# A Novel ICT Framework for Sustainable Development Goals
## 1 Introduction  
At the UN Sustainable Development Summit in September 2015, the world leaders adopted a new 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development which is \"a plan of action for people, planet and prosperity\" designed to \"shift the world onto a sustainable and resilient path\" [1]. At the heart of this universal, integrated and transformative Agenda are the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (Figure 1 depicts all 17 goals arranged into three pillars: social, environmental, and economic), 169 associated targets, and 232 indicators. Total number of indicators listed in the global indicator framework of SDG is 244. However, as nine indicators repeat under two or three different targets, the total number reduces to 232. Far more ambitious than the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the new SDGs framework contains several bold objectives to be achieved by the year 2030, including the end of poverty (SDG 1), and hunger (SDG 2), good health and well-being for all (SDG 3), universal secondary education (SDG 4), access to affordable, sustainable and modern energy (SDG 7), sustainable cities and communities (SDG 11), actions to combat climate change (SDG 13), protecting and promoting sustainable use of the oceans, seas and marine (SDG 14) and of the terrestrial ecosystems (SDG 15) [2]. The SDGs, otherwise known as the Global Goals, are integrated (and indivisible) and create balance betweenthe three facets (economic, social, and environmental) of sustainable development. They are unique in that they call for action by the whole world (developed and developing countries alike) and their constituents making them bound to perform their level best to attain a considerable reduction of inequalities. Acknowledging that ending poverty is closely related to strategies that create economic growth and address a range of social and environmental needs, the Goals comprise opportunities for all stakeholders (national governments, transnational companies, and civil society) to contribute to a more sustainable world. The 2030 Agenda also calls for a deeper participation and engagement of the private sector and partnerships to support governments to harness all the tools necessary to implement and deliver the required changes. Addressing these global'stretch' goals, however, would require a transformation of societies that is faster and far more substantive than in the past--the rate of change that a Business-As-Usual (BAU) approach cannot deliver [3]. Information and Communications Technology (ICT), and especially mobile broadband, is an essential infrastructure platform for the SDGs and a principal acceleration technology that can get societies away from the BAU trajectory. The future developments in ICTs, including the Internet of Things (IoT), advanced robotics, artificial intelligence, big data, 3-D printing, and others, will make tools available for all new and extraordinary improvements in healthcare and education services, energy, and environmental protection. The UN Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development has also put emphasis on the pivotal role that ICT can play in providing integrated, innovative and cross-sectoral sustainable development results [4]. Aside from delivering connectivity, innovation, and productivity, ICT can also reinforce flexibility of the crucial infrastructure and help to succeed in dealing with the social and economic exclusion [4]. Mobile broadband provides overwhelming gains in accessibility, scalability and affordability that can permit countries to close numerous development gaps at the highest speed ever recorded, without the outlay of traditional infrastructure [5]. While none of the 17 SDGs is particularly about ICT and only several targets refer to ICT and technology, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development fundamentally recognizes that the scope of ICT and global interconnectedness has a huge potential to speed up the human progress, to bridge over the digital divide and to create knowledge societies [1].