Commission on Science and Technology for Development, 28th session

Your Excellency, Mr. Muhammadou M.O. Kah, Chair of the Commission on Science and Technology for Development,

His Excellency, Mr. Bob Rae, President of the United Nations Economic and Social Council and Permanent Representative of Canada to the UN in New York,

Ms. Doreen Bogdan-Martin, Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union,

Honorable Ministers and Distinguished Delegates,

Esteemed colleagues from international organizations, civil society, academia and the private sector,

Ladies and gentlemen,

It is my distinct honour to welcome you to the 28th session of the Commission on Science and Technology for Development (CSTD). I am delighted to see so many familiar faces and new participants joining us for what promises to be a substantive and timely exchange on some of the most pressing technological challenges of our time.

Before we begin our discussions, I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to our distinguished speakers who will be joining us in this opening session, His Excellency, Mr. Bob Rae, President of ECOSOC, and Ms. Doreen Bogdan-Martin, Secretary-General of ITU.

I also want to express my appreciation to the ministers, delegates and experts who have traveled from far and wide to share their knowledge and insights with us this week. Your presence enriches our deliberations and underscores the global nature of the challenges we face.

On my way to this meeting room, I was thinking about the astonishing pace of scientific discovery and technological changes that have taken place and continue to emerge rapidly. UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has proudly hosted the CSTD Secretariat since 1993.

In those early years, the internet was still a novelty, artificial intelligence was a futuristic concept and digital transformation was only beginning. Not even the most outlandish sci-fi projection would have imagined when we began the level of technological transformation humanity would achieve in the next thirty years.

Yet the critical issue isn't just the pace of change in these last three decades – it's the fact that in times of rapid change, not everything changes at the same speed. This creates gaps, tensions and imbalances that challenge our economies, our societies and our institutions. Divides pile up on divides – AI upon data; data upon digital; digital upon electricity and infrastructure; electricity upon energy. Sustainable development itself is imperiled by all of this.

It is therefore no coincidence that the Pact for the Future, whose main goal is to boost our efforts towards achieving the 2030 Agenda by 2030, dedicates a full chapter on science, technology and innovation (STI) and digital cooperation. Technology is, in many ways, our greatest hope for sustainable development; but hope will not materialize just by hoping. The task ahead is great, the course we need to correct mighty. Only international cooperation of the highest order can unleash the true potential of STI for the benefit of all.

Here, it is important to note that the Pact for the Future also confers new responsibilities to the CSTD through the Global Digital Compact. Under the new mandate, CSTD has been tasked to develop fundamental principles for data governance at all levels as relevant for development, through a dedicated working group for a comprehensive and inclusive multi-stakeholder dialogue.

I congratulate the CSTD bureau, under the chair’s able leadership, for having completed the setup of the Working Group, allowing it to convene the first meeting on 1 and 2 May. I assure you we will spare no efforts in delivering the ambition of this new mandate.

Excellencies,

Our agenda for this 28th session is very pertinent to implementing recent UN initiatives concerning STI. It focuses on three critical issues: diversifying economies in a world of accelerated digitalization, technology foresight and technology assessment for sustainable development, and the follow-up to the World Summit on the Information Society, in particular the WSIS+20 review.

We will also be presenting our latest Technology and Information Report, which came out last week, and has already garnered great attention. Despite all the news-heavy schedule of the last few days, our Technology and Innovation Report was read in its first 24 hours by more people than our previous flagship in its entire life cycle.

I will elaborate on some of our key findings later this morning.

Ladies and gentlemen,

As we embark on the important discussions of the coming days, let us remember that technology is not destiny – it is a choice. The trajectory of technology is not predetermined; it is shaped by our decisions, our policies and our collective vision for the future.

The Commission on Science and Technology for Development has always been a forum where we can confront these choices with clarity and purpose. Let us do no different today. 
I thank you.