At General Assembly Meeting on Outcomes of World Summit on Information Society, Secretary-General Calls for Bridging Digital Divide

Following are UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s remarks to the General Assembly high-level meeting on the outcomes of the World Summit on the Information Society, in New York today:

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) have reached into every walk of life.  They have sparked innovation and entrepreneurship.  They have created new forms of public engagement and economic activity that would have been unimaginable just a few years ago.  They help people connect, organize and act towards common purpose.

You are here to help maximize the benefits of ICT for people everywhere.  This high-level review is timely, coming just three months after the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

ICTs can be an engine for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).  They can power this global undertaking.  As we celebrate remarkable ICT achievements for development, we must keep focus on bridging the digital divide, including the gender digital divide.

Today, more than 80 per cent of households in developed countries have Internet access.  Meanwhile, two out of three households in developing countries do not.  Women are half the global population — yet 200 million fewer women than men have access to the Internet.  We must bridge these divides.

Mobile technologies and digital currencies also present huge potential to reach the 2 billion women and men who are still unbanked around the world.  By encouraging innovation in financial technology, we can help promote financial inclusion, enlarge opportunity and grow the productive economy.

The secure use of new and non-traditional sources of data can help actors better anticipate, plan, target, implement, monitor and account for our common endeavour.

As we look ahead, we must work together to build confidence, strengthen trust and promote a global culture of cybersecurity.  This culture requires a shared commitment and action by all partners to protect and enhance human rights, while fighting cybercrime and cyberattacks.

There will be new challenges.

By 2020, it is anticipated that there will be six times as many devices connected on the Internet as people.  We must cooperate to consider the implications of this and ensure that the Internet evolves into an inclusive space for the public good.  Therefore, let us intensify our work to build an open, reliable, safe, secure, stable and inclusive Internet.

I welcome the decision by the General Assembly to extend the mandate of the Internet Governance Forum by 10 years.  The United Nations system stands ready to work with all of you.

Last week, the UN system Chief Executives Board issued a joint statement underscoring the importance of collaborative action to harness the power of ICTs and the Internet to implement the 2030 Agenda.

We will support content development, skills and capacity-building and foster an enabling environment, including multilingualism.  We will work to advance freedom of expression, cultural diversity and human rights online through efforts at the country, regional and global levels.

We will strengthen coherence across the United Nations system and enhance the role of United Nations Group on the Information Society.  And, we will promote the WSIS Forum as a key platform for discussing the role of ICTs as a means of implementation of the SDGs.

In 2015, we embarked on a journey — a journey of climate action, a journey of sustainability, a journey of prosperity for all the nations and communities sharing this one planet.  ICTs and the Internet must help drive this journey.

Let us ensure that the results of this high-level meeting will help us reach our shared destination — a sustainable, equitable and connected world for everyone, everywhere.