IGF 2025 Open Forum #53 AI for Sustainable Development: Country Insights&Strategies

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has significant potential to drive sustainable development, but its benefits are not evenly distributed. The equity gap in AI is staggering, with only 2 percent of the world's data centres are in Africa, and only 5 percent of AI innovators in Africa who have the compute power they require, let alone access to sufficient funding resources. The rapid expansion of AI also introduces new challenges and exacerbates existing ones - including deepening digital divides, reinforcing biases, and concentrating technological power in the hands of a few. AI has the potential to benefit all and accelerate sustainable development, but doing so requires guidance and input from all sectors and geographies, particularly Global Majority countries. This session will explore how AI can be harnessed for sustainable development at the country level, focusing on developing digital ecosystems, AI policies and governance approaches that benefit all, and enabling factors like digital public infrastructure and digital skills. In doing so, it will also reflect on how these insights can inform global digital processes, including the implementation of the Global Digital Compact and the WSIS+20 review. Experts from UNDP, broader UN System, national governments, think tanks and private sector partners will discuss the challenges and opportunities of deploying AI in a responsible way. The discussion will highlight country-level case studies and best practices that demonstrate AI’s transformative role in closing digital divides, fostering economic resilience, and advancing public services while addressing concerns around ethics, bias, exclusion, and capacity gaps. Participants will gain insights into policy frameworks, partnerships, and funding mechanisms needed to integrate AI effectively into national sustainable development strategies. UNDP will also share its early observations and lessons from the work of UNDP’s AI Hub for Sustainable Development, including from its Startup Acceleration Pilot (350+ applications from nine countries), a Local Language Partnerships Accelerator (80+ language innovators from 30+ countries), an AI Trust and Safety Reimagining Programme. The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace will share research findings from work exploring key funding gaps in African AI ecosystems. With its focus on in-country delivery and impact, this session will also provide valuable insights for implementation of the Global Digital Compact and the WSIS+20 review, taking place this year.

To ensure seamless interaction between onsite and online participants, the session will use a hybrid format with a dedicated moderator managing both in-person and virtual engagement. Online and onsite speakers will have equal speaking time, and live polls with Zoom, Q&A tools such as Slido, and a moderated chat will allow participants to contribute in real-time. Key takeaways from the session will be shared on social media platforms like LinkedIn and X to extend the conversation. This approach ensures an interactive, and high-quality experience for all participants.