ICT News and Announcements

15 September 2023

The deadline for participants to submit ideas for the third edition of the Open Source Software for Sustainable Development Goals (OSS4SDGs) Hackathon has been extended to 1 October.

24 August 2023

The United Nations Office of Information and Communications Technology (OICT) is developing an AI governance framework and a matrix and guidance note to use generative AI within the UN.

30 June 2023

The Seventh Partnership for Technology in Peacekeeping International Symposium was held last week in Kathmandu, Nepal, by the Department of Operational Support (DOS) and the Office of Information and Communications Technology (OICT). It was hosted in cooperation with the Government of Nepal and the Department of Peace Operations (DPO).

31 May 2023

The Department of Operational Support (DOS) and the Office of Information and Communications Technology (OICT), in cooperation with the Government of Nepal, will host the 7th Partnership for Technology in Peacekeeping International Symposium in Kathmandu, Nepal (13-16 June). 

31 May 2023

The United Nations Digital and Technology Network met in May in Washington, D.C. to discuss hot technology topics among UN System Chief Information Officers.

14 April 2023

The Office of Information and Communications Technology (OICT) and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) sign the Declaration of Intent on development of Digital Transformation and Technology Innovation ecosystems to ensure a more strategic framework for cooperation for a sustainable, reliable and safer world.

The Declaration of Intent was signed on Monday, 3 April 2023, by Mr. Bernardo Mariano Junior, Assistant Secretary-General and Chief Information Technology Officer of OICT, and Dr. Cosmas Luckyson Zavazava, Director of ITU Telecommunication Development Bureau.

06 March 2023

Web3 is an emerging technology, a new vision for the web, that promises to shift power from Big Tech to users.  Learn more about what Web3 is, and how it is relevant to the United Nations and its goals. The one-hour event is open to all who are interested in learning more about what Web3 is, and how it is relevant to the UN and its goals. 

The Office of Information and Communications Technology is pleased to announce the upcoming Tech Salons event:

03 March 2023

Technology increasingly sits at the intersection of many aspects of our lives: how we work and learn, how we interact with the people in our lives and the world around us, and how we access and consume the products and services we use every day.  Diversity in engineering and technology is critical to ensuring different perspectives are considered when we identify and solve problems with technology and results in more creative solutions. 

24 January 2023

The data needs for the 2030 Agenda are great. Geospatial data provide insights for decision-making. And it presents an opportunity to represent the world and its challenges. The rapid pace of geospatial technology advancements, such as increased automation, the internet of things, big data, artificial intelligence, and machine learning, improves our knowledge of those challenges.

To achieve the SDGs, we need to understand each Goal and monitor progress toward reaching it.

13 December 2022

The Office of Information and Communications Technology (OICT) and the Directorate-General for Informatics of the European Commission (DG DIGIT) today announced in an award ceremony (video) the winners of the “Smart Cities” challenges, the second innovation event from the Open Source Software for Sustainable Development Goals (OSS4SDG) initiative.

28 November 2022

The United Nations Office of Information and Communications Technology (OICT) is pleased to announce that it has joined the Digital Public Goods Alliance (DPGA).

OICT hosted several successful open source-based initiatives in the areas of peace and security, development and human rights. By joining the Alliance, OICT will not only increase its potential to implement and develop digital public goods, but, most importantly, collaborate and share this vision with renowned stakeholders.

16 November 2022

Today is GIS (geographic information system) Day, which commemorates geospatial data and technology and promotes awareness of Geographic Information Systems or Geographic Information Sciences (GIS).  Geospatial, or location, data can provide insights to challenges the world faces in achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. For the second straight year, the United Nations Geospatial team is celebrating GIS day by preparing maps on each of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

07 November 2022

The Office of Information and Communications Technology (OICT) supports the United Nations and its partners’ goals of ensuring that no one is left behind, as envisioned in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, by leveraging the power of technology to help solve the world’s problems.

03 November 2022

Originally published on the Second Administrative Level Boundaries (SALB) programme website, this story map details how the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) performed a rapid geospatial assessment using earth observation data and the common geographies collected in the context of the SALB programme. Read more.

03 October 2022

The Office of Information and Communications Technology (OICT), the European Commission Directorate-General for Informatics (EC DG--DIGIT) and OpenStreetMap (OSM) have launched the second series of innovation challenges in the framework of the Open Source Software for Sustainable Development Goals (OSS4SDG) initiative.

25 August 2022

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is developing at an exceedingly rapid pace, and it is important that we adopt AI intentionally. Young people today will likely live in a future world in which AI will be pervasive. They deserve a say in what this future will look like.

25 July 2022

With 322 delegates in attendance, the 6th International Partnership for Technology in Peacekeeping Symposium (6PTPS), held in the City of Tshwane (Pretoria), Republic of South Africa, 21-24 June, was the largest Symposium to date.  This annual event is a joint initiative of the Department of Operational Support and the Office of Information and Communications Technology to showcase field-oriented technology initiatives, and to generate feedback and discussion with interested Member States.

01 July 2022

The Office of Information and Communications Technology (OICT) and the European Commission Directorate-General for Informatics (EC DG--DIGIT) announced the five winners of the Get plugged into Education! hackathon, the first innovation event from the Open Source Software for Sustainable Development Goals (OSS4SDG) initiative, on 30 June.  

07 June 2022

The Department of Operational Support (DOS) and the Office of Information and Communications Technology (OICT), in cooperation with the Government of the Republic of South Africa, will be hosting the Sixth Partnership for Technology in Peacekeeping International Symposium in the City of Tshwane (Pretoria), South Africa, from 21 to 24 June 2022. This event was originally planned for 2020 but was postponed due to COVID-19. This will be the first time the Symposium is held in Africa.