International Telecommunication Union's first special resolution on AI development
2025-12-25
Recently, the 9th World Telecommunication Development Conference (WTDC-25) of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) concluded in Baku, Azerbaijan. At this conference, developing countries jointly promoted the formation of the first new resolution on artificial intelligence by the Telecommunication Development Department of the International Telecommunication Union, and successfully included emerging technology topics such as artificial intelligence and metaverse into the core research scope of the department for the next four years. This marks the systematic use of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence to drive the global digital field towards a more inclusive and sustainable direction. The new resolution titled "Artificial Intelligence Helps Development" passed this time will be included in the final report of the conference as Resolution 91, aiming to consolidate global consensus and open a new starting point for the construction of artificial intelligence capabilities. The resolution explicitly encourages the global information and communication industry to actively embrace artificial intelligence and promote knowledge and experience exchange among member countries. The resolution entrusts the Director of the Telecommunications Development Bureau to support member countries in assessing and identifying strategic gaps in artificial intelligence, in order to promote the development of policies, infrastructure, and capacity building in the field of artificial intelligence, and to assist in the popularization and application of artificial intelligence technology. At the same time, the resolution advocates for strengthened collaboration between the International Telecommunication Union and other agencies within the United Nations system to promote cross agency cooperation in the field of artificial intelligence; Encourage all sectors of industry, academia, and research to participate extensively in artificial intelligence related activities in the field of telecommunications development, and ensure that member countries share the benefits of intelligence through sharing best practices, providing professional knowledge, and offering skill training. A new research topic has been established to gather global experience in the development and application of emerging technologies. At the conference, a key measure has been simultaneously finalized: a new topic on "adopting and using emerging telecommunications/information and communication technology services and technologies, and developing digital skills" has been established in the second research group of the Telecommunication Development Department of the International Telecommunication Union. The topic will include emerging technology issues such as artificial intelligence and metaverse, which are of common concern to developing countries, in the work scope of the research group of the Telecommunication Development Department for the next four years. Member states generally recognize the rapid development and widespread application of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence in the telecommunications/information communication field, which has become a key driving force for digital transformation and technological innovation. By setting up special projects and collecting typical cases of emerging technology applications from various countries, it can promote the sharing of experience among member countries and help the world to jointly respond to the opportunities and challenges brought by emerging technologies. At the conference, Egypt, Brazil, Kuwait, South Africa, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Algeria and other countries actively voiced their support for strengthening artificial intelligence capacity building through multilateral mechanisms such as the United Nations and the International Telecommunication Union to ensure that they do not fall behind in the development of emerging technologies. China supports the position of developing countries, participates in and guides multiple rounds of consultations, actively strengthens position coordination with other countries, and promotes consensus among all parties. With the joint persistence and unremitting efforts of developing countries, the resolution on artificial intelligence and emerging technologies and new topics were finally passed by the conference. These achievements will help developing countries deeply integrate artificial intelligence with information and communication technology, and play an important role in seizing opportunities for emerging technology development and achieving leapfrog development for the vast number of developing countries. The adoption of the new resolution on artificial intelligence and the new topic of emerging technologies is of great significance for further deepening the establishment of a global governance mechanism for artificial intelligence through the United Nations as the main channel in the field of telecommunications development, leading the direction of cooperation and building a community for the development of emerging technologies. One is the implementation of China's international initiative on building artificial intelligence capabilities. The 78th United Nations General Assembly passed the resolution proposed by China to strengthen international cooperation in building artificial intelligence capabilities, which was jointly signed by more than 140 countries and referred to by foreign media as an upgraded version of the 2030 Agenda in the field of artificial intelligence. This conference, for the first time, further implemented the construction of artificial intelligence capabilities in the telecommunications development sector, transforming policy initiatives into action guidelines for global telecommunications development through resolutions and topics. This is a concrete manifestation of China's international initiative for artificial intelligence capability construction landing in the telecommunications development field and moving towards telecommunications development practice. Secondly, it has expanded the new space for China's emerging technology fields to cooperate with foreign countries. At this conference, developing countries have paid widespread attention to artificial intelligence, and some countries have gradually accepted emerging technologies, fully demonstrating that China has broad space for foreign cooperation in emerging technologies. Joining forces with member states, especially developing countries, to promote the application and capacity building of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, will help further expand China's new space for foreign cooperation and optimize the global layout of related industries. Thirdly, it has opened up a new path for China's emerging industries to "go global". The new resolutions on artificial intelligence and emerging technologies and topics passed at this conference support member countries in building information infrastructure to promote the popularization and application of artificial intelligence, encourage global industry academia research cooperation to jointly promote the construction of artificial intelligence capabilities, and will gather and share the development experience of emerging technologies in member countries. Under this guidance, emerging technology enterprises and related research institutions in China, such as artificial intelligence, can leverage the International Telecommunication Union training network and technology acceleration centers to support developing countries in jointly seizing opportunities for the development of emerging industries and enhancing the driving role of China's AI and other emerging technology products and services in the global market. The development of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence is an unstoppable trend of the times. The adoption of new resolutions on artificial intelligence and the establishment of emerging technologies and topics at this conference are landmark measures taken by the International Telecommunication Union in response to this historical trend. China actively promotes the implementation of the "Four Major Global Initiatives", puts forward a clear stance of "development priority, capacity building", adheres to multilateralism, and is committed to transforming cooperation in emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence from a "great power arena" to a "development community", which is gaining increasingly widespread international recognition. (New Society)
Edit:Momo Responsible editor:Chen zhaozhao
Source:People's Post and Telecommunications Daily
Special statement: if the pictures and texts reproduced or quoted on this site infringe your legitimate rights and interests, please contact this site, and this site will correct and delete them in time. For copyright issues and website cooperation, please contact through outlook new era email:lwxsd@liaowanghn.com