estonia: Comprehensive Digital Transformation and AI Integration

Liisa Pakosta from Estonia announced that Estonia became the first country to implement AI programmes for all 10th and 11th graders and teachers starting in September 2024. She explained the challenge facing education systems: “We all know that all that you learned like two years ago is not very relevant maybe today, and we do not know exactly what are the skills you need after two years. But in education systems, you build education systems for 10 or 15 years.”

Estonia’s digital transformation began after regaining independence in 1991, with the country achieving 100% digital government services. The Tiger Leap programme delivered internet access to all schools, including primary schools. Pakosta emphasized Estonia’s commitment to knowledge sharing, stating that the country is “fully open to sharing experiences, lessons learned, and mistakes with other countries interested in digitalisation.”

### Tanzania: Multi-Stakeholder Partnerships and Infrastructure Investment

Jerry William Silaa from Tanzania reported significant infrastructure achievements, with the country reaching high levels of mobile broadband connectivity across 3G, 4G, and 5G networks through substantial infrastructure investment. Tanzania’s approach is built on five key pillars: political commitment, infrastructure investment, legal frameworks, inclusivity partnerships, and skills development.

Tanzania has integrated digital skills throughout its educational system from elementary to university level and is designing a digital technology institute to serve both in-school and out-of-school experts. The country is also building eight innovation hubs to incubate youth ideas and develop startup ecosystems. President launched a 10-year digital economy strategy in July 2024, demonstrating sustained political commitment to digital transformation.

### Turkey: Structured Training and Institutional Capacity Building

Ömer Abdullah Karagözoglu from Turkey presented the BTK Academy, launched in 2017, which now serves 2.65 million users with 317 training programmes across 12 thematic categories. The academy covers digital skills from basic to professional levels, with particular focus on rural and underserved regions.

Karagözoglu emphasized that “basic digital competencies promote equal opportunities in labour markets and help narrow regional development gaps,” highlighting the economic and social benefits of comprehensive digital skills programmes. Turkey views digital literacy as a foundational skill and core element of modern education strategy.

### Taking It Global: Youth-Centered Learning and Community Building

Jennifer Corriero from Taking It Global focused on K-12 education and youth empowerment, advocating for experiential, hands-on learning opportunities. She emphasized the importance of maintaining human connection in digital transformation, arguing that “investment in public education should utilize technology for enrichment opportunities for every child” while ensuring that “focus should be on community building and ensuring technology doesn’t interfere with human connections.”

Corriero engaged the audience by asking them to identify as parents, aunties, uncles, or mentors, connecting individual responsibility to systemic change. She concluded with an ethical framework: “So, it’s our duty. It’s our collective duty to care, not only for the babies of today, but for those that are unborn, and to make sure that the ways that we’re creating technologies and using technologies are truly enriching generations to come to help them thrive.”

## Common Themes and Approaches

### Educational System Integration

All speakers emphasized the importance of integrating digital skills into national education systems from early levels through professional development. Countries demonstrated varying approaches, from Estonia’s AI integration to Tanzania’s comprehensive curriculum development and Turkey’s extensive training platforms.

### Infrastructure and Accessibility

The discussion highlighted that digital inclusion requires both infrastructure development and skills training. Speakers emphasized that connectivity must be accompanied by affordability, safety measures, and meaningful engagement opportunities.

### International Cooperation

Multiple speakers emphasized the importance of collaboration between countries, sectors, and stakeholders. The UK’s international programme, Estonia’s knowledge-sharing commitment, and Tanzania’s multi-stakeholder partnerships demonstrate different models of cooperation in digital development.

### Youth Focus and Innovation

All presentations included strong emphasis on youth engagement and innovation, from Tanzania’s innovation hubs to Estonia’s comprehensive school programmes and Taking It Global’s community-based approach.

## Implementation Strategies

### Government Leadership

The discussion revealed the importance of high-level political commitment supported by comprehensive strategic frameworks. Tanzania’s 10-year digital economy strategy and the UK’s new digital development strategy demonstrate sustained political vision.

### Partnership Models

Tanzania’s multi-stakeholder approach highlighted partnerships between government, private sector, civil society, and international organizations. This model enables resource sharing and broader reach than single-sector initiatives.

### Adaptive Systems

Estonia’s rapid AI integration demonstrates the importance of adaptive approaches that can respond quickly to technological changes. Estonia’s willingness to experiment and share both successes and failures provides lessons for other countries.

## Conclusion

The panel demonstrated diverse approaches to digital skills development, from comprehensive government-led initiatives to international cooperation models and community-based programs. Each speaker presented concrete examples of programs and policies their countries or organizations have implemented to address digital inclusion.

The discussion highlighted both the technical and human dimensions of digital transformation, with speakers emphasizing that successful digital skills development requires not only infrastructure and training but also attention to community building, equity, and meaningful participation in the digital economy.

The speakers’ willingness to share experiences and lessons learned suggests opportunities for continued international cooperation and mutual learning in addressing the global challenge of digital inclusion.

Cheryl Miller: Good morning, Your Excellencies, distinguished panelists and esteemed colleagues. My name is Cheryl Miller and I’m with the U.S. Council for International Business. It is an honor to moderate today’s Leaders’ Talk X Future Ready Enhancing Skills for a Digital Tomorrow. Building digital skills is an urgent global priority. We need to equip people with the tools needed to meaningfully participate in an open, inclusive and people-centered information society. As we dive into this important discussion, I would like to first introduce our distinguished panel. We have the Honorable Liisa Pakosta of Estonia, the Honorable Jerry William Silaa of Tanzania, the Honorable Maggie Jones of the United Kingdom, the Honorable Ömer Abdullah Karagözoglu of Turkey, and the Executive Director of Taking It Global, Ms. Jennifer Correiro. I’d like to pose my first question to the United Kingdom, the Honorable Maggie Jones. And I understand that the United Kingdom has its own unique approach to digital development and the progression of skills. How are digital skills integrated into the UK’s approach and how does that support the United Kingdom with its agenda on digital inclusion and connectivity?

Maggie Jones: Thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to present the UK’s approach to digital development. And our approach in the UK to the development of our own digital skills is exactly the same as the approach that we apply internationally. And our approach is simple. Our approach is simple. For ICTs to benefit all aspects of life, they must be accessible to people. One third of the world’s population still doesn’t have access to the Internet. We won’t bring them online by just making an Internet connection available to people. Connectivity must also be affordable. And for people to engage with the digital world meaningfully and safely, we must ensure they have the necessary digital literacy and digital skills. The UK’s digital access program has helped drive affordable last-minute connectivity for over 15 million people in 5,000 underserved communities in Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Brazil and Indonesia. By promoting sustainable technology and business models, our digital access program helped partner countries to reduce their digital gap by 26% in 2024. It shows what can be achieved through international cooperation and partnership. We must also be inclusive. Promoting digital skills is a key part of the UK’s approach to achieving this goal of inclusive digital development. Digital skills are not just for the tech savvy. They are enabling all of us to use new technology with confidence and safety. Digital skills are also critical for a thriving economy. Digital and computing roles are projected to grow by more than double those in the wider workforce by 2030. The UK also partners with developing countries through initiatives such as Skills for Inclusive Digital Participation within the British Council. That project helps build the whole spectrum of digital skills to increase digital literacy and to raise cybersecurity awareness. We fully support the WSIS agenda and its priority to connect the remaining third of the world’s population. The UK’s new digital development strategy was launched last year. It outlines a vision to bridge the global digital divide in partnership with developing countries and to promote a more inclusive, responsible and sustainable digital transformation. It recognizes international cooperation and multi-stakeholder approaches are vital to achieving inclusive and responsible digital transformation. The UK has partnered with the ITU since 2020, and we’re very proud of that work and partnership. Inclusive digital development is fundamental to unleashing technology’s potential as an enabler across all of the sustainable goals, and those are our priorities.

Cheryl Miller: Thank you. Thank you so much. Let’s give a warm round of applause. Thank you. We turn next to Estonia, and I understand that Estonia has been consistently scoring high in results, and so I’d like to pose this question to Her Excellency Liisa Ly Pakosta. How do we approach teaching and skills development in a rapidly changing environment, and what can other countries learn from what Estonia has put into place?

Liisa Ly Pakosta: Thank you. So, Estonia is a fully digital country, and I can share very quickly some of our experiences. First, we regained our independence after Russian occupation in 1991. During the Russian occupation, learning at school was a way to show resistance, so when we regained our independence, we were very poor, but we had a lot of talent out there who had really learned at schools, also IT. So this was the baseline to build up a fully digital society where we now have 100% of government services digital. Going forward from that, we had Tiger Leap, so we delivered internet to all the schools, including the primary schools, and started… with Teaching IT Skills from the Very Beginning. And what we are doing now, now during the AI era, we all know that all that you learned like two years ago is not very relevant maybe today, and we do not know exactly what are the skills you need after two years. But in education systems, you build education systems for 10 or 15 years. So in order to fulfill the requirements of innovation, economy, democracy, justice for everybody, equity, and all the values that we really have, we start from the 1st of September this year, as the first country in the world, AI program for the schools. So all the 10th graders and 11th graders and all the teachers in Estonia will get free access, free access for everybody to use actually the AI tools throughout the school learning. So we would like to be our children to be the best users and the best developers of artificial intelligence in the world. And this is absolutely needed if we want to go on with innovation, with digitalization, using AI, developing AI for the good of our citizens. So this very shortly has been the Estonian path, and now I have to underline that this has all supported learning all other subjects as well. We have constantly been in top rows of the PISA tests that measure the general understanding and skills of students throughout the world. So democratic values, equity, but offering the free access to absolutely everybody to learn and use all the technological possibilities out there has been the ground for Estonian success for digitalization. And we are fully open to share our experiences and to share our cornerstones, lessons learned, but also mistakes made to everybody who is interested in. So because only with a cooperation we can build a better world. Thank you so much.

Cheryl Miller: Thank you so much. It is truly inspiring to hear the amount of effort that you all are putting into this preparation. I know that it really takes an enabling environment to roll out these types of initiatives and skill building. I’d like to turn next to the Honorable Jerry William Silaa, Minister of Ministry of Communication and Information Technology for the United Republic of Tanzania. And I understand that Tanzania has been doing a lot of work to get ready, and so my question to you is, in terms of an enabling environment, what is the enabling environment that you’ve created?

Jerry William Silaa: Good morning. Thank you, the moderator. It’s quite a privilege to be part of this high-level panel. In Tanzania, we are really proud of how we provide a good environment for digitalization. And there are like, I’ll mention, like five pillars out of many. We start with the political wheel. We have a big and huge commitment from Her Excellency Dr. Samia Sulohasan, the President of the United Republic of Tanzania herself, through the 10 years digital economy strategy she launched on the 29th of July 2024. Also, on the infrastructure, we have a massive and high investment in infrastructure. We are having 93, 91, and 25 mobile broadband connectivity in 3G, 4G, and 5G, respectively. We are having about currently 13,820 national ICT backbone, connecting 109 districts out of 139 districts, and we are doing a massive investment in last-mile connectivity. And also on legal framework, we’ve just enacted a Personal Data Protection Act, and we have formed a Personal Data Protection Commission. We have strong legal institutions to manage the digitalization in the country. The regulator, and a very huge inclusivity in terms of partnership, in terms of government, private, civil society, the international organization, the ITU, and the global platform players. Also, in terms of youth, we have a very high level inclusion of youth. We are now building eight innovation hubs, which will incubate the ideas and innovation of youth in the startups ecosystem to make sure that they are not being left behind. But also, we are having a huge commitment of the government in terms of putting up a level playing field for all players so that when we go for digitalization, we don’t leave behind anyone in the society. And the best and the major huge pillar is the skills. We have incorporated digital skills in our curriculum from the elementary level and primary school to the university. But also, as my colleague from Houston has said, digitalization knowledge is changing. The government is currently now designing a digital technology institute, which will be an institute to act as a leverage for out-of-school and in-school experts to brush their knowledge in terms of emerging technologies, artificial intelligence, big data analytics, and all the emerging technologies which now are growing in a steady pace so that we can be compatible to the whole digitalization process, as Tanzania should be also a player. Thank you.

Cheryl Miller: Thank you so much. And I think a key aspect to this all is access, making sure that we have access to ICT skills. And so, I’d like to turn next to the Honorable Omar Abdullah Karaguzoglu. He is the Chairman of the Board and President of the Authority for the Information and Communications Technology Authority in Turkey. And my question to you, I understand that Turkey has been very much focused on the access portion. And so, what is the significance of ensuring widespread access to ICT skills and digital literacy in Turkey? And what steps are being undertaken to address the issue?

Omer Abdullah Karagozoglu: Thank you, Madam Chair. Excellencies, esteemed colleagues, and valuable participants, good morning to all and to our great panel. I wish everyone a fruitful and successful session. Ensuring nationwide access to ICT skills and digital literacy is a strategic priority for both individual empowerment and inclusive national development. It is also vital for fostering meaningful and sustainable international cooperation. First and foremost, basic digital competencies help promote equal opportunities in the labor market. Educational resources and training opportunities must be accessible to all, not just those who are already digitally skilled or well-connected. Such inclusivity helps narrow regional development gaps and alleviates youth migration pressure from underdeveloped areas. Moreover, equipping businesses and entrepreneurs with digital skills significantly enhances productivity and facilitates access to global markets, enabling stronger integration into international value chains. Inclusive ICT education also plays a key role in enabling the full participation of all segments of society, including persons with disabilities and the elderly. In today’s world, digital literacy is no longer optional. It is a foundational skill and a core element of any modern education and development strategy. In line with this vision, the BTK Academy was launched by the Information and Communication Technology Authority of Turkey at the end of 2017. It serves as a comprehensive online training portal designed to provide individuals with the knowledge and skills they need to thrive in the digital era. Beyond online access, the Academy also delivers in-person and camp-based trainings, particularly targeting rural and underserved regions. It offers programs for all levels, from beginners to professionals, with content developed by experts in areas such as software development, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and cloud computing. As of today, the BTK Academy hosts 317 training programs, in total 165,000 minutes of content across 12 thematic categories, and serves a growing community of over 2.65 million users. We believe that investing in digital literacy and ICT skills is investing in a more inclusive, innovative, and future-ready society. We are proud of the progress achieved so far and remain fully committed to expanding and diversifying our efforts. Our goal is to ensure that no one is left behind in the digital transformation journey, and we believe we are on the right track. Thank you.

Cheryl Miller: Thank you so much. One of the great things about this was this high level has been the focus on youth. There have been many different sessions and conversations around young people and their interaction in tomorrow’s digital economy. And so, I’d like to turn next to our final panelist, Ms. Jennifer Corriero. She’s the Executive Director of Taken Inc. Global, and I understand that there are different phases of our journey with these technologies, and you focus on K-12. And so, we’d love to hear your perspective. What approaches are needed in K-12 education to support students in developing their skills for a digital tomorrow?

Jennifer Corriero: Thank you. I am so happy to be here. And in a nutshell, I think we need to focus on experiential hands-on learning opportunities to inspire kids. How many of you are a parent, an auntie, an uncle, or a mentor to a young person in your life? Please raise your hand. Tell me if you have a child in your life. I hope to see more hands up. All right. So, together, I hope that we can increase investments in public education so that we can utilize technology in ways that allow for enrichment opportunities for all children, for every child to feel that they are surrounded by role models, by people who they can relate to through offering virtual field trips. This is where Connected North was recognized from Canada. We were the Canadian project highlighted in the WSIS Champion recognition earlier this week. Virtual field trips with galleries, museums, science centers, aquariums, the space station, inspiring children to see what the possibilities are for their futures. And also, how can we focus on community building and well-being and not let technology get in the way of our humanity and the importance of connecting with one another as people and to feel a sense of agency? I believe that we should invest in funds for youth-led, community-based projects. 25 years ago, I started this charity, Taking It Global, with my co-founder, who’s here in the room, Michael Furtick. We started as teenagers in the early days of the Internet. We were high school students wishing for a more interactive learning experience while we were at school. And so, we created one of the world’s first online communities, one of the world’s first multilingual websites on the Internet. We were the founders of the Youth Caucus for the World Summit on the Information Society back in 2002, 2003, with the prep comms, of course. We were there in Geneva. We had a youth pavilion. We were there in Tunis. And here I am, 20 years later, still advocating, not as a young person, but as a mother, as an auntie, as a mentor, as someone who is so grateful to the people who gave me a chance, who gave me the mic and asked for my inputs when I was young. So, that’s why I invited you to think about the young people in your life, but also think about when you were a child. Who were the people who gave you a chance? Who are the people that encouraged you to be the leader that you are today? And what can we do collectively as a global community to take that responsibility, not only for our own kin, but for those children who we may have never met before, because they can’t be here on this stage. So, it’s our duty. It’s our collective duty to care, not only for the babies of today, but for those that are unborn, and to make sure that the ways that we’re creating technologies and using technologies are truly enriching generations to come to help them thrive. Thank you.

Cheryl Miller: Thank you so, so very much. And that concludes our panel, but I would love to give you all just the warmest round of applause. I thought this was an awesome panel, and thank you all in the audience for joining us. Louder, we can’t hear you. Gotta get ready for lunch. Thank you, Cheryl. Could we please invite you for a group photograph before you leave the stage? Recording stopped.

Agreement points

Digital skills education must be integrated throughout educational systems from early levels

Speakers

– Liisa Ly Pakosta
– Jerry William Silaa
– Jennifer Corriero
– Cheryl Miller

Arguments

Estonia delivered internet to all schools including primary schools through the Tiger Leap program

Tanzania incorporated digital skills in curriculum from elementary to university level and is designing a digital technology institute

K-12 education needs experiential hands-on learning opportunities and virtual field trips to inspire children

Building digital skills is an urgent global priority to equip people for meaningful participation in an inclusive information society

Summary

All speakers agree that digital skills education should start early and be systematically integrated throughout educational systems, from primary school through higher education levels.

Topics

Development | Sociocultural

International cooperation and partnership are essential for successful digital development

Speakers

– Maggie Jones
– Liisa Ly Pakosta
– Jerry William Silaa
– Jennifer Corriero

Arguments

UK’s digital access program helped 15 million people in 5,000 underserved communities across multiple countries

Estonia is fully open to sharing experiences, lessons learned, and mistakes with other countries interested in digitalization

Tanzania maintains inclusivity through partnerships between government, private sector, civil society, and international organizations

Global community has collective duty to care for children and ensure technology enriches future generations

Summary

Speakers unanimously emphasize that digital development cannot be achieved in isolation and requires collaborative efforts between countries, sectors, and stakeholders.

Topics

Development | Sociocultural

Digital inclusion must ensure no one is left behind in the digital transformation

Speakers

– Maggie Jones
– Omer Abdullah Karagozoglu
– Jerry William Silaa
– Jennifer Corriero

Arguments

Digital skills must be accessible to all people, not just the tech-savvy, to enable confident and safe technology use

Basic digital competencies promote equal opportunities in labor markets and help narrow regional development gaps

Tanzania maintains inclusivity through partnerships between government, private sector, civil society, and international organizations

Investment in public education should utilize technology for enrichment opportunities for every child

Summary

All speakers advocate for inclusive digital development that provides equal access and opportunities to all segments of society, regardless of their background or current skill level.

Topics

Development | Human rights

Digital skills are critical for economic development and workforce preparation

Speakers

– Maggie Jones
– Omer Abdullah Karagozoglu
– Jerry William Silaa
– Cheryl Miller

Arguments

Digital and computing roles are projected to grow more than double the rate of the wider workforce by 2030

Equipping businesses with digital skills enhances productivity and facilitates access to global markets

Tanzania is building eight innovation hubs to incubate youth ideas and startups ecosystem

Youth engagement and their interaction with tomorrow’s digital economy requires focused attention in education

Summary

Speakers agree that digital skills are not just educational goals but essential economic drivers that prepare workforce for future job markets and enhance business competitiveness.

Topics

Economic | Development

Similar viewpoints

Both countries have developed comprehensive, government-led digital education platforms that provide extensive training programs and embrace cutting-edge technologies like AI to prepare their populations for digital futures.

Speakers

– Liisa Ly Pakosta
– Omer Abdullah Karagozoglu

Arguments

Estonia became the first country to implement AI programs for all 10th and 11th graders and teachers starting September 2024

Turkey’s BTK Academy offers 317 training programs across 12 thematic categories for all skill levels

Topics

Sociocultural | Development

Both countries demonstrate high-level political commitment through comprehensive national digital strategies that emphasize long-term planning and international cooperation.

Speakers

– Jerry William Silaa
– Maggie Jones

Arguments

Tanzania has strong political commitment through President’s 10-year digital economy strategy launched in July 2024

UK launched new digital development strategy to bridge global digital divide through international partnerships

Topics

Legal and regulatory | Development

Both speakers emphasize that technology should serve human values and democratic principles, maintaining focus on community, equity, and human connections rather than technology for its own sake.

Speakers

– Jennifer Corriero
– Liisa Ly Pakosta

Arguments

Focus should be on community building and ensuring technology doesn’t interfere with human connections

Estonia’s approach emphasizes democratic values, equity, and free access to technological possibilities for everyone

Topics

Sociocultural | Human rights

Unexpected consensus

Rapid adaptation to emerging technologies like AI in formal education systems

Speakers

– Liisa Ly Pakosta
– Jerry William Silaa

Arguments

Estonia became the first country to implement AI programs for all 10th and 11th graders and teachers starting September 2024

Tanzania incorporated digital skills in curriculum from elementary to university level and is designing a digital technology institute

Explanation

It’s unexpected that both a highly developed digital nation like Estonia and a developing country like Tanzania are equally committed to rapidly integrating cutting-edge technologies like AI into their formal education systems, showing that technological advancement in education is not limited by economic development level.

Topics

Sociocultural | Development

Emphasis on youth-led innovation and entrepreneurship across different development contexts

Speakers

– Jerry William Silaa
– Jennifer Corriero

Arguments

Tanzania is building eight innovation hubs to incubate youth ideas and startups ecosystem

Global community has collective duty to care for children and ensure technology enriches future generations

Explanation

The consensus between a government minister from a developing country and a youth advocacy leader on prioritizing youth-led innovation shows unexpected alignment between institutional and grassroots perspectives on empowering young people in digital transformation.

Topics

Economic | Development

Overall assessment

Summary

The speakers demonstrated remarkable consensus across key areas: the need for early and systematic digital skills education, the importance of international cooperation, the imperative for inclusive digital development, and the economic significance of digital skills. All speakers emphasized that digital transformation must be people-centered and leave no one behind.

Consensus level

Very high level of consensus with no significant disagreements identified. This strong alignment suggests a mature global understanding of digital development challenges and solutions, indicating that the international community has converged on fundamental principles for digital skills development. The implications are positive for coordinated global action, as shared understanding facilitates collaborative implementation of digital inclusion initiatives.

Different viewpoints

Unexpected differences

Overall assessment

Summary

The discussion revealed remarkably high consensus among speakers with no direct disagreements identified. All speakers shared common goals around inclusive digital development, education integration, and economic benefits of digital skills.

Disagreement level

Very low disagreement level with high consensus on fundamental principles. The main differences were in implementation approaches and emphasis rather than conflicting viewpoints. This high level of agreement suggests strong international alignment on digital development priorities, though it may also indicate limited diversity of perspectives or insufficient challenging of assumptions in the discussion format.

Partial agreements

Similar viewpoints

Both countries have developed comprehensive, government-led digital education platforms that provide extensive training programs and embrace cutting-edge technologies like AI to prepare their populations for digital futures.

Speakers

– Liisa Ly Pakosta
– Omer Abdullah Karagozoglu

Arguments

Estonia became the first country to implement AI programs for all 10th and 11th graders and teachers starting September 2024

Turkey’s BTK Academy offers 317 training programs across 12 thematic categories for all skill levels

Topics

Sociocultural | Development

Both countries demonstrate high-level political commitment through comprehensive national digital strategies that emphasize long-term planning and international cooperation.

Speakers

– Jerry William Silaa
– Maggie Jones

Arguments

Tanzania has strong political commitment through President’s 10-year digital economy strategy launched in July 2024

UK launched new digital development strategy to bridge global digital divide through international partnerships

Topics

Legal and regulatory | Development

Both speakers emphasize that technology should serve human values and democratic principles, maintaining focus on community, equity, and human connections rather than technology for its own sake.

Speakers

– Jennifer Corriero
– Liisa Ly Pakosta

Arguments

Focus should be on community building and ensuring technology doesn’t interfere with human connections

Estonia’s approach emphasizes democratic values, equity, and free access to technological possibilities for everyone

Topics

Sociocultural | Human rights

Key takeaways

Digital skills development requires a multi-faceted approach combining infrastructure investment, educational integration, and inclusive access policies

International cooperation and partnership models are essential for bridging the global digital divide, as demonstrated by successful programs reaching millions of people

Educational systems must adapt rapidly to technological changes, with Estonia leading by implementing AI programs for students and teachers

Government leadership and political commitment are crucial enablers, supported by comprehensive legal frameworks and strategic policies

Digital literacy is now a foundational skill equivalent to traditional literacy, requiring integration from elementary education through professional development

Inclusive development must ensure no one is left behind, including rural communities, persons with disabilities, elderly populations, and underserved regions

Youth engagement and experiential learning approaches are critical for preparing students for future digital economies

Economic benefits include projected doubling of digital job growth by 2030 and enhanced productivity through global market access

Resolutions and action items

Estonia committed to sharing experiences, lessons learned, and mistakes with other interested countries

Tanzania announced plans to complete connectivity to remaining 30 districts through national ICT backbone expansion

Turkey committed to expanding and diversifying BTK Academy efforts to ensure no one is left behind in digital transformation

UK reaffirmed support for WSIS agenda to connect the remaining third of the world’s population without internet access

Tanzania is building eight innovation hubs to incubate youth ideas and startup ecosystems

Tanzania is designing a digital technology institute for both in-school and out-of-school experts to update skills in emerging technologies

Unresolved issues

How to effectively address the challenge that skills learned two years ago may not be relevant today while education systems are built for 10-15 year timeframes

Specific mechanisms for ensuring affordability of connectivity beyond just availability

Detailed strategies for addressing youth migration pressure from underdeveloped areas through digital skills

Concrete measures for preventing technology from interfering with human connections and community building

Funding mechanisms for scaling successful programs globally, particularly for youth-led community-based projects

Standardization approaches for digital skills curricula across different educational systems and countries

Suggested compromises

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We won’t bring them online by just making an Internet connection available to people. Connectivity must also be affordable. And for people to engage with the digital world meaningfully and safely, we must ensure they have the necessary digital literacy and digital skills.

Speaker

Maggie Jones (UK)

Reason

This comment reframes the digital divide discussion by highlighting that access alone is insufficient. It introduces the critical distinction between mere connectivity and meaningful digital participation, emphasizing affordability and safety as essential components.

Impact

This established the foundational framework for the entire discussion, moving beyond simple infrastructure provision to holistic digital inclusion. It set the tone for subsequent speakers to address comprehensive approaches rather than just technical solutions.

We all know that all that you learned like two years ago is not very relevant maybe today, and we do not know exactly what are the skills you need after two years. But in education systems, you build education systems for 10 or 15 years.

Speaker

Liisa Ly Pakosta (Estonia)

Reason

This comment captures the fundamental paradox of digital education – the tension between rapidly evolving technology and the inherently slow-moving nature of educational systems. It articulates a core challenge that all countries face in digital skills development.

Impact

This observation shifted the discussion from what to teach to how to create adaptive learning systems. It influenced subsequent speakers to focus on flexible, future-ready approaches rather than specific technical skills, and justified Estonia’s bold move to integrate AI into their curriculum.

So all the 10th graders and 11th graders and all the teachers in Estonia will get free access, free access for everybody to use actually the AI tools throughout the school learning. So we would like to be our children to be the best users and the best developers of artificial intelligence in the world.

Speaker

Liisa Ly Pakosta (Estonia)

Reason

This represents a paradigm shift in educational policy – being the first country to systematically integrate AI tools into education. It’s provocative because it challenges traditional educational approaches and demonstrates unprecedented commitment to emerging technology adoption.

Impact

This concrete example of radical innovation elevated the discussion from theoretical frameworks to bold practical implementation. It likely influenced other panelists to think more ambitiously about their own digital education initiatives and set a new benchmark for educational technology integration.

How many of you are a parent, an auntie, an uncle, or a mentor to a young person in your life? Please raise your hand… Who were the people who gave you a chance? Who are the people that encouraged you to be the leader that you are today?

Speaker

Jennifer Corriero

Reason

This interactive moment transformed the discussion from policy-focused to deeply personal, connecting individual responsibility to systemic change. It challenged the audience to see digital skills development as a personal mission rather than just institutional responsibility.

Impact

This dramatically shifted the tone and engagement level of the discussion, making it more emotionally resonant and actionable. It moved the conversation from what governments should do to what individuals can do, creating a bridge between policy and personal responsibility that concluded the panel on a more humanistic and inspiring note.

So, it’s our duty. It’s our collective duty to care, not only for the babies of today, but for those that are unborn, and to make sure that the ways that we’re creating technologies and using technologies are truly enriching generations to come to help them thrive.

Speaker

Jennifer Corriero

Reason

This comment elevates the discussion to an intergenerational and ethical level, framing digital skills development as a moral imperative that extends beyond current policy cycles to future generations. It introduces the concept of technological stewardship.

Impact

This provided a powerful philosophical conclusion that recontextualized all the previous technical and policy discussions within a broader ethical framework. It challenged participants to think beyond immediate outcomes to long-term societal impact and responsibility.

Overall assessment

These key comments collectively transformed what could have been a routine policy discussion into a multi-layered exploration of digital inclusion challenges. Jones’s opening reframing established comprehensive thinking about digital access, while Pakosta’s observations about the pace of change and Estonia’s AI initiative introduced urgency and innovation. Corriero’s personal appeals and ethical framing provided emotional depth and moral context. Together, these comments created a progression from technical infrastructure concerns to adaptive educational systems to personal and intergenerational responsibility, making the discussion more nuanced, actionable, and inspiring than a typical policy panel.

How can countries effectively adapt their education systems for rapidly changing technology when building education systems typically takes 10-15 years?

Speaker

Liisa Ly Pakosta

Explanation

This addresses the fundamental challenge of keeping pace with technological advancement in educational planning, as highlighted when discussing how skills learned two years ago may not be relevant today

What are the best practices and lessons learned from Estonia’s AI program implementation that other countries can adopt?

Speaker

Liisa Ly Pakosta

Explanation

Estonia offered to share their experiences, mistakes, and lessons learned from being the first country to implement AI programs in schools, indicating this as an area for knowledge transfer

How can countries ensure no one is left behind in digital transformation while maintaining a level playing field for all players?

Speaker

Jerry William Silaa

Explanation

This relates to the inclusive approach Tanzania is taking and represents a broader challenge for developing nations implementing digital strategies

What specific strategies are most effective for reaching rural and underserved regions with digital literacy programs?

Speaker

Omer Abdullah Karagozoglu

Explanation

Turkey’s BTK Academy targets these areas specifically, and understanding effective approaches for underserved populations is crucial for inclusive digital development

How can we increase investments in public education to better utilize technology for enrichment opportunities for all children?

Speaker

Jennifer Corriero

Explanation

This addresses the funding gap in educational technology and the need for equitable access to digital learning opportunities

What are the most effective methods for connecting the remaining one-third of the world’s population that still lacks internet access?

Speaker

Maggie Jones

Explanation

This represents a significant global challenge mentioned as part of the WSIS agenda and UK’s digital development strategy

How can technology be used to enhance human connection and community building rather than replacing it?

Speaker

Jennifer Corriero

Explanation

This addresses the balance between technological advancement and maintaining human relationships and agency in digital transformation

Summary

This discussion focused on preparing the workforce for the digital future, particularly addressing the challenges and opportunities presented by artificial intelligence and rapidly evolving skill requirements. The panelists, including representatives from Microsoft, ITU, ILO, and UNESCO, explored strategies for developing future-ready skills in an era of technological transformation.

A key finding highlighted by Microsoft’s Anupama Shekhar was that LinkedIn data projects a 70% change in skills needed for most jobs by 2030, emphasizing the urgent need for adaptive learning approaches. The discussion emphasized three critical strategies: supporting innovative peer-to-peer learning models, developing locally generated but globally relevant programs, and building capacity within educational and training systems rather than just targeting individual learners directly.

The panelists stressed the importance of comprehensive policy frameworks, with ILO’s Dorothea Schmidt-Klau advocating for inclusive national employment policies that integrate digitalization strategies with employment frameworks. She highlighted the need to update international labor standards to address digital transformation while ensuring decent work conditions. ITU’s Susan Teltscher discussed scaling challenges, particularly in reaching underserved rural communities that lack internet access and require resource-intensive, localized approaches.

The conversation addressed AI’s dual role as both a tool for learning and a subject requiring literacy, with emphasis on developing critical thinking and human skills alongside technical competencies. Participants raised concerns about assessment challenges in higher education, the need for continuous course updates due to rapid technological change, and gender disparities in AI skill development. The discussion concluded with calls for strengthened partnerships between public and private sectors, emphasizing that collaboration is essential for creating sustainable, scalable solutions to workforce development challenges in the digital age.

Keypoints

## Major Discussion Points:

– **Rapid Skills Transformation and Future-Readiness**: The discussion emphasized that by 2030, approximately 70% of skills needed for most jobs will change, requiring new approaches to defining and achieving “future-readiness” in the workforce. This includes supporting innovative learning models and locally-generated but globally-relevant programs.

– **AI’s Impact on Learning and Education**: Participants explored both opportunities and challenges of AI in education, including concerns about assessment authenticity, the need for AI literacy frameworks, and the importance of maintaining human skills like critical thinking and communication alongside technical capabilities.

– **Policy Integration and Scaling**: The conversation highlighted the critical need for comprehensive national employment policies that integrate digitalization strategies, active labor market policies, and updated international labor standards to make skills development initiatives sustainable and scalable.

– **Bridging the Digital Divide and Reaching Underserved Communities**: Significant attention was given to the challenge of reaching rural and underserved populations who lack internet access and digital infrastructure, requiring resource-intensive community-based approaches and strong partnerships.

– **Partnership and Ecosystem Building**: Throughout the discussion, speakers emphasized that effective skills development requires building capacity not just in individual learners, but in the entire ecosystem of educational institutions, government agencies, and private sector partners working together.

## Overall Purpose:

The discussion aimed to explore strategies for developing digital and AI skills at scale, with particular focus on how international organizations, governments, and private sector partners can collaborate to prepare workforces for rapid technological change while ensuring inclusive access to training opportunities.

## Overall Tone:

The tone was collaborative and solution-oriented throughout, with participants building on each other’s insights rather than debating. There was a sense of urgency about the pace of technological change, but also optimism about the potential for partnerships and innovative approaches to address the challenges. The discussion maintained a practical focus on actionable strategies while acknowledging the complexity of the issues at hand.

Speakers

**Speakers from the provided list:**

– **Tom Wambeke**: Moderator of the session

– **Dorothea Schmidt-Klau**: Works for the ILO (International Labour Organization), focuses on employment policies and international labor standards

– **Anupama Shekhar**: Works with Microsoft, focuses on digital skills development and AI literacy programs

– **Susan Teltscher**: Works with ITU (International Telecommunication Union), involved in digital skills training and the ITU Academy

– **Maria Cristina Cardenas Peralta**: Government Affairs in Coursera for Latin America and the Caribbean

– **Nidhi Gopal**: International candidate with specialization in VLSI design and engineering (participated online)

– **Sarah-Jane Fox**: Dr. Sarah-Jane Fox from the Institute for Digital Culture

– **Participant**: Valeska Guerrero – Expert on sustainable infrastructure, also mentioned another unnamed participant who discussed unemployed graduates and AI academies

– **Gianluca Musraca**: Dr. Gianluca Musraca, described as a futurist working on AI governance and digital transformation projects, involved with UNESCO competence frameworks

**Additional speakers:**

None identified beyond those in the provided speakers names list.

# Preparing the Workforce for the Digital Future: A Comprehensive Discussion on AI and Skills Development

## Executive Summary

This comprehensive discussion, moderated by Tom Wambeke, brought together representatives from major international organisations and private sector leaders to address the critical challenge of preparing the global workforce for an AI-driven future. The main panel included Susan Teltscher from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Anupama Shekhar from Microsoft, Dorothea Schmidt-Klau from the International Labour Organization (ILO), and Gianluca Musraca working on AI governance and digital transformation. The session also featured active participation from audience members including Maria Cristina Cardenas from Coursera, Dr. Sarah-Jane Fox from the Institute for Digital Culture, and Nidhi Gopal participating online.

The discussion centred on the urgent need to address rapidly evolving skill requirements in an era of technological transformation, with particular emphasis on artificial intelligence’s impact on education, employment, and workforce development. A key finding highlighted by Microsoft’s research revealed that 70% of skills needed for most jobs will change by 2030, establishing the urgency that permeated the entire conversation.

## The Scale of Transformation: Understanding the 70% Skills Change

Anupama Shekhar from Microsoft opened the substantive discussion with a striking statistic that fundamentally reframed the conversation from theoretical future planning to immediate crisis management. LinkedIn data projects that by 2030, approximately 70% of skills needed for most jobs will change, requiring a complete reconceptualisation of what it means to be “future ready” in the workforce.

Shekhar emphasised that this transformation necessitates three critical strategies for effective response. First, organisations must support innovative models such as peer-to-peer learning platforms like Goodwall that enable young entrepreneurs to learn from each other in dynamic, collaborative environments. Second, there is a crucial need for locally generated but globally relevant programs that go beyond simple language translation to achieve true cultural localisation. Third, the focus must shift from building capacity in individual learners to strengthening the entire ecosystem of educational institutions and systems that deliver training.

Microsoft has responded to these challenges by partnering with one of the largest teachers’ unions in the U.S. to create AI academies for teachers, recognising that transforming learning environments requires working with educators rather than bypassing them. Shekhar also discussed the TeachAI framework, which provides competency definitions and policy considerations for educational implementation, moving beyond simple technical training to encompass broader capabilities including ethical AI use and critical evaluation of AI outputs.

## Scaling Through National Policy Frameworks

Dorothea Schmidt-Klau from the ILO provided crucial insights into the policy dimensions of skills development, arguing that inclusive national employment policies are essential to scale up and make digital skills initiatives sustainable. She made a particularly thought-provoking observation about the need for systemic transformation: “It’s not only the people who need to be future ready. It’s also our own international labour standards that need to be future ready… Every single labour standard needs to be checked, whether it is still relevant.”

This comment expanded the scope of ‘future readiness’ beyond individual skills to institutional and regulatory frameworks, recognising that the challenge extends far beyond training people differently to fundamentally restructuring the systems that govern work. Schmidt-Klau emphasised that international labour standards require updating to include digitalisation, digital skills, and lifelong learning components.

The ILO representative highlighted successful partnerships such as the Decent Jobs for Youth initiative partnering with Microsoft, demonstrating how public-private collaboration can effectively scale digital skills training. However, she also raised concerns about reaching the most vulnerable populations, particularly NEETs (not in education, employment, or training) who are completely disconnected from systems and whom “we don’t even know where they sit.”

## Regional Acceleration and Cross-Border Challenges

Susan Teltscher from the ITU addressed the practical challenges of scaling digital skills initiatives across regions and borders. She noted that the ITU Academy runs more than 150 courses annually for all countries, demonstrating the scale of international coordination required. However, she highlighted a critical implementation challenge: “Those that are in the underserved communities, they don’t have access to Internet at home. They don’t have a computer… So if you want to train them, how do you do that? You have to go out and reach them in their communities… This is very resource intensive.”

This observation grounded the high-level discussion in practical realities, highlighting the digital divide as a fundamental barrier to scaling AI and digital skills training. Teltscher emphasised the need for partnerships to reach underserved communities and stressed that lifelong learning approaches must recognise that not everyone has innate digital capabilities.

The ITU has been working on regional acceleration initiatives and cross-border knowledge sharing, recognising that skills development challenges transcend national boundaries and require coordinated responses. Teltscher also emphasised the importance of balancing AI tool usage with maintaining fundamental knowledge and soft skills.

## AI’s Future Impact and Governance Challenges

Gianluca Musraca, working on AI governance and digital transformation projects, introduced critical concerns about the pace of technological change and its implications for policy-making. He made a particularly striking observation: “Look at what happened with ChatGPT, we were not prepared for that and now this is already past. The agentic AI phenomenon is already changing completely our organisations… we may actually end in a very dystopian future that we should try to avoid.”

Musraca emphasised that policymakers often lack understanding of AI implications and need better engagement and education to make evidence-based decisions. He advocated for multidisciplinary approaches that extend beyond technical skills to include procurement, change management, and public service delivery. He also promoted modular, personalised training approaches with micro-credentials as necessary adaptations to diverse skill development needs in rapidly changing environments.

His work on the AI for Gov project demonstrates practical applications of these principles, focusing on helping government officials understand and implement AI technologies responsibly. Musraca stressed the importance of moving beyond superficial AI training to develop deeper, more comprehensive understanding of technological implications.

## Audience Insights and Practical Challenges

The discussion was enriched by substantial audience participation that highlighted practical implementation challenges. Valeska Guerrero raised important concerns about the balance between AI productivity tools and foundational knowledge, questioning whether increased efficiency might come at the cost of deep understanding.

Dr. Sarah-Jane Fox from the Institute for Digital Culture posed critical questions about assessment challenges in higher education, asking how institutions can effectively evaluate students when AI tools are widely used. She expressed concern about the risk that students might develop AI skills without acquiring fundamental knowledge and expertise.

Maria Cristina Cardenas from Coursera provided valuable data on gender disparities in AI education, revealing that only 32% of women enroll in AI courses globally. She also highlighted the challenge of keeping course content current, noting that platforms must constantly update their offerings due to rapid AI innovation.

One participant suggested creating networks to help unemployed graduates in developing countries create AI-based startups addressing Sustainable Development Goals, highlighting the potential for international collaboration to address both skills development and broader development challenges.

Nidhi Gopal, participating online as an international candidate specialising in VLSI design and engineering, inquired about opportunities with the ILO, demonstrating the global reach and interest in these initiatives.

## Key Areas of Consensus and Collaboration

Despite representing different sectors and perspectives, the panellists demonstrated remarkable consensus on several key principles. There was universal agreement that partnerships are essential for scaling digital skills initiatives, with speakers consistently emphasising that effective scaling cannot be achieved by individual organisations alone.

The panel also reached strong consensus that AI should complement rather than replace human capabilities, with particular emphasis on maintaining critical thinking, communication skills, and fundamental knowledge. This human-centred approach to AI integration emerged as a core value shared across all participants.

All speakers recognised that rapid technological change necessitates adaptive and modular training approaches rather than traditional static educational models. The emphasis on lifelong learning as a response to continuous technological evolution was another area of strong agreement.

## Proposed Solutions and Next Steps

The discussion generated several concrete proposals for moving forward. Participants agreed to continue partnerships between UN organisations and private sector partners for skills training initiatives, building on successful models like the Decent Jobs for Youth initiative.

There was support for developing and implementing AI literacy frameworks with defined competencies for educational policy, as demonstrated by Microsoft’s TeachAI initiative. The creation of modular, personalised training approaches with micro-credentials was proposed to adapt to diverse skill development needs.

The launch of initiatives like the AI Skills Coalition and Digital Transformation Center was discussed as ways to promote training and reach underserved communities. Participants also agreed to follow up with smaller group conversations in subsequent sessions to take actions forward and solve identified challenges.

## Final Reflections from Panellists

In closing remarks, each panellist offered their perspective on moving forward. Anupama Shekhar emphasised the need to “dream big and dream small” – thinking systemically about transformation while maintaining focus on individual learner experiences and outcomes.

Gianluca Musraca stressed the importance of multidisciplinary approaches and evidence-based policy-making, drawing on his experience with the AI for Gov project to emphasise the need for comprehensive understanding rather than superficial training.

Dorothea Schmidt-Klau highlighted the challenge of reaching disconnected populations and adapting to changing generational aspirations, noting that “young people are born with digital skills and have different aspirations that societies and teachers must learn to handle.”

Susan Teltscher reinforced the importance of lifelong learning and partnerships, emphasising that effective skills development requires recognising different starting points and learning needs across diverse populations.

## Conclusion

This comprehensive discussion revealed both the urgency and complexity of preparing the global workforce for an AI-driven future. The 70% skills change projection by 2030 established a clear timeline for action, whilst the various perspectives shared by panellists and audience participants highlighted the multifaceted nature of the challenge.

The strong consensus on key principles—particularly the need for partnerships, human-centred AI integration, and adaptive learning approaches—provides a solid foundation for collaborative action. However, the challenges around assessment, gender inclusion, reaching underserved populations, and policy development indicate that significant work remains.

The discussion demonstrated that effective workforce preparation for the digital future requires simultaneous action across multiple dimensions: individual skills development, institutional capacity building, policy framework updates, and international coordination. The collaborative tone and commitment to follow-up sessions suggest strong potential for translating these insights into concrete action that addresses both the technical and human dimensions of digital transformation.

Susan Teltscher: Dr. Anupama Shekhar, Dr. Dorothea Schmidt-Klau, Ms. Anupama Shekhar, Dr. Dorothea Schmidt-Klau, Dr. Dorothea Schmidt-Klau, Ms. Anupama Shekhar, Dr. Dorothea Schmidt-Klau, Ms. Anupama Shekhar, Dr. Dorothea Schmidt-Klau, Dr. Dorothea Schmidt-Klau, Ms. Anupama Shekhar, Dr. Dorothea Schmidt-Klau, Ms. Anupama Shekhar, Dr. Dorothea Schimdt-Klau, Dr. Dorothea Schmidt-Klau, Dr. Dorothea Schmidt-Klau, Dr. Dorothea Schmidt-Klau, Ms. Anupama Shekhar, Dr. Dorothea Schmidt-Klau, Ms. Anupama Shekhar, Dr. Dorothea Schmidt-Klau, Dr. Dorothea Schmidt-Klau, Ms. Anupama Shekhar, Dr. Dorothea Schmidt-Klau, Dr. Dorothea Schmidt-Klau, Ms. Anupama Shekhar, Dr. Dorothea Schmidt-Klau, Ms. Anupama Shekhar, Dr. Dorothea Schmidt-Klau, Dr. Dorothea Schmidt-Klau, Ms. Anupama Shekhar, Dr. Dorothea Schmidt-Klau, Dr. Dorothea Schmidt-Klau, Dr. Dorothea Schmidt-Klau, Ms. Anupama Shekhar, Dr. Dorothea Schmidt-Klau, Dr. Dorothea Schmidt-Klau,

Tom Wambeke: Dr. Dorothea Schmidt-Klau, Ms. Anupama Shekhar, Dr. Dorothea Schmidt-Klau, Ms. Anupama Shekhar,

Anupama Shekhar: Dr. Anupama Shekhar, Dr. Dorothea Schmidt-Klau, Ms. Anupama Shekhar, Dr. Dorothea Schmidt-Klau, Dr. Dorothea Schmidt-Klau, Dr. Dorothea Schmidt-Klau, Dr. Dorothea Schmidt-Klau, Ms. Anupama Shekhar, Dr. Janelle Monae, Dr. Janelle Monae, interesting, but there’s definitely challenges that come with that as well. Another data point that we’re seeing is with LinkedIn, with our LinkedIn data, when we kind of scan all of the LinkedIn profiles and our LinkedIn economic graph team has put together that talks about these changes in skills that we anticipate. And what we’re seeing is that by 2030, we’re anticipating that for all the jobs, for most jobs, by 2030, we’re going to see a 70% reduction in skills. So 70% change in skills that are needed for most jobs by 2030. So 70% change in skills needed for most jobs by 2030. So that’s a significant shift and a significant, you know, when we say future ready, that definition is constantly changing as well. And so I think what it means in terms of strategies, which was your question, especially as we think about what private sector can do to lean in. One big aspect of that, I think, is supporting innovative models. And I think innovation is key to keep up with that change, to keep up with the readiness changes. One example of something we’ve done to support innovative models is we’ve worked with an organization called Goodwall that is working across multiple countries. In Africa, they’ve set up a peer-to-peer learning platform to help young entrepreneurs be able to connect with each other, to be able to learn, you know, AI skills and get credentialed access as well from that, and be able to share and build a community. Dr. Anupama Shekhar, Dr. Dorothea Schmidt-Klau, Ms. Anupama Shekhar, Dr. Dorothea Schmidt-Klau, locally generated programs, but globally relevant programs. So locally, you know, generated, globally relevant programs. An example of where we’re doing that, we’re actually, you know, we’ve developed a lot of free learning curriculum, free learning content around AI, but also digital skills more broadly, that we’ve made available around the world, and we’ve localized into multiple, you know, cultural contexts, not just languages. And we’re actually developing new signature content as well for teachers, for civil society professionals, for government workers, to the points that were brought up earlier, to help equip government employees as well to gain access to some of those skills, again, building and structuring to local context. And then the third thing that I would say is actually related to the point that I think Dr. Gianluca, you made earlier. All of this can only happen through, not just by going directly to the learners and supporting their capacity, but by building the capacity of the systems that are doing this work. So whether it’s educational institutions. Dr. Anupama Shekhar, Dr. Dorothea Schmidt-Klau, Ms. Anupama Shekhar, Dr. Dorothea Schmidt-Klau, local approaches, globally relevant approaches, and then the third is building the capacity of the systems that are doing the work.

Tom Wambeke: Thanks a lot, Anu, for giving a more nuanced view on what we mean by future-ready, and if I look at all these different efforts, I have a question for Dorothea. How could these efforts also be scaled up in national labor policies, according to you?

Dorothea Schmidt-Klau: Thanks a lot. I think, and I said it before, and other speakers said it in other sessions, to scale things up and to make them sustainable, you need policies. You need policies to back up individual actions and interventions, to make them lasting and to make them repeatable and scalable. And for that, as I already said, inclusive national employment policies are ever so relevant. We see, as you said, many countries now have digitalization strategies. And you were saying, who are the stakeholders, who need to be on the table? Well, all the stakeholders you mentioned are already on the table when we develop employment strategies, employment frameworks. So it’s so easy to connect, because at the end of the day, what you are saying is part and partial of what we need for a successful employment strategy. And we actually do see in many countries that ministries of digitalization, or whatever they are called, are linking with ministries of employment because of the close connection of the two. So I think, if you want to scale up, make sure that all relevant strategies come together. the umbrella of National Employment Strategies or Comprehensive Employment Policy Frameworks. Now you might ask, is this actually happening? And in this regard, and people are always asking for examples, have a look at the youth guarantee schemes that we work with the EU in EU countries, in many Balkan countries. They exactly take this approach. They really make an effort that all perspectives when it comes to digitalization are included in the way forward. And they are also included in what follows after an employment strategy, which is the active labor market policies. Active labor market policies translate your ideas into practice, especially for those people who not automatically find a job because of new developments. So here we are talking about the young people who find it still very difficult, despite the fact that they have digital skills, they find it very difficult in their transition into labor markets to find a decent job immediately. Now we talk about being future ready. It’s not only the people who need to be future ready. It’s also our own international labor standards that need to be future ready. When you work for the ILO, it’s all about creating international labor standards, but it’s also about updating international labor standards. And we put a lot of effort into updating these international labor standards, particularly those related to skills. And there are new elements that were not there when the standards were created, but need to be added. And for example, this is, of course, the whole area of digitalization, digital skills. It’s also a lot about lifelong learning, because it’s not the first time that we find that all of a sudden the older workers need some skills that they were never trained on. And this would not have happened if we trained them all along their life, because then automatically digital skills would have come in at one certain point. It’s also about, you know, as we said already, updating those international labor standards that are linked to public employment services, because it’s a different thing they do now than they used to do in the past. Every single labor standard needs to be checked, whether it is still relevant, because at the end of the day, these international labor standards set the frame for how the transition to the digital economy takes place. And to make sure that there is nobody lost on the way, that this digitalization does not only lead to more jobs, but also to better jobs, because that’s the ultimate goal. And I just want to stress that in this endeavor, there are two elements that are super important. The one was already mentioned, and that’s the knowledge we need to have. And our AI Observatory is such a platform where we actually try to gather the knowledge and gather the data so that we can make sure that everybody profits from the information, not just the rich countries, but more particularly also the not so well-off countries. And the other thing I want to mention is actually partnerships that are so essential, okay? We as the UN, we don’t create a single digital job. We don’t skill a lot of young people, maybe some in some projects. But our goal is to be there, to set the frame, to make sure that the development goes into a direction that we want it to go and that we drive the development and not the development drives what’s happening to people. So I think this is very important. And for example, when it comes to partnerships, it’s very important that we have these public-private partnerships. And for example, our initiative, Decent Jobs for Youth, that one of our major partners is actually Microsoft. That really shows that then how we can translate these updated standards to having an impact. on the Sustainability Perspective and on the scalability discussion.

Tom Wambeke: I have one follow-up question for Susan. If you look at the regional or the cross-border level, what is currently being done to accelerate scale?

Susan Teltscher: A lot in short, but in long. In fact, there are so many players, they are all now focusing on digital and digital skills. You have heard it a lot. You hear it more and more now in the events like here, the WSIS, etc. And from the UN point of view, many, many UN organizations are now involved in providing skilling and training in their respective fields. We have worked closely with ILO, Dorothea, you mentioned the Decent Jobs for Youth initiative. In fact, this was when the ITU-ILO digital skills campaign was launched, which was in 2018. So many years ago already, we were trying to promote digital skilling and Microsoft, thank you very much, one of the main partners here, who has committed to train millions of youth in digital skills. We have now launched in ITU the AI Skills Coalition recently with a focus more on AI. Again, it’s also to promote the outreach of training and skilling in this field. But even, or especially also from the implementing point of view in ITU, the ITU Academy was mentioned earlier. So we have been training policy makers and professionals in this field for decades, and we run more than 150 courses on ITU Academy. for all countries every year. So that’s also a contribution to this in terms of scaling. And I wanted to mention another initiative that we have, our Digital Transformation Center initiative. This is trying to reach the population in the rural communities, in the underserved communities. And when we talk about scaling, this is one of the main challenges that we actually have. It’s much easier to scale if people are already connected. You reach them online and you can train them, et cetera, et cetera. But those that are in the underserved communities, they don’t have access to Internet at home. They don’t have a computer. They may have a phone, but that’s about it. So if you want to train them, how do you do that? You have to go out and reach them in their communities. You have to work with local community leaders. This is very resource intensive. So you may have this in your national government digital skills strategy, but you have to put also the resources to it, to actually go and reach those vulnerable groups who still make up a large proportion of the population who is not connected. So for scaling, that requires resources and partnerships. I fully echo what you said before. Without partnerships, we can’t reach it. Thank you.

Tom Wambeke: Thanks a lot, Susan. I’m actually doing an AI-infused transcription of this dialogue, and I see one of the patterns, of course. We are also in parallel at the AI for Good Summit. AI is one of the recurrent patterns in the semantic analysis of what I see here. If I connect it then with learning, Anu, like that’s maybe again another new challenge. If we connect AI and learning and being a learning specialist myself, there are as many opportunities as there are challenges. You know, what would your perspective be on that topic?

Anupama Shekhar: Yeah. Thank you for that question, because I think it’s an important question. I think we often. Dr. Anupama Shekhar, Dr. Dorothea Schmidt-Klau, Ms. Anupama Shekhar, Dr. Dorothea Schmidt-Klau, Dr. Dorothea Schmidt-Klau, Ms. Anupama Shekhar, Dr. Dorothea Schmidt-Klau, Ms. Anupama Shekhar, Dr. Anupama Shekhar, Dr. Dorothea Schmidt-Klau, Ms. Anupama Shekhar, Dr. Dorothea Schmidt-Klau, which is one of the largest teachers’ unions in the U.S., focused on building an A.I. academy, supporting teachers in building their A.I. skills and knowledge. So I think programs like this can really help create and transform the learning environment and put A.I. in its place. I think one last thing I want to highlight on the policy side of things, we’re working with TeachA.I., which is a large, global nonprofit organization that has actually built an A.I. literacy framework. So if you’re looking to kind of understand, again, with some of your programs, how to support policy work for teachers, this creates, this essentially has a framework of competencies that define A.I. literacy. What are some of the policy considerations that go into defining those policies, those competencies? And then what are some tactical ways in which teachers and learning environments can be supported in bringing A.I.?

Tom Wambeke: Thanks a lot, Anu. And indeed, a lot of these A.I. discourses are sometimes a bit dominated by looking for efficiencies in learning, a lot of focus on productivity, but your reflections take A.I. literacy beyond that. You know, you mentioned human skills communication, but also critical thinking and so on. Gianluca, if I ask the question to you, it’s not only about digital skills development that we’re talking here, but about the future in a way. What does A.I. mean for the future of skills development, according to you?

Gianluca Musraca: Well, I mean, coming here this morning, I was thinking that, you know, 20 years have passed since Tunisia. I was in Tunisia at WSAS. and the world has completely changed for the good and for the bad and really technology is actually dominating our lives. But then, I mean, Dorothea mentioned rightly so that policy is the issue, policymaking, but which kind of policies? The problem, we don’t have really evidence about what are the implications, the impact of these technologies yet on our societies. We see a lot of risk, a lot of opportunities also, but the policymakers are not really often in the position to really take the right decision. So we really need to, as Susan was saying, we really need to engage them, making sure that they learn also what we are talking about, because sometimes we are really talking about this as something magic and we think things will be changed for the good, but actually they are creating more problems than we thought. So evidence is important, but also actually we’re talking about the future. I was also looking at the future is here lemma of the summit, but what kind of futures we want and actually are we really meaning future? I mean, I’m first and foremost a futurist and foresight is also an art that we need to make sure is part of the toolkit of the policymakers and everybody. So you mentioned competence frameworks, I’ve been working with UNESCO in refining and improving their competence framework exactly to integrate the AI part that is completely unknown. We talk about AI literacy, but we’re not really touching yet the top of what we are going to have in the next few months. Look at what happened with RGPT, we were not prepared for that and now this is already past. The agentic AI phenomenon is already changing completely our organizations. So we have to prepare ourselves for that big change in some industry, this will be completely, some industry will be completely transformed. Dr. Gianluca Musraca, Dr. Dorothea Schmidt-Klau, Ms. Anupama Shekhar, Dr. Dorothea Schmidt-Klau, Dr. Dorothea Schmidt-Klau, Ms. Anupama Shekhar, Dr. Dorothea Schmidt-Klau, Ms. Anupama Shekhar, Dr. Dorothea Schmidt-Klau, Ms. Anupama Shekhar, Dr. Dorothea Schmidt-Klau, Ms. Anupama Shekhar, Dr. Dorothea Schmidt-Klau, Ms. Anupama Shekhar, Ms. Anupama Shekhar, Dr. Dorotea Schmidt-Klau, Ms. Anupama Shekhar, Ms. Anupama Shekhar, Dr. Dorothea Schmidt-Klau, Ms. Anupama Shekhar, Ms. Anupama Shekhar, Dr. Dorotea Schmidt-Klau, Ms. Anupama Shekhar, we may actually end in a very dystopian future that we should try to avoid.

Tom Wambeke: Thanks a lot, Gianluca. And given the fact that the future is always uncertain, I think it’s a very valuable suggestion to find synergies between AI literacy and futures literacy, foresight literacy. Now, AI is always based upon, let’s say, co-creation of collective intelligence. We have done it already based upon the four experts. We are with 60 people in the room, so I would like to open up the floor and tap into your collective intelligence. What you have heard so far from our four panelists, are there any specific, let’s say, comments, questions, feedback that you would like to add to the discussion? I have two questions here or comments at the back.

Participant: Thank you so very much. My name is Valeska Guerrero. I’m an expert on sustainable infrastructure, but also very interested in how AI can support intelligence. I’m more like in the data perspective, but at the same time, I have, well, I use, I would say, AI on a daily basis in the sense of improving, you know, how productive I am on a day-to-day basis. For instance, maybe a work plan that you would take, I don’t know, like an entire day of doing it, you can probably do it in less time. But at the same time, I’m actually, I mean, I agree a lot with what Dr. Gianluca, sorry, your last name, okay, but I mean, it’s really, really critical in the sense that we cannot just rely on AI. I mean, at the same time, I think our skills, our know-how, for instance, my background is on international business, but also project management. So I wouldn’t know how a project plan would look like if I wouldn’t have studied that before. Saying so, I think it’s really relevant that we use both the…

Tom Wambeke: Thank you. It just occurs to me that apart from obviously we want to train the young

Participant: people and so forth, if you look around, between 15 to 20% of graduates in most developing countries are unemployed because the governments have not been able to get their act together if you like. These are smart young people, bright people. This is what I’m trying to do with a network of people in about 34 countries at the moment, where we are sharing knowledge across borders. But one of the things we’re trying to do is to work with local AI academies, not necessarily government universities, but even lower level, to train young people and to train them not just about AI and learning how to do content management or something, based on the Sustainable Development Goals. In every one of the Sustainable Development Goals, there’s at least, I reckon, between five to 10 startups which could actually make a huge difference. They could be real businesses for these young people. And at the same time, it helps us to tackle the problem that we all have and we haven’t been able to solve. I’ve spent four decades trying to solve the problem. I retired and then AI came along. And I’ve dived back in again because I see that in five years, I’ll probably be able to do what I could not do in 40 years of trying. So I think there’s a great opportunity.

Tom Wambeke: Thanks a lot.

Sarah-Jane Fox: Hello, Dr. Sarah-Jane Fox from the Institute for Digital Culture. And just to pick up on a few comments, particularly from the lady behind me. Do you see or would you anticipate that there’s a difficulty, particularly when we’re looking at higher education, and our students who are rapidly using AI, sorry, but they are rapidly using AI, and it’s very difficult to assess them. So they may have the skills, knowledge of AI in the workplace, but not necessarily the background knowledge that you alluded to, with regards to knowing the expertise that they require, i.e. for a doctor, for business management, for being a lawyer, all those different skills that we can’t assess where the AI has come in and written the essay for them. So is there perhaps from a higher education perspective or from an AI tool, an indicator that we can put in where that has been used, you know, a way of detecting where AI has been utilised in education. Otherwise, what we’re going to get is actually a workforce that we’re assessing only for their AI skills,

Tom Wambeke: and not for their actual knowledge. Thanks a lot, which brings me to this corner.

Maria Cristina Cardenas Peralta: Hi, Cristina Cárdenas, Government Affairs in Coursera for Latin America and the Caribbean. And we have over 164 million students globally, 29 million belong to Latin America and the Caribbean. And we have 800 courses among 13,000 that we have for generative artificial intelligence. And we rotate the courses very often, like we have around 150 to 250 courses rotated every month from the same providers. And my question is, how are you doing to replace those in the ITU? Because the reason why they rotate the courses is because they have a lot of The reason why we update the courses is because the innovation is so fast that the producers of our content are replacing those contents. We have a lot of students demanding these courses, around 6.3 million students during the last year enrolled to Coursera to take those courses globally. And when the challenge is also the gender, we have only 32% of women taking those courses. So my questions are related to the replacement of courses here. How are you updating the courses that are changing all the time? And how are you doing to enroll more women in those fields? Thank you.

Tom Wambeke: Lots of questions and inputs and I’ve also been asked to close the digital divide as we have some people online here as well. So we have Nidhi Gopal who has also a final comment question before we go back to the panel. Nidhi, go ahead and unlock your microphone. Just unmute it as we don’t hear you right now. Yes, we can hear you right now. Yes.

Nidhi Gopal: Yeah, I just have one question. Does the International Labour Organization offer opportunities to the international candidates with a specialization in VLSI design, engineering and equipment with the latest skill set like AI and all and having six years of professional experience?

Tom Wambeke: Okay, thank you for this question, Nidhi. Targeted and to the point. So these were four or five different inputs and I’m also looking at the time here. We have about still seven minutes. So that allows more or less, let’s say almost two minutes for each panelist in which I would like to ask them if possible, maybe to address one or two of the questions that you have seen. But also we’re trying to extract something from this session. What are some of, let’s say, the key points that we need to take further into the conversations we already linked with some insights from the first session? I also would like to know which. key points we have to take further towards a call to action, what is urgent, what is needed. So these are the two entry points for your last two minutes pitch. And I would like to start with Anu and then

Anupama Shekhar: we just move on. Sure, thank you. So I want to address something that came up in terms of, you know, how do we help students, especially in higher ed institutions, how do we help them gain some of those responsibility skills to be able to use AI and use the tools in a responsible way. And also from an educator standpoint, how do we help them assess the students, you know, in the most accurate and safest way. I know that from, I think one big aspect of that is in building into some of these competency frameworks, building into the curriculum that we offer, the human skills, the responsible AI skills being a big, big proportion of what we teach students today. And then also what we’re hearing, we actually have a group of academic scholars that we work with. And what I was hearing from them is that the way that they’re assessing is also changing, they’re kind of adapting that in this new world. And there’s a lot more hands on assessment, there’s a bigger proportion of the sort of the grade that’s coming from the assessment. So we’re starting to see some trends in that direction as well. But I think there’s much more work to be done in this space. And I think there’s a lot of collective work that we need to do together to figure that out. I just want to I know you had sort of a question on call to action to the group. And I want to end by saying, I think for the best thing we can do is to probably dream big and dream small. And what I mean by that is, you know, what the point I was making earlier in terms of building the capacity of the the ecosystems, the systems that are doing this work, that’s the dream big part. And whether it’s through the skills coalition from the ITU, or some of the innovative programs that the ILO is running, like the Women in Digital Business Program, so dreaming big. But also Dreaming Small, thinking, you know, when we’re designing these programs, thinking about the individual teachers and the students and the learners that are going through the programs and designing the programs with each of their experiences in mind. And another way that I mean Dream Big and Dream Small is, you know, we have these big groups where we come together in panels, but let’s also follow up in Dream Small with smaller group conversations. Let’s take these actions forward and work towards solving some of these challenges and problems that we’re raising today.

Tom Wambeke: Thanks a lot, Anu. Gianluca, are you Dreaming Big, Dreaming Small?

Gianluca Musraca: Well, let me say, of course, I’m trying to link the different questions and comments. I fully agree with the colleagues on the back that, I mean, the issue here is about multidisciplinarity and it’s not just about the technical skills. So, you know, I was last week in a big conference and someone made a big announcement. We are training millions of civil servants on AI. They will all learn how to prompt. OK, so, well, maybe it’s not enough. We need to look at the procurement issues, how we manage the big change of the digital transformation. And this brings also to the comment on the back, also on the need to involve the youngest there, but also the startups. And there is a big movement about also GovTech when it comes to, you know, changing also the way we design and deliver public services and where artificial intelligence and other technologies can actually help a lot. But this is not enough. And I think Susan mentioned really the key word, Accelerate. And this is actually the name of my new project, AI for GovAccelerate or AI for GovX. That is, I mean, it’s a 20 million euro funded project by the EU, part of the half billion that the EU is funding on digital skills and especially on AI, but not only. And, I mean, these and other projects I’m involved in now are also… and Dr. Dorothea Schmidt-Klau. I’m going to start with a brief introduction of the AI. I’m going to start with a brief introduction of the AI. I’m going to start with a brief introduction of the AI. I’m going to start with a brief introduction of the AI. The first thing I’m going to do is to try to look at how we change the approach. I mean, the lady from Coursera is an example of how we should do things in order to have micro-credentials approach and exactly make sure that we can adapt with different modular approaches, the skills developments we have. We cannot just have, you know, a training that we use forever and for everybody. We need to be really, to have personalized training and AI can also help us in that. Then sometimes I say, oh, we are training people on AI. We have a 30-minute course. Okay, well, that’s maybe not enough. And that’s where we need also to make sure that academics are really involved and we have credentials and quality certifications. Otherwise, you risk to make more problems than create, you know, a better equipped workforce. Just to conclude on that, we also have to make sure that linking the interdisciplinary approach with also the new needs of governments and society, we can scale this up. So in our program, we are aiming at, and that’s maybe the dreaming, the small and the big. We had the AI for Gov pilot we have done now. We are entering the fifth edition, self-sustainable, and we don’t need any more funding from the EU. We have trained 200 people, but they’re all actually at the highest level. I don’t know, now working in the AI office of the EU or in a different government. And so they are creating the ecosystem. Now we are aiming at training thousands of people. But then now hopefully we’re partnering with ITU and UNESCO and we can try and train millions of people all over the world using the approach that we have that is also experiential learning. It’s not just a training on theories or on techniques, but actually how we use data. Someone mentioned the importance of data, otherwise AI is useless. We need to know how we use the data, which data to use, and then how we can use this data and artificial intelligence technologies to make a transformation of our governance and our societies.

Tom Wambeke: Thank you Gianluca for this. Insightful prompts for follow-up. Moving to Dorothea, your key takeaways.

Dorothea Schmidt-Klau: Thank you very much. And I tried to answer some of the questions. Unfortunately, the one coming from the online participant, I need to refer to HR, to our human resource department to discuss it further. But I can tell you that, you know, young and already experienced colleagues are driving our AI agenda and are pushing us older people to really make use of it. What I wanted to say is first to the question regarding the unemployment. Well, unfortunately, the unemployment is only the tip of the iceberg. The real, real problem is all these young people, the so-called needs that are not in education, not in employment, not in training. They are lost. We don’t even know where they sit. And it’s really, really dangerous that this highly qualified generation and especially this highly qualified female generation, because it’s much worse for women than for men, is lost somewhere and we are not using their potential. So I absolutely agree. And having young people that have the skills opening their own businesses is certainly one of the important approaches that is actually anchored in literally every employment policy. I also wanted to say something about your point, the teachers, you know, the importance of teachers. Well, we do have to equip them with the skills to teach what young people need to know. But we also have to equip them and societies with the means to handle a completely different new generation. The young people, they come, they are born with digital skills, sorry to say it. You know, they grow up with it. We now often have the situation that they have more knowledge on technology than actually the teachers have. And with this comes a complete new set of aspirations. Young people today have very different aspirations and we need to learn as societies and as teachers to actually handle these new aspirations. Ms. Susan Teltscher, Dr. Dorothea Schmidt-Klau, Ms. Anupama Shekhar Ms. Anupama Shekhar, Dr. Dorothea Schmidt-Klau Dr. Anupama Shekhar, Dr. Dorothea Schmidt-Klau Ms. Anupama Shekhar, Dr. Dorothea Schmidt-Klau Ms. Anupama Shekhar, Dr. Dorothea Schmidt-Klau

Tom Wambeke: Susan, you have the honor to close the loop.

Susan Teltscher: Great. So I think dreaming big is good, but dreaming by itself is not sufficient. So let’s look at what can be done. And maybe first to answer Christina’s question or answering, I mean, we can have a dialogue on this, but we are both in the business of delivering, so that’s good. We are actually doing things to train people. And yeah, it is definitely very important in terms of the updating. You referred to that of what we are training and the courses, et cetera. And this is certainly something that we do on ITU Academy. Most of our courses are not recurrent. We do have, but in fact, a lot of the courses are created when they are put up. So in terms of the adaptation and the updating, it’s a very important part. We are also looking into other ways of moving away from the traditional courses into micro credentials and modules and micro learning. So this is something we are also trying to do on the platform to scale and to reach out and to adapt to the ways of learning. But coming back to our discussion here, and there’s a few things I think are really good to also for us to take away at the end. One is on the lifelong learning that was mentioned by several people. I think you also talked again about everybody who is born today comes with digital skills. Okay, what does that mean? And what does it mean for those who are not born today? And we sometimes forget this other part of the population who needs to also catch up with what’s going on and actually may need a lot more attention than than what we think. So the lifelong learning is very important. The other one is also, there was a lot of talk about soft skills. And this is, I think everybody knows, it’s been raised in many, many forums, etc. But it’s important to not just look at AI skills, but actually, how does the use of AI impact on other skills and knowledge, especially what we have heard? And how do we should also not forget about that? Because by using the technologies, are we then forgetting other skills? Or do we need to retrain on other skills and the communication part? And where does where does the knowledge base go? So these are also important aspects, I think in the future, we’ll get a lot more attention, especially in the education system. So at the end, partnerships, we talked about partnerships, let’s also end with partnerships, because that’s something that has worked very well in the past, we are here also working together. And that’s what we at ITU do, as well. And if I may say that we have a session at two o’clock, where we talk more about the work in ITU on skills development. And if anybody’s interested in partnering, come and talk to us. We are very interested in, in expanding on that and reaching

Tom Wambeke: out. Thank you very much. Thanks a lot, Susan. And indeed, let’s continue the conversation. There’s also at two o’clock, some ILO colleagues will also present their things. So it’s a partnership. So I wanted to make sure that there was a balance in there. But let me also thank you, because as a moderator, it was a pleasure to do this. So far, I’m not yet replaced by my own digital twin, not yet. But I must admit that my digital twin helped me a lot to prepare this session. So Susan, Gianluca, Dorothea, and Anu, thanks a lot. I would say keep up the momentum and a round of applause for the panel and the participants. It’s going to be very interesting, my colleagues are managing it, so it’s going to be great to be able to do that.

Agreement points

Partnerships are essential for scaling digital skills initiatives

Speakers

– Anupama Shekhar
– Dorothea Schmidt-Klau
– Susan Teltscher

Arguments

Importance of building capacity in educational institutions and systems that deliver training, not just direct learner support

Public-private partnerships are essential, with examples like the Decent Jobs for Youth initiative partnering with Microsoft

Reaching underserved rural communities without internet access requires resource-intensive community-based approaches and local partnerships

Summary

All three speakers emphasized that effective scaling of digital skills development cannot be achieved by individual organizations alone and requires collaborative partnerships between public and private sectors, educational institutions, and community organizations.

Topics

Capacity development | Future of work | Digital access

Lifelong learning is crucial for workforce adaptation

Speakers

– Dorothea Schmidt-Klau
– Susan Teltscher

Arguments

Older workers need continuous skill updates throughout their careers to avoid sudden obsolescence

Lifelong learning is crucial for those not born into the digital age who need to catch up with technological developments

Summary

Both speakers agreed that continuous learning throughout one’s career is essential to prevent skill obsolescence and ensure all generations can adapt to technological changes.

Topics

Future of work | Online education | Capacity development

AI should complement rather than replace human capabilities

Speakers

– Anupama Shekhar
– Susan Teltscher
– Tom Wambeke

Arguments

AI should enhance rather than replace human skills, with emphasis on communication, critical thinking, and responsible AI use

Balance needed between using AI tools and maintaining fundamental knowledge and soft skills

AI literacy should extend beyond efficiency and productivity to include human skills like communication and critical thinking

Summary

There was strong consensus that AI integration should strengthen human capabilities rather than substitute them, with particular emphasis on maintaining critical thinking, communication skills, and fundamental knowledge.

Topics

Online education | Human rights principles | Future of work

Rapid technological change requires adaptive and modular training approaches

Speakers

– Anupama Shekhar
– Gianluca Musraca
– Maria Cristina Cardenas Peralta

Arguments

70% of skills needed for most jobs will change by 2030, requiring constant adaptation of “future ready” definitions

Modular, personalized training approaches with micro-credentials are necessary to adapt to diverse skill development needs

Course content requires constant updating due to fast AI innovation, with platforms rotating 150-250 courses monthly

Summary

All speakers recognized that the rapid pace of technological change necessitates flexible, modular, and continuously updated training approaches rather than traditional static educational models.

Topics

Online education | Future of work | Digital standards

Similar viewpoints

Both speakers emphasized the importance of creating frameworks that are locally contextualized but globally applicable, whether in educational programs or international standards.

Speakers

– Anupama Shekhar
– Dorothea Schmidt-Klau

Arguments

Need for locally generated but globally relevant programs with cultural localization beyond just language translation

International labor standards need updating to include digitalization, digital skills, and lifelong learning components

Topics

Online education | Cultural diversity | Digital standards

Both speakers highlighted significant gender disparities in digital skills and employment, with women being underrepresented and facing greater challenges in accessing opportunities.

Speakers

– Dorothea Schmidt-Klau
– Maria Cristina Cardenas Peralta

Arguments

Young qualified women face worse unemployment than men, representing lost potential in the workforce

Only 32% of women enroll in AI courses globally, indicating significant gender gaps in AI education

Topics

Gender rights online | Future of work | Online education

Both speakers stressed that effective AI integration requires comprehensive approaches that go beyond technical training to include broader competencies and proper evaluation methods.

Speakers

– Gianluca Musraca
– Sarah-Jane Fox

Arguments

Need for multidisciplinary approaches beyond technical skills, including procurement, change management, and public service delivery

Assessment methods in higher education must adapt to detect AI usage while ensuring students develop actual expertise, not just AI skills

Topics

Online education | Future of work | Digital standards

Unexpected consensus

Generational skills gap and role reversal in digital knowledge

Speakers

– Dorothea Schmidt-Klau
– Susan Teltscher

Arguments

Young people are born with digital skills and have different aspirations that societies and teachers must learn to handle

Lifelong learning is crucial for those not born into the digital age who need to catch up with technological developments

Explanation

There was unexpected consensus on the role reversal where younger generations often have more technological knowledge than their teachers, requiring educational systems to adapt to handle different learning dynamics and aspirations.

Topics

Online education | Digital identities | Future of work

Evidence-based policy making challenges

Speakers

– Gianluca Musraca
– Dorothea Schmidt-Klau

Arguments

Evidence-based policymaking is crucial as policymakers often lack understanding of AI implications and need engagement and education

Inclusive national employment policies are essential to scale up and make digital skills initiatives sustainable

Explanation

Both speakers unexpectedly converged on the challenge that policymakers often lack sufficient understanding of digital technologies to make effective policies, requiring better education and evidence-based approaches.

Topics

Future of work | Digital standards | Human rights principles

Overall assessment

Summary

The speakers demonstrated strong consensus on key principles including the need for partnerships, lifelong learning, human-centered AI integration, and adaptive training approaches. There was also agreement on challenges such as gender gaps, generational differences, and policy-making difficulties.

Consensus level

High level of consensus with complementary rather than conflicting viewpoints. The speakers represented different sectors (private, international organizations, academia) but shared similar values about inclusive, sustainable, and human-centered approaches to digital skills development. This strong alignment suggests a mature understanding of the challenges and potential collaborative solutions for digital skills development in the AI era.

Different viewpoints

Speed and depth of AI training for policymakers

Speakers

– Gianluca Musraca
– Anupama Shekhar

Arguments

Evidence-based policymaking is crucial as policymakers often lack understanding of AI implications and need engagement and education

AI literacy frameworks provide competency definitions and policy considerations for educational implementation

Summary

Gianluca criticizes superficial AI training (30-minute courses) and emphasizes the need for deep, evidence-based understanding, while Anupama focuses on structured frameworks and competency-based approaches that can be more systematically implemented

Topics

Digital standards | Future of work | Capacity development

Generational digital skills assumptions

Speakers

– Dorothea Schmidt-Klau
– Susan Teltscher

Arguments

Young people are born with digital skills and have different aspirations that societies and teachers must learn to handle

Lifelong learning is crucial for those not born into the digital age who need to catch up with technological developments

Summary

Dorothea assumes young people are naturally born with digital skills, while Susan questions this assumption and emphasizes that not everyone has innate digital capabilities, requiring more nuanced approaches to lifelong learning

Topics

Online education | Digital access | Future of work

Unexpected differences

Role of partnerships in scaling solutions

Speakers

– Dorothea Schmidt-Klau
– Susan Teltscher

Arguments

Public-private partnerships are essential, with examples like the Decent Jobs for Youth initiative partnering with Microsoft

Reaching underserved rural communities without internet access requires resource-intensive community-based approaches and local partnerships

Explanation

While both advocate for partnerships, they have different perspectives on their role. Dorothea sees partnerships as essential for translating standards into impact at scale, while Susan emphasizes the resource-intensive nature and challenges of partnerships, particularly for reaching underserved communities

Topics

Capacity development | Digital access | Future of work

Overall assessment

Summary

The discussion shows relatively low levels of direct disagreement, with most conflicts being subtle differences in emphasis and approach rather than fundamental opposition. Main areas of disagreement include the depth versus breadth of AI training, assumptions about generational digital skills, and implementation strategies for scaling solutions.

Disagreement level

Low to moderate disagreement level. The speakers generally share common goals around digital skills development, AI integration, and inclusive access, but differ on implementation strategies, assumptions about target populations, and the appropriate depth of training. These disagreements are constructive and reflect different professional perspectives rather than fundamental conflicts, suggesting good potential for collaborative solutions.

Partial agreements

Similar viewpoints

Both speakers emphasized the importance of creating frameworks that are locally contextualized but globally applicable, whether in educational programs or international standards.

Speakers

– Anupama Shekhar
– Dorothea Schmidt-Klau

Arguments

Need for locally generated but globally relevant programs with cultural localization beyond just language translation

International labor standards need updating to include digitalization, digital skills, and lifelong learning components

Topics

Online education | Cultural diversity | Digital standards

Both speakers highlighted significant gender disparities in digital skills and employment, with women being underrepresented and facing greater challenges in accessing opportunities.

Speakers

– Dorothea Schmidt-Klau
– Maria Cristina Cardenas Peralta

Arguments

Young qualified women face worse unemployment than men, representing lost potential in the workforce

Only 32% of women enroll in AI courses globally, indicating significant gender gaps in AI education

Topics

Gender rights online | Future of work | Online education

Both speakers stressed that effective AI integration requires comprehensive approaches that go beyond technical training to include broader competencies and proper evaluation methods.

Speakers

– Gianluca Musraca
– Sarah-Jane Fox

Arguments

Need for multidisciplinary approaches beyond technical skills, including procurement, change management, and public service delivery

Assessment methods in higher education must adapt to detect AI usage while ensuring students develop actual expertise, not just AI skills

Topics

Online education | Future of work | Digital standards

Key takeaways

70% of skills needed for most jobs will change by 2030, requiring constant adaptation and redefinition of ‘future ready’ skills

Successful scaling requires three key strategies: supporting innovative models, creating locally generated but globally relevant programs, and building capacity of educational systems rather than just direct learner support

Inclusive national employment policies are essential to make digital skills initiatives sustainable and scalable, with youth guarantee schemes in EU/Balkan countries serving as successful examples

International labor standards need updating to include digitalization, digital skills, and lifelong learning components to remain relevant

Public-private partnerships are crucial for impact, with examples like ITU-ILO digital skills campaign and Decent Jobs for Youth initiative partnering with Microsoft

Reaching underserved rural communities without internet access requires resource-intensive, community-based approaches with local partnerships

AI literacy must go beyond technical skills to include human skills, critical thinking, responsible AI use, and communication abilities

Assessment methods in education must adapt to the AI era while ensuring students develop actual expertise alongside AI skills

Course content requires constant updating due to rapid AI innovation, with some platforms rotating 150-250 courses monthly

Significant gender gaps exist in AI education with only 32% of women enrolling in AI courses globally

Multidisciplinary approaches are needed beyond technical skills, including procurement, change management, and public service delivery

Lifelong learning is crucial for all generations, especially those not born into the digital age

Resolutions and action items

Continue partnerships between UN organizations (ITU, ILO) and private sector partners like Microsoft for skills training initiatives

Develop and implement AI literacy frameworks with defined competencies for educational policy

Create modular, personalized training approaches with micro-credentials to adapt to diverse skill development needs

Establish AI academies for teachers through partnerships with teachers’ unions

Launch AI Skills Coalition and Digital Transformation Center initiatives to promote training and reach underserved communities

Follow up with smaller group conversations to take actions forward and solve identified challenges

Expand ITU Academy offerings and explore micro-learning modules for better adaptation and scaling

Integrate digitalization perspectives into national employment strategies and active labor market policies

Update international labor standards to include digital skills and lifelong learning components

Unresolved issues

How to effectively assess students in higher education when AI tools are widely used without compromising evaluation of actual knowledge and expertise

How to address the rapid pace of AI innovation that makes course content obsolete quickly, requiring constant updates

How to bridge the significant gender gap in AI education participation (only 32% women)

How to reach and support NEETs (not in education, employment, or training) who are completely disconnected from systems

How to balance AI tool usage with maintaining fundamental knowledge and soft skills

How to provide evidence-based policy guidance when the implications and impacts of AI technologies are still unclear

How to handle the different aspirations and expectations of digitally native young people in traditional educational and employment systems

How to scale resource-intensive community-based approaches needed to reach underserved rural populations

How to prepare for agentic AI and future technological developments that may transform entire industries

Suggested compromises

‘Dream big and dream small’ approach – building capacity of large systems while designing programs with individual learner experiences in mind

Hands-on assessment methods with higher proportion of grades from practical evaluation to adapt to AI-enhanced learning environments

Modular and micro-credential approaches rather than traditional long-form courses to accommodate rapid technological change

Integration of AI skills training with entrepreneurship development, particularly for unemployed graduates in developing countries

Combination of online and community-based training approaches to reach both connected and underserved populations

Multidisciplinary training that combines technical AI skills with domain expertise, soft skills, and responsible AI use

Experiential learning approaches that focus on practical application rather than just theoretical or technical training

By 2030, we’re anticipating that for all the jobs, for most jobs, by 2030, we’re going to see a 70% reduction in skills. So 70% change in skills that are needed for most jobs by 2030.

Speaker

Anupama Shekhar

Reason

This statistic is striking because it quantifies the massive scale of skills transformation required in just a few years. It moves beyond abstract discussions of ‘future readiness’ to concrete data that illustrates the urgency of the skills development challenge.

Impact

This comment fundamentally reframed the discussion from theoretical future planning to immediate crisis management. It established the urgency that permeated the rest of the conversation and justified the need for innovative, scalable solutions that other panelists then built upon.

We don’t have really evidence about what are the implications, the impact of these technologies yet on our societies… policymakers are not really often in the position to really take the right decision… We see a lot of risk, a lot of opportunities also, but the policymakers are not really often in the position to really take the right decision.

Speaker

Gianluca Musraca

Reason

This comment challenges the assumption that we can effectively plan for AI’s impact when we don’t yet understand its full implications. It introduces a critical tension between the need for immediate action and the lack of comprehensive evidence to guide that action.

Impact

This shifted the conversation from solution-focused to problem-definition focused, introducing a note of caution and complexity. It led to discussions about the need for foresight literacy and evidence-based policymaking, elevating the conversation beyond simple skills training to governance challenges.

Look at what happened with RGPT, we were not prepared for that and now this is already past. The agentic AI phenomenon is already changing completely our organizations… we may actually end in a very dystopian future that we should try to avoid.

Speaker

Gianluca Musraca

Reason

This comment introduces the concept of technological acceleration outpacing human adaptation, using concrete examples (ChatGPT, agentic AI) to illustrate how quickly the landscape changes. The dystopian warning adds urgency and ethical dimensions to the technical discussion.

Impact

This comment introduced a sense of technological vertigo to the discussion, shifting from optimistic planning to acknowledging the possibility of losing control. It prompted deeper reflection on the need for proactive rather than reactive approaches and influenced subsequent discussions about responsible AI development.

It’s not only the people who need to be future ready. It’s also our own international labor standards that need to be future ready… Every single labor standard needs to be checked, whether it is still relevant.

Speaker

Dorothea Schmidt-Klau

Reason

This comment expands the scope of ‘future readiness’ beyond individual skills to institutional and regulatory frameworks. It recognizes that the challenge isn’t just training people differently, but fundamentally restructuring the systems that govern work.

Impact

This broadened the conversation from individual capacity building to systemic transformation. It influenced subsequent discussions about the need for comprehensive policy frameworks and highlighted the institutional dimensions of the digital transformation challenge.

Those that are in the underserved communities, they don’t have access to Internet at home. They don’t have a computer… So if you want to train them, how do you do that? You have to go out and reach them in their communities… This is very resource intensive.

Speaker

Susan Teltscher

Reason

This comment grounds the high-level discussion in practical realities, highlighting the digital divide as a fundamental barrier to scaling AI and digital skills training. It challenges assumptions about universal access to technology-enabled learning.

Impact

This comment brought the discussion back to equity and inclusion concerns, tempering optimistic talk about digital solutions with recognition of infrastructure and access barriers. It influenced the conversation toward more nuanced approaches that consider different contexts and resource requirements.

We have only 32% of women taking those [AI] courses… the real problem is all these young people, the so-called needs that are not in education, not in employment, not in training. They are lost. We don’t even know where they sit.

Speaker

Maria Cristina Cardenas Peralta and Dorothea Schmidt-Klau

Reason

These comments highlight critical gaps in participation and reach, moving beyond aggregate numbers to examine who is being left behind. The concept of ‘lost’ youth who are invisible to systems is particularly powerful.

Impact

These observations shifted attention from general skills development to specific inclusion challenges, prompting discussion about targeted interventions for underrepresented groups and the need for more comprehensive approaches to reach disconnected populations.

Overall assessment

These key comments collectively transformed what could have been a routine discussion about digital skills training into a more complex, urgent, and nuanced conversation about systemic transformation. The 70% skills change statistic established immediate urgency, while Gianluca’s warnings about technological acceleration and lack of evidence introduced necessary caution and complexity. Dorothea’s point about updating labor standards broadened the scope to institutional change, and Susan’s emphasis on underserved communities grounded the discussion in equity concerns. Together, these comments created a multi-layered conversation that acknowledged both the transformative potential and significant challenges of AI-driven skills development, moving the discussion from simple solution-sharing to deeper problem analysis and systemic thinking.

How could digital skills development efforts be scaled up in national labor policies?

Speaker

Tom Wambeke

Explanation

This question seeks to understand how individual interventions and programs can be integrated into broader policy frameworks to achieve sustainable scale and impact.

What is currently being done at the regional or cross-border level to accelerate scale in digital skills development?

Speaker

Tom Wambeke

Explanation

This explores coordination mechanisms and initiatives that transcend national boundaries to amplify impact and share best practices.

How can we find synergies between AI literacy and futures literacy/foresight literacy?

Speaker

Tom Wambeke (based on Gianluca’s input)

Explanation

Given the uncertain and rapidly evolving nature of AI, combining AI literacy with foresight capabilities could better prepare individuals and organizations for future changes.

How can we develop indicators or detection methods to identify where AI has been used in educational assessments?

Speaker

Dr. Sarah-Jane Fox

Explanation

This addresses the challenge of assessing students’ actual knowledge versus their AI-assisted work, which is critical for maintaining educational integrity and ensuring students develop foundational skills.

How are organizations updating AI-related courses given the rapid pace of technological change?

Speaker

Maria Cristina Cardenas Peralta

Explanation

The fast evolution of AI technology requires constant curriculum updates, and understanding best practices for course maintenance is crucial for effective training programs.

How can more women be enrolled in AI and digital skills courses?

Speaker

Maria Cristina Cardenas Peralta

Explanation

With only 32% of women taking AI courses on Coursera, addressing gender disparities in AI education is important for inclusive development.

Does the International Labour Organization offer opportunities to international candidates with VLSI design engineering specialization and AI skills?

Speaker

Nidhi Gopal

Explanation

This specific inquiry about career opportunities reflects broader questions about how international organizations are adapting their hiring to include AI-skilled professionals.

How can we better support unemployed graduates in developing countries through AI-enabled entrepreneurship programs?

Speaker

Unnamed participant

Explanation

With 15-20% of graduates unemployed in developing countries, there’s potential to leverage AI training for startup creation aligned with Sustainable Development Goals.

How do we equip teachers and educational systems to handle a generation that may have more digital knowledge than their instructors?

Speaker

Dorothea Schmidt-Klau

Explanation

This addresses the challenge of role reversal in digital knowledge between students and teachers, requiring new pedagogical approaches and teacher training methods.

What evidence do we need to gather about AI’s impact on society to inform better policymaking?

Speaker

Gianluca Musraca

Explanation

Policymakers need concrete evidence about AI’s implications to make informed decisions, but this evidence is currently lacking due to the technology’s rapid evolution.

How can we develop personalized, modular training approaches using AI to adapt to different learning needs?

Speaker

Gianluca Musraca

Explanation

Moving away from one-size-fits-all training toward personalized, micro-credential approaches could improve the effectiveness and relevance of skills development programs.

Summary

This workshop focused on the critical issue of misinformation and disinformation’s impact on children’s development, bringing together speakers from multiple countries to discuss AI-driven threats and protective strategies. Professor Salma Abbasi opened by presenting research on how digital platforms affect children’s physiological, psychological, and social development, describing the situation as a “hidden public health crisis.” She highlighted alarming statistics showing that 96% of cases studied across 14 countries involved either self-harm or violence against others, linking excessive screen time to disrupted brain development and dangerous behavioral changes.

Minister Dr. Aminata Zerbo from Burkina Faso emphasized how geopolitical instability has made the digital environment a vector of serious risks, particularly for vulnerable children exposed to manipulative content and toxic online influences. She outlined her government’s initiatives including awareness campaigns in schools and developing AI regulations that prioritize human dignity and social cohesion. Indonesia’s Director-General Fifi Aleyda Yahya shared their comprehensive approach, including delaying social media access until age 17-18 and establishing ethics guidelines for AI development, while stressing the need for human-centric AI solutions.

Young researcher Sami Galal presented findings on how screen exposure negatively impacts specific brain regions in children aged 0-5, including the prefrontal cortex, hippocampus, and visual cortex, leading to problems with emotional regulation, learning, and social interaction. Other panelists discussed grassroots initiatives in Bangladesh, policy frameworks across Africa, and technical standards development through organizations like IEEE. The discussion concluded with calls for collective action involving parents, governments, and private sector companies to establish duty of care, improve digital literacy, and ensure age-appropriate content design to protect children in the digital age.

Keypoints

## Major Discussion Points:

– **Impact of digital platforms on children’s development**: The discussion extensively covered how excessive screen time and social media exposure negatively affects children’s physiological, psychological, and social development, including brain development disruption, addiction patterns, and behavioral changes.

– **AI-driven misinformation and disinformation threats**: Participants addressed the growing sophistication of AI-generated false content, deepfakes, and manipulated media, particularly highlighting how these threaten democratic processes, public trust, and vulnerable populations including children.

– **Technology-facilitated gender-based violence and toxic online culture**: The conversation examined how digital platforms normalize violence, misogyny, and hate speech, contributing to real-world harm and creating what speakers termed a “public health crisis.”

– **Global policy responses and regulatory frameworks**: Representatives from various countries (Indonesia, Burkina Faso, Bangladesh, Colombia) shared their national approaches to combating digital harms, including age verification systems, AI ethics guidelines, and awareness campaigns.

– **Multi-stakeholder collaboration and standards development**: The discussion emphasized the need for coordinated action between governments, tech companies, educators, parents, and international organizations, including the development of age-appropriate design standards and simplified terms of service for children.

## Overall Purpose:

The discussion aimed to address the growing crisis of misinformation, disinformation, and digital harm affecting children globally. The workshop sought to bring together diverse international stakeholders to share experiences, present research findings, and develop collaborative solutions for protecting children in digital spaces while building resilience against online threats.

## Overall Tone:

The discussion maintained a consistently serious and urgent tone throughout, with speakers treating the topic as a critical public health crisis requiring immediate action. The tone was collaborative and solution-oriented, with participants sharing both concerning research findings and practical interventions. While the subject matter was grave, the atmosphere remained constructive and forward-looking, emphasizing hope through collective action and youth empowerment. The inclusion of a young researcher (Sami) added an authentic voice that reinforced the urgency while demonstrating that young people can be part of the solution.

Speakers

**Speakers from the provided list:**

– **Salma Abbasi** – Professor, eWorldwide Group, moderator and organizer of the workshop on misinformation and disinformation

– **Aminata Zerbo** – Honorable Minister, Dr., from Burkina Faso

– **Fifi Aleyda Yahya** – Director-General, Ministry of Communication and Digital of the Republic of Indonesia

– **Sami Galal** – Young participant/student who researched the impact of screen time on brain development

– **AHM Bazlur Rahman** – Representative from Bangladesh News Network for Radio and Communication, working on youth resilience to misinformation and technology-facilitated gender-based violence

– **Elise Elena Mola** – Lawyer specializing in EU AI Act implementation and AI governance for corporations

– **Yu Ping Chan** – Head of Partnership, UNDP (United Nations Development Programme), leads digital engagements and partnerships

– **Mactar Seck** – Dr., Chief of Technology Digital Transformation, AI, and Cyber, working on African content and continental AI strategy

– **IEEE representative** – Karen Mulberry (substituting for Karen McCade), representing IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers), working on technical standards for age-appropriate design

– **Gitanjali Sah** – ITU representative, involved in organizing the WSIS Forum

– **Audience** – Various audience members who asked questions during the session

**Additional speakers:**

– **Claudia Bustamante** – Director of CRC (regulator in Colombia)

– **Dr. Eva Fell** – International Committee of the Red Cross

– **Carol Constantine** – Human resources technology company representative

# International Workshop Report: Misinformation, Disinformation, and Children’s Digital Safety

## Executive Summary

This international workshop, moderated by Professor Salma Abbasi of eWorldwide Group, brought together government ministers, international organisation representatives, technical standards experts, and youth researchers to address digital threats to children’s safety and development. The discussion focused on the intersection of artificial intelligence, misinformation, and child protection in digital environments, with speakers characterising the current situation as a “hidden public health crisis” requiring urgent international action.

## Opening Presentation: The Hidden Public Health Crisis

Professor Salma Abbasi opened the workshop by presenting research findings from her work across 14 countries, revealing that 96% of cases studied resulted in either self-harm or violence. She framed this as a “hidden public health crisis” affecting children’s development in three key areas: physiological, psychological, and social development.

Abbasi explained how digital platforms exploit children’s psychological vulnerabilities through dopamine-driven algorithms designed to maximise screen time rather than promote healthy development. She referenced the UK summer polarisation incident as an example of how online misinformation can lead to real-world violence, emphasising how exposure to toxic content normalises violence and creates harmful attitudes.

The presentation highlighted how technology-facilitated gender-based violence extends beyond individual harm to threaten social cohesion and democratic values across societies, establishing the framework for the subsequent panel discussion.

## Government Perspectives

### Burkina Faso’s National Response

Dr. Aminata Zerbo, Honourable Minister from Burkina Faso, addressed how geopolitical instability and security challenges compound digital threats to children. She explained that in contexts of political uncertainty, the digital environment becomes particularly dangerous for manipulative content targeting vulnerable populations.

Minister Zerbo outlined her government’s response, including awareness-raising campaigns in schools and development of legal frameworks for artificial intelligence that prioritise human dignity and social cohesion. She emphasised the importance of international cooperation whilst maintaining that solutions must be adapted to specific national contexts, calling for collective responses that respect national sovereignty.

### Indonesia’s Age-Based Restrictions

Fifi Aleyda Yahya, Director-General from Indonesia, shared her country’s approach to protecting children in digital spaces. Indonesia has implemented social media access restrictions until ages 17-18, whilst maintaining access to digital devices for educational purposes under supervision.

Yahya explained that this policy recognises the importance of digital literacy whilst acknowledging that social media platforms pose specific developmental risks. She noted that as AI-generated content becomes more sophisticated and seamless, detection methods must evolve accordingly, though current AI-generated content can often still be identified.

## Panel Discussion Responses

### Youth Research on Brain Development

Sami Galal, a young researcher studying screen time impacts on brain development, focused his research on children aged 0-5, examining effects on the prefrontal cortex, hippocampus, and visual cortex. His findings indicated that excessive screen time leads to problems with emotional regulation, learning difficulties, and vision issues.

Galal explained how screen-based activities require less effort than physical activities whilst providing similar dopamine rewards, creating patterns that interfere with healthy development. He advocated for interactive terms and conditions that children can understand, ideally written by children for children, and emphasised that parents should view digital devices as last resorts rather than convenient solutions.

### Technical Standards Development

Karen Mulberry, substituting for Karen McCade from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), outlined ongoing work to develop technical standards for age-appropriate design. The IEEE is developing standards for age verification, e-gaming, and general age-appropriate design principles across different age groups.

She mentioned current draft guidelines for children’s safe engagement on social media and gaming platforms covering 36 countries, with plans for expansion through working group collaboration. These standards aim to bridge the gap between policy objectives and technical implementation.

### Bangladesh Grassroots Initiatives

AHM Bazlur Rahman from Bangladesh News Network for Radio and Communication described grassroots-level interventions focused on hyperlocal Facebook page development and social media training at community levels. His approach recognises that misinformation and disinformation pollute entire information ecosystems, threatening human progress by promoting violent extremism.

Rahman’s methodology operates at community levels where social media consumption actually occurs, demonstrating how locally relevant solutions can address global problems through community-based approaches.

### African Continental Strategy

Dr. Mactar Seck, Chief of Technology Digital Transformation, AI, and Cyber, noted that over 400 million people connected to social media across Africa face challenges from misinformation promoting violence, terrorism, and gender-based violence. He outlined efforts to develop continental AI strategy frameworks that incorporate considerations of misinformation and gender violence.

Seck mentioned development of a disinformation monitoring platform in collaboration with Gambia as a first step towards continental-level solutions that can be adapted and scaled across different African contexts.

### EU Regulatory Analysis

Elise Elena Mola, a lawyer specialising in EU AI Act implementation, provided critical analysis of current regulatory frameworks. She argued that existing EU AI Act requirements focus primarily on corporate efficiency rather than teaching society how to interact safely with AI systems.

Mola highlighted research showing that within 20 minutes of using TikTok, young men are exposed to extreme content, demonstrating how AI algorithms exploit psychological vulnerabilities to maximise engagement. She identified a disconnect between corporate AI governance focused on operational efficiency and societal AI literacy needs.

## International Organisation Responses

### UNDP Multi-Country Support

Yu Ping Chan, Head of Partnership at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), outlined international support mechanisms across multiple countries. UNDP supports over 10 countries with tools like eMonitor and iVerify designed to address hate speech and technology-facilitated gender-based violence.

Chan emphasised that global solutions developed in Western contexts may not be appropriate for all situations, particularly in developing countries where different cultural, economic, and technological contexts require adapted approaches.

### ITU Integration

Gitanjali Sah, representing the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and involved in organising the WSIS Forum, addressed how workshop outcomes could be integrated into broader international policy processes. She emphasised translating discussion outcomes into actionable policies at international forums like the UN General Assembly.

Sah raised questions about biases in AI algorithms, particularly regarding gender discrimination and impacts on vulnerable populations including children and older persons, connecting digital threats to broader human rights concerns.

## Audience Questions and Discussion

### Educational Institution Roles

Dr. Eva Fell from the International Committee of the Red Cross emphasised schools as primary venues for teaching critical thinking skills about digital content and misinformation. The discussion highlighted peer-to-peer communication between older and younger students as particularly effective.

### Caregiver Training

Claudia Bustamante, Director of CRC (regulator in Colombia), raised the need to train caregivers beyond parents, including kindergarten staff and household helpers who spend significant time with children. This broader caregiver approach recognises that children’s digital safety depends on multiple adults who may lack digital literacy training.

### Implementation Mechanisms

Carol Constantine’s question about implementation led to discussion of multi-ministry collaboration involving Health, Education, ICT, and Justice departments, reflecting recognition that digital threats require coordinated government responses across traditional departmental boundaries.

## Proposed Solutions and Next Steps

### Technical Implementation

The workshop identified concrete technical initiatives including expansion of IEEE standards for age-appropriate design beyond the current 36 countries, and development of interactive terms and conditions that children can understand.

### Educational Initiatives

Speakers proposed comprehensive digital parenting education programmes and peer-to-peer communication initiatives in schools, addressing the reality that many parents lack digital literacy skills needed to guide their children effectively.

### Policy Integration

Gitanjali Sah proposed submitting workshop outcomes to the UN General Assembly through the chair’s report, providing a mechanism for integrating results into broader international policy processes.

## Closing Remarks

### Multi-Stakeholder Responsibility

Sami Galal concluded by identifying parents, governments, and private sector companies as different lines of defence, each with distinct moral responsibilities. He positioned corporate responsibility as an ethical imperative extending beyond regulatory compliance.

### International Cooperation

The workshop concluded with emphasis on the need for sustained international cooperation that balances coordinated global action with respect for national sovereignty and cultural differences. Speakers consistently emphasised that no single actor can address digital threats effectively, requiring coordinated responses across different sectors and levels of governance.

## Conclusion

The workshop successfully established consensus on the severity of digital threats to children whilst identifying practical solutions through multi-stakeholder collaboration. The combination of government policy innovation, technical standards development, youth research, and international cooperation mechanisms created a comprehensive framework for addressing what speakers characterised as an urgent public health crisis requiring immediate, coordinated action to protect children in digital environments.

Salma Abbasi: Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you very much for coming bright and early at nine o’clock. It’s always difficult to have a session on the first thing in the morning after a big party. My name is Professor Salma Abbasi, and I’m really delighted to be talking about misinformation and disinformation. This is an important topic that’s really close to everybody’s hearts, whether you’re old or young. This is information that the world is dealing with today. We have organized today’s workshop to be interactive, and we will be touching on this important issue in the context of its impact on children, their development, and we have brought together a very diverse range of speakers from different countries to give different views in different contexts. The geopolitical environment and the rapid adoption of technology and AI in the technology and in our daily lives is causing quite a lot of issues. We at the eWorldwide Group are continuously researching children’s lived experiences and trying to understand how we can build a resilience in them and between them. so that this world that they’re immersed in is well understood. In that context, I would like to share with you a report that we have recently, we’ll be publishing today, which is talking about the platform’s effect on children’s holistic development. And there’s three key areas that I’d like to discuss, the physiological, psychological, and social development. Drawing on the latest global research, and the risks that we see are immense. The psychological development, digital engagement, how it’s altering their biological development, neurological development, and excessive screen time’s exposure, and the dopamine-driven algorithms that disrupts their brain’s development and thinking, reinforces instant gratification, which causes problems. And the research linked to screen time, the overuse, the poor sleep. These are things that we hear about, but the hidden developmental issues are not covered. The psychological impact, discussing with platforms themselves, is a big challenge. I’m sure you can understand we’re talking about trillions of dollars and how this impacts them. And in this context, the whole design of the exploitation of children’s psychological well-being to stimulate their vulnerabilities and exploit their vulnerabilities, and stimulate them to join various groups, is a very big risk for us in society today. We are dealing with the whole issue of self-validation of young people on how many likes they have, how many followers they have. So all the superficial behavior are driving them to do more and more dangerous things. And I believe that this is an area that is highly sensitive for young children as they grow through the adolescent time to see what they should be and how they should be behaving in society. They are most vulnerable to be manipulated and molded in certain directions. They seek their validation in the digital world. Last summer in the UK, we experienced a drastic polarization of society because of misinformation and disinformation. The digital platforms are shaping how children respond and react to society and social issues. The exposure to misogyny, the hate speech, and the toxic culture online that social media and gaming is encouraging is a big issue. It’s normalizing violence. It’s normalizing attitudes towards gender. In fact, I would argue we’re going backwards. It’s increasing the technology-facilitated gender-based violence, which my colleague will discuss further. But the images and the growing around these violent toxic images of abuse is resulting in kids having violent stabbing and shooting incidents increasing around the world as they blend their online world with the offline world of reality, which we are unable to see. I am calling this a public health crisis and a hidden public health crisis. And the synthesis of all of the cases that we have covered over 14 countries show an alarming significance of self-harm and suicide. And it’s 96%, which is a very big problem of those cases that exist are either killing somebody or killing yourself. And that is something that calls for action for all of us, which I’m hoping after the discussion, we will be able to get your support to join hands with us in this important work. So thank you so much for coming and I would like to now hand over to our Honorable Minister, Dr. Aminata Zerbo from Burkina Faso to give the opening remarks. Thank you, Minister.

Aminata Zerbo: Good morning, everyone. It is my great pleasure to be here to talk about this important topic. Thanks to Salma and the World Wide for all the work they do to try to protect our children online. In the age of artificial intelligence, the ability to manipulate images, sounds, facts, and emotions through digital technologies is no longer science fiction. It presents a major challenge to our societies as it weakens truth, destabilizes institutions, fools hate speech, and spreads falsified content such as deep fakes. In this context of geopolitical instability, the digital environment has become not only a strategic sphere of influence but also a vector of serious risk, especially for the most vulnerable. Children and young people increasingly exposed to manipulative content, toxic online games, and deviant influencers are seeing the perception of reality, the behavior, and the moral development deeply affected. We observe with concern the emergence of a digital culture marked by misogyny, sexual exploitation, technology-facilitated gender-based violence, but also fascination with criminality and radicalization of minds. The impact on mental health is just as troubling. This phenomenon seriously threatens the future of our children. In Burkina Faso, these challenges take on a particular significance. The security context in which we operate makes the fight against disinformation, hate speech, and algorithmic manipulation more essential. Fully aware of these challenges, our government, for my ministry, and in close collaboration with all national stakeholders, but also international stakeholders, is implementing structural action to regulate digital practices and create a healthy, inclusive, and secure digital environment. Among our flagship initiatives is the awareness raising of school-stridden and high school students. On the legal front, Burkina Faso is working to develop regulations that frame the ethical use of artificial intelligence and digital technologies in respect of fundamental rights, transparency, accountability, and human dignity. Our goal is to promote human-centered AI, serving social cohesion, education, and peace, not as an instrument of manipulation or exploitation. Also, we are working to strengthen our cooperation with technical and international partners, as worldwide, to establish effective mechanisms for detection and rapid response to disinformation campaigns and toxic content. Distinguished participants, we are convinced that responses to these threats must be collective, united, and adapted to our respective contexts. This is why Burkina Faso reaffirms here its commitment to actively contribute to the creation of a trusted digital space, one that protects youth, guarantees human rights, and fosters peaceful and sustainable digital development. In this global effort, the strengthening of national capacities, regional cooperation, and the harmonization of ethical standards will be our common tools to unmask falsehoods, uphold truth, and build a safer digital future for generations to come. I would like to thank you.

Salma Abbasi: Thank you very much. I hope you can see the gender balance or imbalance in this room. I’d like to now ask the Director-General from Indonesia to kindly give her opening remarks.

Fifi Aleyda Yahya: Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Professor Salma, thank you for the introduction. Distinguished panelists, ladies and gentlemen, my name is Fifi and I represent the Ministry of Communication and Digital of the Republic of Indonesia. I’m very happy to be here, delighted to meet you all. I would like to congratulate the ITU and the Session Organizing Committee on including AI-driven forgery issues in our collective dialogue today. It is an honor to join this very anticipated event. I know I’m supposed to speak, but I think I speak it’s easier and I think my voice is better if I stand. So I’m sorry if I stand. And in this midst of a remarkable advancement in artificial intelligence, we face an equally pressing challenge, the spread of this information, which is amplified and sometimes generated by AI. In Indonesia, the world’s third largest democracy, well, we can do the math, but it’s 280 million or close to 300 million population, Minister, at this moment. Manipulated content such as deep fakes, bots, and synthetic text has grown in sophistication, posing serious threats to public trust and civic disclosure. To address this, the government of Indonesia has adopted a comprehensive and collaborative approach. First, the regulation, of course. We are strengthening our digital governance framework by enacting the government regulation. This regulation reflects Indonesia’s strong concern for protecting children’s rights, safety, and well-being in the digital space. So, for example, we are delaying the age for our teenagers to be able to access social media. But we’re not banning them to use the gadget, just delaying them 17 to 18 years old. So they can, at that age, after that age, they can access social media independently without parents’ supervision. So that’s one. In addition, we issued a letter, I should say, on ethics of artificial intelligence, which established core principles for responsible, transparent, and human-centered AI development. And we realized that when we talk about digital AI, well, it’s faster there. I think not long after this, they will be more sophisticated. Now, we can still spot whether this is an AI, but I’m sure in no due time, it’s going to be more sophisticated and more seamless, I should say. So, third, through partnership, of course, that’s why we’re here. We collaborate with digital platforms, civil society, and international partners to detect, mitigate, and combat AI-driven disinformation. So, again, a moderator, Professor Salma, we’re very happy to be here. And Indonesia, through the Ministry of Communication and Digital, we are ready to collaborate. We believe AI must be human-centric, resting on a commitment to their use in the service of humanity, we all believe that, I’m sure, and the common good. AI for good, not to become a tool of deception. Therefore, we support the development of AI. of Global Standards that Promote Transparency, Accountability, and Ethics in AI Development. Indonesia, again, is committed to being part of the global solution to break the chain of AI-powered disinformation. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you.

Salma Abbasi: Thank you very much. I think that this is a great opening for us to now have a conversation. At the end of the session, I will definitely share the reports on the hidden public health crisis that talks about these topics that Indonesia is very aware of, and taking these proactive steps to safeguard the young generation. I think, collectively, in the Global South, we have fantastic initiatives that have been spearheaded by countries that we need to understand aren’t taking away our civil rights, but they are protecting the most vulnerable that need to be protected. So, that being said, I’m going to – actually, if we could move to the picture of the panellists – I’m going to introduce our panellists very briefly. Sami from, and I’m just going to say, my youngest participant with a very intellectual-stimulating presentation, and my brother, Bazlur, from Bangladesh, who is going to talk about technology-facilitated gender-based violence and many other things as a historical champion of technology for good. And then, my colleague, Elise, who is a fantastic lawyer, who’s worked really closely with us to develop the guidelines for new standards that kids will read for terms and conditions, and I’m hoping that we can have more than our 36 countries join hands with us. And my brother, Mactar, Dr. Mactar from Africa, he’s the Chief of the Technology Digital Transformation, AI, and Cyber, and has a lot of work leading the African content. And lastly, my colleague, who’s hiding over there, please join the panellists here. I just saw you. We have our colleague from UNDP, Head of Partnership. and then my colleague Karen from the IEEE who’s going to be talking about standards, collaboration, age-appropriate digital content. That being said, we will move to our first speaker and the question I’m going to ask, so we’re doing this in three minutes per speaker. So, Sami, for a school assignment you recently researched the impact of exposure of screen time on the brain. What did you find out and what behavioral impact are you seeing in young children around you? Thank you.

Sami Galal: So my research was made on how screens impact children aged 0 to 5 and what impacts it has on the child’s brain. After that, I interested myself more into the topic and I researched more younger age. So I found out that these screens impact these children really negatively and they do it in various parts of the brain. So starting off with the prefrontal cortex, it’s one of the last places of the brain to mature, so the early years are really important in the child’s overall brain development. It’s also known as the personality center as it revolves with everything related to your personality. So disruption in the area will lead to trouble regulating emotional behavior and trouble regulating, trouble being in social scenarios. They don’t know how to interact with other people. Then we are moving on to the hippocampus. The hippocampus has the task of learning and memory. So it’s what we use mostly in the school work and when we have to put in some work in intellectual work. Disruption in the area will lead to trouble processing information and trouble concentrating in some tasks. Then moving on to the occipital lobe, where we can find the visual cortex. The visual cortex is the most important part of the brain of processing visual information. So disruption in the area will lead to myopia, so a condition where things are close by and not blurry, but the further you get, the blurrier they get. Additionally, dopamine is also a crucial factor. It’s a neurotransmitter and a pleasure hormone. It’s crucial in how children react towards rewards, they form connections, and they learn. Dopamine system has various pathways that lead to various parts of the brain, which can lead to an addiction, as screens stimulate the production of dopamine, the same that you get when you do a physical activity. When you’re on screens, you don’t have to put the same effort as when you’re doing physical activities, which just makes the reward that more enjoyable, as you don’t have to put in the work and you get the same effect. Thank you very much.

Salma Abbasi: Thank you very much. So you can see that there’s some deep science going on here, that we must understand all of these things invisibly happening with our children. And I think there’s a recent study that also talks about the screen time, little children, and to see this become the digital babysitter. But for a young person to have that view and share that, I’m super proud of you. Thank you. My brother next question is for you. Could you please provide some insights on your youth resilience work on misinformation initiative in Bangladesh and how you’re building local engagement and development within Bangladesh at the grassroots? And could you also share some insights on your experience and knowledge on the technology facilitated gender-based violence in Bangladesh and what you’re doing to address?

AHM Bazlur Rahman: Thank you, Madam Moderator. Excellencies, co-fellow and distinguished participants, It’s a great privilege to be with all of you in this morning. I would like to sincerely thank Professor Dr. Salma Abbasi for the kind invitation, which has allowed me to share my thoughts on behalf of Bangladesh News Network for Radio and Communication about the misinformation, disinformation, and as well as combating technology-facilitated gender-based violence. All of us know information integrity refers to accuracy, consistency, and reliability of information. Misinformation and disinformation pollutes the information, entire ecosystem, and threatens human progress. That’s why we are in here. And propaganda, misinformation, and fact news have the potential to polarize public opinion, to promote violent extremism and hate speech, and ultimately to undermine democracies and reduce trust in the democratic process. To address the issue, we have been implementing the project called Youth Resilience to Misinformation, Building Local Engagement and Media Development in Bangladesh. Under the project, basically, we divided our activities into two parts. One is the national level, and another one is the grassroots level. From the local level, I would like to share some activities. We are used to using social media, but with some orientation. That’s why we have chosen the Facebook page development for working with the rural youth. through the hyperlocal method. Social media is used as a platform, Facebook for countering mis- and disinformation. And we identify the youth and youth communities at the grassroots level. We call hyperlocal. What is hyperlocal? Hyperlocal is enabling in line with the supply side and demand side. Of course, youth and youth women are part of this. And also e-engaging of the youth and youth women. And last one is the e-empowering of the youth and youth women. And what is our major intervention? Identifying the social media holder, stakeholder and social media holder analysis, and design and monitoring framework of the some program, engaging social media holder, organize some orientation for strengthening critical analysis skills to counter the proliferation of misinformation, and time to time collecting some more significant cases, and develop some audiovisual content for dissemination through social media, and also develop some message. So this is the major intervention of the misinformation and disinformation, combating through the youth community. Thank you.

Salma Abbasi: Thank you very much indeed. I think we’ll have more to hear. Thank you. I’d like to go to our next speaker, who is Elise Mola. Elise, where do you see the biggest disconnect between the global policy discussion and what actually is happening inside companies?

Elise Elena Mola: Challenging. I’m not sure if I speak for the younger audience but maybe within a decade, maybe internet presentations could be, obviously more of what, and very limited stonewall very challenging. You’ve covered a lot of different things. Well, on a daily basis, I help large companies, mostly in Germany and across Europe, to implement the new EU AI Act and kind of guide them in integrating AI systems into their companies according to proper governance structures. I think the challenge here is, yes, there are requirements, for example, for AI literacy. But what the requirements cover is, you know, how do I use this AI tool to effectively automate certain tasks at corporations to increase efficiency? The kind of AI skills, though, that we really need as a society are the AI skills to interact with AI while understanding how, for example, through social media, it’s actually skewing our perception of reality. There was some interesting studies done, for example, that within 20 minutes of using TikTok, young men are shown extreme right-wing propaganda, violence, misogynist content. And what we’re missing is understanding, you know, how is the AI algorithm manipulating us and playing to our most vulnerable evolutionary aspects in order to maximize our screen time and manipulate us into staying on the platform and creating a kind of, I would say, outrage machine. Because when we’re angry and we’re hateful, we stay on the platform and we’re in this kind of amygdala.

Salma Abbasi: Our next speaker is Ms. Yu Ping Chan, so UNDP has been advocating for an inclusive responsible digital transformation and in that context there’s a growing challenge posed by the use of digital technologies and how is UNDP supporting countries especially in the global south to strengthen their digital resilience and information integrity. Thank you.

Yu Ping Chan: Thank you so much professor, it’s an honour to be here. My name is Ms. Yu Ping Chan, I lead digital engagements and partnerships at the UNDP. We are the development arm of the United Nations, we’re present in 170 countries and territories around the world and our primary role is to support countries through all phases of development and in many cases we are actually the front face of the UN in the country serving as the right hand of government and so this question as to how we strengthen digital resilience is particularly profound because we recognize the ability of digital technologies and AI to accelerate achievement of sustainable development but at the same time these risks and challenges that other panellists have spoken about there is a topic of today’s conversation are something that we need to build capacity in our program countries and particularly in the global south to combat and so when it comes to all these challenges think about the fact that these are challenges for developed countries so they’re even more profound for developing countries that lack the capacity that a lot of times don’t also the manpower, the resources, the government institutions to address these types of challenges. So we need to start from meeting them at where the urgency of the need is the greatest and build the capacity in these countries, in their policymakers, in their communities, their local ecosystems, to have local solutions to these problems as well. It’s also not a one-size-fits-all, you know, we import a global solution type thing that is developed in the West. We need to think about locally relevant, culturally sensitive, contextual solutions to addressing all of these solutions, these issues effectively. And so that’s where the UNDP comes in, to really think about these aspects, to build as part of a comprehensive approach to digital technologies, and to build the type of digital resilience that we need. In the area of information integrity, for instance, we work in over 10 countries with eMonitor that looks at addressing hate speech and gender-facilitated and technology-facilitated GBV. We have been working in over 10 different countries with iVerify. With enhanced fact-checking, we are building a digital kit for democracy that really includes these types of technologies that can be safe and secure, that can really support our developing country partners in addressing these types of challenges. We welcome working with more stakeholder partners to really make sure, as I’ve said before, these solutions are appropriate to national contexts that really take into account the needs and particularities of our developing country partners, and work to empower the global South as co-creators of the digital future that we want to address these types of challenges, and really make sure that we’re all part of the digital future and the potential of digital AI, and addressing these types of challenges as well.

Salma Abbasi: Thank you very much. So now I move to Dr. Mactar. Dr. Mactar, the question is, what policies and strategies and governance frameworks in African countries are implemented to address the risks of AI-generated misinformation while protecting the freedom of expression and maintaining electoral integrity? Thank you.

Mactar Seck: Thank you very much, Dr. Salma. I think it is a very important question when we look at the African view. In the continent, you have more than 400 million people connected to the social media. And this is a big challenge. Why? Because this misinformation, disinformation, promote a lot of thing in the continent when we look at the issue of violence, of freedom of speech, issue of terrorism, gender violence. All is coming �are coming from this disinformation, misinformation, also on the issue of democracy in several country when you have the election. And at UNHCA, we try to look at two angle. One it is on the policy side, and also on the technical side. What we can do on policy side, we have to look at at the continental level, because misinformation, disinformation is not a national issue. Information can be�come from everywhere. You have several people in the diaspora, and also terrorism is everywhere. We can look at what’s happened in the Sahel region, Mali, Burkina, and Niger as a country. We can look at what is a problem there, where information come, what kind information are sent to the population. And we need to look at first on the policy. On the policy, we look at the continental level. We already work with African Union to develop this AI strategy framework for Africa. Also this continental cybersecurity policy. And also the cybersecurity guideline for member states. And all this framework. We incorporate issue of disinformation, misinformation, and gender violence. It is a one-step at the continental level, and at the national level, we support African countries also to develop their national policy, taking into consideration the ethical impact of the information society. Now we have, we can say, 10�between 10, 14 countries already have a national AI policy incorporating the issue of misinformation, disinformation. Also we have a program on capacity building. And also, the more important, it is awareness. It is something we need to do more across all the member of the society, because everybody now uses information society. You receive information, you don�t know it�s true or not. I�m sure Madam Minister is facing on this. Every day you receive one information, and you don�t know where is this coming. And you can�t go anytime to the news, to the media, to say, no, it�s not coming from me, no. And we also develop one platform with Gambia to also to monitor all this disinformation, fake news. I think it is a first step we are doing, and we see how we can expand also at the continental level. Also, we are engaging�we are very committed under the G20 on the data governance working group to see how we can assist African countries to fight this misinformation, disinformation. Also, we develop some application to monitor the hard speech, like what we did in Kenya and other country. It is some key area where we are focused, but it is not easy. It is not easy to fight against this disinformation, misinformation. We need to do more awareness across�among also population. Thank you.

Salma Abbasi: Thank you very much indeed. So the final panelist is going to be Karen from the IEEE. What are your views on how to address the impact of AI-driven misinformation and digital content that is harmful to young people? Thank you.

IEEE representative: All right. Now it’s on. Well, I’d like to first apologize that Karen McCade can’t make it this morning. She had an urgent matter that came up to address. So I am Karen Mulberry. So you get a Karen from IEEE. And let me tell you a little bit about IEEE itself. It is the world’s largest technical professional organization. We have technical communities in 190 countries and over 500,000 members working on a lot of solutions, working with Indonesia on some of their issues. And we actually work with Salma and her organization on how do you address some critical aspects of misinformation. And one of the areas that we have a body to work on is children, but not necessarily children. It’s what’s age appropriate, because what might be appropriate for a three-year-old might not be the same for a five-year-old, a 10-year-old. And even when you look into the vulnerable aging population, what’s appropriate access to information to them? And do they understand the impact of what’s out there? So how can we, as a technical standards body, approach setting up a process so that when you develop a product, you consider what’s age appropriate. We’ve worked with Five Rites. We’ve worked with eWorldwide. And that kind of started our journey on our first standard on what’s age appropriate design. So if you’re looking at a product, how would you design it to make sure that it’s appropriate for the age group that is in your target? As we have heard, it’s very important to make sure that you get the right information, that it’s trustworthy and responsible for whether it’s the three-year-old, the five-year-old, the 10-year-old, or my 95-year-old father who believes everything on the internet is true. The next standard we have out there that just was released earlier this year is, how do you verify an age of someone to make sure that they only have access to what’s appropriate for them? And so there’s a lot of countries that are looking at that as a possible solution and companion to the law. I know we’ve worked with Indonesia on our age-appropriate design work and our age verification work so that they can approach the framework around a policy and regulation to make sure that children only have access to the things that are good for them. And that they don’t get exposed to things that they shouldn’t be exposed to until they’re old enough to understand what they are. Now, we also, following this progression, and as Dr. Abbasi noted, we are working on a standard now on e-gaming. What’s appropriate in terms of e-gaming, we’ve heard that it actually creates a lot of addiction and attraction and almost a spiral effect. So now we’re trying to figure out the standard approach that a product should be built to consider all of these so that you avoid the misinformation and somehow we can minimize the addiction and other impacts that happen. So thank you very much, and if you would like to join us in the work, please. We would love to have your expertise.

Salma Abbasi: Thank you very much. So now we move to the part of the session. We started a little bit late so we will just go a little bit longer. To the point that Karen mentioned, I have a document here which is a draft guideline for children’s safe engagement on social media and gaming platforms. And it’s the terms and conditions. I don’t know how many people here actually read the terms and conditions or just click accept. Does anybody actually read the terms and conditions? Oh, wow. Good, mashallah, there’s a few. But I want to tell you that we did a survey to understand children’s lived experiences online and what their exposure is to the social media platforms today. And I can tell you that 75% of them say that they don’t read the terms and conditions, that they’re too long. And they have actually then created, this is like my young panelist here, Sami, they have created a guideline. It’s written by children for children so that social media companies and gaming platforms can actually use it. So I think that it would be a very good time to ask a few of you some questions on what you’ve heard and if there’s something that you’d like to share. I know two people in this room that I met a couple of days ago. I’m going to go straight to you. If I can pass this mic, my dear, from a Colombia context.

Audience: Thank you. Good morning, everyone. I’m Claudia Bustamante, the director of CRC, the regulator in Colombia. It’s a great panel you have here. I’ve heard many, many great things. This is a challenge for all our countries and our people. In Colombia, we have approached in different ways, but we have many challenges to… to cope. We have a training for critical thinking. It’s an open course with gamification and very simple language for the people to understand. They need to think about everything they see in multiple screens. You need first to have that kind of critical reasoning to figure it out when something is true or not. Also, we made fieldwork to get data with surveys, and we talked with the caretakers. The children are not all the time with their parents. Maybe they are with another person in their house or in kindergarten or places like that. Then we need to train those people also. It’s not only the responsibility for their parents or for their professors, but these people are very important in the process also. For the technical issues and the conditions, we have a limitation because our faculties, as a regulator, doesn’t reach to platforms, only to traditional service providers. Then we have talked to them. They suggest codes of conduct and some guidelines, but it’s up to them to do it. We can set rules for them, and sometimes this is a limitation to do more things.

Salma Abbasi: Does anybody else have any questions?

Audience: Hello, I’m Dr. Eva Fell, I work for the International Committee of the Red Cross. Obviously, we’re really concerned by misinformation and fake news, but actually my question is more about how much is this going into schools? Isn’t that where we need to be talking to children and giving them critical thinking? I was just wondering if you have…

Salma Abbasi: No, that’s lovely. Lovely question. We actually started in schools. We’re working actively in schools in the UK, actually in seven countries, listening to them and asking them that. So we’re continuously researching the lived experiences. We’ve been working in Malaysia, love to work in Indonesia and in the UAE and inshallah soon in Burkina Faso. It all begins with the children, which is why I think you came in late. I was talking about the brain and the brain development and the impact and there’s a paper that’s going to be online today. I’m just launching it, it’s here. Anybody wants it, please, I’ll post it on my LinkedIn today. It’s called the Hidden Public Health Crisis, the influence of social media and gaming on physiological, psychological and social impact on children’s health. I’m calling the public health crisis. This needs the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of ICT and the Ministry of Justice to work together. It’s a collaborative effort that’s needed to change the education curriculum also and parenting. In the UK with my partner, Sarah Pinnock, we’ve launched a programme on digital parenting. Parents think the kids are in the room when they’re safe. They don’t understand, why do you need your telephone in your bedroom? That’s the first thing. So there’s little tiny tips for the parents and for the children and we start in primary school. We’re trying to teach parents this is not a digital babysitter. It’s a dangerous tool. The iPads you see as you go in shopping centres where three-year-olds are getting autism from being bombarded with this. So there’s a lot of fantastic research that’s talking about this. The thing is that we need to take action. So we will, we will, if there’s any one more question. Ah, because I want you to do the closing. Not right, sorry. Not right now. Sorry, you’re not opening the closing.

Audience: Hi, I also have a question. So, yes, so my name is Carol Constantine and I have a human resources technology company. But my question is, I just saw on the news, Denmark, I don’t know if you are aware, is passing the first comprehensive legislation giving copyrights to each one of us, of our voice, face, and body. So I wanted to share this and ask you, do you think this is the way forward? And what hurdles do you see there?

Salma Abbasi: Very good. Thank you so much for coming and for sharing. I did not know that. I’m delighted to hear that. What we’ve got here… Salma, I have a question. Can I just answer this one? Where is it? Oh, yeah. Oh, Bhavan, excellent. I wanted him to be a panelist. So what we have is we’ve actually surveyed children and asked them what do they want with the social media, with their data. They not only want to own their data, they want to have the right to destroy the data, and they want to know if their data is being sold. Now, funnily enough, it may not be funny, but funnily enough, the only country in the world that hasn’t signed the UN Convention on the Rights of a Child is United States of America. And that’s so funny because even North Korea and, you know, whether you’re South Sudan, every country has signed this. So we need countries like Indonesia, like Australia, to be forward thinkers in this space, like what Denmark is doing. And we need to have a collective action. Like you were saying, you can only say, can you do this? Regulators have the power to switch off. I know that Indonesia, you have taken the control to switch off things. Brazil, there was a lady here from Brazil, Brazil switched off Twitter or X. We have the power. What we don’t do is exercise it. If we do it collectively, and we’re dealing with, you know, $2 trillion on social media platforms, $700 million, I think it’s billion dollars on cosmetic sales. You have to go and see what is happening to girls, their perception of. Nature, beauty, etc. The boys’ perception from the games that are toxic and violent. Even though we have a new standard coming out on gaming, that behavioral toxic behavior, that machoism that’s penetrating every society, whether it’s Austria, Germany, London or Dubai, it’s all over the place. So we do need a collective call for action. And if I may, because I see the time, we’re five minutes over. I’m very aware. We’re going to move to two things. As I mentioned, we have a draft. It’s a draft. It’s by 36 countries so far. I met the regulator from Nigeria and he said, Salma, why isn’t our name on it? So we would love you to join us with the IEEE Working Group to take a look at this. It’s a draft. And if you know me, I’m a revision person, goes up to Rev 21, because it’s only going to get better with your ideas and your eyes on the document. The second thing is that I would like you to read what the children think about terms and conditions and sit down with your children and discuss, because you pay the telephone bill. I had this very gentle, nice conversation. Children don’t work well when you tell them not to do it. It’s got to be reasoning and logic. And I think having young people like Sammy to make videos on how to be safe online, peer-to-peer communication is working with us in schools, secondary school with primaries. You need that trusted adult, young adult to be the coach. And then the final thing, which is very important for me, is to spread the word that everything online is not true. I’m a professor of ethical AI. Please believe me that rubbish is progressing with rubbish as misinformation is missing out all of our human values. If it’s not digitized, it doesn’t exist. It means when I have a cold and I have ginger and lemon, because my mother said it, unless it’s online, we will never use it. So those hidden recipes and remedies are really As you can see, we have a very, very important task. And what I would like to do is ask two wonderful people to give the closing remark. Just two minutes. One is Sami. And then with my dear younger sister Gitanjali from the, the ITU, who is organizing this wonderful Wishes Forum, to please say the closing remarks. So, sir.

Sami Galal: So, to solve this major problem that’s been becoming more and more frequent in modern society, I have a few recommendations. So starting off with parents, which I consider to be the first line of defense, parents should know not to give the phone to the child. As Ms. Salma said, it’s like a digital babysitter. So even when the parent has to go and do an activity and it’s easier to give the phone to the child, they should only do that as a last resort after trying some more interactive activities to keep the child occupied while they have to do their things. Then moving on to the governments, which I consider to be the second line of defense. Governments should raise awareness to the parents and to the children. They should raise awareness to the parents by telling them what the risks of their child being online is and what they can do to prevent it. We know that parents don’t specifically have that much time in their day-to-day lives. So they could do it in like a journal type of way or on a radio show that they could listen to on the way to work. So it’s non-time consuming, but they could be informed about that. And for the children, once they do find themselves online, the terms and conditions should be interactive in a way for the child to actually understand it and understand how much time he should stay online and what the risks are that he might encounter while being online. Additionally, the private sectors have a moral responsibility, like the gaming companies. and the social media companies, they have to be morally correct and to inform these young children on the dangers that they could face online. So although this is a tough task, with the help of everyone, we can make screens in positive experience with no negative outcome for these young children.

Salma Abbasi: Absolutely wonderful. I think this is really lovely and a holistic way of looking at the situation and of how we move forward. And I think establishing and enforcing a duty of care for the regulators, the families and all stakeholders, supporting independent interdisciplinary research, so we can really understand what is going on and how to address it best in schools and in our homes. Investing in global digital literacy and public awareness campaigns is a must in every language we can think of. And ensuring multi-stakeholder engagement, and most importantly, youth participation, not just to sit here, but to actively write and edit the reports that we’re producing, which is so important. So over to you, Gitanjali.

Gitanjali Sah: Thank you, Dr. Abasi, and apologies that Secretary General could not join you. She’s running around all over AI and VISIS. So this is really important work, and I think you also pointed on educators, really important that the teachers are guiding our children as well. I am also one of those parents who are guilty as charged using the mobile as a babysitter. It is a fact that the parents and the educators, because in my child’s school, they really have classes, they have lessons which tell them about what is wrong in the internet, the darknet, and the awareness that we spoke about. There was this episode in Netflix about adolescence, and that created so much awareness amongst so many of us. It was like a real shocker that this is happening. And I think this made me I also wanted to talk about the biases in the AI algorithms. I don’t know if you covered that, but yes, so that is another very important part, especially for gender discrimination. And of course now for children, older persons, and also really the engineers have to be aware. He said it’s a moral responsibility. The private sector engineers have to be involved in it. And really the moral responsibility of the global community. So the United Nations ITU is committed to continue providing you with these kind of platforms to get together, to ensure that these dialogues are happening, but they don’t just remain dialogues. They are calls for action. And for example, the outcomes of this high-level event are going into the United Nations General Assembly, the UNGA overall review, where we can actually make a difference. So really, Dr. Abbasi, if you have a call for action coming out of this meeting, it will go into the chair’s report and we will put it into the UNGA overall review. Thank you so much.

Salma Abbasi: Thank you. Thank you so much. I would like to thank my panelists before they all run away, that it was really wonderful, all the different contexts that you’ve shared. And I’d like to have one picture with you all. Thank you.

Agreement points

Multi-stakeholder responsibility and collective action needed

Speakers

– Sami Galal
– Salma Abbasi
– Aminata Zerbo
– Gitanjali Sah

Arguments

Parents, governments, and private sector companies all have moral responsibilities as different lines of defense

Multi-stakeholder engagement including youth participation in writing and editing reports is crucial for effective solutions

Responses to digital threats must be collective, united, and adapted to respective national contexts rather than one-size-fits-all solutions

Outcomes from discussions should translate into actionable policies at international forums like the UN General Assembly

Summary

All speakers agree that addressing digital threats requires coordinated action across multiple stakeholders including parents, governments, private sector, and international organizations, with each having distinct but complementary responsibilities

Topics

Human rights principles | Children rights | Interdisciplinary approaches

Digital platforms exploit children’s vulnerabilities and cause developmental harm

Speakers

– Sami Galal
– Salma Abbasi
– Elise Elena Mola

Arguments

Screen time negatively affects multiple brain regions including prefrontal cortex, hippocampus, and visual cortex, leading to emotional regulation problems, learning difficulties, and vision issues

Digital platforms exploit children’s psychological vulnerabilities through dopamine-driven algorithms that disrupt brain development and promote instant gratification

AI algorithms on platforms like TikTok can expose young men to extreme right-wing propaganda and misogynistic content within 20 minutes

Summary

There is strong consensus that digital platforms are designed in ways that exploit children’s psychological and neurological vulnerabilities, causing measurable harm to brain development and exposing them to harmful content

Topics

Child safety online | Children rights | Content policy

Need for locally adapted, contextually appropriate solutions

Speakers

– Aminata Zerbo
– Yu Ping Chan
– Mactar Seck
– Audience

Arguments

Responses to digital threats must be collective, united, and adapted to respective national contexts rather than one-size-fits-all solutions

UNDP supports over 10 countries with tools like eMonitor and iVerify to address hate speech and technology-facilitated gender-based violence

African countries are developing continental AI strategy frameworks and national policies incorporating misinformation and gender violence considerations

Training programs for critical thinking and working with caretakers beyond parents are essential components of comprehensive approaches

Summary

Speakers from different regions emphasize the importance of developing solutions that are adapted to local contexts, cultures, and specific national challenges rather than importing one-size-fits-all approaches

Topics

Capacity development | Human rights principles | Interdisciplinary approaches

Similar viewpoints

All three speakers identify technology-facilitated gender-based violence and exposure to misogynistic content as major concerns, with algorithms actively promoting harmful gender attitudes and violent content

Speakers

– Salma Abbasi
– Mactar Seck
– Elise Elena Mola

Arguments

Technology-facilitated gender-based violence and exposure to toxic content is normalizing violence and creating harmful attitudes toward gender

Over 400 million people connected to social media in Africa face challenges from misinformation promoting violence, terrorism, and gender violence

AI algorithms on platforms like TikTok can expose young men to extreme right-wing propaganda and misogynistic content within 20 minutes

Topics

Gender rights online | Content policy | Child safety online

These speakers share a focus on age-appropriate access and design, emphasizing the need for technical standards and regulatory approaches that consider developmental appropriateness and children’s rights regarding their digital experiences

Speakers

– Fifi Aleyda Yahya
– IEEE representative
– Salma Abbasi

Arguments

Indonesia has adopted comprehensive approaches including delaying social media access to 17-18 years old and establishing AI ethics principles

IEEE is developing standards for age-appropriate design, age verification, and e-gaming to ensure products consider what’s appropriate for different age groups

Children want ownership of their data, the right to destroy it, and transparency about data sales

Topics

Children rights | Digital standards | Child safety online

These speakers from developing countries share concerns about misinformation and disinformation as threats to democratic processes, social stability, and security, particularly in contexts of political instability

Speakers

– AHM Bazlur Rahman
– Aminata Zerbo
– Mactar Seck

Arguments

Misinformation and disinformation pollute the entire information ecosystem and threaten human progress by promoting violent extremism and undermining democracies

AI-generated content including deepfakes poses serious threats to public trust and democratic processes, especially affecting vulnerable populations

Over 400 million people connected to social media in Africa face challenges from misinformation promoting violence, terrorism, and gender violence

Topics

Content policy | Human rights principles | Violent extremism

Unexpected consensus

Youth as active solution creators rather than passive recipients

Speakers

– Sami Galal
– Salma Abbasi
– Gitanjali Sah

Arguments

Terms and conditions should be interactive and understandable for children to comprehend online risks and time limits

Multi-stakeholder engagement including youth participation in writing and editing reports is crucial for effective solutions

Outcomes from discussions should translate into actionable policies at international forums like the UN General Assembly

Explanation

Unexpectedly, there was strong consensus on positioning young people not just as victims needing protection, but as active participants in creating solutions, writing guidelines, and contributing to policy development. This represents a shift from traditional protective approaches to empowerment-based strategies

Topics

Children rights | Human rights principles | Interdisciplinary approaches

Private sector moral responsibility beyond regulatory compliance

Speakers

– Sami Galal
– Salma Abbasi
– Elise Elena Mola

Arguments

Parents, governments, and private sector companies all have moral responsibilities as different lines of defense

Digital platforms exploit children’s psychological vulnerabilities through dopamine-driven algorithms that disrupt brain development and promote instant gratification

Current EU AI Act requirements focus on corporate efficiency rather than teaching society how to interact safely with AI systems

Explanation

There was unexpected consensus that private sector companies have moral responsibilities that go beyond legal compliance, with speakers calling for fundamental changes in how platforms are designed rather than just regulatory oversight. This represents a shift toward ethical business practices as a core requirement

Topics

Children rights | Content policy | Human rights principles

Overall assessment

Summary

The discussion revealed remarkably strong consensus across diverse speakers from different regions and sectors on key issues: the need for multi-stakeholder collective action, the harmful impact of current digital platform designs on children, the importance of locally adapted solutions, and the positioning of youth as active solution creators. There was also unexpected agreement on private sector moral responsibility and the inadequacy of current regulatory approaches.

Consensus level

High level of consensus with significant implications for policy development. The agreement spans technical, regulatory, and ethical dimensions, suggesting a mature understanding of the challenges and potential for coordinated global action. The consensus on youth empowerment and private sector moral responsibility indicates potential for innovative approaches that go beyond traditional regulatory frameworks. This level of agreement among diverse stakeholders suggests strong foundation for developing comprehensive, multi-faceted solutions to digital threats facing children.

Different viewpoints

Regulatory approach – age restrictions vs. comprehensive frameworks

Speakers

– Fifi Aleyda Yahya
– Elise Elena Mola

Arguments

Indonesia has adopted comprehensive approaches including delaying social media access to 17-18 years old and establishing AI ethics principles

Current EU AI Act requirements focus on corporate efficiency rather than teaching society how to interact safely with AI systems

Summary

Indonesia advocates for specific age-based restrictions (delaying social media access until 17-18), while the EU approach focuses on corporate compliance and efficiency rather than user education and safety skills

Topics

Legal and regulatory | Child safety online | Children rights

Unexpected differences

Focus on technical standards vs. policy implementation

Speakers

– IEEE representative
– Elise Elena Mola

Arguments

IEEE is developing standards for age-appropriate design, age verification, and e-gaming to ensure products consider what’s appropriate for different age groups

Current EU AI Act requirements focus on corporate efficiency rather than teaching society how to interact safely with AI systems

Explanation

Unexpectedly, both speakers work in technical/regulatory spaces but have different perspectives – IEEE focuses on creating technical standards for age-appropriate design, while Mola criticizes existing regulations for missing the mark on actual user safety education

Topics

Digital standards | Legal and regulatory | Child safety online

Overall assessment

Summary

The discussion showed remarkable consensus on identifying problems (misinformation threats, child safety concerns, need for collective action) but revealed subtle disagreements on implementation approaches – ranging from age-based restrictions vs. education-focused solutions, international frameworks vs. locally-adapted responses, and technical standards vs. policy reform

Disagreement level

Low to moderate disagreement level with high consensus on problems but divergent views on solutions. This suggests a mature policy discussion where stakeholders agree on challenges but bring different expertise and contextual perspectives to solutions, which could be complementary rather than conflicting if properly coordinated

Partial agreements

Similar viewpoints

All three speakers identify technology-facilitated gender-based violence and exposure to misogynistic content as major concerns, with algorithms actively promoting harmful gender attitudes and violent content

Speakers

– Salma Abbasi
– Mactar Seck
– Elise Elena Mola

Arguments

Technology-facilitated gender-based violence and exposure to toxic content is normalizing violence and creating harmful attitudes toward gender

Over 400 million people connected to social media in Africa face challenges from misinformation promoting violence, terrorism, and gender violence

AI algorithms on platforms like TikTok can expose young men to extreme right-wing propaganda and misogynistic content within 20 minutes

Topics

Gender rights online | Content policy | Child safety online

These speakers share a focus on age-appropriate access and design, emphasizing the need for technical standards and regulatory approaches that consider developmental appropriateness and children’s rights regarding their digital experiences

Speakers

– Fifi Aleyda Yahya
– IEEE representative
– Salma Abbasi

Arguments

Indonesia has adopted comprehensive approaches including delaying social media access to 17-18 years old and establishing AI ethics principles

IEEE is developing standards for age-appropriate design, age verification, and e-gaming to ensure products consider what’s appropriate for different age groups

Children want ownership of their data, the right to destroy it, and transparency about data sales

Topics

Children rights | Digital standards | Child safety online

These speakers from developing countries share concerns about misinformation and disinformation as threats to democratic processes, social stability, and security, particularly in contexts of political instability

Speakers

– AHM Bazlur Rahman
– Aminata Zerbo
– Mactar Seck

Arguments

Misinformation and disinformation pollute the entire information ecosystem and threaten human progress by promoting violent extremism and undermining democracies

AI-generated content including deepfakes poses serious threats to public trust and democratic processes, especially affecting vulnerable populations

Over 400 million people connected to social media in Africa face challenges from misinformation promoting violence, terrorism, and gender violence

Topics

Content policy | Human rights principles | Violent extremism

Key takeaways

Digital technologies are causing a ‘hidden public health crisis’ affecting children’s physiological, psychological, and social development through screen time exposure and dopamine-driven algorithms

AI-generated misinformation and disinformation pose serious threats to democratic processes, public trust, and social cohesion, particularly affecting vulnerable populations including children

Technology-facilitated gender-based violence and exposure to toxic online content is normalizing violence and creating harmful societal attitudes

Current regulatory frameworks and corporate AI literacy requirements are insufficient – they focus on efficiency rather than teaching society safe AI interaction

Collective, multi-stakeholder action is essential, requiring collaboration between parents, governments, private sector, and international organizations

Age-appropriate design standards and interactive terms and conditions are needed to protect children online

Local, culturally sensitive solutions are more effective than one-size-fits-all global approaches

Youth participation in developing solutions and peer-to-peer education programs show promising results

Resolutions and action items

Expand the draft guidelines for children’s safe engagement on social media and gaming platforms beyond the current 36 countries with IEEE Working Group collaboration

Launch the ‘Hidden Public Health Crisis’ report online and distribute widely to raise awareness

Implement digital parenting education programs and peer-to-peer communication initiatives in schools

Develop interactive terms and conditions that children can understand, written by children for children

Submit outcomes from this discussion to the UN General Assembly overall review through the chair’s report

Establish multi-ministry collaboration involving Health, Education, ICT, and Justice departments to address the crisis holistically

Create global digital literacy and public awareness campaigns in multiple languages

Develop technical standards for age-appropriate design, age verification, and e-gaming through IEEE

Unresolved issues

Limited regulatory authority over international platforms – many regulators can only influence traditional service providers, not global social media platforms

Enforcement mechanisms for collective action against trillion-dollar social media companies remain unclear

Specific implementation timelines and funding mechanisms for proposed initiatives were not established

How to balance freedom of expression with protection from harmful content across different cultural contexts

Technical challenges in age verification and content filtering without compromising privacy

Addressing the gap between policy discussions and actual corporate implementation practices

Scaling successful local initiatives to global implementation

Suggested compromises

Delaying social media access to 17-18 years old rather than complete bans, allowing supervised access before that age

Using codes of conduct and guidelines for platforms where direct regulation is not possible

Implementing gradual awareness campaigns through accessible formats like radio shows and journals for time-constrained parents

Developing locally relevant, culturally sensitive solutions rather than imposing universal standards

Creating voluntary industry standards through organizations like IEEE while working toward regulatory frameworks

Focusing on education and critical thinking skills alongside technological solutions

I am calling this a public health crisis and a hidden public health crisis. And the synthesis of all of the cases that we have covered over 14 countries show an alarming significance of self-harm and suicide. And it’s 96%, which is a very big problem of those cases that exist are either killing somebody or killing yourself.

Speaker

Salma Abbasi

Reason

This comment reframes the entire discussion by positioning digital misinformation and harmful content not as a technology or education issue, but as a public health emergency. The 96% statistic linking cases to self-harm or violence against others is particularly striking and elevates the urgency of the problem beyond typical policy discussions.

Impact

This framing set the tone for the entire workshop, establishing the gravity of the situation and justifying the need for multi-ministerial collaboration (Health, Education, ICT, Justice). It influenced subsequent speakers to address the issue with corresponding urgency and seriousness.

When you’re on screens, you don’t have to put the same effort as when you’re doing physical activities, which just makes the reward that more enjoyable, as you don’t have to put in the work and you get the same effect.

Speaker

Sami Galal

Reason

This insight from a young person provides a peer perspective on the neurological addiction mechanism that adults often struggle to articulate. The comment demonstrates sophisticated understanding of dopamine pathways and reward systems, showing how children themselves can understand and explain the science behind their own digital experiences.

Impact

This comment validated the scientific approach to the discussion while demonstrating that young people can be active participants in understanding and solving the problem, not just passive victims. It reinforced the importance of peer-to-peer education and youth participation in solutions.

There was some interesting studies done, for example, that within 20 minutes of using TikTok, young men are shown extreme right-wing propaganda, violence, misogynist content. And what we’re missing is understanding, you know, how is the AI algorithm manipulating us and playing to our most vulnerable evolutionary aspects in order to maximize our screen time.

Speaker

Elise Elena Mola

Reason

This comment bridges the gap between technical AI implementation in corporations and real-world social consequences. The specific timeframe (20 minutes) makes the threat tangible and immediate, while connecting algorithmic manipulation to evolutionary psychology adds depth to understanding why these systems are so effective.

Impact

This shifted the discussion from general concerns about misinformation to specific, measurable algorithmic manipulation tactics. It highlighted the disconnect between corporate AI governance (focused on efficiency) and societal AI literacy needs (focused on recognizing manipulation).

We are delaying the age for our teenagers to be able to access social media. But we’re not banning them to use the gadget, just delaying them 17 to 18 years old. So they can, at that age, after that age, they can access social media independently without parents’ supervision.

Speaker

Fifi Aleyda Yahya

Reason

This represents a concrete, implemented policy solution that balances protection with rights. The distinction between device access and social media access shows nuanced policy thinking that addresses developmental concerns while maintaining digital literacy opportunities.

Impact

This provided a practical example of how countries can take proactive regulatory action, influencing the discussion toward concrete policy solutions rather than just problem identification. It demonstrated that protective measures don’t require complete digital restriction.

The only country in the world that hasn’t signed the UN Convention on the Rights of a Child is United States of America. And that’s so funny because even North Korea and, you know, whether you’re South Sudan, every country has signed this.

Speaker

Salma Abbasi

Reason

This comment exposes a fundamental irony in global child protection efforts and challenges assumptions about which countries lead in children’s rights. It highlights how geopolitical considerations can override child welfare concerns even in developed nations.

Impact

This observation reframed the discussion from developed vs. developing country perspectives to show that leadership in child protection can come from unexpected sources. It empowered Global South participants to see themselves as potential leaders rather than followers in this space.

Parents should know not to give the phone to the child. As Ms. Salma said, it’s like a digital babysitter. So even when the parent has to go and do an activity and it’s easier to give the phone to the child, they should only do that as a last resort after trying some more interactive activities.

Speaker

Sami Galal

Reason

This comment from a young person directly addressing parental behavior is particularly powerful because it comes from the demographic being protected. The practical acknowledgment of parental convenience while still advocating for limits shows mature understanding of real-world constraints.

Impact

This shifted the discussion from top-down policy solutions to ground-level behavioral changes, emphasizing that effective solutions require changes in daily family practices, not just regulatory frameworks.

Overall assessment

These key comments fundamentally shaped the discussion by elevating it from a typical technology policy conversation to a multi-dimensional crisis requiring urgent, coordinated action. The framing as a ‘hidden public health crisis’ established the gravity and cross-sectoral nature of required solutions. The inclusion of youth voices, particularly Sami’s scientific and practical insights, demonstrated that effective solutions must include those most affected. The concrete policy examples from Indonesia and technical insights about algorithmic manipulation provided both hope and specificity to the discussion. Together, these comments created a comprehensive framework that moved beyond problem identification to actionable, multi-stakeholder solutions while maintaining focus on the most vulnerable populations. The discussion successfully balanced scientific rigor, policy practicality, and human impact, largely due to these pivotal contributions that each added essential dimensions to understanding and addressing the crisis.

How can we better understand the hidden developmental issues not currently covered in screen time research?

Speaker

Salma Abbasi

Explanation

She mentioned that while research on screen time, overuse, and poor sleep exists, the hidden developmental issues are not adequately covered, indicating a need for deeper investigation into these invisible impacts on children.

How can we develop more sophisticated detection methods for AI-generated content as it becomes more seamless?

Speaker

Fifi Aleyda Yahya

Explanation

She noted that while we can currently spot AI-generated content, it will become more sophisticated and seamless in the near future, requiring advanced detection capabilities.

How can we develop locally relevant, culturally sensitive, contextual solutions for different countries rather than one-size-fits-all approaches?

Speaker

Yu Ping Chan

Explanation

She emphasized that global solutions developed in the West may not be appropriate for all contexts, particularly in developing countries, and local solutions need to be developed.

How can we expand the disinformation monitoring platform developed with Gambia to the continental level across Africa?

Speaker

Mactar Seck

Explanation

He mentioned they developed a platform with Gambia to monitor disinformation and fake news as a first step, and are exploring how to expand this across the African continent.

How can regulators exercise their power to switch off platforms collectively when dealing with harmful content?

Speaker

Salma Abbasi

Explanation

She noted that regulators have the power to switch off platforms (citing examples from Indonesia and Brazil) but often don’t exercise it, suggesting need for research on collective regulatory action.

How can we address biases in AI algorithms, particularly regarding gender discrimination and impacts on children and older persons?

Speaker

Gitanjali Sah

Explanation

She raised the important issue of biases in AI algorithms as another critical area that needs attention, particularly for vulnerable populations.

How can we better train caregivers beyond parents (kindergarten staff, household helpers) who spend time with children?

Speaker

Claudia Bustamante

Explanation

She pointed out that children are not always with their parents but with other caregivers who also need training on digital safety and critical thinking.

What are the implications and potential of comprehensive legislation giving individuals copyrights to their voice, face, and body, as being implemented in Denmark?

Speaker

Carol Constantine

Explanation

She shared information about Denmark’s new legislation and asked about its potential as a way forward and what hurdles might exist in implementing similar measures elsewhere.

How can we better integrate digital literacy and critical thinking about misinformation into school curricula globally?

Speaker

Dr. Eva Fell

Explanation

She emphasized the need to focus on schools as the primary venue for teaching children critical thinking skills about digital content and misinformation.

Summary

This panel discussion at the WSIS Forum focused on building inclusive and knowledge-driven digital societies, featuring perspectives from telecommunications regulators, NGO leaders, and technology experts from various countries. The session was moderated by Cerys Stansfield from Access Partnership and included participants from Somalia, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Jamaica, Bangladesh, and other organizations, with Dr. Vint Cerf joining remotely.

Mustafa Sheikh from Somalia emphasized the importance of addressing infrastructure deficits, policy fragmentation, and digital literacy gaps in post-conflict nations. He highlighted Somalia’s success with public-private partnerships in developing ICT infrastructure and achieving greater internet penetration. George William Nyambitembo from Uganda discussed the country’s comprehensive approach to digital inclusion, including expanding broadband infrastructure through the Universal Access Fund and training over 500,000 citizens in digital literacy programs.

Dr. Gift Kallisto Machengete from Zimbabwe outlined regulatory initiatives to promote inclusivity, including tower relocation programs for underserved areas, ICT training for persons with disabilities, and gender-focused programs like Girls in ICT. Christopher Reckord from Jamaica shared insights about implementing AI in public services, particularly in education, including AI-assisted paper marking for teachers and the development of AI labs.

Dr. Philip Lee from the World Association for Christian Communication emphasized that communication rights must be foundational to digital governance, calling for democratic data governance and community-led media ecosystems. Dr. Rahman from Bangladesh highlighted the persistent digital divide and the need for stronger coordination between UN agencies and country-level implementation.

Dr. Vint Cerf concluded by discussing AI’s potential to improve accessibility for people with disabilities through voice interaction, automatic captioning, and language translation. The discussion underscored that while significant progress has been made in digital inclusion, substantial challenges remain in bridging the global digital divide and ensuring equitable access to digital resources for all populations.

Keypoints

**Major Discussion Points:**

– **Infrastructure and Digital Divide Challenges**: Multiple speakers emphasized the persistent infrastructure deficits in developing and post-conflict nations, including lack of reliable internet connectivity, stable electricity, and affordable access. Somalia, Uganda, and Zimbabwe shared specific examples of how they’re addressing these foundational barriers through public-private partnerships, tower relocation programs, and universal access funds.

– **Inclusive Access for Marginalized Communities**: A central theme focused on ensuring digital inclusion for underserved populations including rural communities, women, youth, elderly, and persons with disabilities. Speakers discussed targeted programs like digital literacy training, community information centers, assistive technologies, and gender-focused initiatives (Girls in ICT, She Tech programs).

– **AI Implementation and Opportunities**: The discussion explored practical applications of AI in public services, with Jamaica’s AI task force highlighting education sector implementations like automated paper marking and AI chatbots for government services. Dr. Cerf emphasized AI’s potential for accessibility improvements through voice interaction, automatic translation, and assistive technologies for people with disabilities.

– **Governance and Regulatory Frameworks**: Speakers addressed the need for stronger governance structures, consistent regulations, data protection laws, and cybersecurity measures. There was emphasis on the role of telecommunications regulators in building inclusive digital societies and the importance of multi-stakeholder collaboration.

– **Communication Rights and Media Pluralism**: Discussion included the fundamental role of communication as a human right, the need for independent and pluralistic media, and concerns about the commercialization of information access. Speakers called for democratic data governance and community-led voices in media ecosystems.

**Overall Purpose:**

This high-level panel discussion at the WSIS Forum aimed to explore strategies and initiatives for building inclusive and knowledge-driven digital societies, with particular focus on developing nations and marginalized communities. The session served as part of the WSIS Plus 20 review, evaluating progress and identifying future priorities for achieving equitable digital transformation.

**Overall Tone:**

The discussion maintained a professional and collaborative tone throughout, with speakers sharing both achievements and ongoing challenges in a constructive manner. While acknowledging significant progress made over the past 20 years, there was an underlying sense of urgency about persistent digital divides and the need for accelerated action. The tone was realistic about challenges but remained optimistic about solutions, emphasizing the importance of continued multi-stakeholder cooperation and innovative approaches to achieve digital inclusion goals.

Speakers

**Speakers from the provided list:**

– **Vinton Cerf** – Chairman of the Leadership Panel for the Internet Governance Forum, one of the inventors of the internet

– **Christopher Reckord** – Chairman of the National AI Task Force in Jamaica

– **Mustafa Sheik** – Director-General of the National Communications Authority of Somalia

– **Cerys Stansfield** – Tech policy analyst at Access Partnership (international tech public policy consultancy firm), session moderator

– **Gift Kallisto Machengete** – Director-General of the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe

– **AHM Bazlur Rahman** – Chief Executive Officer of the Bangladesh NGOs Network for Radio and Communication, Ambassador for the Global Council for Responsible AI

– **George William Nyombi Thembo** – Executive Director of the Uganda Communications Commission

– **Philip Lee** – General Secretary of the World Association for Christian Communication

**Additional speakers:**

None – all speakers mentioned in the transcript were included in the provided speakers names list.

# Building Inclusive and Knowledge-Driven Digital Societies: A Comprehensive Panel Discussion Report

## Executive Summary

This panel discussion at the WSIS Forum brought together telecommunications regulators, NGO leaders, and technology experts to examine strategies for building inclusive and knowledge-driven digital societies. Moderated by Cerys Stansfield from Access Partnership, the session featured Mustafa Sheikh from Somalia’s National Communications Authority, George William Nyambitembo from Uganda’s Communications Commission, Gift Kallisto Machengete from Zimbabwe’s telecommunications authority, Christopher Reckord from Jamaica’s National AI Task Force, Philip Lee from the World Association for Christian Communication, AHM Bazlur Rahman from Bangladesh, and Dr Vint Cerf participating remotely. The discussion formed part of the WSIS Plus 20 review, evaluating two decades of progress whilst identifying future priorities for digital transformation.

## Infrastructure Development as the Foundation

Mustafa Sheikh from Somalia’s National Communications Authority established the framework for understanding digital inclusion challenges, emphasising that “building an inclusive and knowledge-driven digital society is not only a technical challenge, it is a governance challenge, an investment challenge, and above all, a human challenge.” Sheikh highlighted Somalia’s unique context as a post-conflict nation facing infrastructure deficits, policy fragmentation, and digital literacy gaps. Despite these challenges, Somalia has achieved increased internet penetration through public-private partnerships and has begun rolling out 5G networks. However, Sheikh stressed that infrastructure deficit requires long-term coordinated investment strategies and innovative financing models.

George William Nyambitembo from Uganda’s Communications Commission reported that 76% of government offices are now connected through national backbone infrastructure. Uganda’s approach includes targeting north and northeastern regions with solar-powered digital labs, demonstrating how renewable energy solutions can overcome electricity constraints in remote areas. The Universal Access Fund has been instrumental in targeting specific regions with broadband initiatives and satellite licensing for remote communities.

Gift Kallisto Machengete from Zimbabwe’s telecommunications authority outlined innovative approaches to infrastructure sharing, including tower relocation programmes to underserved areas where shared infrastructure makes connectivity viable despite low commercial returns. Zimbabwe has established 202 community information centres in rural areas providing ICT services, government services, and telemedicine.

Dr Vint Cerf, participating remotely after initial technical difficulties, reinforced the foundational importance of connectivity, noting that basic internet access is a fundamental prerequisite for AI and digital technologies to be useful.

## Digital Literacy and Human Capital Development

Sheikh identified low digital skills among both citizens and civil servants as consistent obstacles requiring central focus in digital transformation strategies. This challenge extends beyond basic computer skills to encompass understanding of digital rights, privacy protection, and safe usage practices.

Nyambitembo shared Uganda’s substantial achievements, with over 500,000 citizens trained in digital literacy programmes targeting women, small and medium enterprises, youth, and persons with disabilities. These programmes utilise community-based models implemented under Uganda’s Access to Information Act and Digital Transformation Roadmap 2023-2028.

Machengete highlighted Zimbabwe’s specialised ICT training programmes and assistive technologies for persons with disabilities, including specific initiatives like “Girls in ICT” and “She Tech” programmes that create knowledge transfer within communities.

Cerf emphasised that digital literacy education must include safe usage practices to preserve safety and privacy, particularly as AI technologies become more prevalent.

## Addressing Marginalised Communities and Inclusion Challenges

Sheikh noted that marginalised groups including rural populations, women, and youth are often systematically excluded from digital services, requiring deliberate policy interventions to address structural barriers.

Nyambitembo revealed that 7.5 million Ugandans remain offline with only 40% owning smartphones. Uganda’s response includes targeted interventions through community information centres and mobile digital literacy programmes that bring services directly to underserved communities.

Machengete described Zimbabwe’s community information centres serving as crucial access points for populations who cannot afford individual connectivity. He also noted an often-overlooked aspect of inclusion: “when we leave boys alone, the boys, especially in our areas, they end up doing a lot of drugs, and we need to assist them as well.”

Philip Lee from the World Association for Christian Communication argued that independent and pluralistic media ecosystems need community-led voices to be prioritised over market interests, emphasising that true inclusion requires confronting structural power imbalances.

## Artificial Intelligence Implementation and Opportunities

Christopher Reckord from Jamaica’s National AI Task Force shared concrete examples of AI implementation in the education sector. Jamaica is testing AI tools to help teachers mark papers and establishing AI labs through partnership with India. Reckord highlighted the potential for government-wide AI chatbots to provide comprehensive citizen services access.

Cerf provided compelling perspectives on AI’s potential for accessibility improvements, noting that AI technologies like voice interaction, automatic translation, and automatic captions can significantly improve access for people with disabilities. He personally noted: “I have a language disability. I don’t speak many of the languages that your former speakers speak, and I would need the assistance for that.”

Cerf’s vision of AI agents serving as tutors that ask questions to verify learning rather than just answering them suggests transformative potential for education systems.

## Communication Rights and Democratic Governance

Philip Lee introduced a critical perspective arguing that “communication rights must be foundational to governance discussions, not footnotes,” requiring democratic data governance and public digital infrastructure. Lee asserted that transformation is impossible “without confronting the colonial, racist and sexist legacies embedded in the control of information and knowledge and in the development of digital technologies themselves, including artificial intelligence.”

AHM Bazlur Rahman from Bangladesh provided a critique of current progress, observing that “the access of the information and knowledge sector is fully commercialised and entirely dominated by the corporate sector… Those who have money, they have access to knowledge domain, communication domain. Those who have not money, those who are underserved people, they are not part of this.”

Rahman called for localized action plans that align global WSIS commitments with national priorities whilst fostering multi-stakeholder engagement.

## Policy and Regulatory Framework Challenges

Sheikh identified policy fragmentation and weak governance as fundamental barriers that undermine digital transformation efforts, requiring stronger cybersecurity and data protection measures. In post-conflict contexts, inconsistent regulations and unclear data protection laws limit public trust and project continuity.

Nyambitembo highlighted how comprehensive legal frameworks, including Uganda’s National Development Plan and Digital Transformation Roadmap, can create robust ecosystems for digital inclusion.

Rahman advocated for structural reforms in three key areas: establishing a permanent, reinforced WSIS and IGF Secretariat with sustainable funding; developing a centralised UN reporting system to address fragmented reporting to UNESCO, WSIS, and ITU; and strengthening links between UN Resident Coordinator Offices and WSIS Action Line issues at the country level.

## Key Areas of Focus

Speakers consistently emphasised several priority areas. All participants identified robust digital infrastructure as the foundational requirement for digital transformation efforts, with specific examples of public-private partnerships, infrastructure sharing, and targeted investment in underserved areas.

Digital literacy and skills development emerged as central to digital transformation, with speakers identifying systematic training programmes targeting diverse populations as critical components.

The need for deliberately targeting marginalised and underserved communities was emphasised throughout, with speakers highlighting focused efforts to include rural populations, women, youth, and persons with disabilities through targeted programmes and community-based approaches.

Comprehensive policy frameworks and governance structures involving multiple stakeholders were identified as necessary for providing clear regulatory guidance for digital transformation efforts.

## Unresolved Challenges and Future Priorities

The discussion highlighted persistent challenges requiring continued attention. The scale of exclusion remains significant, with millions still offline and access continuing to be dominated by those with financial means whilst underserved communities face systemic exclusion.

Rahman noted that funding streams for civil society organisations, especially in the Global South, are shrinking without identified sustainable alternatives, threatening community-based approaches crucial for reaching marginalised populations.

The discussion revealed that structural inequalities in information control and AI development remain largely unaddressed, suggesting that technical solutions alone are insufficient for achieving genuine inclusion.

## Recommendations and Action Items

Several concrete action items emerged from the discussion. Rahman specifically called for establishing permanent, reinforced WSIS and IGF Secretariats with sustainable funding, developing localised action plans that align global WSIS commitments with national priorities, and creating a centralised UN reporting system to streamline country-level reporting.

Practical recommendations included implementing government-wide AI chatbots for comprehensive citizen services access, scaling digital literacy programmes using community-based models, and strengthening coordination between UN Resident Coordinator Offices and WSIS Action Line issues at country level.

## Conclusion

As moderator Cerys Stansfield noted in her closing remarks, despite running over time, the discussion demonstrated the critical importance of multi-stakeholder collaboration in building inclusive digital societies. The panel revealed both significant progress in infrastructure development, digital literacy programmes, and targeted inclusion efforts, alongside substantial challenges around economic inequality, governance structures, and power imbalances.

The discussion demonstrated that building inclusive digital societies requires moving beyond technical solutions to address governance, investment, and human challenges. Success depends on coordinated efforts combining infrastructure development, skills building, inclusive design, and governance frameworks that address both immediate practical needs and underlying structural inequalities. As Stansfield concluded, Dr Cerf’s remote participation served as “the silver lining to running over” time, embodying the collaborative spirit necessary for achieving truly inclusive digital transformation.

Cerys Stansfield: Excellencies, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, thank you for joining us and welcome to the first high-level session of this afternoon. My name is Cerys Stansfield and I’m a tech policy analyst at Access Partnership, an international tech public policy consultancy firm, and I have the privilege of leading this next panel discussion. This session will focus on building digital societies that are both inclusive and knowledge-driven in nature, and I’m honoured to be joined by esteemed panellists to explore ongoing strategies and initiatives and future priorities in this aim. Please join me in welcoming Mr. Mustafa Sheikh, the Director-General of the National Communications Authority of Somalia, Mr. George William Nyambitembo, the Executive Director of the Uganda Communications Commission, Dr. Gift Kallisto Machengete, the Director-General of the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe, Mr. Christopher Rekord, the Chairman of the National AI Task Force in Jamaica, Dr. Philip Lee, the General Secretary of the World Association for Christian Communication, Mr. Aam Bazloor Rahman, the Chief Executive Officer of the Bangladesh NGOs Network for Radio and Communication, and Ambassador for the Global Council for Responsible AI, and joining us remotely, Dr. Vint Cerf. We welcome you here not only as one of the inventors of the internet, but also in your capacity as Chairman of the Leadership Panel for the Internet Governance Forum. Thank you to you all for being here today. Thank you. Mr. Mustafa Sheikh, in light of the international and multi-stakeholder heart of the WSIS Forum, allow me to pose the first question related to international cooperation. Could you share your view as to how international cooperation frameworks can better support developing and post-conflict nations to create inclusive digital access ecosystems that are resilient, that are locally driven, and that are future-ready?

Mustafa Sheik: Excellencies, Distinguished Colleges and Partners, thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to address this critical theme, building an inclusive and knowledge-driven digital society for post-conflict and developing nations. Achieving this goal demands that our international cooperation framework address deep-rooted barriers. Challenges in this context highlight a number of issues that we cannot ignore to make sure that we are leaving no one behind. First of all, I would like to demonstrate the Somali context as an experience and showcase for the international arena. Then I will share with you lessons learned from the Somali context. In Somalia, we embraced the promise of ICT as a path to national recovery. For the last two decades, we incentivized public-private partnerships and investments to develop stronger relations and improve infrastructure, leading to a more stable and affordable prices for internet connection, which resulted in increased internet penetration and internet investment in the sector. ICT has brought national financial inclusion, and operators are now rolling out 5G networks. Somalia is not just boosting infrastructure, but developing the ICT ecosystem. The national ICT policy for Somalia laid a roadmap for digital inclusion, fiber-optic expansion, innovation habits, and human capital development as well. To focus on the lessons learned from our experience, which is the main theme of the discussion, first, we need to address the reality of the infrastructure deficit. Many communities lack reliable internet connectivity and stable electricity, which is the foundation element of any developing digital society. There is a need for long-term coordinated investment strategies which incentivize public-private partnerships and innovative financial models to close this critical gap. Second, policy fragmentation and weak governance continue to undermine the digital transformation efforts. Inconsistent regulations, unclear data protection laws, and fragile political institutions limit the trustee and continuity of the projectees. So, strengthening cybersecurity and protecting data privacy are essential to build public confidence and enable cross-border digital trade. Third, building a truly inclusive and knowledge-driven digital society means tackling the digital divide head-on. Marginalized groups, especially the rural population, women, and youth, are too often excluded from e-government and digital services. Local governments need to design and implement context-specific participatory policies that ensure access and usability for all, overcoming social barriers, and ensuring that no one is left behind. Fourth, which is the most important, one, digital literacy and human capital development must be central. Low levels of digital skills among both citizens and civil servants are consistent barriers to the underdeveloped countries, which overcoming them can incentivize and expedite the process of the digitalization of the country. Fifth, well-emerging technologies like AI, blockchain, and cloud computing offer transformative potential. They are not a magical solution, but require successful adoption, require a solid governance framework, ethical safeguards, and investment in local capacity to use and manage these technologies responsibly and sustainably as well. Building an inclusive and knowledge-driven digital society is not only a technical challenge, it is a governance challenge, an investment challenge, and above all, a human challenge. Thank you.

Cerys Stansfield: Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Sheikh, for sharing the Somali context and, of course, the lessons learned. We’re going to stay on a national focus. Mr. Naomi Tembo, Uganda has made significant progress in expanding digital infrastructure and policy reform. How is the country combining its inclusive policies, community access initiatives, digital skilling, and efforts to improve affordability to ensure that ICTs and media truly expand equitable access to information, and in particular to those who are from unserved and underserved communities?

George William Nyombi Thembo: Thank you, Madam Moderator. Colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, Uganda recognizes the true transformative power of ICT and the media, that that lies in their ability to empower all citizens with equal access to information, especially those left behind. Over the past 20 years, we have steadily advanced this agenda through deliberate policy interventions, through our legal and policy framework, National Development Plan, Access to Information Act, and most recently, the Digital Transformation Roadmap 2023-2028. These have fostered a robust ecosystem that connects over 76% of government offices through the national backbone infrastructure, digitizes public service, and integrates underserved population via community ICT access centers and digital literacy programs. That said, we are not blind that we have challenges. 7.5 million Ugandans are offline and off-air. Only 40% of the population owns smartphones. To bridge this divide, we are focusing on three key strategies. One, equitable infrastructure expansion through the Universal Access Fund. We are targeting the north and northeastern Uganda with new broadband initiatives through solar power digital labs. Satellite Licensing Frameworks to Reach Remote Communities Police and Legal Frameworks Enablement Uganda is actively promoting open and probabilistic media and advancing legislation on access of public data. These efforts complement our push to establish digital libraries and scientific knowledge repositories that are inclusive and accessible to all. And three, inclusive digital literacy and affordability. We are scaling programs that have already trained over 500,000 citizens in the past five, six years, including women, small and medium enterprises, youth, and persons with disabilities. Furthermore, we are working to reduce the cost of devices and expand mobile digital literacy using community-based models. We believe that expanding equitable access to information is not just about connectivity. It’s about dignity, inclusion, and opportunity. That’s why we are also fostering an ecosystem that supports independent media, local content creation, and diverse voices, particularly at the community level. We call upon our global partners to support our efforts through technology transfer, funding for rural infrastructure, and digital scaling collaborations. Uganda is committed to ensuring that no one is left behind as we build an informed, empowered, and digitally inclusive society. Thank you.

Cerys Stansfield: Thank you very much for sharing the comprehensive approach that Uganda is taking to bridge the digital divide. Dr. Mettingete, I now turn to my right. May I invite you to share the perspective from Zimbabwe? What is the role of telecommunications and ICT regulatory authorities in building inclusive and knowledge-driven digital societies?

Gift Kallisto Machengete: Thank you very much, and good afternoon. Your Excellency is present. To answer this question, allow me to zero in on the specific interventions by the regulatory authority in Zimbabwe to promote inclusivity and the transition towards a knowledge-based society. Through a range of strategic initiatives, the regulator is ensuring that all segments of the population, regardless of geography, regardless of ability, regardless of gender, age, or economic status, can participate meaningfully in the digital economy. One of the major barriers to digital inclusion in Zimbabwe is the lack of telecommunications infrastructure in remote and economically disadvantaged areas. To address this, the regulator implemented a tower relocation program, which involves financing the relocation of co-located towers to underserved and unserved areas or regions, including border areas. These towers, once relocated, are shared by multiple network operators, making them viable for service delivery despite low commercial returns. This initiative has brought essential connectivity to marginalized communities, enabling access to digital services, enabling access to education, enabling access to information. Recognizing also the unique challenges faced by persons living with disabilities, the regulator offers basic, intermediate, and advanced ICT training programs tailored to their needs. These programs not only enhance digital literacy, but also empower people living with disabilities to become trainers themselves through the trainer workshops. This inclusive approach fosters self-sufficiency and creates a ripple effect of knowledge transfer within the community of persons with disabilities. To further support them, the regulator has facilitated the distribution of assistive software and gadgets to various centers housing people with disabilities. These technologies are essential in enabling access to computers and the Internet, thus breaking down barriers to education, barriers to communication, and employment opportunities. The regulator has also taken sufficient strides in promoting gender inclusivity in the tech space through initiatives such as the Girls in ICT program. We also have one which is called the She Tech program. These programs aim to inspire and equip girls and young women with the skills and confidence to pursue careers in ICT by challenging stereotypes and offering hands-on learning experiences for them. To ensure economic hardship does not limit access to ICT education, we also offer scholarships to those who are underprivileged, and in this case, both boys and girls. We have also noted that when we leave boys alone, the boys, especially in our areas, they end up doing a lot of drugs, and we need to assist them as well. So both boys and girls, we are assisting them, those who are coming from underprivileged backgrounds, with scholarships so that they can also be assisted. Inclusivity efforts also extend to the elderly. We have set up over 202 community information centers in the rural areas where the elderly are staying, where the rural folk are, where they can go and access ICT services, government services. Recently, we even introduced telemedicine as well in those areas so that they don’t have to be traveling all the way to the towns. Promoting inclusivity and bridging that digital divide. So overall, the regulator’s multifaceted approach to digital inclusion reflects a strong commitment to building a knowledge-based society where no one is left behind. Through infrastructure development, targeted training, technology support, gender empowerment, financial aid, and policy advocates, the authority is laying the foundation for a more equitable and digitally empowered Zimbabwe. I thank you.

Cerys Stansfield: Thank you very much, Dr. Machengete. There is a huge number of things going on from Portres, so thank you for your efforts. I pivot back. Mr. Christopher Reckord, the attendance at the AI for Good Summit next door shows that AI is still a hot topic. It’s not going anywhere. And it’s one of the emerging technologies that cuts across several of the WSIS action lines. My challenge to you, please could you give us one quick, affordable action that a government could take this year to jumpstart the use of AI in public services?

Christopher Reckord: Thank you very much for that question. Wow, a big one. One. I think it’s difficult to choose one right now, but I’ll give you a set of context of it just to say that about a year and a half ago, the then minister with responsibility for digital transformation and innovation created an AI task force, which she invited me to chair. And in doing that, the task force was complemented with folks from the public sector, private sector, and we also had academia on there, about 17 persons. It took a year to go, you know, do some research with other stakeholders and pull together a report. And with that report, we came up with a document that we presented to the prime minister and cabinet. which outlined a number of areas and I’ll just give you a high level as to what some of these areas areas were with respect to with respect to um education they had strong recommendations in education of course we had to have a section on innovation and economic growth and public awareness and sensitization so out of those three one of the things that we will uh see firstly coming out is education because the the then minister uh was then reappointed as the minister of education so I guess she had a she had a a head start in getting the report uh read through it and then she started to do some things in in the ministry so one of the things that she’s actually done is um currently testing a tool with teachers helping them to to mark papers because it’s one of the as a former teacher myself it’s it’s it’s been a struggle you know exam time you have a lot of papers to mark so with the advent of this technology uh you know in my group I jokingly call it augmented intelligence instead of artificial intelligence it’s helping us to do you know do these type of things and so that is one of the tools that’s there another tool again within education has been tested and you know you mentioned cost the minister along with some other dignitaries visited India and saw some interesting experiments happening there and um they were very lucky that an investor made an offer to come and implement some of these technologies in Jamaica for free so one of the things that they’re actually doing they’ve actually signed a contract to build an AI lab and um also a partner with university ministry of education in getting that AI lab off the ground so number one thing for me is education education and of course um you know if we were to make a suggestion for a project uh I think building something like an AI chatbot that answers questions for all government services regardless of what type of service you would like would be a fantastic initiative if I were to just suggest something brand new um you know different but a chatbot that speaks to the entire nation for any questions that they want to do with the government would be very helpful thank you

Cerys Stansfield: thank you very much Mr. Christopher Reckord and thank you for setting the broader context as this task force in Jamaica and focusing a little on the education sector I think it’s important to remember that when we think about our digital societies yes we spend a lot of time on telecoms and ICT sectors specifically but this is transforming all sectors we’ve heard about health we’ve heard about education thank you very much Dr. Philip Lee we’ve heard a range of insights from the government and regulatory perspective when it comes to inclusive digital societies please could I ask you to reflect on the prominence that we should give to communication and information issues in this dialogue and specifically what position does an international NGO such as the World Association for Christian Communication take in this field.

Philip Lee: thank you moderator WACC and its partners around the world work to advance communication rights and media freedoms as fundamental to just democratic inclusive and peaceful societies and looking back on two decades of actions aimed at creating an equitable information society we must confront the reality that millions of people are still excluded not just from digital access but also from meaningful participation in the systems that shape knowledge governance and power it’s a simple truth that without communication justice there can be no equitable sustainable development civil society especially in the global south is being increasingly silenced not only by political repression but by the collapse of international aid and shrinking funding streams digital technologies are dominated by the global north and digital platforms are used to amplify some voices while marginalizing others at this critical juncture WSIS plus 20 is formulating bold proposals to rethink understandings of development to elevate national actors and to increase accessibility affordability and accountability WACC and its partners welcome these calls but none of this transformation is possible without confronting the colonial racist and sexist legacies embedded in the control of information and knowledge and in the development of digital technologies themselves including artificial intelligence we believe that communication must be recognized not merely as a tool for development but as a right central to human dignity agency and justice and with that in mind we’re calling for media regulation that genuinely serves the common good not just market or state interests media ecosystems where community-led voices are not just supported but prioritized democratic data governance that respects people’s sovereignty over their own information new public and non-profit ownership of digital infrastructure that upholds the public good a fair knowledge global a fair global knowledge regime where truth is not dictated by power and finally a realignment of the global digital economy and its financial architecture based on principles of fairness inclusivity and accountability WACC urges WSIS plus 20 UN agencies member states and digital actors to listen to the voices of ordinary people and to respond radically to their concerns if the next 20 years are to deliver on the promise of just and inclusive digital societies then communication rights must no longer be a footnote to governance discussions they must be foundational can we imagine a world in which communication ecosystems serve people not profit or power if we can then we must act decisively to build it.

Cerys Stansfield: thank you dr lee and thank you for the reminder that there are several levels in our digital ecosystem where inclusivity must be accounted for from the users of digital technologies yes but also also the designers the policy makers the regulators thank you very much dr rahman WSIS action line nine focuses on the role of media and in the information society and i would like to ask you what are the key challenges we face in implementing this action line in bangladesh and southeast asia and more more broadly particularly with regard to the role of independent and pluralistic media in fostering informed societies and if i may what are the key trends and opportunities that you see later in 2025 and beyond as we strive to foster inclusive and knowledge-driven societies again with a focus on bangladesh and southeast asia

AHM Bazlur Rahman: yeah madam moderator excellencies distinguished participants WSIS action line implementation fighters all over the world very good afternoon it’s a great privilege to be with all of you this afternoon at the WSIS 20 years event i would like to sincerely thank the WSIS secretariat for the kind invitation which has given me the opportunity to share my thoughts on behalf of the bangladesh and use network for radio and communication and bangladesh internet governance forum first of all i would like to fully endorse my mentor voices a statement dr philip lee from world association of global communication world association of christian communication i would like to fully endorse the statement and use at the outset after two decades of implementation implementing the WSIS action lines we recognize the tremendous opportunity presented by widespread connectivity enhanced mobility user-friendly interface and emerging transaction channels this advancement encourages us to expand of government services beyond traditional online and mobile platform madam moderator it’s concerning to see the emergence of the significant aspect of digital divide which is unfolding alongside our access to Unfortunately, this divide appears to be widening each day rather than improving. It’s essential for us to acknowledge these challenges and collaborate to find solutions that enable everyone to benefit from the digital world. Madam Moderator, the access of the information and knowledge sector is fully commercialized and entirely dominated by the corporate sector. As observed after 20 years, therefore, where are the voices of underserved communities in access to information and knowledge? Those who have money, they have access to knowledge domain, communication domain. Those who have not money, those who are underserved people, they are not part of this. This is a very sad matter. After 20 years, we see this. Madam Moderator, it is essential for us to solve this problem. But voices need to be heard. The situation is regrettable for us, given our two decades of collaboration with the corporate sector. Madam Moderator, the essential objectives of the WSIS mandate have yet to be fully realized, as outlined in the Geneva Plan of Action and the UNICEF Agenda for Action. There is a pressing opportunity to enhance the WSIS forum to better address both long-standing and emerging challenges, such an improvement would facilitate the exploration of potential solutions and support localization efforts, while also fostering active engagement with the UN Resident Coordinator Office at the country level. Madam Moderator, currently a notable gap appears to exist between the UN Resident Coordinator Office and the issues concerning the World Summit on the Information Society Action Line and the IGF at the country level. Strengthening this link could foster greater collaboration and enhance the effectiveness of our initiative. Madam Moderator, in conclusion, what is urgently needed is a permanent, reinforced, and even stronger WSIS and IGF Secretariat, with sustainable funding at both the Secretariat and as well as country level, with three areas. Number one, develop a localized action plan that aligns global WSIS commitment with national priority. We need a central reporting system from the UN side. Currently, we are reporting to UNESCO, we are reporting to the WSIS, we are reporting to the ITU. No, we need a central reporting system from the UN side, so that every country submits their report accordingly. Number two, capacity building and awareness. Promote ICT education and digital skills, encourage the use of ICT for inclusive development, and run awareness campaigns on the benefit of the information and knowledge society, in line with knowledge creation, knowledge preservation, knowledge dissemination, and knowledge utilization of our life and livelihood. Finally, create a multiple stakeholder engagement platform that facilitates regular consultation, share, progress, update, and foster innovation and collaboration. I thank you, Madam.

Cerys Stansfield: Thank you very much, Dr. Rahman, and for reminding us that in our mission to achieve the WSIS vision, we’re on the path, we’re doing well, we are not there just yet. Ladies and gentlemen, I realize we are running a little over time, but I urge you to grant me a few more minutes, as we have one speaker left. Dr. Vint Cerf, thank you very much for joining us. I hope you can hear me well. Throughout our discussion, we’ve extensively discussed the importance of extending digital access to remote communities, and to all individuals, regardless of their gender, or age, or if they have a disability. In the final minutes, I will return the focus to AI, and ask you, how can AI technologies be leveraged to improve access to digital resources for people with disabilities?

Vinton Cerf: Thank you very much, Madam Chairwoman, I guess. I listened to the live stream. I was unable to get connected until literally moments ago, so thank you to the staff for helping me get connected in this fashion. First of all, I want to admire and emphasize everything that’s been said in the beginning of the program. It is vital that we provide access to everyone, to give the world’s knowledge at their fingertips. We have many, many more things to do to achieve that objective, whether it’s affordability or accessibility and the like. But what I would like to do is emphasize some of the things that artificial intelligence holds for us as this amazing new technology unfolds. First of all, the introduction of AI agents may allow voiced, hands-free interaction, so the use of a screen reader to try to understand a two-dimensional web page with a one-dimensional interaction is vastly improved by simply discussing with the agent what it is that you’re trying to accomplish. So I see a tremendous benefit there, especially for people who happen to be blind. Similarly, for people who are deaf, the ability to understand speech and to present speech as text can also be enormously beneficial to enable people to use these online technologies in the ways that the former speakers have outlined. I’d like to also observe that automatic caption has become freely available in many different applications, and that, too, is a consequence of artificial intelligence development. Automatic language translation is also very well along the way. And these are all ways of remedying disabilities. I have a language disability. I don’t speak many of the languages that your former speakers speak, and I would need the assistance for that. Agentic AI will give support to people to accomplish tasks that they might otherwise have great difficulty accomplishing, again, possibly as a consequence of disability, but also simply out of lack of knowledge. And so these kinds of transactions can be tremendously enabled. I noticed, and I want to emphasize the importance of digital literacy. People using these technologies must learn how to use them in a safe way, a safe way that preserves safety and privacy. I also anticipate for the educational side of things that the agents will become tutors. Instead of asking them questions, they’re going to ask us questions to verify that we’ve learned what we should learn. And finally, this kind of online technology allows people to work from home if the physical facilities will accommodate that. And the job, of course, is appropriate. All of these things are benefits that AI will bring to us, but they will not be useful unless you have access to the basic internet technology to begin with, as many of the speakers have emphasized. Thank you very much for allowing me to extend the time beyond our normal termination.

Cerys Stansfield: Thank you, Dr. Cerf, very much for your insights. I think we’d all agree that being able to hear from Dr. Cerf is the silver lining to running over. And thank you again for your patience. Ladies and gentlemen, this brings our session to a close. We have heard today from national regulators, international and national NGOs, and strategic advisory bodies. Building inclusive, knowledge-driven societies is no easy task. Building inclusive, knowledge-driven societies is no easy task. And for as much progress as we have made, and we should rightly celebrate, the global digital divide remains. The WSIS Plus 20 review allows us an opportunity to refocus and redouble our efforts towards building and empowering our digital societies, whether it’s in our infrastructure development, digital skilling and literacy, tech innovation, financial enablement, empowerment, regardless of your age, your gender, or if you have a disability, multi-stakeholder collaboration is key. The public sector, private sector, academia, NGOs, civil society, your families and my family will all co-exist together in the digital societies of the future. It is vital that we build them together. Thank you.

Agreement points

Infrastructure development as foundational requirement for digital inclusion

Speakers

– Mustafa Sheik
– George William Nyombi Thembo
– Gift Kallisto Machengete
– Vinton Cerf

Arguments

Infrastructure deficit requires long-term coordinated investment strategies and public-private partnerships

76% of government offices connected through national backbone infrastructure, targeting northern regions with solar-powered digital labs

Tower relocation program to underserved areas with shared infrastructure makes connectivity viable despite low commercial returns

Basic internet access is fundamental prerequisite for AI and digital technologies to be useful

Summary

All speakers emphasized that robust digital infrastructure is the foundational requirement for any digital transformation efforts, with specific examples of public-private partnerships, infrastructure sharing, and targeted investment in underserved areas

Topics

Infrastructure | Development

Digital literacy and skills development as central to digital transformation

Speakers

– Mustafa Sheik
– George William Nyombi Thembo
– Gift Kallisto Machengete
– Vinton Cerf

Arguments

Low digital skills among citizens and civil servants are consistent barriers requiring central focus

Over 500,000 citizens trained in digital literacy programs including women, SMEs, youth, and persons with disabilities

Specialized ICT training programs and assistive technologies for persons with disabilities create ripple effects of knowledge transfer

Digital literacy education must include safe usage practices to preserve safety and privacy

Summary

Speakers consistently identified digital literacy as a critical component requiring systematic training programs that target diverse populations and include safety considerations

Topics

Development | Sociocultural

Targeting marginalized and underserved communities for digital inclusion

Speakers

– Mustafa Sheik
– George William Nyombi Thembo
– Gift Kallisto Machengete
– Philip Lee

Arguments

Marginalized groups including rural populations, women, and youth are often excluded from digital services

7.5 million Ugandans remain offline with only 40% owning smartphones, requiring targeted interventions

202 community information centers established in rural areas providing ICT services, government services, and telemedicine

Independent and pluralistic media ecosystems need community-led voices to be prioritized over market interests

Summary

All speakers emphasized the need for deliberate efforts to include marginalized communities, with specific focus on rural populations, women, youth, and persons with disabilities through targeted programs and community-based approaches

Topics

Development | Human rights

Need for comprehensive policy frameworks and governance structures

Speakers

– Mustafa Sheik
– George William Nyombi Thembo
– AHM Bazlur Rahman
– Cerys Stansfield

Arguments

Policy fragmentation and weak governance undermine digital transformation, requiring stronger cybersecurity and data protection

Legal frameworks including National Development Plan and Digital Transformation Roadmap create robust ecosystems for digital inclusion

Permanent, reinforced WSIS and IGF Secretariat needed with sustainable funding and centralized UN reporting system

Multi-stakeholder collaboration is essential for building inclusive digital societies

Summary

Speakers agreed on the necessity of strong, coordinated policy frameworks and governance structures that involve multiple stakeholders and provide clear regulatory guidance for digital transformation

Topics

Legal and regulatory | Development

Similar viewpoints

Both regulatory authorities from Zimbabwe and Uganda emphasized comprehensive training programs that specifically include persons with disabilities, demonstrating similar approaches to inclusive digital literacy initiatives

Speakers

– Gift Kallisto Machengete
– George William Nyombi Thembo

Arguments

Specialized ICT training programs and assistive technologies for persons with disabilities create ripple effects of knowledge transfer

Over 500,000 citizens trained in digital literacy programs including women, SMEs, youth, and persons with disabilities

Topics

Development | Human rights

Both speakers from international NGOs expressed concern about corporate dominance in information access and the need to prioritize community voices over commercial interests

Speakers

– Philip Lee
– AHM Bazlur Rahman

Arguments

Independent and pluralistic media ecosystems need community-led voices to be prioritized over market interests

Information and knowledge access is dominated by corporate sector, excluding underserved communities without financial means

Topics

Human rights | Economic

Both speakers focused on AI’s transformative potential in education, with practical applications in teaching and learning enhancement

Speakers

– Christopher Reckord
– Vinton Cerf

Arguments

AI tools being tested to help teachers mark papers and AI labs being established through international partnerships

AI agents will serve as tutors that ask questions to verify learning rather than just answering them

Topics

Sociocultural | Development

Unexpected consensus

Recognition of boys’ needs alongside girls in digital inclusion programs

Speakers

– Gift Kallisto Machengete

Arguments

Scholarships provided to underprivileged youth of both genders, with recognition that boys also need support to avoid negative outcomes

Explanation

While gender inclusion discussions typically focus on supporting girls and women in ICT, Zimbabwe’s regulator specifically acknowledged that boys also need support to prevent negative outcomes like drug use, showing a more holistic approach to youth inclusion

Topics

Development | Human rights

AI as accessibility enabler rather than barrier

Speakers

– Vinton Cerf

Arguments

AI technologies like voice interaction and automatic translation can significantly improve accessibility for people with disabilities

Explanation

Despite common concerns about AI creating new digital divides, there was consensus that AI technologies can actually serve as powerful tools for improving accessibility and inclusion for people with disabilities

Topics

Human rights | Development

Corporate sector criticism from developing nation perspectives

Speakers

– Philip Lee
– AHM Bazlur Rahman

Arguments

Communication rights must be foundational to governance discussions, not footnotes, requiring democratic data governance and public digital infrastructure

Information and knowledge access is dominated by corporate sector, excluding underserved communities without financial means

Explanation

Both speakers from different organizational backgrounds converged on criticism of corporate dominance in digital access, calling for more public-oriented approaches – unexpected given the usual emphasis on public-private partnerships in development contexts

Topics

Human rights | Economic

Overall assessment

Summary

Strong consensus emerged around four key areas: infrastructure as foundation, digital literacy as essential, targeting marginalized communities, and need for comprehensive governance frameworks. Speakers consistently emphasized practical, inclusive approaches with specific examples from their respective contexts.

Consensus level

High level of consensus with complementary rather than conflicting perspectives. The agreement spans different stakeholder types (government regulators, NGOs, technical experts) and geographic regions, suggesting robust foundation for collaborative action. The consensus implies that despite different national contexts, there are universal principles and approaches that can guide inclusive digital society development globally.

Different viewpoints

Role of corporate sector vs. public sector in digital access

Speakers

– AHM Bazlur Rahman
– Mustafa Sheik
– George William Nyombi Thembo

Arguments

Information and knowledge access is dominated by corporate sector, excluding underserved communities without financial means

Infrastructure deficit requires long-term coordinated investment strategies and public-private partnerships

Universal Access Fund targeting specific regions with broadband initiatives and satellite licensing for remote communities

Summary

Rahman criticizes the full commercialization and corporate domination of information access, arguing it excludes underserved communities, while Sheikh and Thembo advocate for public-private partnerships as solutions to infrastructure challenges.

Topics

Development | Economic | Legal and regulatory

Centralized vs. decentralized governance approaches

Speakers

– AHM Bazlur Rahman
– Philip Lee

Arguments

Permanent, reinforced WSIS and IGF Secretariat needed with sustainable funding and centralized UN reporting system

Communication rights must be foundational to governance discussions, not footnotes, requiring democratic data governance and public digital infrastructure

Summary

Rahman advocates for stronger centralized UN structures and reporting systems, while Lee emphasizes democratic data governance and community-led approaches that prioritize local voices over centralized control.

Topics

Legal and regulatory | Human rights

Unexpected differences

Gender-inclusive approach to digital literacy

Speakers

– Gift Kallisto Machengete

Arguments

Scholarships provided to underprivileged youth of both genders, with recognition that boys also need support to avoid negative outcomes

Explanation

Machengete’s explicit mention that boys need support to avoid turning to drugs represents an unexpected perspective in discussions typically focused on empowering girls and women in ICT, suggesting a more holistic view of gender inclusion challenges.

Topics

Development | Human rights

Overall assessment

Summary

The discussion showed relatively low levels of direct disagreement, with most conflicts arising around the balance between market-driven versus community-led approaches to digital inclusion, and centralized versus decentralized governance structures.

Disagreement level

Low to moderate disagreement level. The speakers largely shared common goals of digital inclusion and bridging the digital divide, but differed in their preferred mechanisms and approaches. The disagreements were more about methodology and emphasis rather than fundamental opposition to core objectives, suggesting that collaborative solutions incorporating multiple approaches could be feasible.

Partial agreements

Similar viewpoints

Both regulatory authorities from Zimbabwe and Uganda emphasized comprehensive training programs that specifically include persons with disabilities, demonstrating similar approaches to inclusive digital literacy initiatives

Speakers

– Gift Kallisto Machengete
– George William Nyombi Thembo

Arguments

Specialized ICT training programs and assistive technologies for persons with disabilities create ripple effects of knowledge transfer

Over 500,000 citizens trained in digital literacy programs including women, SMEs, youth, and persons with disabilities

Topics

Development | Human rights

Both speakers from international NGOs expressed concern about corporate dominance in information access and the need to prioritize community voices over commercial interests

Speakers

– Philip Lee
– AHM Bazlur Rahman

Arguments

Independent and pluralistic media ecosystems need community-led voices to be prioritized over market interests

Information and knowledge access is dominated by corporate sector, excluding underserved communities without financial means

Topics

Human rights | Economic

Both speakers focused on AI’s transformative potential in education, with practical applications in teaching and learning enhancement

Speakers

– Christopher Reckord
– Vinton Cerf

Arguments

AI tools being tested to help teachers mark papers and AI labs being established through international partnerships

AI agents will serve as tutors that ask questions to verify learning rather than just answering them

Topics

Sociocultural | Development

Key takeaways

Building inclusive digital societies requires addressing infrastructure deficits through coordinated public-private partnerships and innovative financing models

Digital inclusion must specifically target marginalized groups including rural populations, women, youth, elderly, and persons with disabilities through tailored programs and services

Digital literacy and human capital development are fundamental barriers that require central focus, with successful programs already training hundreds of thousands of citizens

AI technologies offer significant potential for improving accessibility, particularly through voice interaction, automatic translation, and assistive technologies for people with disabilities

Communication rights must be foundational to governance discussions rather than secondary considerations, requiring democratic data governance and public digital infrastructure

Multi-stakeholder collaboration between public sector, private sector, academia, NGOs, and civil society is essential for building effective digital societies

Policy fragmentation and weak governance frameworks continue to undermine digital transformation efforts, requiring stronger cybersecurity and data protection measures

Resolutions and action items

Establish permanent, reinforced WSIS and IGF Secretariat with sustainable funding at both secretariat and country levels

Develop localized action plans that align global WSIS commitments with national priorities

Create centralized UN reporting system to streamline country-level reporting across UNESCO, WSIS, and ITU

Implement government-wide AI chatbot for comprehensive citizen services access

Scale digital literacy programs using community-based models to reach underserved populations

Strengthen links between UN Resident Coordinator Offices and WSIS Action Line issues at country level

Promote capacity building and awareness campaigns on benefits of information and knowledge society

Create multi-stakeholder engagement platforms for regular consultation and progress sharing

Unresolved issues

7.5 million Ugandans remain offline with only 40% smartphone ownership – specific timeline and funding for universal access unclear

Digital divide continues to widen rather than improve, with access dominated by those with financial means while underserved communities remain excluded

Gap exists between UN Resident Coordinator Offices and WSIS/IGF issues at country level without clear resolution mechanism

Funding streams for civil society organizations, especially in Global South, are shrinking without identified sustainable alternatives

Colonial, racist, and sexist legacies embedded in information control and AI development remain unaddressed

Inconsistent regulations and unclear data protection laws continue to limit trust and project continuity

Balance between market interests, state control, and genuine public good in media regulation remains undefined

Suggested compromises

Tower sharing arrangements between multiple network operators to make infrastructure viable in low-return areas

Hybrid public-private partnership models for infrastructure development that balance commercial viability with social objectives

Community-based digital literacy models that leverage local capacity while meeting diverse needs of different demographic groups

Graduated approach to AI implementation starting with education sector before expanding to broader government services

Multi-stakeholder governance frameworks that include voices from public sector, private sector, academia, and civil society rather than single-sector dominance

Building an inclusive and knowledge-driven digital society is not only a technical challenge, it is a governance challenge, an investment challenge, and above all, a human challenge.

Speaker

Mustafa Sheikh

Reason

This comment reframes the entire discussion by moving beyond the typical focus on infrastructure and technology to emphasize the multidimensional nature of digital inclusion. It highlights that human factors are paramount, which is often overlooked in tech-focused discussions.

Impact

This comment set the tone for the entire panel by establishing that subsequent speakers would need to address not just technical solutions but governance, investment, and human-centered approaches. It influenced later speakers to discuss community engagement, training programs, and policy frameworks rather than just connectivity metrics.

The access of the information and knowledge sector is fully commercialized and entirely dominated by the corporate sector… Those who have money, they have access to knowledge domain, communication domain. Those who have not money, those who are underserved people, they are not part of this. This is a very sad matter. After 20 years, we see this.

Speaker

AHM Bazlur Rahman

Reason

This comment provides a stark critique of the WSIS progress after 20 years, challenging the celebratory tone and forcing participants to confront uncomfortable truths about digital inequality. It shifts focus from technical achievements to systemic inequities.

Impact

This comment served as a reality check that countered the more optimistic national progress reports. It introduced a critical perspective that highlighted the gap between WSIS aspirations and ground realities, particularly regarding economic barriers to access.

None of this transformation is possible without confronting the colonial, racist and sexist legacies embedded in the control of information and knowledge and in the development of digital technologies themselves, including artificial intelligence.

Speaker

Philip Lee

Reason

This comment introduces a decolonial perspective that challenges fundamental assumptions about how digital technologies are developed and deployed. It goes beyond surface-level inclusion to address structural power imbalances.

Impact

This comment elevated the discussion from operational challenges to systemic critique, introducing concepts of communication rights and justice that reframed digital inclusion as a matter of human dignity rather than just service delivery.

I have a language disability. I don’t speak many of the languages that your former speakers speak, and I would need the assistance for that.

Speaker

Vinton Cerf

Reason

This personal admission from one of the internet’s inventors humanizes the disability discussion and demonstrates that accessibility challenges affect everyone, regardless of technical expertise. It reframes disability as a universal human condition rather than a niche concern.

Impact

Coming from such a prominent figure, this comment validated the importance of accessibility features and showed how AI can address various forms of barriers, not just traditional disabilities. It provided a powerful conclusion that tied together the themes of inclusion and technology.

We have also noted that when we leave boys alone, the boys, especially in our areas, they end up doing a lot of drugs, and we need to assist them as well. So both boys and girls, we are assisting them.

Speaker

Gift Kallisto Machengete

Reason

This comment reveals the complex social realities behind digital inclusion efforts, showing how ICT programs must address broader social challenges like substance abuse. It demonstrates the interconnected nature of development challenges.

Impact

This comment added depth to the gender inclusion discussion by showing that effective programs must consider local social contexts and avoid creating new forms of exclusion while addressing historical inequities.

Overall assessment

These key comments transformed what could have been a routine progress report session into a nuanced examination of digital inclusion challenges. Sheikh’s opening comment established a holistic framework that influenced subsequent speakers to address governance and human factors. Lee’s decolonial critique and Rahman’s economic inequality concerns introduced critical perspectives that challenged celebratory narratives. Cerf’s personal disability admission provided a humanizing conclusion that validated accessibility concerns. Together, these comments created a discussion that moved beyond technical metrics to examine power structures, economic barriers, and social justice dimensions of digital societies. The flow evolved from national success stories to systemic critiques to personal experiences, creating a comprehensive dialogue about the complexities of building truly inclusive digital societies.

How can international cooperation frameworks better address infrastructure deficits in post-conflict nations, particularly regarding reliable internet connectivity and stable electricity?

Speaker

Mustafa Sheikh

Explanation

Sheikh identified infrastructure deficit as a critical barrier, emphasizing the need for long-term coordinated investment strategies and innovative financial models to close this gap in developing digital societies.

What specific mechanisms can strengthen the link between UN Resident Coordinator Offices and WSIS Action Line issues at the country level?

Speaker

AHM Bazlur Rahman

Explanation

Rahman highlighted a notable gap between UN Resident Coordinator Offices and WSIS/IGF issues at country level, suggesting this connection needs strengthening for better collaboration and effectiveness.

How can a centralized UN reporting system be developed to streamline multiple reporting requirements for countries implementing WSIS action lines?

Speaker

AHM Bazlur Rahman

Explanation

Rahman pointed out the current fragmented reporting system where countries report to UNESCO, WSIS, and ITU separately, advocating for a unified central reporting system.

What are the most effective models for ensuring underserved communities have voices in the commercialized information and knowledge sector?

Speaker

AHM Bazlur Rahman

Explanation

Rahman expressed concern that after 20 years, access to information and knowledge is dominated by corporate sectors, leaving underserved communities without representation or access.

How can policy fragmentation and weak governance structures be addressed to support digital transformation in post-conflict nations?

Speaker

Mustafa Sheikh

Explanation

Sheikh identified inconsistent regulations, unclear data protection laws, and fragile political institutions as barriers that undermine digital transformation efforts and limit public trust.

What sustainable funding mechanisms can be established for WSIS and IGF Secretariats at both international and country levels?

Speaker

AHM Bazlur Rahman

Explanation

Rahman called for permanent, reinforced secretariats with sustainable funding, indicating current funding structures may be inadequate for long-term implementation.

How can AI technologies be safely implemented while ensuring digital literacy and privacy protection for users?

Speaker

Vinton Cerf

Explanation

Cerf emphasized the importance of digital literacy for safe AI usage and the need for people to learn how to use these technologies while preserving safety and privacy.

What are the most effective approaches to address the colonial, racist, and sexist legacies embedded in digital technology development and information control?

Speaker

Philip Lee

Explanation

Lee argued that transformation toward inclusive digital societies requires confronting these embedded legacies in information control and digital technology development, including AI.

How can the effectiveness of community-based digital literacy models be measured and scaled across different contexts?

Speaker

George William Nyombi Thembo

Explanation

Thembo mentioned Uganda’s community-based models for mobile digital literacy but the discussion didn’t explore how to measure effectiveness or adapt these models to other contexts.