ITU and UNDP Summit Mobilizes Over $80 Billion for Digital Future; Microsoft Commits $4 Billion to Global AI Skilling

ITU and UNDP Summit Mobilizes Over $80 Billion for Digital Future; Microsoft Commits $4 Billion to Global AI Skilling

ITU and UNDP aim to keep digital cooperation central to the international agenda to ensure that technology-driven transformation delivers for everyone, everywhere.

RMN News Technology Desk
September 27, 2025

New York, 26 September 2025 – The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) concluded Digital@UNGA 2025, a week-long series of activities held in conjunction with the United Nations General Assembly in New York City. The event successfully brought together the global community to advance technology for humanity, spotlighting digital solutions, innovations, and investments for good as the UN marks its 80th anniversary.

Digital leaders from government, the private sector, and civil society, including youth representatives, shared their insights on how technology can be a force for prosperity. The event demonstrated how digital innovations, including the latest advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) and quantum computing, can help build global prosperity and transform individual lives.

“My top takeaway from Digital@UNGA 2025 is the lasting power of digital to tackle our most urgent global challenges,” said ITU Secretary-General Doreen Bogdan-Martin. She noted she was deeply inspired by the innovations, the voices heard, and the commitments made, all “converging towards a digital future that truly works for everyone”.

UNDP Acting Administrator Haoliang Xu stated that digital innovation is essential for accelerating sustainable development, from supporting livelihoods to expanding access to education and health care. He stressed that the story of digital is ultimately about “people – a world where technology connects rather than divides – driving development that leaves no one behind”.

Major Commitments Boost Global Connectivity Efforts

A key focus of the Anchor Event was securing major commitments toward global digital goals. Microsoft announced a significant pledge under ITU’s Partner2Connect Digital Coalition (P2C) global pledging platform.

This pledge is part of the new Microsoft Elevate initiative and is supported by a USD 4 billion investment. The initiative aims to help 20 million people earn an in-demand AI skilling credential over the next two years. Lisa Monaco, President of Global Affairs at Microsoft, commented that AI offers a transformative opportunity to drive economic growth, provided its benefits are “shared broadly and equitably”.

The announced commitment at Digital@UNGA brings the total funds mobilized through the Partner2Connect Coalition to over USD 80 billion. The P2C platform is currently working toward a 2026 goal of mobilizing USD 100 billion. According to the SDG Digital Acceleration Agenda issued by ITU and UNDP in 2023, digital technologies can directly benefit more than two-thirds of the UN’s sustainable development targets.

In further educational action, ITU launched an initiative with Google and musician, tech founder, and philanthropist will.i.am to bring AI and robotics training to underserved schools in Africa. This effort will be coordinated with the ITU-UNICEF Giga initiative, which supports governments in connecting the world’s schools.

Global Voices and Cooperation Highlight Digital Action

Digital@UNGA 2025 convened thousands of participants through its Anchor Event at UN Headquarters and hosted over 40 affiliate sessions in New York, across the UN system, and online around the world. These sessions were hosted by a diverse range of groups, including civil society, academia, industry, and international organizations, showcasing global efforts in digital cooperation and innovative approaches to connectivity.

The global public was also involved through the Digit’all Voices online campaign, which solicited questions from various perspectives, regions, and generations on advancing sustainability, prosperity, and inclusion through technology. Government and technology leaders addressed these campaign questions in a dedicated session led by Indian actor and UNDP’s Youth Climate Champion, Prajakta Koli.

Digital@UNGA 2025 continues more than two decades of UN-led efforts to advance digital development, following historical gatherings such as the World Summit on the Information Society in 2003 and 2005, and last year’s Global Digital Compact. ITU and UNDP aim to keep digital cooperation central to the international agenda to ensure that technology-driven transformation delivers for everyone, everywhere.