Page 32 - Connecting the Future How Connectivity and AI Unlock New Potential

Connecting the Future: How Connectivity and AI Unlock New Potential

lated fields and diversify avenues for AI deployments, improving the reach of their infrastructure
projects and maximizing their investment returns. 99

Public-Private Partnerships

Middle-mile and last-mile solutions offer key opportunities for public-private partnerships, priori-
tizing service affordability for users. Infrastructure-based competition certainly delivers consumer
benefits with high returns on investment in developed markets, where sufficient funding and
purchasing power can sustain large and multiple investments. However, this model produces
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poor results in developing markets with less developed infrastructure. Instead, public-private part-
nerships could focus on sharing resources with existing utilities by utilizing already built pathways
– roads, railways, transmission grids – to lower connectivity costs to users.
These partnerships can also reach a global scope, with governments assisting in establishing
relationships between private sector actors across borders. Organizations like the International
Finance Corporation successfully develop partnerships between firms in developed and emerging
economies; governments like South Africa and Singapore have signed Memorandum of Under-
standings (MoUs) with leading tech and telecommunications companies like Oracle, Cisco, HTX,
and Salam to strengthen the countries’ digital infrastructure and economy. These examples
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showcase the value of incorporating expertise in both the public and private sectors in accelerating
digital development. 102

International organizations

The global nature of the digital development challenge necessitates involvement from international
organizations, whose reach can identify specific requirements and help to connect collaborative
parties. The ITU, through initiatives like Giga and its Connectivity Target Tracker, provides techni-
cal diagnostics and financing roadmaps to help countries expand last-mile access, particularly for
schools and rural communities. These tools enable governments to prioritize AI-ready infrastruc-
ture. Financial organizations should also help raise, consolidate, and allocate monetary assistance
for development projects in under-resourced regions, directing investments toward shovel-ready
projects. Furthermore, global organizations can connect infrastructure companies with emerging
customer bases in new countries, fueling mutually beneficial growth in otherwise disconnected
economies. 103
Other international organizations can play critical roles in shaping rules and norms of AI devel-
opment and usage across digital architectures. Notably, leading institutions have already shaped
agreements on standards development, ethical applications, and guiding principles.
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However, these milestones likely reflect early iterations of solutions that will require continued
refinement and revision as the global community adapts to the AI economy. Aligning standards
and principles enables smoother data sharing, expands digital infrastructure and AI adoption, and
lowers market barriers – helping companies and SMEs scale AI-enabled businesses.
Civil Society

In parallel, the intellectual strengths, convening capacities, and robust networks of civil society
organizations form comparative advantages in facilitating agreements and shaping norms around
digital connectivity. Nested between public and private sectors, these institutions can leverage
their research and analysis power to continue to identify critical areas of investment for AI infra-
structure, particularly in resource-constrained regions. They can utilize their broad, transnational
relationships to connect and encourage financial institutions with needed investments in core
elements of connectivity in emerging markets. Furthermore, civil society can convene private and
public sector stakeholders to advance dialogue around best practices, policies, and standards that
broaden the reach of AI’s benefits, such as establishing frameworks for cross-border data transfers,
aligning global data privacy mechanisms, and fostering trust in data sharing agreements.

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