Doreen Bogdan-Martin
Secretary-General, International Telecommunication Union (ITU)
State of the Union address
ITU Council 2025
ITU Headquarters, Geneva, Switzerland
[As prepared for delivery]
Distinguished Chair,
Excellencies,
Fellow Elected Officials,
Dear delegates and friends,
I am honored to address this Council once again, to present the state of the Union, in a year unlike any other.
160 years of tech evolution
We gather 160 years after twenty nations convened in Paris to make communication across borders seamless, more efficient, accessible and less expensive.
Although the International Telegraph Convention of 1865 was nothing short of visionary, I believe ITU's founders would be astounded by, and proud of, the progress made.
The Internet has become the engine of our global economy.
Today, two-thirds of the world's population are connected: more than ever before in history.
Access to devices is almost universal ꟷ four out of five people over the age of 10 own a mobile phone.
And our Union continues to grow.
Last year we welcomed the Republic of Palau. Making us 194 Member States strong, with over 1,000 Sector Members, and close to 200 academic institutions.
Most importantly, ITU has continued to reinvent itself and expand support to our membership with each wave of new technology, from the telegraph, to the telephone, to the Internet, to AI.
ITU's evolution has never stopped — because transformation is embedded in our DNA. It is part of who we are.
And yet, despite the progress made over 16 decades, significant challenges and barriers remain that our work must urgently address.
84 per cent of people in high-income countries have 5G coverage, while the service is nearly absent in low-income countries.
Fixed broadband can cost up to a third of some households' monthly income.
And 2.6 billion people — one-third of humanity — are still completely offline.
These disparities are unacceptable in a world where digital underpins nearly everything we do.
That's what makes ITU's mandate more important, and our transformation more urgent than ever.
Councillors,
The 2022 Plenipotentiary Conference adopted two strategic goals: 1) to connect the world meaningfully; and 2) to bring sustainable digital transformation to all.
Today, I will present the work we have done over the last 12 months to drive progress toward these goals:
Work that I will highlight across three key themes: 1) Positioning ITU as a leader of the global digital agenda; 2) Advancing our technical work in radiocommunication, standards, and development; and 3) Building a fit-for-future ITU through organizational excellence.
Let me start with how ITU is taking the lead on the global digital agenda.
1) Leading the global digital agenda
The past year saw ITU's work and mandate feature at key events shaping the future of technology, from the G20, to the World Economic Forum, to the United Nations (UN) ꟷ where ITU co-leads the Pact for the Future Working Group on Digital Technologies, together with the UN Office on Digital and Emerging Technologies.
Ongoing intergovernmental discussions at the UN include proposals to convene the Global Dialogue on AI Governance on the margins of AI for Good — demonstrating its relevance as the leading multistakeholder platform on AI within the UN system.
ITU continues to support the implementation of the Global Digital Compact in full alignment with our mandate — and with the work of the Council Working Group on WSIS (World Summit on the Information Society) and the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals).
The chair of that group and chair-designate of the upcoming WSIS High-Level Event, South Africa, also holds the G20 Presidency, where ITU serves as a knowledge partner to the Digital Economy Working Group; the AI Task Force; and the Disaster Risk Reduction Working Group.
Through these global platforms, we have also built momentum across ITU's flagship initiatives over the past year:
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Partner2Connect has now mobilized over 73 billion US Dollars in commitments for meaningful connectivity and digital transformation. I thank all those in this room who made a pledge.
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Giga — the ITU-UNICEF initiative to connect every school to the Internet — is now active in 41 countries. We look forward to showing you the new Connectivity Center here in Geneva next week.
- the
International Advisory Body on Submarine Cable Resilience — co-chaired by Nigeria and Portugal and established in partnership with the International Cable Protection Committee — is working hard to enhance the resilience of key infrastructure that carries 99 per cent of international data traffic.
- And the Broadband Commission which continues to champion technology as an accelerator of development
Since Council last met, ITU has also established new cooperation frameworks with leading universities from around the world.
In line with Resolution 169, we are bringing in top academics to keep us at the leading edge of tech innovation, while sharpening our ability to shape the digital policy of tomorrow.
These are just some examples of how ITU is leading the global digital agenda, enabling the international community to benefit from our technical expertise while advancing our two strategic goals.
Our global leadership is possible because of the technical expertise that supports it.
2) Advancing our technical work
This brings me to the second theme, which looks at advancements in our technical work across all three sectors ꟷ starting with Radiocommunication.
i. Coordinating spectrum efficiently
ITU-R (the ITU Radiocommunication Sector) has been busy implementing the outcomes of WRC-23, with technical studies already underway to prepare for the next WRC (World Radiocommunication Conference) in 2027 ꟷ a WRC whose forward-looking agenda is more than 80 per cent space-related.
And the date and venue of WRC will be addressed by this Council.
Our Space Connect series kicked off in January and continues to attract thousands of followers worldwide, spotlighting exciting topics, from direct-to-device connectivity to spectrum use, on and around the Moon.
We're also preparing for the second edition of our Space Sustainability Forum, building on last year's success and a growing global interest in ITU's work.
Not all upward trends are welcome, however. Signal jamming and spoofing are also on the rise — putting aviation, maritime safety, and emergency communications at risk.
In response, ITU, ICAO and IMO issued a joint call to protect the Radio Navigation Satellite Service.
Ladies and gentlemen,
These are just some of the ways ITU-R is meeting the moment — ensuring spectrum and orbit resources are managed responsibly, equitably and in the service of all.
Let me now move to our work on trusted technical standards.
ii. Developing trusted standards
In the Pact for the Future and Global Digital Compact is where the word “standards" appears 16 times, making ITU's standard-setting mandate more relevant than ever.
Since Council last met, WTSA-24 (the World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly 2024), held last October in New Delhi, India, set high expectations to ensure the technologies billions of people use every day are secure, efficient, interoperable, reliable, and fast.
That includes artificial intelligence (AI), where ITU-T (the ITU Telecommunication Standardization Sector) and other standards bodies are leading global efforts on watermarking, deepfake detection, and multimedia authenticity — all crucial to preserving integrity and trust in the age of AI.
When the UN Secretary-General addressed last year's Council, he called on ITU to make sure AI never stands for "advancing inequality."
Our AI Skills Coalition is answering that call by expanding access to AI education and training, together with more than 50 global partners.
But you can't be part of the AI revolution if you aren't connected in the first place — which is where our Development Sector comes in.
iii. Bridging development gaps
Over the last 12 months ITU-D (the ITU Telecommunication Development Sector) has been preparing for the upcoming World Telecommunication Development Conference (WTDC), to be held in November in Baku, Azerbaijan.
The theme of the conference couldn't be more relevant: "universal, meaningful and affordable connectivity for an inclusive and sustainable digital future", capturing our work in bringing digital opportunity to everyone, including those hardest to reach.
In addition, ITU-D has leveraged ITU's field presence to support more than 140 countries with digital policy and technical assistance in 2024 alone ꟷ in a year in which BDT also brokered a record number of new projects, helped nearly 30 countries develop national roadmaps for disaster preparedness under the Early Warnings for All initiative, and upskilled over 150,000 people through our network of Digital Transformation Centres.
Delivering this work across three Sectors requires becoming fit-for-future and a strong commitment to organizational excellence.
This is the third and final theme I will present.
3) Becoming fit for future
Here I would like to mention four key aspects of our journey towards organizational excellence: Accelerating progress on our transformation roadmap; strengthening accountability; Adopting results-based budgeting; and putting ITU staff at the heart of a fit-for-future ITU.
Starting with the latest phase of ITU's transformation that began more than two years ago:
i. Accelerating transformation
Which we've been turning into action, guided by a roadmap that is already delivering results.
Results some of you saw at yesterday's AI for negotiations workshop.
Across this entire organization, we are testing new solutions to: streamline document control; - meeting management; content creation, and more.
Integrating AI into our operations, is just one of many ways ITU is simplifying processes, eliminating duplication, and reducing time-to-decision.
To make efficiency our default. And to deliver on our commitment to thought leadership organizational excellence and engagement, with you, our members and partners.
Councillors,
ITU is not alone in taking on the challenge of accelerated transformation.
Many of you will have heard of the UN80 initiative which at its core is about helping the entire United Nations system evolve to meet this moment.
ITU co-leads the UN80 Task Force cluster on specialized agencies alongside the ILO (International Labour Organization).
We look forward to Under-Secretary-General Guy Ryder himself briefing this Council virtually on UN80 in two days' time.
ii. Strengthening accountability
Councillors,
We know that transformation must be matched by transparency, accountability, and clarity when it comes to roles and responsibilities.
That was the vision behind my proposal for a unified oversight function. A vision that is now taking shape.
Our Oversight Unit — combining the functions of internal audit, investigation, and evaluation — is now operational, with the evaluation function recruitment process nearing completion.
A new Ombudsman function to be shared with WIPO (the World Intellectual Property Organization) shows how we can collaborate with other UN institutions.
A newly published Ethics Charter will also be presented to this Council.
And I'm pleased that our new Ethics Officer; Chief of Oversight; Chief of Transformation; and Chief Information Officer, have joined us for this 2025 session, as well as our new Deputy Director of the BDT (Telecommunication Development Bureau).
We will continue to strengthen internal controls and risk management capabilities, laying the foundation for an ITU that is more accountable to you —by design.
iii. Budgeting for results
Councillors,
No matter how precarious the global economic environment becomes, ITU remains committed to transparent, results-based budgeting. And to ensuring that every Swiss franc saved through efficiency is reinvested in delivering more value to you, our members.
As part of our transformation efforts on financial management, we managed to get the audit cycle back on track.
Our 2024 financial statements were submitted to the auditors on time and received an unqualified opinion in recognition of the improvements made.
I thank the external auditors and IMAC for their constructive engagement.
They have set rigorous standards — and we are ready to meet them.
Prudent financial management enabled ITU to close 2024 with some savings that we propose to reinvest in core priorities.
We will present a balanced draft biennial budget to this Council for approval.
And although the inflationary pressures in the two decades since the Contributory Unit was last revised remain significant, we have chosen not to propose an increase at this time in the contributory unit value, given the economic realities facing many of our Member States.
Still, as emphasized by the External Auditors and IMAC, ITU must become better at recovering the costs of our services.
Chronic under-recovery of satellite network filing costs, combined with dwindling revenues, is no longer financially sustainable.
Therefore, I hope you will support our balanced proposal for efficient and pragmatic cost recovery in line with PP Resolution 91.
At the same time, we will continue seeking ways to reduce our operating costs through targeted efficiency measures, so we can reallocate resources to modernize the way we work, our premises and infrastructure, to better deliver for you.
iv. Putting people first
Last but not least, let me emphasize that staff are the beating heart of ITU.
Our longevity and resilience are fueled by a culture of innovation and continuous learning ꟷ a culture that we continue to foster through initiatives like ITU ChangeMakers, Learning Labs and leadership training.
Because every staff member should feel empowered to innovate and lead — no matter where they sit in the organization.
From Elected Officials, who began our own adaptive leadership training just last week, to our first cohort of Young Professionals who have already started bringing fresh energy and ideas to ITU, thanks to our fully operational Gender and Youth Office.
I also want to thank the Staff Council for their excellent collaboration over the past year.
Our recent Staff Engagement Survey is both a testament to our progress and reveals areas where we can improve.
What stood out to me was that 80 per cent of respondents said they are proud to work for this great Union.
I saw that pride come to life on May 17th when staff joined Geneva's diplomatic community to celebrate ITU's 160th anniversary.
We are also developing a new framework to recognize outstanding performers who go above and beyond to deliver, day in and day out.
Our greatest strength is a people-first culture — and the unity that comes from working as One ITU.
Seizing opportunities
Councillors,
You now have the big picture of the results this Union has achieved over the last 12 months, and an overview of the key issues that will be presented for your decision.
The coming days will also see you review progress on the implementation of ITU's strategic and operational plans; our resource mobilization strategy; our work on intersectoral coordination; and the new headquarters project ꟷwhich I am pleased to report is firmly on track, with the Planning and Design Firm now on board.
We've also received many thoughtful contributions on ITU's regional presence, and I thank you for your engagement on that front.
This Council session concludes on June 27th, but opportunities for progress do not end there.
Three weeks from now, Geneva will become the AI capital of the world when the AI for Good Global Summit kicks off at Palexpo, tackling key topics from: AI skills; to governance; standards; robotics, and more.
This runs in parallel with the WSIS+20 High-Level Event where we expect government leaders to join us in marking the 20-year Review of the WSIS process, which will conclude at a high-level UN General Assembly meeting in December.
Before that, we look forward to:
- The
Internet Governance Forum, coming up next week
- The
Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development, which will feature our
Digital Infrastructure Investment Initiative in Spain
- The
Third UN Conference on Landlocked Developing Countries in Turkmenistan,
- The
25th Global Symposium for Regulators in Saudi Arabia; and
- The
2025 UN Climate Change conference, which will feature our Green Digital Action initiative.
Each of these events will be an opportunity to drive progress on ITU's strategic goals of universal meaningful connectivity and sustainable digital transformation, and to show the world that these historic milestones — from ITU160, to UN80, to WSIS+20 — are opportunities to not only celebrate our past, but to reaffirm our commitment to a better and brighter digital future for all.
Building a Union that delivers
Councillors,
This is the State of our Union in a year brimming with opportunity and replete with challenges.
But even as technology races ahead, we cannot afford to stand still.
I am reminded of the legacy of someone who led an institution much older than ours. Someone I had the honor of meeting last year.
His Holiness, the late Pope Francis, may he rest in peace, advocated tirelessly for a world where technology, no matter how fast or far it advances, ultimately serves the common good, for the benefit of all humanity.
May his example inspire us to build a better digital future, through compassion, love, respect and service to those who need us the most.
That's the 2.6 billion unconnected, and millions more being left behind.
They are counting on us to bring a better digital future into being.
In times of turbulence and uncertainty, resilience comes down to the choices we make.
So, let's choose to reinforce our strengths as we reinvent ourselves.
Let's transform together — united by purpose and shared values.
Let's become a fit-for-future Union that delivers for our members, for all people and our planet, for the next 160 years and beyond.
