Highlights – October 2026
Digital Innovation Ecosystems: Global
The Digital Innovation Board held its fourth session from 11 to 12 October 2026 in Muscat, Oman, convening Board members, ITU Acceleration Centres, and industry experts to further the mission of the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Alliance for Digital Development. Hosted by Oman’s Telecommunications Regulatory Authority, the Board assessed the status of the Alliance’s core initiatives, including the ITU Acceleration Centres, the Network of Experts, strategic foresight activities, and partnership development. Participants acknowledged the Alliance’s sustained growth and reiterated their dedication to fostering inclusive, innovation-led digital transformation through enhanced synergy between governments, the private sector, academia, and entrepreneurship support organizations.
During the meeting, five Foresight Briefs were released, addressing education, smart cities, healthcare, SMEs, and the venture capital landscape in Africa. These documents provide actionable intelligence to assist policymakers and innovators in anticipating industry shifts, optimizing decision-making, and formulating forward-thinking strategies. By analyzing global trends across technological, political, economic, environmental, and social sectors, the briefs outline future scenarios, identify paths toward digital equity, and propose strategic recommendations.
Emergency telecommunications: Arab States
Libya’s National Multi-stakeholder Workshop on the Early Warnings for All (EW4All) initiative’s Warning Dissemination and Communication pillar was held in Tripoli, Libya, with the National Emergency Telecommunication Plan (NETP) validation, Common Alerting Protocol (CAP), and Cell Broadcast (CB) sessions conducted on 27-28 September, and the EW4All gap analysis sessions on 29-30 September. Organized with national stakeholders, the General Authority for Communications and Informatics and the National Centre for Emergency, Crisis and Disaster Management, ITU’s Telecommunication Development Bureau (BDT) led discussions to identify gaps in the country’s early warning value chain and set priority actions for its strengthening. BDT also facilitated sessions to validate and advance the country’s NETP and to strengthen alert dissemination nationwide through CAP and CB early warning system, supporting efforts to ensure life-saving warnings reach people at risk in time to act.
Emergency telecommunications: Arab States
Within the Early Warnings for All initiative, BDT jointly organized the 2nd Arab Forum on Early Warning Systems and Disaster Preparedness from 12-14 October in Tunis, Tunisia, with the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, the International Organization for Migration, the World Meteorological Organization, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the United Nations Development Programme, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, and the League of Arab States. The Forum allowed the stakeholders to review progress and remaining gaps in implementing the initiative across the Arab region, identifying actions to accelerate its four pillars. Participants shared experiences, innovative practices, and approaches to strengthen sustainable, people-centred multi-hazard early warning systems through financing, technology, governance, partnerships and South-South cooperation. During the event, BDT shared how digital technologies can help ensure life-saving alerts reach people at risk through channels they can access and trust, and alerts they understand and act upon
Emergency telecommunications: Global
BDT presented progress on the Early Warnings for All initiative at the conference and launch of the 2026 World Risk Poll Resilience Index, organized by the Lloyd’s Register Foundation on 13-14 October in London, United Kingdom. At the conference, BDT highlighted the critical role of warning dissemination and communication, the initiative’s third pillar led by ITU, in building resilience. The event provided an opportunity to strengthen partnerships, explore synergies to scale Cell Broadcast and other public warning solutions, and discuss global resilience trends, early warning system effectiveness, and the impact of disaster experience on resilience.
Environment: Asia and the Pacific
On 6 October, the ITU Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific participated in the ASEAN Circular Economy Forum 2026 in Bangkok, Thailand, held under the theme “Closing the Loop, Unlocking the Future: Thriving in a Resource-Challenged World.” The Regional Office contributed to a session on “Digital Solutions for ASEAN Circular Economy Governance” and shared BDT’s work in this area, highlighting initiatives including the thought paper on digital solutions for the electronics value chain, as well as Green GovStack in Rwanda and the integration of digital systems to reduce compliance efforts and enforcement costs.