Impact of Rapid Technological Change on the Achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals and Targets

A/RES/79/334View PDF

Who created this mandate?

A document of the General Assembly, under agenda item 133Impact of rapid technological change on the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals and targets, published in 2025.

What other versions does this mandate have?

4 versions · 2018–2025

2025A/RES/79/334Impact of rapid technological change on the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals and targetsLatestCompare with previous version
2023A/RES/77/320Impact of rapid technological change on the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals and targetsCompare with previous version
2021A/RES/75/316Impact of rapid technological change on the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals and targetsCompare with previous version
2018A/RES/73/17Impact of rapid technological change on the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals and targets

Versions are identified automatically by matching titles within the same organ (~97% accuracy on a manual audit).

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2 entities

Extracted automatically from each entity’s budget submission.

What subjects does this mandate have?

5 topics

Artificial Intelligence Digital Technology Science and Technology Sustainable Development Technological Innovations

What does this mandate say?

27 operative paragraphs

Encourages Member States to continue to consider the impact of key rapid technological changes on the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals and targets in order to benefit from opportunities and address challenges, promote the development of national strategies and public policies on science, technology and innovation for sustainable development, including STI for SDGs road maps, capacity-building and scientific engagement, and share best practices;

Urges Member States and other stakeholders to take actions to bridge the digital and knowledge divides, recognizing that approaches must be multidimensional and include an evolving understanding of what constitutes access, emphasizing the quality of that access, and acknowledges that speed, stability, affordability, language, local content and accessibility for persons with disabilities are now core elements and that high-speed broadband is already an essential enabler of sustainable development;

Stresses the need to provide universal, meaningful and affordable access to the Internet by 2030, including meaningful use of digitally enabled services, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals, and welcomes efforts by the United Nations to assist Member States, upon their request, in achieving this;

Reaffirms that the same rights that people have offline must also be protected online, including the right to privacy, with special regard given to the protection of children;

Calls upon Member States to consider adopting or maintaining data protection legislation, regulation and policies, including on digital communication data, that comply with their international human rights obligations, which could include the establishment of national independent authorities with powers and resources to monitor data privacy practices, investigate violations and abuses and receive communications from individuals and organizations, and to provide appropriate remedies;

Urges Member States and other stakeholders to close digital divides and promote digital inclusion, by taking into account national and regional contexts and addressing the challenges associated with access, affordability, digital literacy and digital skills, including media and information literacy, and by ensuring that the benefits of new technologies are available to all, taking into account the needs of those in vulnerable situations as well as addressing intersectionality, negative social norms, language barriers, structural barriers and risks, and encourages cooperation between the United Nations development system and programme countries, in line with their national policies and priorities, in order to promote and improve digital inclusion;

Encourages Member States and all stakeholders to close the gender digital divide, including by eliminating barriers to women’s full, equal and effective participation both offline and in digital contexts, increasing women’s and girls’ access to digital technologies, promoting equal, safe and affordable access to information and communications technologies and to the Internet, enhancing women’s and girls’ digital literacy and entrepreneurship, improving digital cooperation and harnessing the potential of rapid technological change to improve the lives of women and girls, and promoting connectivity and socioeconomic prosperity, and to address the development divide and digital divides, including the gender digital divide, addressing any potential negative impacts of digital technologies on gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls;

Recognizes that digital technologies unlock new capabilities and opportunities for advancing environmental sustainability, and encourages Member States and other stakeholders to leverage digital technologies for sustainability while minimizing their negative environmental impacts;

Urges Member States and other stakeholders to strengthen the role that rapid technological change can play in mitigating the negative impacts of future pandemics on the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals and to strengthen digital cooperation in the areas of e-commerce, financial technology, digital capacity-building, affordable, reliable and meaningful Internet connectivity and digital infrastructure to achieve an inclusive, sustainable and resilient recovery and build back better after the pandemics and to take concerted action to further strengthen scientific research, adoption of emerging technologies and new data sources and to build resilient, inclusive and integrated data and statistical systems, under the leadership of national statistical offices, that can respond to the increased and urgent data demands in times of disaster and ensure a path towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals;

Encourages the promotion of digital solutions through access to and use of digital public goods, which may include open-source software, open data, open artificial intelligence models, open standards and open content that adhere to international and domestic laws, in unlocking the full potential of rapid technological change to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals;

Recognizes the need for more coordinated and scaled-up global digital capacity-building efforts and stronger capacity-building support at the country level, including in areas such as an appropriate enabling environment, sufficient resources, infrastructure, education, investment, connectivity, growing digital economies, and sustainable and inclusive digital development, and thus encourages the Secretary-General to continue working with all United Nations entities and other relevant stakeholders to strengthen efforts in this regard;

Resolves to bridge the artificial intelligence and other digital divides between and within countries, and to enhance international cooperation on capacity-building in developing countries, including through North-South, South-South and triangular cooperation, with full consideration of the needs, policies and priorities of developing countries, with the aim of harnessing the benefits of artificial intelligence, minimizing its risks, and accelerating innovation and progress towards the achievement of all 17 Sustainable Development Goals;

Stresses the importance of technological development to transform agrifood systems and help to end hunger and malnutrition, and calls for enhanced international cooperation to bridge the gaps that are preventing rapid technological change to this end globally, such as data deficiencies, knowledge gaps and limited investment in long-term research and development;

Encourages Member States to strengthen preparedness for future shocks and channel rapid technological change towards sustainable development, including through national science, technology and innovation strategies, in order to avoid a fragmented approach and the risk of exacerbating digital divides that, among other negative effects, reinforce the concentration of power among a limited number of companies and countries;

Also encourages Member States to design national digital and artificial intelligence strategies that recognize the specificities of each region within their national territory and support their sustainable development, in line with their national development objectives;

Further encourages Member States to continue and further strengthen engagement with all relevant stakeholders, such as the private sector, in particular technology companies and financial institutions, civil society, the technical and research communities, including scientists and academia, recognizing that open and inclusive multi-stakeholder cooperation is critical to best harness the potential of rapidly accelerating technologies to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, while addressing their possible challenges;

Recognizes the need for different parts of the United Nations system to better harness digital technologies, in accordance with their respective mandates, and in this regard encourages the United Nations Office for Digital and Emerging Technologies to support collaboration within and across the United Nations system, avoiding any duplication of efforts and enhancing transparency;

Encourages stronger coordination among relevant United Nations system entities, in the context of digital processes, to strengthen coherence and maximize their collective impact on achieving the Sustainable Development Goals;

Requests the Technology Facilitation Mechanism and the Commission on Science and Technology for Development, through the Economic and Social Council, to continue to consider, in a coordinated manner within their respective mandates and existing resources, the impact of rapid technological changes and frontier technologies on the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals and targets, and to align this endeavour with the follow-up cycle of the high-level political forum on sustainable development in order to support the efforts of all countries towards the attainment of the Goals, including through forging partnerships with other relevant actors, organizations, initiatives and forums, and the dissemination of advances and best practices to facilitate cooperation towards this end;

Reiterates the mandate of the multi-stakeholder forum on science, technology and innovation for the Sustainable Development Goals, and encourages Member States and all stakeholders to consider its outcomes in relevant forums;

Invites the Commission on Science and Technology for Development and the Technology Facilitation Mechanism to strengthen synergies and mutually reinforce their work on science, technology and innovation, and requests the Secretariat to coordinate the dates of their meetings in order to avoid overlap and to ensure coherence and coordination between both entities;

Reiterates its call for voluntary contributions for resources from both the private and the public sectors to support the full operationalization of all components of the Technology Facilitation Mechanism, in particular strengthening national capacities in promoting the access of marginalized communities to science, technology and innovation, including through STI for SDGs road maps and the online platform, and invites Member States to provide voluntary financial and technical assistance to the United Nations Technology Bank for the Least Developed Countries to enable it to reach its full potential;

Calls for better coordination and coherence among existing mechanisms, including the United Nations Office for Digital and Emerging Technologies, the Technology Facilitation Mechanism, the Commission on Science and Technology for Development, the United Nations Group on the Information Society, the Internet Governance Forum and other United Nations agencies, international organizations and relevant forums, within their respective mandates, in providing support to Member States in the field of rapid technological change directed towards development priorities and needs;

Brings to the attention of the United Nations System Chief Executives Board for Coordination the importance for the diverse United Nations entities, including the United Nations Sustainable Development Group, to take into consideration the issue of rapid technological change, within their respective mandates, bearing in mind the three dimensions and the integrated and indivisible nature of the Sustainable Development Goals and targets;

Looks forward to the outputs of the new United Nations multidisciplinary Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence and of the United Nations Global Dialogue on Artificial Intelligence Governance;

Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its eighty-third session the item entitled “Impact of rapid technological change on the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals and targets”, in order to discuss the progress made in the implementation of the present resolution, including the assessment of the review of the Global Digital Compact;

Requests the Secretary-General to take into consideration in existing reports to the General Assembly an assessment of the impact of rapid technological change, disaggregated by region and level of development to reflect the needs and progress of developing countries, while reporting on the implementation of the present resolution.

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