Overview

Over the past decade, Small Island Developing States (SIDS) have expanded connectivity, deployed digital strategies, and experimented with payments and identity systems, establishing a foundational “digital presence.” Yet access and presence do not equate to adoption. The true benefits of digital transformation remain locked behind fragmented data ecosystems, outdated regulatory frameworks, and critical gaps in implementation capacity, compounded by escalating cyber risks. The next phase of progress requires moving beyond connectivity toward holistically designed digital ecosystems that deliver trusted, practical “digital utility” for all citizens.

UNDP’s new strategic issues brief, “Responsible Digital Foundations in SIDS,” builds on national Digital Readiness Assessments across SIDS and prior SIDS research to provide a pragmatic blueprint for addressing the institutional and governance barriers that constrain digital adoption. This launch event, organized in collaboration with the Permanent Mission of Singapore to the UN and held on the margins of the STI Forum, will unveil the brief’s key findings and convene SIDS leaders and key stakeholders to chart a path from digital presence to enduring digital utility.

RSVP