Statement on behalf of the Group of 77 and China by Mr. Jibran Khan Durrani, First Secretary of the Permanent Mission of Pakistan to United Nations on agenda item 138: "Proposed programme budget for 2023: ICT Strategy", during the main part of the seventy-seventh session of the United Nations General Assembly (New York, 8 December 2022)
Mr. Chair,
1. I have the honor to speak on behalf of the Group of 77 and would like to thank Mr. Chandramauli Ramanatha, Controller and Assistant Secretary General, Mr. Gopinath, Chair of the Joint Inspection Unit and Mr. Abdallah Bachar Bong, Chair of ACABQ for sharing their respective reports.
2. The Group welcomes the five year ICT strategy plan 2023-2028 focusing on five technological areas that is Enterprise Infrastructure and systems, experience and alignment, Data and information, Technology innovation and Technology & data Eco system. The strategy aims to serve the UN entities to help them deliver their mandates, enable digital transformation through innovation and safety of the Secretariat Information Assets.
3. The group noted that under the proposed strategy, ICT will be integrated and symbiotic with organizational priorities and will achieve a holistic coherence in overall working of the Secretariat entities. Considering the important contributions of previous strategy ensuring the defragmented components of IT, this strategy aims to progress the UN IT infrastructure to a next level.
4. As the Organization’s legacy infrastructure has aged, its replacement will have to be carefully planned. In this regard, we welcome the assessment of the replacement cycle of mobile devices, laptops and desktop computers across the Secretariat as well as their actual usage with the results to be provided in a subsequent update on the implementation of the ICT strategy.
5. The Group notes with caution that increasing interdependence and interconnectivity of the Secretariat’s digital environment requires a consistent, closely coordinated and transparent approach to cyber security that enables all Secretariat entities to comply with basic practices, policies and standards, while establishing accountability and providing global visibility and oversight in line with General Assembly resolution 69/262.
6. In conclusion, the Group of 77 and China stands ready to continue to engage constructively during the informal deliberations of this agenda item.
I thank you.