High Level Session 5: Charting the Path Forward for the WSIS+20 Review and Role of the IGF

This session will bring together leaders from across the stakeholder spectrum, including the senior-most institutional actors in the WSIS+20 process, to reflect on the legacy of WSIS and consider how its framework should adapt to rapidly changing circumstances and technologies. A secondary focus will be on the IGF: its contributions over the past twenty years, its strengths as an open, inclusive and multistakeholder platform whose network has grown exponentially, and how it can take a leading role in a system increasingly seeking actionable outcomes and institutional coordination. The IGF’s multistakeholder model has enabled diverse actors to meet on equal footing and has helped shape the contours of digital policy through vibrant exchange and shared understanding. But as the IGF mandate comes up for review as part of the WSIS+20 process, and as digital governance becomes more crowded and more urgent, there are growing calls to sharpen its impact, extend its reach, and strengthen its place in WSIS and the broader ecosystem. Within the discussion on WSIS renewal, this session will also explore how the IGF can build on twenty years of success and open a new chapter post-20