The Fifth UN Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC5) in Doha, Qatar, turned its attention Monday to one of the most nettlesome global challenges: closing the staggeringly wide digital divide between nations.

A series of roundtable discussions saw global leaders confront two of the most fundamental hurdles facing LDCs: how to use better science, technology, and innovation (STI) and how to promote structural transformations that can help overcome the real impediments faced by those on the margins of society. STI is critical in LDCs’ efforts to drive poverty eradication, transition to sustainable development, and become globally competitive.