The Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development released its annual report. It provides a global snapshot of broadband network access and affordability, with country-by-country data measuring broadband access against the Commission's seven advocacy targets. 'The State of Broadband: Broadband Catalyzing Sustainable Development" revealed that a growing number of governments started to benchmark the status of broadband in their national plans. In parallel, the report raised concerns for the growing inequalities in access to broadband and how connectivity is used within and between countries, sexes and regions. The report cites the rapidly expanding use of digital finance services -currently at 15.8% of the global population and anticipated to increase to 40% of the global population by 2025. The Commission presents recommendations on how to boost broadband, clustered in eight areas. It also identifies key enablers to bring more businesses and small-and medium-sized businesses online. The report highlights the impact of rapidly evolving communication and information technologies (ICTs), including the implications of emerging trends like the Internet of Things, Big Data and Artificial Intelligence. It revealed that that at least 15 countries now have strategies in place for promoting the safe use of Artificial Intelligence.