Upskilling for the AI era: Education’s next revolution

Summary

Doreen Bogdan Martin delivered a presentation focused on addressing the global AI skills gap through the International Telecommunication Union’s AI Skills Coalition initiative. She framed the AI skills revolution as having two distinct sides: the supply side consisting of creators, engineers, researchers, and entrepreneurs who must design responsible and intuitive AI technology, and the demand side comprising consumers, citizens, students, teachers, and business owners who are already using AI tools for various applications. Martin emphasized that millions of people worldwide lack the essential resources and access needed to leverage AI effectively, creating a significant skills gap that needs to be addressed.

The ITU launched the AI Skills Coalition as a UN-led effort to bridge this gap, bringing together more than 50 partners from various industries and sectors. This initiative responds to global calls for action on education and lifelong learning, aligning with the UN Secretary General’s advisory body recommendations and the Global Digital Compact’s commitment to maximize basic digital skills coverage by 2030. The coalition has already made substantial progress, offering over 70 AI training programs online that range from foundational introductions to advanced courses, with a particular focus on accessibility and inclusion for underserved populations in developing countries.

Martin highlighted the coalition’s practical approach, emphasizing that they are not merely counting participation numbers but working to define what AI skills mean in practice and identifying specific needs across different populations. She concluded with a call to action, inviting others to join the coalition, explore their course catalog, and contribute resources to ensure that the AI generation is defined by the depth of its skill set and breadth of participation rather than just algorithmic power.

Keypoints

**Major Discussion Points:**

– **AI Skills Gap and Two-Sided Challenge**: The speaker identifies a critical divide between AI creators/engineers on the supply side who must build responsible, intuitive technology, and consumers/citizens on the demand side who need access and ability to leverage AI tools effectively.

– **ITU’s AI Skills Coalition Initiative**: Introduction and progress update on a UN-led coalition launched at the World Economic Forum, bringing together over 50 partners from various industries to address global AI capacity building and skills development.

– **Accessible and Inclusive Training Programs**: The coalition has developed over 70 online AI skills training programs, specifically targeting underserved populations, marginalized groups in developing countries, government officials, youth, and women and girls.

– **Practical Implementation and Impact Measurement**: Beyond simply counting participants, the initiative focuses on defining what AI skills mean in practice, identifying specific needs by demographics and location, and measuring real impact through programs like the robotics for youth challenge with 7,500 participants from 40+ countries.

– **Call to Action for Broader Participation**: A direct invitation for audience members and organizations to join the coalition, contribute training content, explore the catalog, and bring resources to expand the initiative’s reach and effectiveness.

**Overall Purpose/Goal:**

The discussion aims to promote and expand participation in the ITU’s AI Skills Coalition, which seeks to bridge the global AI skills gap by providing accessible, inclusive training programs that enable people worldwide to benefit from AI technology while understanding its risks.

**Overall Tone:**

The tone is consistently optimistic, motivational, and action-oriented throughout. The speaker maintains an enthusiastic and inclusive approach, emphasizing collective effort and shared responsibility. The tone builds from informative (explaining the problem and solution) to increasingly inspirational and urgent in the call to action, but remains positive and collaborative rather than demanding or critical.

Speakers

– Doreen Bogdan Martin: ITU (UN Agency for Digital Technologies) – appears to be in a leadership role discussing AI skills initiatives and the AI Skills Coalition

Additional speakers:

No additional speakers were identified in this transcript beyond those listed in the speakers names list.

# Comprehensive Summary: ITU’s AI Skills Coalition Initiative

## Overview and Context

Doreen Bogdan Martin, representing the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), delivered a presentation outlining the global AI skills challenge and the UN agency’s strategic response through the AI Skills Coalition initiative. Speaking yesterday morning on the same stage where she had previously addressed skills as one of three essential opportunities for the AI generation to advance AI for good, Martin focused on “how we can add AI to everyone’s skill set” and bridge critical gaps in AI access and capabilities.

## The Two-Sided AI Skills Challenge

Martin structured her analysis around a framework that views the AI skills revolution as operating on two distinct sides. On the supply side are creators, engineers, AI researchers, and entrepreneurs who must design AI in a way that’s intuitive, transparent, and responsible. These stakeholders must create technology that helps teach users as it serves them.

On the demand side are AI consumers including citizens, students, teachers, small business owners, and government workers who are already investing time and money into using AI tools to solve different problems from homework to healthcare policy and everything in between.

However, Martin emphasised that millions of people worldwide lack the essential resources, access, and ability to leverage AI in beneficial ways, creating what she termed the “AI skills gap.” This gap represents a fundamental equity issue that threatens to exclude vast populations from the benefits of AI advancement.

## The ITU AI Skills Coalition: Launch and Structure

In response to this challenge, the ITU launched the AI Skills Coalition, announced some months ago at the World Economic Forum and at Mobile World Congress. The coalition represents a collective, UN-led effort designed to bridge the global AI skills gap, bringing together more than 50 partners from various industries and sectors.

The initiative emerged from broader global calls for action on education and lifelong learning, supporting the Global Digital Compact where member states committed to maximize coverage of basic digital skills for as many people as possible by 2030. Martin thanked coalition partners “for showing the world what collective leadership on AI skilling really looks like.”

The coalition’s approach prioritises accessibility and inclusion, with particular focus on reaching underserved and marginalised groups in developing countries. Target populations include government officials, young people, and women and girls—demographics that have historically faced barriers to technology access and skills development.

## Programme Development and Current Impact

The coalition has demonstrated substantial progress, offering more than 70 AI skills training programmes already available online right now. These courses span from foundational introductions suitable for beginners to advanced courses for more experienced users.

Martin emphasised that the coalition’s approach extends beyond simply counting participation numbers. Instead, the initiative focuses on establishing what AI skills mean in practice and working to identify who needs what skills and where.

The coalition has already reached thousands of learners through various capacity-building initiatives, with Martin expressing the goal to “add several more zeros” to this number. A notable example is the robotics for youth challenge, which brought 7,500 participants from over 40 countries together to boost their AI skills, demonstrating both the global reach and practical engagement capabilities of the coalition’s programmes.

## Vision for the AI Generation

Martin concluded with a clear vision for what the AI era should represent. She stated that “the AI generation will not be defined by the power of algorithms. It will be defined by the depth of its skill set and the breadth of its participation.” This perspective positions human capability and inclusive participation as the defining characteristics of successful AI integration.

## Call to Action and Participation

The presentation culminated in a direct invitation for engagement with the coalition’s work. Martin issued a specific call to action: “join us. Explore the AI Skills Coalition catalog. Contribute your best training content or log on and learn about AI with your team.” She outlined several ways to participate: exploring the coalition’s course catalogue, contributing training content, joining the coalition directly, and learning with teams through available programmes.

Martin emphasised that achieving the coalition’s ambitious goals requires collective effort, stating that success “will only happen if we do it together.” This call reflects the coalition’s recognition that bridging the global AI skills gap requires sustained engagement from diverse stakeholders beyond the initial 50 partners.

## Conclusion

Martin’s presentation positioned the ITU’s AI Skills Coalition as a comprehensive response to the global AI skills gap, combining practical programme delivery with a clear vision for inclusive AI development. With more than 70 training programmes already available and thousands of learners already engaged, the initiative demonstrates early success in addressing one of the most significant challenges in contemporary technology development. The coalition’s emphasis on collective leadership and its commitment to ensuring AI’s benefits are accessible to all populations, regardless of current resources or circumstances, establishes a foundation for continued growth and impact in global AI skills development.

Doreen Bogdan Martin: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Yesterday morning on this very stage I spoke about skills. I spoke about skills as one of three essential opportunities for the AI generation to advance AI for good. And so today I want to share a little bit about what we’re doing in the space of skills and how we can add AI to everyone’s skill set. The way I see it, the AI skills revolution has a supply side and a demand side. On the supply side we have the creators, we have the engineers, we have the AI researchers, and we have the entrepreneurs who must design AI in a way that’s intuitive, transparent, responsible. We’ve heard that word responsible over and over again today. And that technology that has to help teach us as it serves. On the demand side are AI consumers, citizens, students, teachers, small business owners, and government workers. People already investing time and money into using these tools to solve different problems from homework to healthcare policy and everything in between. But there are millions more around the world who don’t have resources. They don’t have these essential resources. They don’t have access or the ability to leverage AI in ways that can benefit them. This is the AI skills gap and ITU, the UN Agency for Digital Technologies, and that’s why we created this AI skills coalition that I spoke about yesterday. We announced it some months ago at the World Economic Forum and at Mobile World Congress, and I’m excited to be able to update you on how far this coalition has come in just a couple of months. First, we’re very proud that this is a collective UN-led effort on AI capacity building, bringing together more than 50 partners, 50 partners from different industries and sectors, all with the shared goal of bridging the global AI skills gap. These efforts answer global calls for action on education and lifelong learning opportunities as the UN Secretary General’s high-level advisory body on artificial intelligence stipulated, as well as the Global Digital Compact, where member states committed to maximize coverage of basic digital skills for as many people as possible by 2030. Second, more than 70 AI skills training programs are already available online right now, covering everything from foundational introductions in AI to advanced courses. Our focus is in providing this content so that we want to make sure that it’s accessible, that it’s inclusive, meaning we prioritize reaching the underserved and also targeting marginalized groups in developing countries, from government officials to young people, and of course, women and girls. But we’re not just counting numbers. We are establishing what AI skills really means in practice and working hard to identify who needs what and where. This is only possible thanks to the work of our AI skills coalition, our partners, and if you’re not part of it, it’s not too late. This is your call to join us by exploring our courses, by contributing to the next phase of this global effort. We’ve already reached thousands of learners, and I want to add several more zeros that, as I told the partners before, we’ve reached thousands of learners because we have pooled efforts through capacity building initiatives, some that you have seen here, like our robotics for youth challenge that brought 7,500 participants from over 40 countries together to boost their AI skills. Partner-led impact and a shared commitment to accessible learning at scale are key. They’re key to making sure that everyone everywhere has the opportunities, understands the risks, and we can work on ways to be able to benefit and leverage artificial intelligence for good. So here’s my invitation, a call to action for each and every one of you. And of course, to our coalition partners who are here, I want to thank you for showing the world what collective leadership on AI skilling really looks like. To everybody else, as I said, join us. Explore the AI Skills Coalition catalog. We have our catalog out there. Contribute your best training content or log on and learn about AI with your team. Bring your ideas, bring your resources, bring your energy, because the AI generation will not be defined by the power of algorithms. It will be defined by the depth of its skill set and the breadth of its participation. But that will only happen if we do it together. So ladies and gentlemen, join us and let’s keep going. Thank you. Thank you.

Agreement points

Similar viewpoints

Unexpected consensus

Overall assessment

Summary

The transcript contains only one speaker (Doreen Bogdan Martin) presenting a unified perspective on AI skills development through the ITU’s AI Skills Coalition initiative. No multi-speaker agreements can be identified.

Consensus level

Not applicable – single speaker presentation. The speaker presents a cohesive argument about the need for collective action to bridge the global AI skills gap through the ITU’s coalition approach, but without multiple speakers, no consensus analysis is possible.

Different viewpoints

Unexpected differences

Overall assessment

Summary

No disagreements identified as this is a single-speaker presentation

Disagreement level

No disagreement present – this transcript contains only one speaker (Doreen Bogdan Martin) presenting ITU’s AI Skills Coalition initiative. The presentation is informational and promotional in nature, focusing on describing the coalition’s structure, achievements, and calling for participation. Without multiple speakers or opposing viewpoints, there are no disagreements to analyze.

Partial agreements

Similar viewpoints

Key takeaways

The AI skills revolution operates on two sides: supply side (creators, engineers, researchers, entrepreneurs) who must design responsible AI, and demand side (consumers, citizens, students, teachers, business owners) who use AI tools for various applications

A significant global AI skills gap exists, with millions lacking resources and access to leverage AI beneficially

ITU’s AI Skills Coalition represents a collective UN-led effort with over 50 partners aimed at bridging the global AI skills gap through accessible and inclusive training

The coalition has already deployed over 70 online AI training programs covering foundational to advanced levels, with particular focus on underserved and marginalized groups in developing countries

Early results show thousands of learners reached through initiatives like the robotics for youth challenge with 7,500 participants from over 40 countries

The AI generation’s success will be determined by the depth of skill sets and breadth of participation rather than just algorithm power, requiring collective effort

Resolutions and action items

Explore the AI Skills Coalition catalog of available courses

Contribute best training content to the coalition’s offerings

Join the coalition and participate in the global AI skilling effort

Learn about AI with teams through the available programs

Bring ideas, resources, and energy to support the initiative

Unresolved issues

Specific metrics for measuring success beyond participant numbers are not clearly defined

Detailed implementation timeline for reaching the 2030 goal of maximizing basic digital skills coverage is not specified

Concrete mechanisms for ensuring quality and standardization across the 70+ training programs are not addressed

Specific funding models or sustainability plans for the coalition’s long-term operations are not discussed

Suggested compromises

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The AI skills revolution has a supply side and a demand side. On the supply side we have the creators, we have the engineers, we have the AI researchers, and we have the entrepreneurs who must design AI in a way that’s intuitive, transparent, responsible… On the demand side are AI consumers, citizens, students, teachers, small business owners, and government workers.

Speaker

Doreen Bogdan Martin

Reason

This comment is insightful because it reframes AI skills development through an economic lens, distinguishing between those who create AI technology and those who consume it. This framework helps clarify the different types of skills needed and responsibilities on each side, moving beyond a simple ‘everyone needs AI skills’ narrative to a more nuanced understanding of the ecosystem.

Impact

This framing establishes the conceptual foundation for the entire discussion, providing a structured way to think about AI skills that influences how subsequent points about access, training, and coalition-building are presented and understood.

But there are millions more around the world who don’t have resources. They don’t have these essential resources. They don’t have access or the ability to leverage AI in ways that can benefit them. This is the AI skills gap.

Speaker

Doreen Bogdan Martin

Reason

This comment is thought-provoking because it shifts the focus from technological capabilities to equity and access issues. It highlights that the AI skills gap isn’t just about knowledge but about fundamental resource disparities, making it a social justice issue rather than merely an educational challenge.

Impact

This observation transitions the discussion from describing the AI skills landscape to identifying the core problem that needs solving, setting up the justification for the coalition’s work and emphasizing the urgency of inclusive approaches.

But we’re not just counting numbers. We are establishing what AI skills really means in practice and working hard to identify who needs what and where.

Speaker

Doreen Bogdan Martin

Reason

This comment is insightful because it addresses a common criticism of large-scale initiatives – that they focus on quantity over quality and relevance. It suggests a more sophisticated, needs-based approach to skills development rather than a one-size-fits-all solution.

Impact

This statement elevates the discussion from simply describing program scale to addressing methodology and effectiveness, showing awareness of the complexity involved in meaningful skills transfer across diverse populations and contexts.

The AI generation will not be defined by the power of algorithms. It will be defined by the depth of its skill set and the breadth of its participation.

Speaker

Doreen Bogdan Martin

Reason

This is a profound reframing that challenges the common narrative about AI being primarily about technological advancement. Instead, it positions human capability and inclusive participation as the defining characteristics of the AI era, emphasizing agency over technological determinism.

Impact

This philosophical statement serves as the climactic insight of the presentation, tying together all previous points about supply/demand, access gaps, and coalition-building into a unified vision that prioritizes human empowerment over technological prowess.

Overall assessment

Since this transcript represents a single speaker’s presentation rather than a multi-participant discussion, the ‘flow’ is more accurately described as a logical progression of ideas rather than conversational dynamics. The key comments identified work together to build a comprehensive argument: starting with a framework for understanding AI skills (supply/demand), identifying the core problem (access gaps), demonstrating a solution approach (the coalition), and concluding with a philosophical reframing of what the AI era should represent. The most impactful aspect is how Bogdan Martin moves from technical and logistical considerations to a human-centered vision, effectively arguing that the success of AI integration depends more on inclusive skill development than on algorithmic sophistication.

How to identify who needs what AI skills and where

Speaker

Doreen Bogdan Martin

Explanation

This is presented as an ongoing challenge that the coalition is ‘working hard’ to address, indicating it requires further research to effectively target AI skills training to the right populations

How to design AI that is intuitive, transparent, and responsible while helping teach users as it serves them

Speaker

Doreen Bogdan Martin

Explanation

This represents a technical and design challenge for AI creators and engineers that requires ongoing research and development to achieve the dual goals of responsible AI and user education

How to reach and provide resources to millions who currently lack access to AI tools and training

Speaker

Doreen Bogdan Martin

Explanation

This addresses the fundamental challenge of bridging the AI skills gap for underserved populations globally, requiring research into effective delivery methods and resource allocation

How to establish what AI skills really means in practice

Speaker

Doreen Bogdan Martin

Explanation

This suggests the need for further research to define and standardize AI skills competencies, which is essential for developing effective training programs and measuring success