This week, UNU-MERIT welcomed participants from across the globe for the second edition of the Summer School on Evidence-based Digital Policies to Achieve Universal and Meaningful Connectivity (EDP), organised as part of its role as an International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Academy Training Centre.
As governments increasingly invest in digital transformation, a fundamental challenge remains: how can policymakers ensure that digital policies are based on evidence rather than assumptions? Expanding network coverage alone does not guarantee that people can meaningfully access and benefit from digital technologies. Questions of affordability, digital skills, usage patterns, and inequalities in access require policymakers to understand and interpret data effectively.
According to Dr Mindel van de Laar, Head of UNU-MERIT's Capacity Development Office, the programme focuses on strengthening the capacity of those who use data to make decisions.
“For this training, we target the users of statistics in particular. While we understand the need to also train national statistical offices, in particular the regulators, and policy makers at national and local level are the ones that should be able to interpret the numbers and distill the policy learnings from the data. The use of evidence is essential in all layers of the governments”.
The summer school is unique in combining the expertise of the International Telecommunication Union with the academic strengths of UNU-MERIT.
And like last year, the programme has attracted participants from across the globe, bringing together policymakers, regulators, and practitioners working on digital transformation in diverse national contexts. For many, the opportunity to connect international frameworks with real-world policy challenges is a key reason for attending.
As Jose Montoya, education researcher at El Salvador’s Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, explains: “Participating in the Summer School was especially valuable because it helped me better understand the digital transformation challenges that many countries in Latin America are currently facing. The programme connected international frameworks and ICT indicators with practical issues such as affordability barriers, digital skills gaps, unequal connectivity, and the need to ensure that access translates into meaningful use for education, work, and public services. For El Salvador, it reinforced the importance of moving from aspirations of digital inclusion to policymaking based on evidence, measurement, and evaluation. It strengthened my view that evidence-based policymaking is not simply a technical exercise, but a central condition for designing fairer, more effective, and accountable digital policies.”
Much of the learning takes place during hands-on group work, where participants analyse ICT indicators and build country profiles using real data. For Dr Pui Hang Wong, Assistant Professor at UNU-MERIT, this practical component is one of the programme's most valuable features.
“Effective policymaking begins with understanding the situation. Understanding your data is essential. There is no substitute for reliable data and robust statistics. For example, a 98% coverage rate for at least a 3G mobile signal may seem impressive—until you discover that only 20% of the population can afford internet services”.
Participants have also highlighted the value of learning from peers facing similar challenges in different national contexts. By bringing together professionals from diverse regions and institutions, the programme creates opportunities for knowledge exchange that extend beyond the classroom. The enthusiasm and diversity of this year's cohort reflects the growing demand for evidence-based approaches to digital transformation. As countries seek to close digital divides and expand opportunities through technology, the ability to understand and use data effectively is becoming an increasingly important policy skill.
Following the success of the programme in Maastricht, the next edition of the EDP Summer School will take place in Bangkok, Thailand, in autumn 2026. Applications will open soon through UNU-MERIT and the ITU Academy. The EDP Summer School is offered with support from the Global Gateway initiative of the European Union.
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Suggested citation: Dr. Mindel van de Laar., "From Data to Decisions: Building Evidence-Based Digital Policies for Meaningful Connectivity," UNU-MERIT (blog), 2026-06-17, 2026, https://unu.edu/merit/blog-post/data-decisions-building-evidence-based-digital-policies-meaningful-connectivity.
