Interdisciplinary approaches
WSIS process
The WSIS process was initiated by ITU in 1998 and it led the organisation of the Summits in 2003 and 2005 in coordination with the UN system. In line with its mandate and the WSIS outcome documents, ITU continues playing a key lead coordination role in WSIS implementation and follow-up.
The WSIS Forum represents the world’s largest annual gathering of the ICT for development community. Co-organised by ITU, UNESCO, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), and in close collaboration with all WSIS Action Line Facilitators/Co-Facilitator, the forum has proven to be an efficient mechanism for coordinating multistakeholder implementation activities, exchanging information, creating knowledge, and sharing best practices. It continues to provide assistance in developing multistakeholder and public/private partnerships to advance development goals. The forum provides structured opportunities to network, learn, and participate in multistakeholder discussions and consultations on WSIS implementation.
The ITU Contribution to the Implementation of the WSIS Outcomes is an annual comprehensive report on ITU activities in the WSIS context from all the three sectors of the organisation (radiocommunication, standardisation, and development sectors) and the General Secretariat on the activities implemented during the respective year. The report provides updates on the tasks carried out by ITU at the operational and policy levels, covering all assigned mandates with reference to the WSIS process.
ITU plays a leading facilitating role in the WSIS implementation process, in collaboration with more than 30 UN agencies in creating an environment for just and equal information and knowledge societies. As per Resolution 1332 (modified 2019) ITU membership resolved to use the WSIS framework as the foundation through which it helps the world to leverage ICTs in achieving the 2030 Agenda, within its mandate and within the allocated resources in the financial plan and biennial budget, noting the WSIS- SDG Matrix developed by UN agencies, This close interlink between the WSIS Action Lines and the SDGs and targets can serve as an important basis for work on relevant areas outlined in relevant ongoing processes, for example UN SGs Our Common Agenda and so on.
ITU’s role in the WSIS process, highlighting the varying role along the WSIS Action Lines:
- ITU is the sole facilitator for three different WSIS Action Lines: C2 (Information and communication infrastructure), C5 (Building confidence and security in the use of ICTs), and C6 (Enabling environment).
- ITU has also been taking the lead role in facilitating WSIS Action Line C4 (Capacity building)
- ITU contributes to all the remaining WSIS Action Lines that are facilitated by other WSIS stakeholders.
The WSIS-SDG Matrix developed by UN WSIS Action Line Facilitators serves as the mechanism to map, analyse, and coordinate the implementation of WSIS Action Lines, and more specifically, ICTs as enablers and accelerators of the SDGs. This mapping exercise draws direct links between the WSIS Action Lines and the proposed SDGs to continue strengthening the impact of ICTs for sustainable development. Building on the Matrix, the Agenda and outcomes of the WSIS Forum are clearly linked to WSIS Action lines and the SDGs highlighting the impact and importance of ICTs on sustainable development.
The WSIS Stocktaking Process provides a register of activities – including projects, programmes, training initiatives, conferences, websites, guidelines, and toolkits – carried out by governments, international organisations, the private sector, civil society, and other entities. To that end, in accordance with paragraph 120 of the Tunis Agenda for the Information Society adopted by WSIS, ITU has been maintaining the WSIS Stocktaking Database since 2004 as a publicly accessible system providing information on ICT-related initiatives and projects with reference to the 11 WSIS action lines (Geneva Plan of Action). The principal role of the WSIS Stocktaking exercise is to leverage the activities of stakeholders working on the implementation of WSIS outcomes and share knowledge and experience of projects by replicating successful models designed to achieve the SDGs of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
The WSIS Prizes contest was developed in response to requests from WSIS stakeholders to create an effective mechanism to evaluate projects and activities that leverage the power of ICTs to advance sustainable development. Since its inception, WSIS Prizes has attracted more than 350,000 stakeholders. Following the outcomes of the UN General Assembly Overall Review on WSIS (Res. A/70/125) that called for a close alignment between the WSIS process and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (Res. A/70/1), WSIS Prizes continues to serve as the unique global platform to identify and showcase success stories in the implementation of the WSIS Action Lines and the SDGs.
The United Nations Group on Information Society (UNGIS) is the UN system’s inter-agency mechanism for advancing policy coherence and programme co-ordination on matters related to ICTs in support of internationally agreed development goals. Established in 2006 after WSIS, its mandate includes promoting collaboration and partnerships among the members of the Chief Executives Board (CEB) to contribute to the achievement of the WSIS goals, providing guidance on issues related to inclusive information and knowledge societies, helping maintain issues related to science and technology at the top of the UN Agenda, and mainstreaming ICT for Development in the mandate of CEB members.
UNGIS remains committed and contributed to the alignment of the WSIS Action Lines and the SDGs.
Partnership on Measuring ICT for Development is an international, multistakeholder initiative to improve the availability and quality of ICT data and indicators.
ITU also works in close collaboration with the Office of the United Nations Secretary-General’s Envoy on Technology and in 2022 announced a first-ever set of targets for universal and meaningful digital connectivity to be achieved by 2030.
The universal meaningful connectivity targets were developed as part of the implementation of the UN Secretary-General’s Roadmap for Digital Cooperation and aim to provide concrete benchmarks for sustainable, inclusive global progress in specified action areas, such as (1) Universality, (2) Technology, and (3) Affordability. These 15 aspirational targets are meant to help countries and stakeholders prioritise interventions, monitor progress, evaluate policy effectiveness, and galvanise efforts around achieving universal and meaningful connectivity by 2030. They are also meant as a contribution towards the forthcoming Global Digital Compact, as proposed in the UN Secretary-General’s Our Common Agenda report. A first assessment of how the world currently stands in relation to the targets is available on ITU’s website here.
Kaleidoscope academic conferences
Kaleidoscope is the ITU flagship event for academia, which brings together a wide range of views from universities, industry, and research institutions of different fields to identify emerging trends in technologies for a digital and sustainable transformation that can benefit humanity. Selected papers are presented at the conference and published in the Conference Proceedings and IEEE Xplore Digital Library. By viewing technologies through a Kaleidoscope, these forward-looking events also seek to identify new topics for ITU’s work. The objective is to hold these events once a year in different parts of the world. Kaleidoscope 2024 on Innovation and digital transformation for a sustainable world will be held in parallel with the World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly 2024 (WTSA-24), on 21-23 October, in New Delhi, India. This 15th Kaleidoscope also aims at engaging youth and future leaders and empowering academia in India.
ITU Journal
The scholarly ITU Journal on Future and Evolving Technologies (ITU J-FET) provides complete coverage of all communications and networking paradigms. ITU J-FETl considers yet-to-be-published papers addressing fundamental and applied research. It shares new techniques and concepts, analyses, and tutorials, as well as learning from experiments and physical and simulated testbeds. It also discusses the implications of the latest research results for policy and regulation, legal frameworks, the economy and society. This publication builds bridges between disciplines, connects theory with application, and stimulates international dialogue. Its interdisciplinary approach reflects ITU’s comprehensive field of interest and explores the convergence of ICT with other disciplines.
ITU J-FET is a quarterly publication, free of charge for both readers and authors, which offers a platform to share research on topics of strategic relevance to ITU, such as Internet of Everything, Terahertz communications, Wireless communication systems in beyond 5G era, Internet of Bio-Nano Things for health applications, Towards vehicular networks in the 6G era, Emerging trends and applications in future communication networks, Integrated and autonomous network management and control for 6G time-critical applications, Digital continuum and next generation networks, Future of networking beyond 2030, Innovative network solutions for future services, Intelligent surfaces and their applications towards wide-scale deployment, AI-driven security in 5G and beyond , Network virtualization, slicing, orchestration, fog and edge platforms for 5G and 6G wireless systems, AI for accessibility, Metaverse: Communications, networking and computing, Intelligent technologies for future networking and distributed systems, Next generation computer communications and networks, Satellite constellations and connectivity from space, and AI and machine learning solutions in 5G and future networks.
Under the umbrella of ITU J-FET, a series of webinars has been launched to feature highly cited academics, CTOs, and industry leaders, sharing their pioneering studies and visions, as well as their impactful life lessons learned over the years that might be useful for students and young researchers starting their career in the ICT field. This special series is designed to expand synergies between academia and industry R&D, placing emphasis on 5G and 6G and increasing network intelligence.
ITU-Tsinghua University Joint Journal
The Intelligent and Converged Networks (ICN) Journal focuses on the latest developments in communication technology. ICN is co-published by Tsinghua University Press (TUP) and ITU. The journal draws its name from the accelerating convergence of different fields of communication technology and the growing influence of AI and machine learning. An open access publication, ICN was launched in 2020. All issues can be downloaded for free at the journal’s online Library and on the IEEE Xplore.
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