Members of the ITU agreed on a set of priorities to ensure advanced technologies including AI and metaverse contribute to a sustainable digital future, stating it will focus on these commitments over the next four years.

The body stated the priorities were agreed during the World Telecommunication Standardisation Assembly (WTSA) in India, with the event reinforcing its objective to meet “fast-evolving global needs”.

The ITU settled on eight wide-ranging areas including: prioritising safe and responsible use of AI; interoperable and inclusive metaverse applications; technical requirements for digital public infrastructure; deployments of communications technologies in automated driving and other digital industries use cases, as well as encouraging “sustainable digital transformation across multiple industries and technologies”.

It will also focus on preparing new generations of talent to support its standardisation work, and explore the application of caller-location information in the event of emergency.

The ITU also committed to meet “new policy objectives and market demand” among its resolutions.

Prior to the agreement, the UN organisation established multiple study groups and dedicated each to explore specific themes spanning security, future networks technologies to IoT and economic and policy issues, adding the new resolutions “emphasise support for developing countries”.

The ITU also pointed to India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s work in highlighting the importance of “universal connectivity, ethical AI, consensus decisions and meaningful digital inclusion” during the opening of the conference.

“ITU standards and capacity development must create the foundation for the digital future we want,” said director of the ITU telecommunication standardisation bureau Seizo Onoe.

“The decisions of WTSA highlight ITU membership’s commitment to these goals”, Onoe added.