Dear colleagues and friends,
I am pleased to welcome you to WHO for this important discussion on how we can improve collaboration between UN organizations in the area of digital technology.
The United Nations has recognized that digital technologies are playing a critical role in our work towards the Sustainable Development Goals.
Digital technologies are also increasingly important in global health, as well as in the internal processes of WHO and other UN organizations.
The use of digital technologies has transformative effects on how we achieve programmatic goals, deliver services and run business operations.
The Digital and Technology Network has a key role to play in enhancing collaboration between UN organizations, both in terms of improving our work and in addressing risks.
The agenda for the next two days focuses on developing a common set of metrics and a framework for how UN organizations make use of digital technologies.
One of the key issues we will be tackling is the use of cloud technologies, which have become increasingly prevalent among UN organizations in recent years.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, cloud technologies have been key to the transition to new ways of working.
With the increasing use of the cloud, we need to develop a common approach, including in the management of risks.
The more we use digital technologies, the more cybersecurity risks we face.
A year ago, this network introduced a common cybersecurity baseline.
The community continues to build on the baseline and has come up with recommendations to further mitigate organizational risks.
During this meeting, you'll be reviewing recommendations to make sure that our policies and up-to-date and consistent, and that they ensure the integrity of our infrastructure and the privacy of our sensitive data resources.
I wish you a productive discussion.
I thank you.