For years the digital divide was characterized by a single question: who has access to the Internet and who doesn’t? That gap is still there. However, the distinction is growing more significant as the economy and society are being transformed by artificial intelligence, advanced computing and digital infrastructure, and the divide growing between countries that are able to leverage them and those that are able to shape and build and govern them.
The difference is important because connectivity does not always lead to technological development. In 2025, According to the International Telecommunication Union, 6 billion people were online in 2025, comprising 74 percent of the world’s population. However, 2.2 billion people were still not connected, with the vast majority of these in low and middle-income countries. Despite the connectivity, there are other divisions emerging between people who benefit from and don’t benefit from the digital economy based on affordability, digital skills and infrastructure. Therefore, the next challenge for global south is not simply to connect people, it’s about building technological agency: the power to make choices about technologies on which our economies now rely.
This challenge is therefore critical in an era of Artificial Intelligence. AI could be utilized in the developing countries to enhance healthcare, agriculture, education, disaster management, and public services. It might enable economies to bypass some of the traditional stages of development. However, if developing countries continue to be the sole consumers of systems devised by other countries, the benefits will be inequitable and unbalanced.
This can already be seen in the technological concentration. There are still a limited number of economies that dominate the advanced computing infrastructure and reap the benefits of AI investment and expertise. If these foundations are not in place, countries may be able to adopt applications of AI, but with little control over the underlying technologies and standards, or over the data systems, including AI models, that power them.
This is relevant especially in the case of Pakistan. It has laid the National AI Policy 2025 which includes areas of AI skills, research, innovation, infrastructure and responsible usage of AI. The Islamabad’s AI Declaration of February 2026 further emphasized sovereign computing capacity, resilient digital infrastructure and the need to build the national capabilities in AI. The priorities represent a wider understanding in the Global South that the adoption of technologies can enhance services, but the technological capability defines the strategic autonomy which the country is able to achieve in the end.
China offers another valuable lesson. Increased electrification, batteries, renewable energy, telecom and digital manufacturing was not simply driven by the import of advanced technologies. It entailed establishing industrial ecosystems around them, research and production, infrastructure, supply chains and workforce capabilities. The Chinese experience shows how much more powerful technological transformation is when countries are not only able to adopt individual technologies but to have the capacity to innovate around them. The lesson for the Global South is not to emulate China’s model of development, nor that technological agency is necessarily technological isolation. No single country is able to develop all the elements of the digital ecosystem today. For meaningful technological transformation to occur, international co-operation, investment and access to global markets will continue to be crucial.
The aim of technology partnerships is to develop local capabilities, not technological dependence. Investment in digital infrastructure must go hand-in-hand with investment in universities and research centers, in technical training and in home businesses. Technology transfer should not only be the transfer of finished product but knowledge and skills as well. There should also be increased possibilities for developing countries to be involved in the debate around digital standards, AI governance and data policies.
This is primarily a matter of autonomy. Technological ecosystems outside the organization can become an economic and strategic weak spot as technology is increasingly invading the energy system, financial networks, manufacturing, defense, healthcare and public administration. A nation that fails to build up technical skills or technological relationships, or maintain its critical digital infrastructure has little latitude for autonomous decision making. Therefore, the digital divide in the future will not be determined by whether or not individuals are online, but also by who can build, invent and decide.
The first digital divide was of access. The new separation is on ability. When it comes to the benefits of technology, beyond capability comes agency. This means the capacity of the countries themselves to shape not only how their societies will use the technology, but to shape how the technology will impact their own development. Participating in the global technology system on more equal terms should therefore be the objective of the Global South, rather than standing apart from the global system. Access provides the capability for a country to the digital future. Technological agency will be the deciding factor as to whether or not it can help to shape that future.
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