Digital technology has prodigious potential to help offer better SDGs – Sustainable Development Goal as the worldwide nations aim at achieving a better and more sustainable future for planet earth – better SDGs. And mobile app technology may offer a unique solution to this bright and promising mission started in 2015 by the UN General Assembly. From a general point of view, it's hard to achieve success in this digital era without involving fast technology. Not to mention technology set out a great help to tackle almost any problem – hence, it's proven on many foundations. Before heading towards highlighting the objects of the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development, let's first look at what SDG is and its purpose.

What Are the Sustainable Development Goals, anyway?

In the simplest term, Sustainable Development Goals involve a string of measures to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure the well-being of humankind. As humankind has faced many challenges in the past years, decades, or in history altogether. And to eliminate such kinds of calamities from happening and even for the betterment of humankind in the coming future, United Nations General Assembly set a mission in 2015 and hopefully reach it by the year 2030. Within this mission, multiple countries are involved in helping to get the target point successfully with 17 SDGs. And further, reviews and discussions by UN workers at HLPF can be read. Initially, in the year 2000, to solve certain poverty and maintain human well-being United Nations adopted eight objects to encounter the necessity of the lowliest.

While the Millennium Development Goals were:

1. Exterminate extreme poverty and hunger
2. Encourage gender equality
3. Attain universal primary education
4. Diminish child morality
5. Advance maternal health
6. Fight HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases
7. Safeguard environment sustainability
8. Cultivate a global partnership for development

Those were the initial objectives to achieve highlighted by the UN.

Millennium Goals to the Sustainable Development Goals

But after 15 years in the year 2015, this changed from Millennium Goals to the Sustainable Development Goals, and precisely 193 countries adopted the 2030 agenda. Moreover, Sustainable Development Objects cover diverse goals than Millennium. It comprised 17 intertwined global goals. The main ones were to cover various characteristics of environmental protection, economic growth, and social development and enhance every angle for a better social order across the planet. Let’s Focus on The Key Points of UN Secretary-General – Antonio Guterres at the ending of the year 2018 on High-level Political Forum (HLPF) on Sustainable Development. The HLPF on sustainable development is the crucial United Nations Platform for follow-up and review \ for Sustainable Development of the 2030 agenda and its 17 sustainable goals.

Novel Technologies to Boost SDG Advancement

In 2021, the HLPF reportedly discussed various angles in which digital technology can actually benefit the agenda of 2030 – the SDGs. Different angles on several details of digital technology in prospering the SDG motion were highlighted. And many of them yielded various positive solutions to address the imminent challenges. For instance, technology may power solving many inequality aspects among human beings, although likely to be adopted by many states to advance connections to its citizens via e-government tools. That would eventually result in maximizing engagement between the government and its people. Moreover, some sessions uncovered many potential opportunities for some particular technology at large. Such as "Broadband" is a key activator to power connectivity and on many levels, may avert digital isolation once and for all. Let’s list the discussed approaches of using technology to deliver better SDGs in the form of bullets for better comprehension. The Review of SDG 9 and SDG 11:

• Blockchain has the power to education and energy to trade for food safety.
• Mobile app technology to deliver access to various online tools and information to the earthlings.
• Technology can aid in incorporating renewable energy sources and digital manufacturing processes.
• For sustainable cities and communications, technology can help turn cities into smart cities thru digital connectivity data – for a more adaptive population.
• Embrace innovation-driven development, digitalization, and new technologies, and communication technologies, in sustaining cities.

Aside from that, they also enlightened responsible consumption and production, which is primarily connected to the ecological impacts of the ICT (Information and Communication Technology). Also, ICT can be a factor to help sustain consumption and production – implied by Ministerial Declaration, to deploy innovation in technology to improve resource efficiency.

Technological Counterproductive Interruptions

Amid these unprecedented innovations, many contend that novel technology innovation might lead to counterproductive influences on the social order itself. But, more importantly, this may yield power to the wealthy and direct exclusion of the most defenseless in society. However, SDGs have pledged to 'leave no one behind, in the middle where society is becoming more dependent on technologies and many industries that use data for a precise executive. Not to mention, automation to many extend boosts multiple processes increasingly fast. But, on the flip side, automation is hyping unemployment rates to the labor market. So it may cause and uncertain effects to the intact working environment as well – more unemployment. And also, mobile app technology makes people more addicted to them, for which they're more concerned. But that is not it. It's just somewhat the dark side of technology. More aspects also get discussed in the about - how technology is also creating new jobs – especially for IT guys. But, above all, to tackle these, the Ministerial Declaration said – especially to private sectors roles to improve skills sets in alignment with new technological innovations.

Navigating Technological Transformation in A Justifiable Track

After knowing all that, they become more aware of the technological delivery to SDGs with a tough absurdity. Such as novel technologies could escalate differences among humanity and produce incorrect outwardness. But they are at the same time advantageous to leverage better SDGs. First, however, they had to make sure that technological change is being fully harnessed for the advantage of SDGs and eliminate counterproductive impacts. Additionally, the main goal was to drive the scale of technological advancements to an upbeat track. And which, by the way, necessitates fitting coordination. Considering they weren't logically organized, all the puzzle pieces might be lingering around, which could help them solve this master puzzle effectively. Hence, it might require them to reflect on the collective intelligence of society. Including all the highly influential technological firms' stakeholders along with people. As it might be essential to provide a shared understanding and mutual trust from the first step. Apart from that, there must be great awareness and multiple policymakers to keep things on the right track for better SDGs. It also requires changing people's mindsets and persuading them to invest more in technology and science.

Summing it up

Digital technology can yield a better SDG no matter what, although its innovation may have a positive and negative impact. And This is, by the way, the deal the UN has to face. Technology may have the most potential to help achieve SDGs by the year 2030. Also, the SDG demands the idea at its foremost goals to leave no one behind the process. Moreover, mobile app technology has driven the world to a whole new level. People with this technology seem more and more in-built to these technologies while misinterpreting the positive side. And many app development powerful companies such as iPhone app development companies can help in turning negative features of apps into a positive ones. While the contemporary advancement in technology has skyrocketed, they do not know their negative impacts. Behind all that, unprecedented advances in digital technology are yet to be discovered, including their positive and negative sides. And maybe then, the UN will have a clear path for achieving the better SDGs by 2030.

Author Bio

Ghulam Mohi Uddin Content Producer for the software development company. He develops and implements content strategies for Cubix, along with aligning business goals with content marketing activities. He actively contributes articles related to digital and content marketing.