2025, October 3
Share this articleFrom Telegraphs to AI: UN Telecom Leader Gives a Lecture at NU
Nazarbayev University (NU) has hosted Doreen Bogdan-Martin, Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), for a lecture on the challenges and opportunities of the digital era. ITU is the United Nations specialized agency for information and communication technologies and one of the oldest international organizations, tracing its origins back to 1865 when 20 European countries signed the International Telegraph Convention in Paris. In her remarks, the Secretary-General explained the mission of the ITU, outlined today’s global challenges in communications, and linked them to her own journey
Opening the event, Doreen Bogdan-Martin said: “I was curious, and that curiosity became my career - a passion for communications and their potential. What’s incredible about this field is that it never stands still. When I began, the focus was on mobile phones, then on getting people connected to the Internet. Today, it’s about artificial intelligence. But for us at the ITU, the core mission has always been connectivity.”
During her remarks, the Secretary-General highlighted urgent global challenges, including the fact that one-third of the world’s population -2.6 billion people - remain offline. Connecting them by 2030 will require an estimated $2.8 trillion in infrastructure and capacity-building investments. She also stressed the importance of digital skills, local-language applications, and robust cybersecurity measures to ensure trust in digital tools.
Another focus of the lecture was space sustainability, with the number of communication satellites already surpassing 10,000 and filings for tens of thousands more expected by 2030. Effective management of orbital resources and space debris will be critical to keeping space safe and accessible for future generations.
Bogdan-Martin also spoke about the AI for Good Summit, launched by ITU in 2017 following AlphaGo’s historic victory over a world champion in the ancient strategy game. The summit has grown into the UN’s leading platform for exploring how artificial intelligence can advance the Sustainable Development Goals, while also serving as a central forum for global discussions on AI governance. Next year, ITU will play a key role in the UN’s first global dialogue on AI governance and the launch of a scientific panel of independent experts.
Following the lecture, participants from diverse fields — including artificial intelligence, public policy, engineering, and education — discussed the challenges and opportunities of AI in greater depth.
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) was founded in 1865, when 20 European countries signed the International Telegraph Convention in Paris to establish common standards for cross-border telegraphic communication. What began as the International Telegraph Union has since grown into today’s ITU, a specialized UN agency with 194 member states. While the organization has evolved from setting telegraph standards to shaping global frameworks for the internet, space, and artificial intelligence, its core mission - ensuring connectivity through international cooperation and interoperability - remains more vital than ever as it marks its 160th anniversary alongside the UN’s 80th.
The event was hosted by NU’s Department of Internationalization, reflecting the university’s commitment to fostering global dialogue on science, technology, and sustainable development.
