About OICT
Our Vision
- to be solution partners and agents of transformation;
- to be catalysts for innovative technology solutions for organizational transformation;
- to ensure solutions are agile, simple, reliable, innovative and secured;
- to stay client-centric, solution-oriented and business-driven; and
- to lead the UN through a digital journey to support the core work of the UN.
Overall Focus
Flexible and modern ICT is critical as the Organization moves towards a UN 2.0. The Office’s three key strategic goals, therefore, are:
- Accelerate Innovation: to provide access to frontier technologies like artificial intelligence and blockchain that UN entities can use.
- Build Cybersecurity Resiliency: to continue building up a robust cybersecurity approach and operational resilience.
- Enable Digital Transformation: to strengthen project and programme management, ensuring all ICT and data-related projects are implemented following prevailing industry methodologies.
A Technology Strategy for the Future UN
The Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Strategy (A/69/517), which identified objectives, including strengthening cybersecurity and using technology to support innovation throughout the Secretariat, concluded in 2020, created a foundation to enable the UN to deliver on its mandates.
The COVID-19 pandemic and other global challenges have made it clear that the way the United Nations and its personnel work has changed profoundly since the strategy was adopted in 2015; our reliance on technology has increased greatly.
OICT collaborated with main UN Headquarters departments, offices away from Headquarters and the field to develop a new multi-year ICT strategy that will enable the UN to achieve its mandates and provide the tools needed to do our jobs effectively in these ever-changing times.
The strategy will align with UN initiatives and frameworks, including:
- Secretary-General’s Strategy on New Technologies
- Roadmap for Digital Cooperation
- Strategy for the Digital Transformation of UN Peacekeeping
- Secretary-General’s Data Strategy
- Our Common Agenda
Our Leadership
The Office is led by Mr. Bernardo Mariano Jr., Chief Information Technology Officer (CITO) and Assistant Secretary-General (ASG). All Secretariat entities report to the CITO on issues relating to all ICT-related activities, resource management, standards, security, architecture, policies, and guidance. The Office is headquartered in New York City and has a dual reporting line to the UN Department of Operational Support (DOS) and the UN Department of Management Strategy, Policy and Compliance (DMSPC).