Nine questions about the digital future – answered
Through the Digit’all Voices campaign, questions reach the UN stage from citizens around the world.
How can technology deliver for everyone, everywhere?
That was the question at the heart of Digital@UNGA 2025, organized by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) during the 80th United Nations General Assembly.
Across more than 45 sessions in New York and around the world, Digital@UNGA 2025 brought together government officials, technology leaders, civil society, and youth to explore how digital technologies can serve as a force for good. Building on the Global Digital Compact at adopted in 2024, the sessions also echoed the legacy of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), which first put people-centred digital development on the global policy table.
To bring people from around the world into the conversation, ITU and UNDP launched Digit’all Voices — a global call for questions to technology leaders and policymakers.
The questions that emerged, and the answers they inspired, reflect shared desires for digital solutions that empower humanity and leave no one behind.
Here are a few highlights:
How can we make sure rural youth aren’t left out of the digital world?
Asked by: Roxana, Colombia
Answered by: Kelly T. Clements, Deputy High Commissioner, UNHCR: The UN Refugee Agency
No one should be cut off from the tools that define opportunity today.
Clements explained UNHCR’s goal: “We have a very ambitious plan to try to reach 20 million refugees and host communities by 2030.” That means extending infrastructure like cell towers, as well as providing affordable devices and training so that young people in remote or displaced communities can study, work, and participate online.
How do I know if what I read or watch online is real or fake?
Asked by: Daniel, Mexico
Answered by: Prajakta Koli, Youth Climate Champion, UNDP India
We are all part of the information chain.
Stopping the spread of fake news starts with each of us choosing to pause, check, and think, Koli emphasized. She outlined some simple but powerful steps to combat misinformation, underlining a key safeguard: “checking if the same information is available on multiple verified sources.” Misinformation thrives when people stop questioning, she added, so individuals must take responsibility for researching before sharing.
What skills will matter most in the next 20–30 years: creativity, coding, empathy — or something else?
Asked by: Freddy, Benin
Answered by: will.i.am, musician, tech founder, and philanthropist
Imagination, critical thinking, self‑awareness, and love will matter more than any single technical skill.
ITU’s recently named digital skills ambassador, will.i.am, has coined a new term — communiting, not marketing — to describe the building of technology that strengthens communities rather than just selling to them, because “No robot, no agent is going to out-human the human on the conditions of the community.”
How can global policies combat misinformation and strengthen democracy?
Asked by: Maureen, Costa Rica
Answered by: Sam Gregory, Executive Director, WITNESS (a global human rights and civic journalism network)
Trust can be rebuilt through transparency, using tools that let everyone know what’s human-made and what’s machine-made.
Gregory noted that artificial intelligence (AI) is blurring the line between real and synthetic content and that “AI threatens to undermine our trust in information.” He argued for clear global policies and technical standards that help people see the “recipe of AI and human” behind what they watch, identifying when content includes AI manipulation.
How can we “green” the digital future and reduce emissions from AI and data centres?
Asked by: Syed, Pakistan
Answered by: Dirk Messner, President, German Environment Agency
Data and governance are needed to understand and manage AI‑related impacts.
“We need clear guardrails regarding water intensity, resource intensity and energy intensity for data centres worldwide,” Messner said. Behind every digital service are servers that consume energy, water, and materials. Messner warned that without data on those impacts, and without a strong regulatory framework, AI-related emissions and resource consumption would continue growing. ITU and its partners are helping countries define the necessary standards for greener AI worldwide.
What has been done to eliminate the global digital divide?
Asked by: Dharma, India
Answered by: Liberto Bautista, President, Conference of Non-Governmental Organizations in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations (CoNGO)
Digital and social inequalities must be addressed in tandem.
The digital divide is not just about technology; it mirrors wider social and economic inequalities, Bautista said. Civil society and the multilateral system have therefore focused on a core principle: “Anything that is digital must be people-oriented.” That means digital innovation needs to be “human rights-centred” and must “contribute to the sustainable development of communities.” The Global Digital Compact has provided the impetus for addressing the digital divide’s interconnectedness with the social divide.
How can we teach youth to use technology for innovation, not just consumption?
Asked by: Román, Colombia
Answered by: Laura Thompson, Assistant Director-General, International Labour Organization (ILO)
Education must go beyond technical skills.
Thompson called for a shift from hard to soft skills: Creativity, problem-solving, and most of all, continuous education. Without teaching values like social justice, cohesion, and solidarity, innovation can be misused, Thompson cautioned, noting that “equality and social justice bring a better life to everybody.”
How can digital tools make travel easier for people with disabilities?
Asked by: Anita, Switzerland
Answered by: Ambassador Katarina Fried, Permanent Mission of Sweden to the UN
Digital inclusion means designing accessibly from the start.
Fried shared how Sweden has put this into practice, launching an app ten years ago with real-time audio navigation for train travelers with visual impairments, now standard in transit systems. While the country explores emerging technologies like augmented reality and smart glasses to make public transport more accessible, “there’s still a lot to be done to bridge the digital gap for people with disabilities.”
How can we ensure our digital future is truly inclusive — affordable, ubiquitous, and fair?
Asked by: Shaielendra, India
Answered by: Mondli Gungubele, Deputy Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies, South Africa
No country, no community, and no person should be left behind.
Gungubele highlighted South Africa’s new Digital Transformation Roadmap, developed with ITU’s guidance, which lays out plans for digital identity, payments, and data exchange to make public services seamless and accessible. “Digital development is not a luxury; it is necessary,” he emphasized.
A message of responsibility
Voices across continents expressed a determination that technology must promote an ethical world — one that distributes knowledge and opportunity equally.
Another recurring theme was a profound sense of responsibility to future generations. The questions to digital leaders are not about profit or competition, but rather about building a digital world worthy of inheriting.
Looking ahead: WSIS+20 Review and P2C Annual Meeting
So the global dialogue continues. In December, the world’s digital cooperation agenda returns to New York for the WSIS+20 Review High-Level Meeting of the UN General Assembly (16–17 December 2025) — marking two decades since governments first agreed to make the information society people-centred and development-driven.
Preceding that review, a special Digital@UNGA session on WSIS+20 on 15 December, is set to highlight concrete commitments that are connecting the unconnected to ensure technology delivers for everyone, everywhere. That session will also include the Annual Meeting of ITU’s Partner2Connect (P2C) Digital Coalition.
Learn more about the Digital@UNGA session on WSIS+20.
Check out UNDP’s blog post about the Digital@UNGA anchor event on 23 September 2025.
Image credit: ITU/ M. Jacobson-Gonzalez
