Natas̆a Perućica Researcher at DiploFoundation conducting research on the interplay between digital technologies and sustainable development. She is currently pursuing a PhD at Università degli Studi di Salerno
HLPF 2020: Leaving the digital behind? First published on DiploFoundation Blog, 21 July In view of the ongoing global health crisis, for the first time ever since its establishment in 2013, the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) was held virtually. Dedicated to the ‘Accelerated action and transformative pathways: realizing the decade of action and delivery for sustainable development’, the HLPF gathered representatives from UN member states to move the needle on poverty, food security, gender equality, climate change, and health in the decade of action. A series of regular meetings and side events, held over the course of 2 weeks, were also an occasion for 47 countries (16 from Africa, 11 from Asia-Pacific, 11 from Europe, and 9 from Latin America and the Caribbean) to present voluntary national reviews (VNRs) and address progress on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (2030 Agenda). Despite the fact that technology made it happen, the 2020 edition of the HLPF fell short on digital issues. This comes as somewhat of a surprise considering that digital technology is often regarded as the ‘invisible sustainable development goal (SDG)’ that seeps through all 17 goals. The first six months of 2020 are possibly the most vivid illustration of this. As the world’s economic, political, social and health systems came to a test amid the outbreak of COVID-19, it was digital technology that helped facilitate ‘business continuity’ of humanity during the pandemic. From the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in early detection and big data insights, to online learning and remote work – you name it, tech was there. Nevertheless, this growing relevance of technology was not reflected in this year’s HLPF’s discussions. To add to the element of surprise, less than a month ago, the UN secretary general published his Roadmap for Digital Cooperation where he stressed the role of new technologies in the attainment of SDGs, in particular in the context of digital public goods and digital capacity building. 1. General debate shies away from the digital This year’s event was marked by COVID-19 with more than a fourth of HLPF sessions being dedicated to the crisis. Digital technology was somewhat under the radar with 16 sessions, out of which 7 tackled data specifically. From a total of 90 analysed government statements delivered at the general debate, only 28 made direct reference to digital technology. This rather low number represents an important decline in comparison to the 53 statements from last year that referred to digital innovation. While statements from developed countries highlighted the important role played by digital transformation in response to COVID-19, citing online diagnosis,
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