The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), in collaboration with the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society of Thailand and Google, will organize a side event Expanding Internet Access for Inclusive Development, at the 75th Commission session.

As of September 2017, there were 1.25 billion websites in cyberspace and Asia and the Pacific now accounts for 50.1 percent of all Internet users in the world. Thanks to the concerted efforts by governments and other stakeholders in extending broadband connectivity, an increasing number of people have joined the cyberspace across the Asia-Pacific region.

In line with the Asia-Pacific Information Superhighway (AP-IS) initiative to build resilience and pursue Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a live event 'The thread that binds: A global conversation on volunteerism and community resilience'  will hear the voices and perspectives from some of the one bi

The 73rd session of the ESCAP Commission in May 2017 adopted resolution 73/6 on the implementation of the Asia-Pacific Information Superhighway (AP-IS) through regional cooperation. The resolution invited members and associate members to cooperate in the implementation of the Master Plan for the Asia-Pacific Information Superhighway and the Asia-Pacific Information Superhighway Regional Cooperation Framework Document as endorsed by the Committee on Information and Communications Technology, Science, Technology and Innovation at its first session .

In support of the Asia-Pacific Information Superhighway (AP-IS) initiative, Internet Society (ISOC) has been mapping out the Internet Exchange Points (IXPs) in Member States of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission of Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP). The interactive map shows a heat map of IXPs along with the percentage of coverage. It also tallies the number of major cities in each Member State, and shows the number of covered versus uncovered cities.