Artificial Intelligence (AI)

This thirteenth edition of the United Nations E-Government Survey, released in 2024, provides a comprehensive assessment of the digital government landscape across all 193 Member States. The 2024 Survey highlights a significant upward trend in the development of digital government worldwide, with increased investment in resilient infrastructure and cutting-edge technologies. The global average value of the E-Government Development Index (EGDI) shows substantial improvement, with the proportion of the population lagging in digital government development decreasing from 45.0 per cent in 2022 to 22.4 per cent in 2024. Despite significant progress in digital government development, the EGDI averages for the African region, least developed countries, and small island developing States remain below the global average, underscoring the need for targeted efforts to bridge existing gaps. At the local level, the Survey continues to assess city portals using the Local Online Services Index (LOSI). The LOSI findings reflect steady progress but also highlight persistent disparities between national and local e-government performance, pointing to the need for focused initiatives to strengthen digital government at the municipal level. This edition introduces the new Digital Government Model Framework, providing countries with a comprehensive road map for the effective planning, implementation and assessment of digital government initiatives. A short addendum explores the integration of AI in digital government development, emphasizing the importance of maximizing benefits and minimizing risks to achieve balanced governance.

Technological advances have revolutionized communications, connecting people on a previously unthinkable scale. They have supported communities in times of crisis, elevated marginalized voices and helped mobilize global movements for racial justice and gender equality. Yet these same advances have enabled the spread of misinformation, disinformation and hate speech at an unprecedented volume, velocity and virality, risking the integrity of the information ecosystem. New and escalating risks stemming from leaps in AI technologies have made strengthening information integrity one of the urgent tasks of our time. This clear and present global threat demands coordinated international action. The United Nations Global Principles for Information Integrity show us another future is possible.

Since 2022, schools in the province of Mendoza have been using artificial intelligence to detect the pupils most likely to drop out early.

Capable not only of providing content but also of interacting with students, generative artificial intelligence (AI) can be an excellent aid to teachers, as long as its development is controlled and supervised, explains Stuart J. Russell, professor of computer science at the University of Berkeley (United States) and co-author with Peter Norvig of the reference book Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach.

Industry 4.0, often interchangeably called the fourth industrial revolution, refers to the smart and connected production systems made possible by new technologies, particularly involving the increased use of automation and data exchanges (UNIDO, 2017). The technologies identified as part of industry 4.0 vary by source, yet it is commonly understood that artificial intelligence, the Internet of things, big data, robotics and three-dimensional printing are integral parts of this new wave (UNCTAD, 2019a; UNCTAD, 2021a).

During the COVID-19 pandemic, digital frontier technologies such as artificial intelligence and big data analytics, amongst others, have been mobilized to fight against the pandemic. But it is also important that digital technologies serve the needs of the Sustainable Development Goals. This report reviews the status of digital frontier technologies in the Asia-Pacific region. It stresses that the policy framework for the next generation of technology and innovation should focus on creating an enabling environment for digital frontier technologies to positively impact economy, society, and environment; and to reduce inequalities.

National Statistics Offices (NSOs) are exploring how machine learning (ML) can be used to increase the relevance and quality of official statistics in an environment of growing demands for trusted information, rapidly developing and accessible technologies, and numerous competitors. While the specific business environments may vary depending on the country, NSOs face similar types of challenges which can benefit from sharing knowledge, experiences and collaborating on developing common solutions within the broad official statistical community. This publication describes some of the ML application areas in the official statistics community, quality considerations needed and lessons learned based on two international initiatives conducted from 2019 to 2021.