Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization,
and foster innovation

Improving universal and affordable access to ICT by deploying digital solutions

Power of digital

Solutions in the realm of infrastructure are the backbone of the digital economy, which is powered by industry and innovation. Universal and affordable access to ICTs unlocks potential impact across all SDGs

Opportunities

• Empowering more people through Internet connections
• Safer and healthier factories through IoT employment
• Better business decision-making through analytics

Potential risks & digital harms

• Digital divide across and within nations, especially between urban and rural areas

Giga

Giga is a joint ITU-UNICEF initiative that aims to connect every school and ultimately every community in the world to the Internet by 2030. It helps governments connect schools in a cost-effective and sustainable manner by providing the latest tools and innovations in mapping, infrastructure planning,
contracting, and financing

Examples of countries implemented

Antigua and Barbuda, British Virgin Islands, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Niger, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Uzbekistan

Power of digital

1. Connected schools access a wider range of educational materials
2. Facilitates the development of digital skills
3. Easily replicable and fosters positive spillover to communities around connected schools

“The Internet has changed the way we teach. We’ve gone a long way from the normal use of textbooks. First, our pupils are able to explore. Secondly, it is fun. Third, it opens our pupils’ minds. Their minds are broadened because they can access any information from any country”
_{Joseph Waweru, Teacher, Noonkopir Primary School, Kenya}

Smart Facilities for Health (SFH)

Smart Facilities for Health (SFH) are digitally-enabled, green, interoperable, plug-and-play infrastructure solutions to strengthen health systems

Examples of countries implemented

Guinea-Bissau, India, Indonesia, Sao Tome and Principe, South Sudan, and Uganda

Power of digital

1. Use a suite of digital health, green energy, IoT and ICT components to address persistent operational challenges
2. Strengthen human elements of health systems
3. Address chronic infrastructure gaps

“SFH seek specifically to strengthen health systems by addressing key infrastructure gaps and the digital divide which hamper access to innovations and the delivery of reliable, equitable and quality care”
_{UNDP statement}