Universal meaningful connectivity (UMC) risks are being exploited for profit-driven motives that prioritise economic growth over sustainability and human wellbeing. To ensure digital connectivity efforts truly address the needs of underserved communities, policies must focus on their most pressing challenges rather than merely expanding the digital economy. While adoption of digital-by-default service models have persisted from the COVID-19 pandemic, default integration into digital platforms does not equate to meaningful participation in economic and civic life. Beyond mere access, meaningful connectivity requires active and informed engagement. Although gender and geographical gaps in mobile internet adoption across low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) have narrowed since 2020, progress is uneven. The growth in digital access and usage has not been matched by an increase in digital capabilities, and increasing burdens on individuals due to digital-by-default service delivery have contributed to new kinds of exclusions and marginalisation, even as connectivity increases.

The G20 Guidelines on Indicators and Metrics for Universal and Meaningful Connectivity identify ownership of one’s own devices as a proxy for meaningful connectivity. This overlooks the critical role of intermediated digital access, which often serves as an invisible yet necessary enabler of digital participation, particularly for marginalised communities. Intermediation does not negate the meaningfulness of one’s meaningful participation. Through case studies from South Africa and observations from an agri-cooperative in a digitally sparse region in India, we show how community intermediaries leverage grassroots trust and effectively foster human-centricity by understanding and encouraging active participation to address community members’ specific needs.

Recognising the immense potential that intermediaries can have to nurture meaningful digital experiences for intermittently connected and underserved communities, this brief proposes that G20 nations pay renewed attention to community intermediaries as valuable instruments to attaining meaningful and human-centric digital infrastructures. It provides specific recommendations that guarantee community intermediaries a seat at the table of multi-stakeholder ICT governance. By centring community-driven approaches, G20 nations can ensure the vicious circle of digital exclusion is broken once and for all.