Around the world, communities are racing to close the digital divide. From fiber deployments in rural areas to affordable smartphones and digital skills training, the goal is clear: connect the unconnected. But as we pursue that goal, a deeper question emerges that demands just as much urgency as infrastructure: When people get online, can they actually participate in the digital world?

In 2022, at two pivotal International Telecommunication Union (ITU) convenings, the World Telecommunication Development Conference (WTDC-22) and the Plenipotentiary Conference (PP-22), Member States set the stage for answering that question. They adopted an updated Resolution 82, calling for international cooperation to promote multilingualism online, and Resolution 133, emphasizing broader access through internationalized domain names (IDNs). More than statements of principle, these declarations are blueprints for action.

As ITU Secretary-General Doreen Bogdan-Martin underscored during her interventions in those convenings, meaningful connectivity is about more than being online; it means ensuring that digital experiences are safe, satisfying, enriching, productive, and affordable. At the Coalition on Digital Impact (CODI), we believe meaningful connectivity must also include the ability to connect and engage in your own language.

CODI was created to help make that vision real. We are a growing international alliance of civil society leaders, technologists, infrastructure providers, and open Internet advocates working to ensure that digital transformation is not only technically inclusive, but also linguistically just. While access to broadband and devices is essential, so too is ensuring that people can understand, navigate, and contribute to the Internet in ways that reflect their identities and communities.

Today’s Internet still privileges dominant languages. From search engines and educational resources to public-interest AI models, many global users face systemic barriers—especially those who speak minority, indigenous, or marginalized languages. And as large language models (LLMs) begin to redefine how we access and generate information, these gaps risk becoming even wider unless we act now.

CODI is partnering with organizations around the world to:

• Advance multilingual standards for content, services, and platforms
• Support open data and open-source tools for localization and translation
• Build capacity among grassroots organizations working on language access
• Advocate for policies that treat language access as core to development

These efforts directly align with the vision laid out in Resolutions 82 and 133, and support broader global goals around equitable connectivity. But we aren’t just revisiting the past. These 2022 agreements are helping shape the road to WSIS+20 in 2025 and Plenipotentiary 2026, where the global community will once again define priorities for the digital future.

If those milestones are to produce real progress, we need to act now to center language representation.

CODI is ready to help fill a crucial gap in the ecosystem. We’re launching formative projects and building cross-sector collaborations that put linguistic access at the heart of Internet governance and development. Our inaugural project is seeking to create a groundbreaking platform that promotes equitable access to AI and language learning while ensuring cultural representation for all communities. And we want you at the table.

The first step requires us to define what makes a dataset culturally relevant and establish ethical standards for its collection and use. To support this effort, CODI is forming a Working Group and inviting volunteers to help define a minimum viable dataset rooted in community values. If you work in connectivity, content, access, AI, rights, or infrastructure, or if you care about making the Internet work for everyone, we invite you to join us.

Because when every voice can be heard online, in every language, the Internet becomes what it was always meant to be: a tool of empowerment for all.