SDG 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure

What is it?

Sustainable Development Goal 9 calls for building resilient infrastructure, promoting inclusive and sustainable industrialization, and fostering innovation. One of its targets is significantly increasing access to information and communications technology and universal, affordable internet access.

Why does it matter?

SDG 9 frames broadband not as a luxury but as foundational infrastructure, on par with roads and electricity, and provides a shared global benchmark for closing connectivity gaps in rural and underserved communities.

How does it work?

The goal sets targets and indicators that countries report against, including the share of the population covered by mobile networks and using the internet, guiding national investment and monitoring progress toward universal access.

Who benefits?

Populations in underserved and rural regions who are prioritized by policies aligned to the goal’s universal-access targets.

Who may be disadvantaged?

As an aspirational framework, SDG 9 has no enforcement; measured “coverage” can outpace real, affordable adoption, so headline progress may overstate lived access.

What evidence exists?

ITU and UN monitoring show large gains in network coverage globally alongside persistent affordability and adoption gaps, underscoring that infrastructure alone does not guarantee use.

What tradeoffs exist?

A single global goal aids coordination and comparison but must be adapted to very different national and local realities to be actionable.

Common misconceptions

SDG 9 is not a binding mandate or funding source — it is a shared target that informs, rather than compels, infrastructure investment.

What you can do next

See how the infrastructure goal connects to decent work and economic opportunity through the linked node.