A/RES/74/197 Information and communications technologies for sustainable development Noting the holding of the World Summit on the Information Society Forum, jointly organized annually by the International Telecommunication Union, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and the United Nations Developme nt Programme, Taking note of the report of the Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development entitled The State of Broadband 2019: Broadband as a Foundation for Sustainable Development, which provides an evaluation of the progress made towards achieving the Broadband Commission’s advocacy targets for broadband and the state of broadband development worldwide, with the acknowledgement that 2019 is the first year when more than half of the world’s population will be connected to the Internet, noting the need to bridge digital divides, and recalling the report of the special session of the Commission, entitled “Working together to connect the next 1.5 billion by 2020”, Recognizing the fact that information and communications technologies are critical enablers of economic development and investment, with consequential benefits for employment and social welfare, by lowering barriers to economic participation, and that the increasing pervasiveness of information and communications technologies within society has had profound impacts on the ways in which Governments deliver services, businesses relate to consumers and citizens participate in public and private life, Taking note of the Digital Economy Report 2019 of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, which examines the scope for value creation and capture in the digital economy by developing countries and gives special attention to opportunities for these countries to take advantage of the data -driven economy as producers and innovators, and notes that platformization and the monetization of the rapidly expanding volume of digital data are increasingly driving value creation, while acknowledging the risk that digitalization may contribute to rising inequality and further consolidation rather than to more inclusive development, Noting the tax challenges arising from digitalization of the economy and the importance of ensuring that tax is paid where value is created, and noting also international efforts to address this issue, Stressing, however, that recent progress notwithstanding, important and growing digital divides remain between and within developed and developing countries in terms of the availability, affordability and use of information and communications technologies and access to broadband, stressing also the urgent need to close digital divides, including with regard to such issues as the affordability of the Internet, and to ensure that the benefits of information and communications technologies, including new technologies, are available to all, in this regard reaffirming its commitment to significantly increasing access to information and communications technologies and striving to provide universal and affordable access to the Internet in the least developed countries by 2020, and noting the many efforts to help to bridge digital divides and expand access, including the Connect 2030 Agenda for Global Telecommunication/Information and Communications Technologies Development, including Broadband, for Sustainable Development, Stressing also the necessity for all forms of development cooperation, including aid flows, to promote digital transformation, Recalling the Working Group on the Digital Gender Divide of the Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development and the recommendations for action in bridging the gender digital divide contained in its progress report, and taking note of 4/12 19-22407