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State of digital development and trends in Asia and the Pacific: Challenges and opportunities

Geneva: ITU (2025), iv, 53 pp.

"[...] While mobile broadband covers over 95 per cent of the population, disparities persist. High-income economies lead in 5G deployment and innovation, while lower-income countries face infrastructure, affordability, and digital literacy gaps. The urban-rural divide remains, and women and marginal ... more

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State of digital development and trends in the Arab States region: Challenges and opportunities

Geneva: ITU (2025), iv, 53 pp.

"This report offers a comprehensive snapshot of the region’s digital landscape, highlighting both remarkable progress and persisting challenges. Ninety-five per cent of the population in this region is covered by mobile broadband networks, and more than half of the countries have already achieved ... more

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State of digital development and trends in the CIS region: Challenges and opportunities

Geneva: ITU (2025), iv, 47 pp.

"This publication offers a comprehensive overview of digital development in the CIS region. The data reveal a region where nine in ten people are online—well above the global average—and where mobile broadband networks now cover virtually the entire population. These are important milestones. At ... more

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State of digital development and trends in the Africa region: Challenges and opportunities

Geneva: ITU (2025), iv, 49 pp.

"This publication reveals that the gap between ambition and reality remains wide. Mobile broadband coverage has expanded rapidly, offering most of the population the possibility of going online. And yet, only 38 per cent of the population currently uses the Internet—the lowest rate among all ITU r ... more

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Freedom in the World 2025: The Uphill Battle to Safeguard Rights

Yana Gorokhovskaia, Cathryn Grothe

Washington, DC: Freedom House (2025), 29 pp.

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The African Book Industry: Trends, Challenges & Opportunities for Growth
Deep Insights

Paris: UNESCO (2025), 249 pp.

"Thanks to its outstanding literary talent and growing number of success stories, Africa’s book industry holds immense potential. Although the continent as a whole still relies heavily on imports and foreign publishing houses, it accounted for 5.4% of the global publishing market in 2023, generati ... more

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State of digital development and trends in the Americas region: Challenges and opportunities

Geneva: ITU (2025), v, 51 pp.

"This publication provides an in-depth look at digital development across the region, revealing both substantial progress and areas where challenges persist. Internet use is widespread, with nearly nine in ten people online. In a milestone achievement, the Americas is the only region to have fully b ... more

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Measuring Digital Development: The ICT Development Index

Geneva: ITU (2025), iv, 36 pp.

"I am pleased to present the 2025 edition of the ICT Development Index (IDI). This is the third edition based on the revised methodology adopted by Member States in 2023. The current IDI is anchored in the concept of universal and meaningful connectivity (UMC), a term coined by ITU in 2021 that has ... more

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Our Media, Our Democracy, Our Future. The Future of the Media in the Western Balkans and Turkey – Facts and Trends. Regional Overview
Deep Insights

Sanela Hodžic, Sandra B. Hrvatin

Sarajevo; Ljubljana: Mediacentar; Peace Institute; South East European Network for Professionalization of Media (SEENPM) (2025), 57 pp.

"The results of the research conducted in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Turkey suggest that the key determinants for the future of our media and democracies are the following: • The poor socio-economic status of journalists and their exposure to ... pressure and attacks, coupled with modest support mechanisms, cripple the ability of journalists to promote the public interest, report on key issues of public interest, and hold power to account. In the most extreme cases, the pressure involves imprisonment, interrogation, surveillance, and lawsuits aimed at silencing journalists. • The lack of consistent monitoring and registration of cases of Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPP) in the region, with dozens of lawsuits against journalists filed by political officials and their affiliates. • A growing number or media outlets, but a declining number of journalism students, highlighting concerns about the future shrinking of staff numbers in media newsrooms and about the growing automatization of journalism. The most drastic drop was in North Macedonia, with the number of journalism students in 2023 amounting to only 11% of the number from ten years ago and 50% of the number from 2000. • The number of media outlets is growing, mostly in the online sector, while print media outlets are becoming increasingly endemic. • A worrying trend of overt concentration of media ownership in the hands of a few media conglomerates, often tied to national or foreign governments, that takes a toll on media freedom and pluralism. • The dominant instrumentalization (through ownership and funding) of media (including private and public) for particular political and/or business interests limits the space for editorial independence and integrity. • Non-profit media are still a rarity in the region, with only a few non-profit radio broadcasters in some countries, and an unknown number of online platforms of civil society organizations with a community-focused mission. • Lack of transparency of the media sector, particularly a lack of accessible and reliable information concerning the media industry and the media market. • Advertising is the main source of revenues in the media sector, with the total revenues ranging between EUR 12 million in Montenegro and over EUR 4 billion in Turkey. • Although it is declining, the TV sector is still dominant in terms of its share of advertising revenues, while social media’s share is increasing, and in Turkey it amounts to as much as 45.7% of advertising revenues. • The tech giants such as Google and Meta are an increasingly dominant competitor for media outlets in the region, jeopardizing the future sustainability of national and local media outlets and potentially curbing political pluralism in public communication. • Public funding for the media, including funding of public broadcasters (declining in four out of seven countries), grants, and subsidies for media outlets and government advertising, amounts to several to dozens of millions of euros per country, taking up an important share of media revenues, but without proactive transparency, effective guarantees of editorial independence, well-defined purpose and evaluation, the opportunities to make public funding for the media an important instrument of media democratization remain under-used. • The representation of different age, gender, ethnic, religious, and other groups in media content and in the newsrooms’ staff is limited. In multiethnic communities some policies promote ethnic diversity of media content, while other identity axes are largely neglected and pluralism in public communication is very limited. Women are an important, and in many countries even dominant, workforce in the media, but remain underrepresented in managerial posts." (Executive summary) more

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Mapping Media Freedom: Monitoring Report 2024

Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR); European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF) (2025), 51 pp.

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2025 Technology and Innovation Report: Inclusive Artificial Intelligence for Development

New York: United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) (2025), xiii, 168 pp.

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Mutation du paysage médiatique d'Afrique : L’usage des médias numériques augmente, mais les fossés démographiques aussi

Jeffrey Conroy-Krutz, Kelechi Amakoh, Komi Amewunou

Afrobarometer (2024), 20 pp.

"Les données d'Afrobarometer corroborent l'idée que l'utilisation des médias numériques est en pleine explosion sur le continent, bien que les taux d'adoption aient pu ralentir au cours des dernières années. Cependant, ces nouveaux environnements médiatiques sont également source de défis. ... La réduction des obstacles à l'accès et le repli des autorités de régulation pourraient aussi signifier que les informations erronées et les propos incitant à la discorde, y compris les discours de haine et les appels à la violence, se répandent plus rapidement, avec moins souvent la possibilité de vérifier les faits et d'étouffer les propos préjudiciables. En outre, les fractures numériques défavorisant les femmes, les moins instruits, les pauvres, les habitants des zones rurales et les personnes âgées ne disparaissent pas. En réalité, nombre de ces fractures sont plus importantes aujourd'hui qu'elles ne l'étaient il y a près de 10 ans. En dépit de ces évolutions, un média de masse – la radio – continue de dominer le paysage médiatique du continent, son utilisation n'ayant connu qu'un modeste déclin au cours des dernières années. En outre, la radio est à bien des égards le média de masse le plus démocratique, car les clivages démographiques qui marquent l'accès aux médias numériques sont faibles, voire inexistants. Cela dit, nous devons être prudents et noter que la radio a ses propres inconvénients, notamment en ce qui concerne les informations erronées et les propos clivants. En raison des paysages médiatiques en évolution, les publics africains sont confrontés à des enjeux importants sur la manière dont ils interagissent avec les médias et sur la manière dont ils attendent de leurs gouvernements qu'ils traitent les médias. Les données d'Afrobarometer suggèrent que les Africains sont majoritairement favorables à ce que les médias jouent un rôle important dans l'obligation de rendre des comptes aux gouvernements, en particulier en ce qui concerne le fléau de la corruption. En outre, la grande majorité des Africains soutiennent le droit des médias d'informer comme ils l'entendent, sans ingérence gouvernementale. Enfin, une grande majorité de répondants considèrent que leurs médias sont largement libres, bien que les évaluations varient considérablement d'un pays à l'autre." (Conclusion) more

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Africa’s shifting media landscapes: Digital media use grows, but so do demographic divides

Jeffrey Conroy-Krutz, Kelechi Amakoh, Komi Amewunou

Afrobarometer (2024), 19 pp.

"Afrobarometer data support the notion that the use of digital media is exploding across the continent, although rates of uptake may have slowed in recent years. However, these new media environments also pose challenges. Reduced barriers to access and the decline of gatekeepers can also mean that f ... more

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Mapping Media Freedom: Monitoring Report January-June 2024

Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR); European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF) (2024), 45 pp.

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Uso de redes móviles en América Latina: Tráfico de datos en la actualidad y proyecciones a 2030

Pau Castells, Facundo Rattel

London: GSMA (2024), 19 pp.

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Africa Privacy Report 2023/2024: A Review of Policy Trends and Digital Frontiers in the Data Protection Landscape

Linda Bonyo, Jorge Clarke, Risper Onyango et al.

Nairobi: Lawyers Hub (2024), 46 pp.

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Global Cybersecurity Index 2024

Geneva: ITU, 5th ed. (2024), viii, 139 pp.

"The fifth edition of the Global Cybersecurity Index (GCI) measures the commitment of countries to cybersecurity in the context of measures across the following five pillars: legal; technical; organizational; capacity development; cooperation. The GCI, launched in 2015 by the International Telecommu ... more

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The Global E-Waste Monitor 2024
Deep Insights

Cornelis P. Baldé, Ruediger Kuehr, Tales Yamamoto, Rosie McDonald, Elena D’Angelo et al.

Bonn; Geneva: United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR); ITU (2024), 148 pp.

In 2022, a record 62 billion kg of e-waste was generated globally (equivalent to an average of 7.8 kg per capita per year); 22.3 per cent of this e-waste mass was documented as formally collected and recycled in an environmentally sound manner. In 2010, the world generated 34 billion kg of e-waste, ... an amount that has since increased annually by an average of 2.3 billion kg. The documented formal collection and recycling rate has increased as well, growing from 8 billion kg in 2010 at an average rate of 0.5 billion kg per year to 13.8 billion kg in 2022. The rise in e-waste generation is therefore outpacing the rise in formal recycling by a factor of almost 5 - driven by technological progress, higher consumption, limited repair options, short product lifecycles, growing electronification and inadequate e-waste management infrastructure - and has thus outstripped the rise in formal and environmentally sound collection and recycling. The e-waste generated in 2022 contained 31 billion kg of metals, 17 billion kg of plastics and 14 billion kg of other materials (minerals, glass, composite materials, etc.) An estimated 19 billion kg of e-waste, mainly from metals like iron which is present in high quantities and has high recycling rates in almost all e-waste management routes, were turned into secondary resources. Platinum-group metals and precious metals were among the most valuable metals but present in much lower quantities; nonetheless, an estimated 300 thousand kg were turned into secondary resources through formal and informal recycling practices. The share of patent applications for e-waste management rose from 148 per million in 2010 to 787 per million in 2022. Most of those applications were related to technologies for cable recycling, with hardly any signs of an increase in the number of patents filed for technologies related to critical raw materials recovery. Although rare earth elements have unique properties that are crucial for future technologies, including renewable energy generation and e-mobility, the world remains stunningly dependent on the production chains of a few countries. The recycling of such elements remains economically challenging, even in the case of devices with a higher content. Consequently, recycling activities are taking only around 1 per cent of the current demand for the recycling of rare earth elements. The market price for rare earth elements is still too low to support larger-scale commercial recycling operations." (Executive summary, pages 12-13) more

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Digital Progress and Trends Report 2023

Washington, DC: World Bank (2024), xxiv, 149 pp.

"The new series Digital Progress and Trends Report adopts a holistic framework of digitalization, with selective topics examined in depth in each edition. The framework [...] includes both the production and the adoption sides of digital technologies and their interactions. Box ES.1 explains how the ... more

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Mapping of media assistance and journalism support programmes in the Western Balkans region

Global Forum for Media Development (GFMD) (2024), 7 pp.

The African Book Industry: Trends, Challenges & Opportunities for Growth Deep Insights

Our Media, Our Democracy, Our Future. The Future of the Media in the Western Balkans and Turkey – Facts and Trends. Regional Overview Deep Insights

The Global E-Waste Monitor 2024 Deep Insights

The African Book Industry: Trends, Challenges & Opportunities for Growth
Deep Insights

Our Media, Our Democracy, Our Future. The Future of the Media in the Western Balkans and Turkey – Facts and Trends. Regional Overview
Deep Insights

The Global E-Waste Monitor 2024
Deep Insights