The 2025 Advocacy Targets of the Broadband Commission
The seven Advocacy Targets of the Broadband Commission reflect ambitious and aspirational goals and function as a policy and programmatic guide for national and international action in broadband development. Starting initially with four connectivity goals established in 2011, the Targets were expanded to five in 2013, with the addition of the gender equality goal, and eventually to seven in 2018.
The seven Advocacy Targets are:
- Target 1: Make broadband policy universal
- Target 2: Make broadband affordable
- Target 3: Get everyone online
- Target 4: Promote digital skills development
- Target 5: Increase use of digital financial services
- Target 6: Get MSMEs online
- Target 7: Bridge the gender digital divide
Read more about these targets
here.
The State of Broadband 2024
Below is the conclusion of the annual flagship report by the Broadband Commission “The State of Broadband 2024: Leveraging AI for Universal Connectivity”, where the progress of the above-mentioned targets is tracked.
Internet access for all remains an elusive goal for one third of humanity, with the benefits of Internet access unevenly distributed. Efforts are still focused towards making broadband universally available, affordable, and providing fair and equitable access to the benefits and opportunities of digital technologies. Despite substantive progress in some areas, the Broadband Commission’s targets have still not been achieved. Target 2 for mobile broadband affordability is close to being achieved, and Target 7 for gender equality in access to broadband has been achieved for some countries, although not globally.
The online world is evolving rapidly. Broadband and computing infrastructure underpins many current developments, including AI and emerging technologies. Conversely, AI stands to impact the Broadband Commission’s targets and SDGs, as this report has shown.
AI also adds new dimensions to broadband policy, and policy-makers are racing to catch up. The implications of these developments are far from clear, and the policy landscape is evolving very rapidly to accommodate these new developments. There is a range of regulatory initiatives and a massive policy push underway in countries around the world. A number of countries and regions are starting to issue guidance or regulations on the use of AI. Policy-makers are trying to find the proper balance promoting the benefits of AI, while managing possible risks.
As the digital landscape transforms, there are various efforts by many stakeholders to ensure that these changes occur within a collectively agreed ethical framework. In 2021, UNESCO produced the first-ever global standard on AI ethics, the Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence. In 2022, the GSMA’s AI for Impact Initiative published a guide for the mobile policy community on the ethical design, development and deployment of AI systems. ITU hosts the AI for Good platform, supported by 40 UN partners, which aims at employing AI to progress the SDGs.
The ITU/UNESCO Broadband Commission stands ready to support policy-makers as they engage with the development of digital technologies and their impact on the policy landscape.
Read the full report
here.
