LocationsDigital@UNGA 2026: Building a Digit’all Future Together
October 14, 2026
ITU Secretary-General Doreen Bogdan-Martin and UNDP Administrator Alexander De Croo open Digital@UNGA 2026 with a call to shape an inclusive digital future together.
“Together.” For United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Administrator Alexander De Croo, this was the word that captured the spirit of this year’s Digital@UNGA.
Opening the evening alongside the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Secretary-General Doreen Bogdan-Martin, De Croo reminded everyone that no country, organization or sector can address the challenges or reap the benefits of digital transformation alone.
Bogdan-Martin echoed that call for collective action: “Our digital future is something that we can, and must shape together.”
That shared responsibility brought governments, businesses, civil society, innovators and young people, among others, to United Nations Headquarters in New York on 21 September. Co-hosted by UNDP and ITU during the 81st United Nations General Assembly, the fourth edition of Digital@UNGA explored what it takes to build an inclusive digital future that works for everyone.
The evening unfolded through three Digit’all Journeys: Innovation, Inclusion and Future. Each explored a different dimension of digital transformation, from innovation that improves development outcomes to broader participation and the partnerships needed to sustain progress.
Progress measured by the difference technology makes
Her Majesty Queen Mathilde of the Belgians calls for inclusive digital progress at Digital@UNGA 2026.
When thinking about technological progress, its speed and scale often come to mind. At Digital@UNGA, however, speakers proposed a different measure: how does technology improve people’s lives?
Can technology help diagnose diseases earlier? Anticipate a drought? Make public services easier to access? Give young leaders the opportunity to solve a problem in their community?
In her special address, Her Majesty Queen Mathilde of the Belgians, a United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Advocate, put it simply: “Growth cannot be considered progress if millions are excluded from it.”
Throughout the evening, speakers shared examples of how technology is improving people’s lives: using data and AI alongside communities’ first-hand experiences to predict public health risks, giving young women and girls in Pakistan hands-on experience in robotics and AI, and designing digital government services around citizens’ needs in Egypt.
Egypt’s Assistant Minister for Digital Transformation Mahmoud Badawi shares how digital government services are being designed around citizens’ needs.
Bringing more voices into the conversation
To understand how technology is changing people’s lives, we need to hear directly from those using it.
Ahead of Digital@UNGA, the Digit’all Voices campaign invited people from around the world to share their experiences. More than 135 stories from over 59 countries were submitted, showing how people are using technology to learn, connect and address challenges in their communities.
The stories brought everyday experiences into the global discussion, giving people a platform to share what digital transformation means in their own lives.
Recognizing pioneering digital solutions
Alongside these personal stories, Digital@UNGA celebrated initiatives tackling wider development challenges. Selected from among 1,500 submissions across 146 countries, this year’s Digital@UNGA Awards recognized four initiatives for their notable contributions to digital development:
Medic’s Community Health Toolkit, winner of the Digital Inclusion Award, supports community health workers with applications designed for low-cost phones, local languages and offline use.
Diia, a digital ecosystem created by Ukraine’s Ministry of Digital Transformation, received the Digital Government Award for bringing public services and digital documents together in an accessible mobile platform.
The Digital Frontiers Award went to Rahat, an open-source, blockchain-based cash and voucher assistance platform developed by Nepali company Rumsan. The platform combines climate data and blockchain technology to issue early warnings and release financial assistance before disasters strike.
Meanwhile, Ramona, a free AI tool created by Mexican entrepreneur Laura Daniela Camberos to detect fraudulent job offers and help prevent human trafficking, won the Digital Pioneers Award.
Across healthcare, public services, disaster response and protection from trafficking, the award winners showed what digital innovation can achieve. Their examples also raised a broader question: how can those who use and depend on these technologies help shape them?
Shaping the digital future
Actor and the United Nations’ first Global Advocate for Human-Centric Digital Governance Joseph Gordon-Levitt put that question directly to the audience: “Who gets a say in our digital future?”
Inclusion goes beyond access. It requires the skills and tools to use technology, opportunities to contribute to its development, and a voice in the decisions that govern its use.
It also requires attention to local contexts and potential risks, with safeguards in place to address unintended consequences.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt calls for a voice for everyone in shaping the digital future at Digital@UNGA 2026.
Big Ocean puts inclusion in action
Big Ocean closed the evening with performances of their hit songs, “One Man Army” and “Flow.” The K-pop group, whose members are deaf or hard of hearing, combined music, sign language and technology to show how accessibility can widen participation in performance art.
They use vibrating metronomes and visual cues to follow the rhythm, alongside AI tools that support their vocal work. Sign language is integral to their performances, while live captions and signing helped make their remarks accessible to the audience.
Their message to the leaders and innovators in the room was clear: “Do not add accessibility at the end. Begin with it.”
Big Ocean’s music added a creative dimension to the evening’s discussions, showing how accessible technology can open new possibilities for artistic self-expression.
A Digit’all future built together
Across the three Digit’all Journeys, speakers explored how collaboration can turn innovation into inclusive development.
Now in its fourth year, Digital@UNGA has evolved beyond an annual event into a community of people and organizations committed to carrying these ideas forward. The fifth edition in 2027 will be an opportunity to deepen those connections and share the progress made through those partnerships.
That work continues beyond the room, through the systems we create, the partnerships we build and the choices we make. As Administrator De Croo reminded the audience, the digital future is already being built, “by all of us, together.”