Global Digital Collaboration is a two-day in-person conference designed to advance global digital trust by promoting interoperable infrastructure for digital identity, credentials, and wallets.
Day 1 features keynote presentations on national digital identity systems, including the EU Digital Wallet, Swiss e-ID, and Aadhaar, alongside use cases in travel, health, education, and supply chains. Day 2 focuses on co-creation through working groups held under Chatham House rules, starting with a session on First-Person Credentials. The afternoon explores practical implementation across sectors such as open-source supply chains, immigration, and organisational identity.
The Global Digital Collaboration is convened by more than 30 organisations—including governments, standards bodies, open-source foundations, and industry groups—under the support of the Swiss Confederation.
The second meeting of the UN Commission on Science and Technology for Development (CSTD) Multi-Stakeholder Working Group on Data Governance at All Levels will occur on 1-2 May 2025 at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland.
Established in response to UN General Assembly resolution A/RES/79/1, the working group aims to engage in a comprehensive and inclusive multistakeholder dialogue on data governance regarding development.
The working group comprises 27 member states and 27 non-state members, including representatives from academia, the business sector, civil society, and the technical community. Additionally, intergovernmental and international organisations participate as observers.
The group’s mandate includes reporting progress to the General Assembly by its eighty-first session, focusing on:
Developing fundamental principles of data governance relevant to development.
Proposing measures to support interoperability between national, regional, and international data systems.
Considering mechanisms for equitable data benefit sharing.
Exploring options to facilitate safe, secure, and trusted data flows, including cross-border data flows, in support of the SDGs.
Organised by the Executive Education programme at the Geneva Graduate Institute, this webinar offers international actors a timely briefing on the evolving landscape of global digital and AI governance.
Framed around recent developments from the AI for Good Summit and the WSIS+20 review, the session will unpack key outcomes and emerging expectations, ranging from potential regulatory frameworks and international cooperation to ethical considerations in AI deployment.
Beyond the substance of the summits, the discussion will also delve into their geopolitical significance, exploring how countries and stakeholders are positioning themselves on issues such as digital trust, AI regulation, and inclusive multistakeholder participation.
Designed as a concise explainer, the webinar provides an opportunity to better understand what’s at stake—and how to engage effectively in shaping the future of digital governance.
On July 6-7, 2025, Brazil will host the BRICS Summit at the Museum of Modern Art (Museu de Arte Moderna/MAM) in Rio de Janeiro. The BRICS partnership is based on three pillars of cooperation: political and security, economic and financial and cultural, and people-to-people exchanges. The annual summit will also see countries discuss environment, energy, science and technology, health and the inclusion of more civil society actors.
As the Chair of BRICS, Brazil is focusing on the theme, ‘Strengthening Global South Cooperation for More Inclusive and Sustainable Governance’. Brazil’s BRICS presidency outlines six priority areas.
First, Brazil aims to strengthen global health cooperation through joint projects that ensure access to medicines and vaccines, and by launching a partnership to eliminate socially determined and neglected tropical diseases.
Brazil supports reforming financial markets, promoting local currencies, and advancing industrial innovation through the 2030 Strategy and the Partnership for the New Industrial Revolution.
On climate change, it proposes a BRICS Climate Leadership Agenda and a Leaders’ Framework on Climate Finance to drive structural change in financial systems.
In the realm of AI, Brazil advocates for inclusive and responsible international governance to harness AI for development.
It also calls for reform of the multilateral peace and security system to better prevent conflicts and humanitarian crises, restore trust, and promote diplomacy.
Brazil seeks to improve the cohesion and operational effectiveness of the BRICS.
The Open-Ended Working Group (OEWG) will hold its eleventh substantive session on 7-11 July 2025 in New York, the USA. This will be the final session of the group’s work.
The OEWG was established in 2021 by UN General Assembly resolution A/RES/75/240. The group is tasked to continue to develop the rules, norms, and principles of responsible behaviour of states; discuss ways for their implementation, and to study the possibility of establishing a regular institutional dialogue with broad participation under the auspices of the UN. Also included in the group’s mandate is a study of existing and potential threats to information security and possible confidence-building measures and capacity development. Its composition is declared as open, allowing all UN member states that express a desire to participate.
For more information about the OEWG, please visit our dedicated page.
In 2025, the annual WSIS Forum is branded as the WSIS+20 High-Level Event, to marks the 20th anniversary of the original World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), which was held in two phases: Geneva (2003) and Tunis (2005). The forum will take place from 7 to 11 July 2025 in Geneva, Switzerland, hosted by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and co-organized by ITU, UNESCO, UNDP, and UNCTAD.
The event will serve as a platform for multistakeholder discussions on the implementation of WSIS Action Lines and on related progress, challenges, and opportunities since the adoption of the Geneva Plan of Action in 2003.
The Agenda and Programme for the WSIS+20 High-Level Event are being developed based on official submissions received during the Open Consultation Process (OCP). OCP is an open and inclusive consultation involving WSIS stakeholders, designed to help prepare the event by shaping its programme, identifying gaps in implementing the WSIS Action Lines and the Geneva Plan of Action, and contributing to the overall WSIS+20 review process. The final agenda and programme will be published shortly after the conclusion of the OCP.
The forum will be held ahead of the UN General Assembly High-Level meeting on the overall review of the implementation of the WSIS outcomes (the WSIS+20 review), to be held on 16-17 December 2025.
Opening statements – Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, Izumi Nakamitsu (pre-recorded) – Chair of the open-ended working group on security of and in the use of information and communications technologies 2021-2025, Burhan Gafoor Agenda item 3: organization of work Agenda item 5: discussions on substantive issues contained in paragraph 1 of General Assembly resolution 75/240 Chair’s presentation of the draft final report
The AI for Good Global Summit is the main event of the AI for Good platform organised by ITU in partnership with 40 UN Sister Agencies and co-convened with Switzerland. In 2025, the summit will be held from 8 to 11 July in Geneva, Switzerland and feature 3 events:
AI for Good Global Summit from 8 to 9 July,
AI Governance Day on 10 July, and
International AI Standards Day on 11 July.
The AI for Good platform is a year-round digital platform with weekly sessions where relevant stakeholders learn, build and connect to help identify practical AI solutions to advance the UN SDGs and other global development priorities. The platform aims to encourage cooperative efforts to assure reliable, secure, and inclusive AI technology development and equal access to its advantages.
