ITU Year in Review 2024: Secretary-General’s message
Doreen Bogdan-Martin, Secretary-General, ITU
If 2024 has taught me anything, it’s that digital is an irrefutable force for unity — a much-needed catalyst for global cooperation in an increasingly fragmented world.
This truth has been on display all year long, sometimes against the odds. And it’s evident in the adoption of the Pact for the Future and Global Digital Compact at the United Nations General Assembly, in the outcomes of the World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly (WTSA-24), and in the wide endorsement of the COP29 Declaration on Green Digital Action.
The achievements you’ll find in these pages confirm the key role of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in the world’s constantly shifting digital landscape. As the UN Secretary-General said when he visited our headquarters in Geneva this year, ITU’s “technical expertise and commitment to collaboration are the very qualities our world needs as we navigate a new digital age.”
But beyond the policies and milestones, what will stay with me from this year are personal stories of hope, innovation, and resilience.
Some incredible women in rural India are using digital tools to deliver banking services and drive precision farming in their local community. Luis, a young man who lost his voice to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), regained it thanks to artificial intelligence (AI). And young “digital natives” are using tech to advance all 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
These are the faces of digital change in 2024. They remind us why our work is so important.
As we get ready to mark ITU’s 160th anniversary in 2025, digital solutions have taken their rightful place in our shared vision of transformative and sustainable progress.
The world needs ITU’s leadership now, more than ever before, to coordinate radiocommunications, set global standards, and drive inclusive digital development for all.
The digital future is already here. Together, let’s ensure it works for all of humanity, for our planet, and for generations to come.
ITU Year in Review 2024
Header image credit: Adobe Stock
