WTDC-25 reflection: Connecting people for meaningful development

By Cosmas Luckyson Zavazava, Director of the Telecommunication Development Bureau, ITU

Global digital development cooperation has entered a new and highly ambitious phase. The 2025 World Telecommunication Development Conference (WTDC-25) has underscored shared global priorities, from affordable connectivity to inclusive and secure digital development.

This in turn will spark renewed vigor into the work of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU)’s Telecommunication Development Bureau (BDT) under the uniquely positioned Telecommunication Development Sector (ITU-D) to ensure digital transformation happens sustainably and benefits everyone, everywhere.

ITU’s Member States and development community came together in Baku, Azerbaijan – where the conference took place between 17 and 28 November – because billions of people depend on us to turn emerging technologies into new opportunities, and digital breakthroughs into real human progress.

Putting people at the centre

At this conference, we were reminded that for us in the Development Sector, we should not stop being immersed in the language of technology: bandwidth, algorithms, modelling, and the Cloud as it is easy to get lost in the architecture. But for us to remember what all of this is for.

Think about it:

Joseph, a farmer in a remote village in Papua New Guinea, isn’t just a spice farmer anymore. He is a businessperson with a weather forecast in his pocket and global market prices at his fingertips.

A sick child from Gokina, a formerly isolated village in Pakistan, isn’t just a statistic. She is a patient receiving a diagnosis through a screen from a specialist a thousand miles away.

Mastewal, a smart craftsperson from Ethiopia, isn’t just hoping for a customer to find her. She’s reaching millions, building a brand, and shipping her art across continents with a few taps on her phone.

That is development.

We don’t develop technologies at the Telecommunication Development Bureau. We focus on developing people. 

Let’s carry that with us. Let’s be developers who code with empathy, engineers who build with integrity, and leaders who connect with purpose.

Let’s go build a future that is connected and people centred.

Critical resolutions and questions

We concluded this conference with some highly ambitious outcomes.

New resolutions adopted in Baku call on us to harness artificial intelligence (AI) for human development; strengthen the role of ITU’s regional offices; support Sudan in reconstructing damaged infrastructure; and implement the Lagatoi Declaration on Digital Transformation of the Pacific, whereby island countries have formed a united regional front in pursuit of sustainable digital prosperity.

New ITU-D Study Group Questions and new Regional Initiatives have been adopted for the coming four-year cycle.

From ambition to action

Today, an estimated 2.2 billion people are still offline, and that persistent digital divide mirrors the world’s social and economic challenges.

But digital technologies can be a great equalizer – the most powerful technology available to break down the walls of ignorance, poverty, and isolation.

So, let’s stop asking if technology contributes to development. That question is obsolete. The real question is: Will we harness it? Will we embrace it? Will we use this incredible tool to build a world that is smarter, healthier and more connected for everyone?

The Baku Declaration and Action Plan, adopted at WTDC-25, show us the way forward. The real work starts now, and ITU with its Telecommunication Development is ready.

Header image credit: ©ITU/I.SALIFOV