Technology Overview

The Office of Information and Communications Technology (OICT) enables a better, safer, more sustainable future through innovative and secure use of technology. As the Secretariat’s central ICT authority, OICT defines the strategic direction for digital transformation and sets ICT policies and standards in the Secretariat. It provides oversight of ICT programmes, systems, applications and services. In field missions, OICT delivers quality, robust and reliable solutions and services that enable peace operations and support the implementation of mandates. The Office provides and maintains the infrastructure and service management frameworks that support the delivery of these solutions and services.

Satellite Dishes at the MONUSCO UTEX Compound in Kinshasa
Satellite Dishes mounted by the Satellite Unit at the MONUSCO UTEX Compound in Kinshasa, DRC. MONUSCO / Michael Ali

Leadership

OICT is led by Mr. Bernardo Mariano Junior, Assistant Secretary-General and Chief Information Technology Officer, to whom all Secretariat Entities report on ICT-related matters, including standards, policies, security, architecture and resource management. OICT is headquartered in New York and has a dual reporting line to the Department of Operational Support (DOS) and the Department of Management, Strategy, Policy and Compliance (DMSPC).

Strategic focus

As the Organization advances towards UN 2.0—a vision for a more forward-looking, digitally enabled and inclusive United Nations—flexible and modern ICT is critical to the UN mission. The Office’s three key strategic goals, therefore, are:

  • Accelerate Innovation: to provide access to frontier technologies like artificial intelligence and blockchain that UN entities can use.
  • Strengthen ICT Security Resiliency: to continue building a robust approach to ICT security and enhancing operational resilience.
  • Enable Digital Transformation: to strengthen project and programme management, ensuring all ICT and data-related projects are implemented following prevailing industry methodologies.

These goals are directly aligned with the UN ICT Strategy (A/77/489) and the digital transformation objectives set out in UN 2.0, and they support key enablers of the Secretary-General’s broader reform agenda, including the Quintet of Change and the Pact for the Future.

Mandate

OICT mandate is to provide cost-effective, secure and resilient ICT services across the United Nations Secretariat while enabling efficiency, innovation and interoperability across the UN system.

  • Governance and Oversight: Establishes Secretariat-wide policies, standards, guidelines, and architecture, ensuring technology investments across entities are aligned with enterprise architecture, ICT security requirements, and the UN ICT Strategy.
  • Global ICT Service Delivery: Provides enterprise ICT services through cost recovery and shared enterprise licensing, complemented by the provision of shared services at the Global Service Centre (GSC) in Brindisi and Valencia, as well as the Regional Service Center Entebbe (RSCE), Uganda.
  • Support and Enablement: Through demand management, partners with Headquarters-based departments, regional commissions, offices away from headquarters, special political missions and peacekeeping missions to deliver common digital infrastructure, enterprise applications and technical guidance—ensuring consistency, interoperability and reliable support across the Organization.
  • System-wide Coordination: Represents the Secretariat in the inter-agencies, such as the High-Level Committee on Management (HLCM) and the Digital Technology Network (DTN), working with Agencies, Funds and Programmes to harmonize ICT standards, promote shared services and advance digital transformation across the wider UN system.

In field-based settings such as peacekeeping, innovative technologies that are secure, mobile and resilient are also provisioned by Field Technology Sections (FTS) for high-risk environments.