WSIS Forum 2026 opens with calls to turn digital commitments into action

The WSIS Forum 2026 opened in Geneva with a high-level appeal for stronger international cooperation to ensure that AI and digital transformation benefit everyone, not just the countries leading the technology race. Leaders from governments, the UN, academia, and civil society argued that the next phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) must focus on implementing long-standing commitments on connectivity, digital inclusion, and AI governance rather than creating new principles.

Moderated by ITU Secretary-General Doreen Bogdan-Martin, the opening plenary brought together UN General Assembly President Annalena Baerbock, Estonian President Alar Karis, Kazakhstan’s Deputy Prime Minister Zhaslan Madiyev, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Kailash Satyarthi, and AI Academy Asia CEO Bolor-Erdene Battsengel to discuss how leadership can shape a more inclusive digital future.

Multilateral cooperation remains essential

Opening the discussion, Annalena Baerbock warned that multilateralism is under increasing pressure, making the recently adopted WSIS+20 consensus resolution an important demonstration that countries can still work together on digital issues.

She argued that AI governance cannot be separated from broader development challenges, stressing that discussions about responsible AI have little meaning where people still lack reliable internet access or electricity.

‘We can have the best AI governance systems in the world, but they will not matter if millions remain disconnected,’ she suggested, pointing to Tanzania’s digital health initiatives, which have connected almost two million people with healthcare services through WSIS-supported projects.

Baerbock also called for stronger cross-regional partnerships and warned that digital inequality increasingly intersects with broader challenges relating to development, peace, and human rights.

Estonia outlines principles for trusted digital governance

President Alar Karis shared Estonia’s experience as one of the world’s most digitally advanced governments, presenting five principles for building trusted digital societies.

According to Karis, digital infrastructure should remain open, secure, and interoperable, while governments should embrace inclusive multistakeholder governance involving the private sector, civil society, academia, and technical communities. He also stressed that human rights must be protected online just as they are offline, digital development should include skills and literacy alongside connectivity, and global initiatives such as WSIS and the Global Digital Compact should reinforce rather than duplicate one another.

Karis also highlighted Estonia’s investments in AI education, noting that all upper secondary school teachers and students are now being introduced to AI tools and literacy as part of a nationwide programme.

Kazakhstan showcases rapid digital transformation

Kazakhstan’s Deputy Prime Minister Zhaslan Madiyev outlined his country’s digital transformation strategy, describing digital infrastructure as the foundation for economic growth.

More than 90% of Kazakhstan’s public services are now available online, he said, supported by a digital ecosystem that includes over 2,000 technology companies and dedicated digital leadership across government ministries.

Madiyev also highlighted recent legislative reforms, including a constitutional amendment protecting digital rights and personal data, alongside plans to build one gigawatt of AI computing capacity within the next three to five years.

He argued that AI should increasingly be viewed as basic infrastructure, comparable to electricity, water, and internet connectivity, rather than simply another emerging technology.

Compassion must become part of AI

The session’s strongest moral appeal came from Nobel Peace Prize laureate Kailash Satyarthi, who challenged participants to think beyond technical capabilities and focus instead on whom AI ultimately serves.

Satyarthi argued that technology is never neutral because it reflects the values of those who create it. He urged developers to embed compassion, justice, and human dignity directly into AI systems, particularly for the benefit of vulnerable children.

One of his most striking proposals was that AI engineers should spend time working with children living in poverty, conflict zones, or remote communities before designing new systems.

‘When they return to their laboratories,’ he suggested, ‘they will write different code.’

His proposal received immediate support from Bolor-Erdene Battsengel, who said she would gladly encourage her own engineers to participate.

AI skills become the new economic infrastructure

Battsengel argued that digital inclusion today depends as much on skills as on connectivity.

Drawing on AI Academy Asia’s work across Mongolia and Central Asia, she described how training around 1,000 teachers enabled those educators to introduce AI tools to approximately 50,000 children living in remote communities.

Rather than treating AI education as a standalone technical programme, she described it as an investment in future economic competitiveness.

‘We no longer simply train people to use AI,’ she explained. ‘We build economic opportunity.’

Kazakhstan similarly reported training around one million people in AI-related skills during the past year and announced plans to launch a dedicated AI University later in 2026.

From dialogue to delivery

Closing speakers from UNESCO, UNCTAD, and UNDP argued that the international community should now shift from discussing digital inclusion to implementing it.

UNESCO stressed that people, not technology, remain at the centre of the WSIS vision, while UNDP highlighted ongoing work supporting national AI strategies and public-sector capacity development across dozens of countries.

Meanwhile, UNCTAD warned that although the world is expected to invest around $800 billion in AI infrastructure this year, most of that investment remains concentrated in a small number of countries. Developing economies, speakers argued, risk arriving ‘after the rules have already been written’ unless international cooperation accelerates.

The session concluded with broad agreement that the next phase of WSIS should focus less on developing new declarations and more on delivering measurable progress in connectivity, AI skills, trusted digital infrastructure, and inclusive governance.

Twenty years after the original WSIS process began, participants agreed that the challenge is no longer defining a vision for an inclusive information society, but ensuring that vision becomes reality.

Track all key moments from the WSIS Forum 2026 on our dedicated WSIS page.

Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!