About United Nations Office of the Secretary-General’s Envoy on Technology (OSET):

In June 2019, the Report of the United Nations Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on Digital Cooperation, The Age of Digital Interdependence, described potential roles for a future Envoy on Technology to contribute to stronger digital cooperation.

The report noted that such an envoy ”could identify over-the-horizon concerns that need improved cooperation or governance; provide light-touch coordination of multi-stakeholder actors to address shared concerns; reinforce principles and norms developed in forums with relevant mandates; and work with UN member states, civil society and businesses to support compliance with agreed norms.”

Additional possible roles that the Panel envisaged for the Envoy included “coordinating the digital technology related efforts of UN entities; improving communication and collaboration among technology experts within the UN; and advising the UN Secretary-General on new technology issues. Finally, the Envoy could promote partnerships to build and maintain international digital common resources that could be used to help achieve the [Sustainable Development Goals].”

The United Nations Secretary-General’s Roadmap for Digital Cooperation responds to the report of the High-Level Panel, setting out the Secretary-General’s vision and noting that ”the United Nations is ready to serve as a platform for multi-stakeholder policy dialogue on…emerging technologies”.