Open Forum #20 WSis+20 High Level Event 2025 Ocp Special Briefing

Summary

This discussion focused on the upcoming WSIS Plus 20 high-level event and the evolution of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) forum over the past two decades. Gitanjali Sah from ITU opened the session by outlining the WSIS process, which began in 1998 and has grown to involve over 50 UN entities in a multi-stakeholder framework that includes the Internet Governance Forum (IGF). The WSIS action lines provide a comprehensive framework where different UN agencies implement specific areas based on their mandates, such as FAO handling e-agriculture and ITU managing ICT infrastructure and cybersecurity.

Ambassador Thomas Schneider from Switzerland emphasized the importance of translating dialogue into concrete decision-making and action, noting that while the WSIS structure has helped achieve many goals, there remains work to bridge the gap between discussion and implementation. South Africa’s representative highlighted their country’s commitment as the incoming chair of the high-level event, citing their active participation in internet governance processes and their focus on issues like AI, digital public infrastructure, and capacity building for small businesses through their G20 presidency.

Multiple UN agencies and stakeholders expressed their continued commitment to the WSIS process. UNDP’s Yu Ping Chan stressed the critical importance of capacity building, which remains the top request from governments they serve globally. UNESCO’s representative emphasized their role in facilitating action lines on access to information, e-learning, cultural diversity, and media ethics. The technical community, represented by ICANN, reaffirmed support for the multi-stakeholder model and urged recognition of the technical community as a distinct stakeholder group.

The discussion revealed broad consensus on the continued relevance of WSIS principles, with participants noting that the framework’s ambitious vision of a people-centered, inclusive information society remains more important than ever in addressing current digital challenges and opportunities.

Keypoints

## Major Discussion Points:

– **WSIS Plus 20 High-Level Event Planning and Logistics**: Extensive discussion of the upcoming World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Plus 20 high-level event scheduled for July 7-11 in Geneva, including venue details, registration processes, high-level participation (67 ministers confirmed), and the interactive agenda developed through multi-stakeholder consultations.

– **Multi-stakeholder Governance and Implementation Framework**: Emphasis on maintaining the multi-stakeholder DNA of the WSIS process, with various UN agencies, civil society, private sector, and technical community representatives discussing their roles in implementing the WSIS Action Lines and contributing to digital policy development.

– **Bridging Dialogue and Decision-Making**: A recurring theme about the need to translate multi-stakeholder discussions into concrete actions and real-world impact, moving beyond dialogue to actual implementation that affects communities and achieves sustainable development goals.

– **Integration with Global Digital Governance Frameworks**: Discussion of how WSIS connects with other major digital governance initiatives including the Global Digital Compact (GDC), Internet Governance Forum (IGF), AI for Good conference, and various national and regional digital policy frameworks.

– **Capacity Building and Digital Divide**: Focus on addressing digital inequalities through capacity building initiatives, particularly for developing countries, rural communities, and specific sectors like agriculture, with emphasis on meaningful connectivity and inclusive digital transformation.

## Overall Purpose:

The discussion served as a briefing and coordination session for stakeholders preparing for the WSIS Plus 20 high-level event. The primary goal was to update participants on event logistics, encourage broad participation, and align various stakeholder perspectives on the evolution and future direction of the WSIS process as it undergoes its 20-year review.

## Overall Tone:

The tone was consistently collaborative, professional, and forward-looking throughout the conversation. Speakers demonstrated mutual respect and appreciation for each other’s contributions to the WSIS process. There was an underlying sense of urgency about making the upcoming high-level event impactful, combined with pride in the achievements of the past 20 years. The discussion maintained an optimistic and constructive atmosphere, with stakeholders expressing commitment to continued cooperation and shared goals for digital inclusion and sustainable development.

Speakers

**Speakers from the provided list:**

– **Gitanjali Sah** – Session moderator/organizer from ITU, coordinating the WSIS plus 20 high-level event

– **Thomas Schneider** – Ambassador from Switzerland, representing the co-host country of the WSIS plus 20 high-level event

– **Representative of South Africa** – Cynthia, representing South Africa as chair-designate of the upcoming high-level event, with Minister Soli Malatsi as the designated chair

– **Yu Ping Chan** – Representative from UNDP, speaking on behalf of UN organizations co-convening the WSIS Forum

– **Tatevik Grigoryan** – Representative from UNESCO, co-host of the WSIS plus 20 high-level event

– **ICANN representative** – Veni, representing the technical community and ICANN

– **FAO representative** – Dejan, facilitator of WSIS action line on e-agriculture

– **MAG representative** – Bruna, ex-MAG member and co-facilitator of the MAG Working Group on Strategy

– **Anriette Esterhuysen** – Civil society representative from APC (Association for Progressive Communications)

– **WIPO representative** – Richard, representing the World Intellectual Property Organization

– **Inter Parliamentary Union representative** – Andy Richardson, representing parliamentarians in the WSIS process

– **ICC representative** – Meli, representing the International Chamber of Commerce and Business Action to Support the Information Society

**Additional speakers:**

None identified – all speakers mentioned in the transcript were included in the provided speakers names list.

# WSIS Plus 20 High-Level Event: Comprehensive Stakeholder Discussion Report

## Executive Summary

This discussion focused on preparations for the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Plus 20 high-level event, scheduled for 7-11 July in Geneva. The session, moderated by Gitanjali Sah from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), brought together representatives from across the multi-stakeholder community to coordinate event preparations and reflect on two decades of WSIS implementation.

The discussion revealed strong consensus on the continued relevance of WSIS principles and the multi-stakeholder approach, while acknowledging significant challenges in translating dialogue into concrete decision-making and measurable outcomes. With 67 ministers and deputies confirmed to attend, the event represents substantial global recognition of WSIS’s importance, though participants identified critical gaps in measurement frameworks and institutional visibility within broader UN processes.

## Background and Context

### WSIS Evolution and Framework

Gitanjali Sah outlined the evolution of the WSIS process, which began with a proposal in 1998 at ITU’s plenipotentiary conference when Tunisia requested the framework. It has grown into a comprehensive multi-stakeholder framework involving over 50 UN entities. The WSIS action lines provide a structured approach where different UN agencies implement specific areas based on their mandates – for example, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) handles e-agriculture while ITU manages ICT infrastructure and cybersecurity.

The framework has maintained its multi-stakeholder approach throughout its 20-year journey, incorporating the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) as an integral component. This architecture has facilitated inclusive dialogue across governments, civil society, private sector, technical community, and academia, though measuring quantitative impact remains challenging due to the absence of indicators and monitoring frameworks.

### High-Level Event Logistics and Participation

The WSIS Plus 20 high-level event has secured participation from 67 ministers and deputies confirmed across all regions. The event will take place at the Palexpo venue, with an interactive agenda developed through extensive multi-stakeholder consultations. Sah noted that one badge will provide access to both the WSIS event and the AI for Good conference taking place simultaneously.

Additional event features include 72 WSIS champions and 18 winners to be awarded, a youth special track, and a youth party planned for Monday at ITU premises. A hackathon on “hack against hunger” will also take place, though speakers noted the lack of incubators to support innovation beyond the event.

The representative of South Africa expressed honor at their country’s role as chair-designate, with Minister Soli Malatsi designated as chair. She emphasized South Africa’s long-standing commitment to the WSIS process since the 2003 Geneva Summit and highlighted their current leadership of the ITU Council Working Group on WSIS and SDGs.

## Key Stakeholder Perspectives

### Co-Host Country Commitment

Ambassador Thomas Schneider from Switzerland emphasized the critical importance of translating dialogue into concrete decision-making and action. He noted that while the WSIS structure has helped achieve many goals over the past two decades, the biggest gap currently facing the community is ensuring that multi-stakeholder dialogue actually translates into results and decision-making processes.

Switzerland’s commitment extends beyond hosting, with Schneider referencing their non-paper with proposals for building on existing WSIS architecture rather than creating entirely new structures.

### UN Agency Coordination and Implementation

The discussion highlighted extensive coordination among UN agencies through the UN Group on Information Society. Yu Ping Chan from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) provided field perspective, noting that capacity building remains the top request from the 170 country offices they serve globally, reflecting the enduring relevance of original WSIS principles.

UNESCO’s representative, Tatevik Grigoryan, emphasized their role in facilitating action lines on access to information, e-learning, cultural diversity, and media ethics. She advocated for principled frameworks rooted in WSIS values of human rights, openness, and accessibility.

The FAO representative, Dejan, provided context for the urgency of digital transformation, noting that 700 million people remain undernourished globally. FAO uses the WSIS process to address agri-food system transformation enabled by technology, highlighting the critical implications of effective digital governance.

### Technical Community and Private Sector Engagement

The ICANN representative reaffirmed strong support for the multi-stakeholder model while urging recognition of the technical community as a distinct stakeholder group. The representative noted that while the IGF was mentioned in the Global Digital Compact as the primary meeting space for Internet policy discussions, the WSIS Forum was omitted from the elements paper for the UN General Assembly review, prompting calls for coordinated stakeholder feedback.

The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), represented by Meli, demonstrated long-standing private sector engagement since WSIS inception. ICC plans to organize specific sessions including a workshop on July 10th (3-3:45 PM) on “Global Adoption, Global Progress, Managing the Challenges of AI Inclusion” and a Knowledge Cafe on July 9th (12-2 PM) on strengthening multistakeholderism.

### Civil Society and Parliamentary Perspectives

Anriette Esterhuysen from the Association for Progressive Communications (APC) provided a civil society perspective, emphasizing that the WSIS Action Line Framework enables collaborative implementation at country level between governments and stakeholders. She characterized WSIS as more powerful than most other tech-related UN frameworks.

The Inter-Parliamentary Union representative, Andy Richardson, brought the perspective of elected representatives who must balance innovation with citizen protection, adding democratic accountability to technical and policy discussions.

## Major Agreements and Consensus Areas

### Multi-Stakeholder Participation as Core Principle

The discussion revealed unanimous agreement that multi-stakeholder participation represents the core DNA of both WSIS and IGF processes. All speakers consistently emphasized that this inclusive approach has been successfully maintained throughout WSIS evolution, enabling collaborative implementation across different stakeholder groups.

### Complementary Nature of WSIS and IGF Platforms

Speakers demonstrated clear agreement that WSIS Forum and IGF serve complementary rather than competing roles in global digital governance. This complementary relationship is being operationalized through two IGF-focused panels planned for 8 July at the high-level event, addressing both mandate renewal and the next 20 years of IGF development.

### Implementation and Capacity Building Priorities

Multiple speakers emphasized that capacity building and practical implementation represent fundamental needs requiring urgent attention. The UNDP representative’s observation that capacity building is the top request from governments globally resonated across different stakeholder groups, with each providing concrete examples of implementation challenges and solutions.

## Challenges and Areas of Concern

### Dialogue to Decision-Making Gap

The most significant challenge identified was the persistent gap between multi-stakeholder dialogue and actual decision-making by governments and institutions. Ambassador Schneider’s articulation of this challenge as the biggest current gap resonated across multiple subsequent interventions.

This challenge manifests in various ways: excellent discussions in forums that struggle to influence actual policy decisions, capacity building needs identified globally but inadequately addressed, and innovative solutions developed through initiatives like hackathons that lack incubation support to reach implementation.

### Measurement and Accountability Frameworks

Sah acknowledged that WSIS action lines lack indicators and monitoring frameworks, representing a fundamental weakness in the 20-year process. This absence of quantitative measurement capabilities means that while qualitative achievements can be celebrated, systematic assessment of progress and impact remains impossible.

### Institutional Recognition and Visibility

The omission of WSIS Forum from the elements paper for the UN General Assembly review highlighted ongoing challenges in ensuring proper recognition of multi-stakeholder processes within formal UN frameworks. This visibility gap could undermine WSIS influence in broader digital governance discussions.

## Future Directions and Action Items

### Immediate Preparations

All stakeholders were encouraged to submit comments and inputs to the UN General Assembly overall review through the online form available until 15 July. The ITU will work with the Office of the Secretary-General’s Envoy on Technology (ODET) on Global Digital Compact implementation roadmap, requiring a thousand-word document on current implementation to be submitted to the Commission on Science and Technology for Development annual session.

South African Minister Soli Malatsi will submit a chair summary of high-level event outcomes to the UN General Assembly review process.

### Long-term Strategic Development

The discussion identified several areas requiring sustained attention beyond the July event. Developing indicators and monitoring frameworks for WSIS action lines emerged as a priority for enabling quantitative measurement of achievements and impact assessment.

Strengthening the dialogue-to-decision-making pipeline requires systematic attention to how multi-stakeholder discussions translate into policy decisions and implementation. Building on existing WSIS architecture rather than creating entirely new structures offers a pragmatic approach to institutional evolution while maintaining proven multi-stakeholder frameworks.

## Conclusion

The discussion revealed a mature multi-stakeholder community with strong consensus on fundamental principles while honestly acknowledging significant implementation challenges. The upcoming WSIS Plus 20 high-level event represents both celebration of achievements and critical opportunity to address persistent gaps in measurement, decision-making translation, and institutional recognition.

The high level of participation confirmed for July, combined with the collaborative spirit demonstrated throughout this preparatory discussion, suggests a strong foundation for meaningful outcomes. However, success will ultimately be measured not by the quality of dialogue in Geneva but by the concrete actions and decisions that follow in countries and communities worldwide.

The WSIS Plus 20 milestone occurs at a crucial moment when digital governance challenges have never been more urgent or complex. The framework’s vision of a people-centered, inclusive information society remains relevant, but achieving this vision requires moving beyond dialogue to systematic implementation and measurable impact that stakeholders consistently identified as the next frontier for multi-stakeholder digital governance.

Gitanjali Sah: Good morning ladies and gentlemen, thank you for joining us today for this special session on the WSIS plus 20 high-level event and the evolution of the WSIS forum over the years. Since we have it’s a 9 a.m meeting, we would really appreciate if you can join us here so that we can be closer to each other. The audience if you would like us to join in the table that would be really nice so we can be closer together. Okay so basically I wanted to divide this into two parts to kind of update you about the WSIS plus 20 high-level event but also to look at the evolution in the context of the WSIS plus 20 review as well. So we have a very quick presentation which I will go through and then we’ll pass on the floor to our speakers who are actually also our stakeholders who contribute very actively to the WSIS forum and the WSIS process. So as all of you are familiar it’s a UN process WSIS. It started in the evolution started in 1998 in ITU’s plenipotentiary conference when Tunisia as a member state requested that there should be a framework like WSIS. We work with more than 50 UN entities currently and of course it’s a multi-stakeholder process. You can see IGF is part of the WSIS process and you can see the spirit here the multi-stakeholder participation and we are very proud that we could maintain that over the years. So the evolution is clear and I’ll leave this presentation for all of you. I’ll go through it very quickly. 1998 it was proposed, 2001 we took it to the UN, 2003 and 5 we had the two events the summits, 2003 came up with the framework of the WSIS action lines, 2005 was the Tunis agreement where IGF was also born. 2015 our mandate was renewed and then it was still 2025 and hence this is such a milestone year for all of us where we are reviewing the mandate. As you all know we are guided by the framework of the WSIS action lines. It’s a beautiful framework where all UN agencies based on their mandates work together. For example, Dejan from FAO implements the action line on e-agriculture with the multi-stakeholder community. ITU has the action line on ICT infrastructure, cyber security and so on so forth. The WSIS implementation wheel, as we call it, the action lines, the forums, stocktaking, stocktaking database is a huge database where all stakeholders have inputted their projects, really the grassroot projects, based on the action lines, the SDGs, and now we also have an alignment with the global digital compact objectives. Like we mentioned, it’s really multi-stakeholderism is in the DNA of the WSIS process and we’re proud that we’ve been able to maintain it. Now our achievements over the 20 years, one challenge that all of us face is that the WSIS action lines don’t have indicators and monitoring frameworks. So we really can’t measure and tell you that quantitatively this is what we’ve achieved in the WSIS action lines. However, if you look at the qualitative achievements, you can look at how a process like WSIS, a framework like WSIS has improved the lives of people all over the world. So WSIS essentially was about technology benefiting the people on the ground. So 5.5 billion people online. Looking at the Giga mapping, we see that 280,000 plus schools are connected with UNESCO. We figured out that 400 plus languages are accessible, and so on and so forth. So the stocktaking database, all of you must have a look at it. And if you’re looking for examples of implementation of WSIS on the ground, you definitely can use those examples in your presentations, in your case studies, and so on and so forth. It’s a very good repository. We also have WSIS photo contest winners every year out there, so you can use those. The United Nations Group on Information Society, all members of the CEB, the Chief Executive Board, are members of this group. We also have observer members, newcomers like Odette, who are very welcome to the United Nations Group on Information Society. It’s UN in action, and we have been working really well to implement the digital aspects of our work together. This is high-level event. As I look around the table, most of you are coming there. So we really look forward to welcoming you there. We’ve had several briefings for all of you. So the way the agenda and the program is built, it’s through an open consultative process. Most of you have been part of it. And the interactive agenda that you see right now is the result and the outcome of what we’ve done together. We had several consultative meetings, we analysed the inputs that we received, and then we put it together on the forum website. So as you’ll see in these graphs, the contributions to the WSIS Forum open consultation process, they are very, very multi-stakeholder. Also, we are very proud to say that some regions who were not that active in the process in the sense of contribution of inputs, for example, Latin America, it’s really increased over the years. So we are really happy that all regions and all stakeholders are benefiting and contributing towards the process. So I’ll skip all of this because the agenda is already online. This one is important. All the action line facilitators have actually got together and there’s a presentation online, you can find it on the WSIS Forum website, highlighted the achievements, challenges and opportunities of the WSIS action lines. It’s a beautiful, it’s really important work that people have done, where they’ve shown you the evolution of the action line, and these are the experts. So I think you should have a look at it, it’ll really help you with the work that you’re doing as well. So our chair designate is the Minister of South Africa, Excellency Soli Malatsi. Cynthia was supposed to be here representing him, but I think she’s on her way. And he will take over from Switzerland, who was the chair last year. The venue is Pal Expo, it’s very similar actually to this venue. It’s a huge space, and it’s very approachable, Geneva is a small place and it’s easy to travel in Geneva. I hope you’ve registered, especially the people who needed visas, because we’re working closely with the Swiss administration, who’s also helping us with the visas. So as you’re aware, the AI for Good conference is also taking place at the same time. So one badge will take you also to the AI for Good conference. Once you have it, you can also access it. Now in terms of high level participation, we are proud to say that we have 67 ministers confirmed right now, 67 ministers and deputies. This means that not only the G77 countries, EU, but all the regions, they really consider this process so important that they would like to be present in Geneva for it. We have more than 40 regulators coming, of course our UN partners that are very important, and 72 WSIS champions and 18 winners who will be awarded during the conference. high-level event. So I won’t go through the program, you all have seen it. We have a high-level one, we have workshops, we have several WSIS plus 20 consultations. These will happen during lunchtime, during the knowledge cafes as well. So please be there because we really want concrete outcomes. We have limited space at Palexpo, so we will have registration forms, do fill them up as soon as they are available online. We have a youth special track that we will be working on, and if you have youth delegations coming with you, and of course we are all young at heart, so we can all join the youth party that we will have at ITU Maubriant premises on Monday. So please join the youth track also on Monday, 7th of July to kind of get an impression of what the young people are expecting out of us. We have exhibition spaces, but since we are non-commercial, they are not very fancy about what people are doing on the ground. I’m going to skip all of this because, well, I do see many high-level track facilitators around, so I wanted to say that the high-level tracks are moderated by the high-level track facilitators, who are selected from, not selected actually, nominated by the different stakeholder types. So we look forward to, Cheryl is one of them, and I see Valeria, Anaret, so many of you around, thank you so much. I spoke about the, so the outcomes of the high-level event, very important this time because they will be fed into the UNGA overall review. So one would be through the chair summary, so the South African minister who’s going to submit the outcome of the high-level event to the UNGA overall review. Second is, of course, the ITU secretary-general’s WSIS plus 20 roadmap and report, which she will be submitting, and I do hope that all of you, while making your submissions to the UNGA overall review, review will consider the importance of WSIS Forum and IGF in terms of being multi-stakeholder you know platforms for deliberations on digital policy. We of course have seen the elements paper which was released and we were quite surprised to note that the WSIS Forum was not noted on it so we will provide our feedback but if all of you could we would like to encourage all of you also to submit your comments and inputs through the online form which is available until 15th of July. So I’ll stop here now because you know it’s quite I’ll make this available for you but just two points my colleagues from New York also wanted me to highlight is that ITU is also working with ODET in the GDC implementation roadmap. We are supposed to provide a thousand word document on how the GDC is being implemented currently so we encourage you to also submit to us these ideas so we could prepare this thousand word document and this will be sent to the CSTD annual session next year. So I’m gonna stop here and hand over the floor actually to Ambassador Schneider who’s the Switzerland is the co-host of the WSIS plus 20 high-level event they were also the co-chair they were also the chairs last year. Ambassador Schneider thank you for the wonderful evening last night over to you.

Thomas Schneider: Yes thank you Gitanjali and good morning everyone I hope you can hear me with your earphones. Yes we are happy and proud to be the co-host of also this year’s WSIS forum we are also very happy to work together with our friends from South Africa who are chairing the event this year. because we think that WSIS is a very important structure. We had almost 22 years ago where we agreed in Geneva on some principles how to turn this world into an inclusive, people-centred and development-oriented or the other way around, information society. Now we would call it digital society. We have agreed on an action plan and then in Tunis we have complemented whatever was not agreed in Geneva. And we do think that, and we have expressed this on many occasions this week, that this structure has helped us a lot to achieve some of the goals that we set, some of the targets that we set. There’s still some work to do in many others. We’ve had new challenges, new technical developments, new opportunities that this system has been able to take on. We are discussing here at the IGF not only about the same things that we were discussing 20 years ago. We are every year adapting our dialogue to the challenges and opportunities of the time. The same goes not just for the IGF here, it also goes for the WSIS. So we think that this architecture is not perfect, but we have tried to be as inclusive as we can, to allow as many voices to be heard as we can. And the IGF as well as the WSIS Forum are two important components that are complementary because they have a slightly different setting. They are complementary in our view and we are very happy that these two exist and think these are very important elements of the dialogue part. Of course, we all know that dialogue is only a necessary but not sufficient step in getting things done and actually making things happen. So I can again refer to among other inputs to the Swiss non-paper that we have circulated where we try to build on the existing architecture, make some concrete proposals that can be discussed that we hope are useful to actually fill the biggest gap that I think we currently have, which is to help make sure that the dialogue that we’re having is actually turning into result in decision-making for us so that the voices of the people are not just heard here or at the WSIS forum, but they actually heard when and taken into account when decisions are made. I think this is something we all need to work on and we are very happy to see that also this year there will be a big WSIS plus 20 and the AI for Good will be a big meeting but with lots of participants, but also a remarkable number of high-level participants so we also hope that this meeting will be used to get this dialogue to the awareness of high-level people from all stakeholders because this is what we I think need to focus on to make sure that these voices that we try to make heard that they are really have an impact in decisions that are taken, be it in intergovernmental institutions, also by private institutions. I think this is the biggest endeavor so we hope that this discussion here is useful to bring us one step closer to this goal. Thank you very much.

Gitanjali Sah: Thank you very much, Ambassador Schneider and thanks to Switzerland for their support for making this happen. We’re really looking forward to the high-level events 7th to 11th of July and as we look around the room I just mentioned that we know most of them are going to be there with us so thank you so much. I’ll move on to now the chair-designate, South Africa. Cynthia, the floor is yours.

Representative of South Africa: Thank you, Gitanjali and good morning to everyone. and it’s such an honour to be part of this session and to see many familiar faces that we have, I have actually interacted with and we are really looking forward as South Africa to be the chair of the upcoming high level event in Geneva which will then be chaired by our Honourable Minister Soli Malachi. And for South Africa really, we stand firmly and constantly a champion of the WSIS process since its inception from 2005 to, I mean from 2003 to 2005 and many South African delegation has, have actually actively participated in the 2003 Geneva Summit including the 2005 Tunisia Summit and this is a demonstration of the South African commitment to bridging the digital divide and shaping the future for internet governance. As South Africa, we have also played an important role in advancing the civil society and multi-stakeholder participation both in global internet governance process. Its leadership has been visible in both policy development and of course the norm-setting platform helping to ensure that voices of the global South, particularly African stakeholders, are represented in shaping the digital future. For instance, I would say that from a country point of view, we do have a, we all, we have also chaired, I think, through our clear and data, a multi-advisory group of the United Nation IGF and which is another clear recognition of South Africa’s commitment. to Inclusive Internet Governance. But in addition to that, South Africa, we have also, we have what we call the Internet Governance Forum, which is a multi-stakeholder platform that, which unites government, the civil society, the academia, the private sector, and most importantly, the youth. And we do not end there, South Africa, but we also recently have hosted a national IJF forum under the theme, Reviewing South Africa’s Internet Governance Program, progress in the context of WSIS plus 20. And, you know, for us, this was about highlighting alignment with the Global Digital Policy Framework. And of course, we’ve used the forum to access the diverse voices on what we have achieved, the challenges, and again, what lies ahead of us beyond 2020-25. And again, the other, I would say, a classic example of how we are committed to the WSIS Forum, it’s our role as the chair of cancer working group, ITU Cancer Working Group, WSIS and SDGs. And through that platform, again, as a chair, what we have done working together with the ITU, we’ve issued an ITU’s call for both governments and stakeholders to really share their experiences of how they have implemented the WSIS outcomes for over a period of 20 years, and what are the challenges, and what is it that they are envisioning going forward. So this is one of, what I would say, the highlights of showing, again, how South Africa is really taking this process serious. But we did not only end there, but through our G20 presidency, the country is also prioritizing a number of issues. that are actually key, and they are key not only for South Africa, but they are also the issues that are contained in the Global Digital Compact. Issues such as your AI, it’s one of the South African G20 Presidency focus areas, the issue of the digital public infrastructure, and these are some of the things. And also, in addition to the two issues that I’ve mentioned, there’s also the issue of capacity building for SMMEs. That is another element that the South African government is actually prioritizing through its G20 Presidency. And all of these things that I’ve mentioned, they are quite key in the global discussions, and again, in ensuring that we achieve the 2030 Sustainable Digital SDGs. But again, it is also important to also reflect on these issues as we look beyond 2025. Thank you.

Gitanjali Sah: Thank you, Cynthia, and we look forward to welcoming South Africa as the chair of the High Level Event. You’re already the chair of the Council Working Group on Business and SDGs. Thank you so much. We have to be mindful of time. There are 23 minutes left. We can see the timer there. I’ll invite all the stakeholders who wanted to also express themselves. I’ll start with our co-organizers. Yu Ping from UNDP. Yuping, the floor is yours.

Yu Ping Chan: Thank you so much, Gitanjali. And just wanted to say on behalf of the other UN organizations to our co-conveners of the WSIS Forum, UNCTAD, UNESCO, and UNDP, together working closely, of course, with ITU, we really look forward to having you as part of the process, as part of the conversation, because we all know this is a particularly important year. I just wanted to put a plus one and a super plus 1,000, actually, on the points that have been raised on this idea of the translation and delivery of conversations into decision-making and then action. For UNDP, with our 170 country offices around the world, our support to over 120 governments in the area of leveraging digital and AI to achieve the SDGs, this is particularly important. It’s about the impact that we make directly to communities and people that we serve around the world that will make the difference in terms of how we translate digital discussions at the global level into real impact on lives. and economies and communities and so that idea that has already been reiterated by Cynthia from South Africa talking about the importance of capacity building is particularly profound. So for instance for UNDP the number one ask from the national governments and communities that we serve is capacity building and that’s really important and that is actually a principle that has existed and endured from the very beginning of WSIS itself. So this is I think a pertinent example of what Ambassador Schneider says that you know the principles that underlying WSIS are even more relevant today than ever before. I also want to say that’s how UNDP characterizes our participation in WSIS around the action line capacity building that we facilitate. So for instance just last week in Rome we launched the AI help for sustainable development with the Italians that was a product of the G7 presidency that is really aiming to strengthen local AI ecosystems in Africa. Just two weeks ago at the Hamburg sustainability conference we worked very closely with our colleagues from the German government the BMZ the GIZ to launch the Hamburg declaration on responsible AI for the SDGs. This is the first ever completely multi-stakeholder document on this important issue and we now have almost 50 signatories from across the entire multi-stakeholder community some of the major names in the area of AI. I will ask my German colleagues to actually put the link to the chat so that perhaps some of the stakeholders here in the IGF community would be also interested in being an endorser of the Hamburg declaration as well. So all of this I think is precisely that connection that we’re talking about. The connection between a multi-stakeholder conversation to decision-making by policymakers and collectively by the entire multi-stakeholder community then translated into real action on the ground for people everywhere that we serve. So I think I just want to reiterate this importance of this continuing connection between New York, Geneva, South Africa, G20, Hamburg and all these other places in which we’re collectively taking action. Thank you so much.

Gitanjali Sah: Thank you very much, Yuping Chan. I do not see UNESCO in the room.

Tatevik Grigoryan: Thank you very much. I’ll read it to make it quick. So thank you again. Thank you and colleagues and everyone here present. So over the past two decades, the Internet has undergone a remarkable transformation and the vision laid out in WSIS has materialized in ways both inspiring and complex. And we’ve witnessed how the emerging technologies revolutionized our lives both positively and also posing serious threats such as disinformation, misinformation and other harmful content. And this is why UNESCO has continuously advocated for the use of the recognized and principled frameworks such as ROMEX, many of you know it, rooted in the same foundational values as WSIS, human rights, openness, accessibility and multi-stakeholder participation. ROMEX provides a robust tool to assess and guide the development of inclusive rights-based digital environment. We’re confident that the outcomes of the IGF will serve as a strong foundation for the upcoming WSIS plus 20 high-level event which UNESCO is proud to co-host again alongside ITU and Switzerland, the UNDP and UNCTAD. I would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to all WSIS stakeholders who actively contributed to shaping this year’s IGF program through the open consultation process. I would also like to recognize the continued investment of the members of the UN Group on Information Society, which UNESCO had the honor to chair during the last year. This group constitutes the UN level of fundamental backbone to implementation of the WSIS outcomes, ensuring coordination, partnership and complementarity across agencies and programs. Finally and most importantly I’d like to warmly invite you to participate in the discussions around the WSIS action lines, which UNESCO is the facilitator. The action lines are on access to information, e-learning and science, cultural diversity and multilingualism, media, ethics of information society. These action lines are not just thematic areas, they are pillars of digital society that is inclusive, ethical and sustainable. We really do look forward to your contributions in these discussions and look forward to the outcomes of the forum for a renewed… focused action-oriented WSIS 2.0 or plus, accelerating our collective efforts towards reaching the international agreed development goals. Thank you.

Gitanjali Sah: Thank you, Tatevik. You know UNESCO is a very close partner of the UN in the WSIS process and at the ITU actually we have expanded WSIS into information and knowledge societies ensuring that all the work of UNESCO is also discussed when we talk about the WSIS process. So it’s not only about provision of ICT infrastructure but also converting it into knowledge. Thank you so much. I’d now like to hand over the floor to Veni, representing the technical community ICANN. He has a conflicting schedule, so Veni, over to you.

ICANN representative: Thank you. And thank you for organising this session and talking about UNESCO and ITU, ICANN is partnering with both organisations. We just signed an MOU with UNESCO and we have long-term relationships with the ITU in a very positive way. Most recently we had briefings for UN diplomats in Geneva and in New York where we had our president and CEO Curtis Lindquist speaking with Doreen Bogdan-Martin in Geneva and we were co-hosted by Cintia by South Africa and Finland in New York. So we are really having a very good cooperation and we use the opportunity here to meet with people from both organisations. We had a meeting with the Assistant Director General yesterday and we are talking about doing more briefings in the WSIS plus 20 process. Also I took a note from your appeal to stakeholders, Gitanjali, to put in the comments to the elements paper to note that the WSIS plus 20, sorry the WSIS The ITU WSIS Forum is not mentioned and this is an omission obviously, I hope it will be corrected in the zero draft. We had a meeting with the co-facilitators yesterday and we want to reiterate that the WSIS Forum, where we will have a delegation headed by the ICANN President and the leadership of the ICANN Board will be participating as well in 10 days in Geneva. We want to convey the same messages everywhere, which is basically the IGF is a great venue. It’s not a coincidence that it was mentioned last year in the Global Digital Compact as the primary meeting space for discussing Internet related policy issues, questions. And that the technical community is a separate stakeholder which also should be recognized and reaffirmed. And also that the multi-stakeholder model of Internet governance is the one that actually managed to bring all this economy, accessibility, etc. Things that were made possible because of the Internet. So we are hopeful that the Member States of the United Nations will use this opportunity in the WSIS Plus 20 process to update the WSIS Plus 10 outcome document and to use the good language from the Global Digital Compact. We are very thankful to the ITU for organizing this event. We are partnering with you as you know in the WSIS Forum. I was impressed personally by the numbers that you showed in the presentation about how many high-level officials. And I’m sure, I’m not putting any pressure or stress on South Africa, but I’m sure that the chairmanship will be really a successful one. Because obviously you are chairing the Council Working Group on WSIS and SDGs, but also because South Africa has a long time been showing interest in this. area and is one of the countries that is leading the the whole discussions in a very positive way so thanks again for organizing this and looking forward to the event in 10 days in Geneva.

Gitanjali Sah: Thank you very much Veni and you know while discussing with the stalwarts of the WSIS process who actually created it we were asking them that you know what should be the key components going forward and the first thing they said is that this community which is so motivated to make a difference should maintain the ambition like we were very ambitious they said we were very ambitious back then in 1998 and they were because the whole framework of the WSIS action line the concepts in the you know the Geneva Declaration the Tunis agenda they are so relevant even today so we must ensure that we are ambitious we have the momentum of the stakeholder community and that we are making a difference in the right places. Thank you so much. I’ll move on to Dejan who is the facilitator of WSIS action line on e-agriculture. Dejan over to you.

FAO representative: Thank you and good morning to all participants on behalf of food and agriculture organizations the FAO of the UN. So if we look at the reasons why we find WSIS relevant also IGF in a way we still have about 700 million people under nourished so it’s about 1 in 11 even if you look at this room I’m sure everybody will get sense of urgency why we need to do something and and what do we do we we do need to transform agri-food systems and very urgently and one of the key enablers and accelerators is technology and if we look at the key elements that technology offers us for example we know we need connectivity and and here we always discuss meaningful connectivity we also need capacity building but we also need fintech Hey, hi, and there is a long list of opportunities, let’s say technological opportunities we have. And if we pick, for example, just the connectivity side, what we are seeing is that even now, even more than before, rural communities or farmers not connected are completely out of the markets and any possible service we can imagine today. So, when we look holistically into all these elements, we can also see that the digital capabilities, they don’t understand really the opportunities but also challenges. They don’t really understand IGF or WSIS or UNDP or UNESCO or any other players around us. So, what does it take to bring them all together? And we find that WSIS process helped us, I think it’s since 2002 even, to bring this multi-stakeholder forum together for us to discuss and see how to move forward with enabling these elements. We do not see any sort of a top-down or centralized approach working. We very much hope that all the some of the elements that we can hopefully orchestrate together will bring us forward and accelerate solutions needed. So, I’m really grateful for the consultation process. I think we can re-energize WSIS and we are looking forward to be part of this process. So, I thank you.

Gitanjali Sah: Thank you very much, Dejan. With FAO, we’ve also been doing innovative things like we did a hackathon on hack against hunger. And such innovative solutions came out from the ground and from young engineers all over the world, young students of policy. It was really an innovation and we should try to do this more often. But from that perspective, we noticed that there is a lack of incubators. So, once this innovation comes out, we really were struggling, Dayan, to kind of give these young people who have developed these applications some sort of guidance. And when we look at the private sector, I see ICC and USCIB, we definitely need your help in that direction as well to incubate these young talents. I’ll now pass on to Bruna. Bruna is the ex-MAG member. Your views, please, Bruna. Over to you.

MAG representative: Thanks Gitanjali, and also sharing the co-facilitation of the MAG Working Group on Strategy with Chris, Amrita and many others on this, so happy to be here representing the group. Just to also be brief and mention that on the 8th of July, the agenda of the High Level Event will have two panels about the IGF, as we do see it as a core part, right, not just of the plus 20 review, but ensuring that the IGF mandate is not just improved, but is kept as something that’s more stable for the near future. So the first session will be hosted by the IGF Secretariat, that’s called Building Digital Governance Together, will focus solely on the Norway outcomes, and the second one will also be, it’s the one that the Working Group Strategy is organizing, and it’s called Celebrating 20 Years of Multi-Stakeholder Engagement with this forum, IGF, and the road ahead. And for this second panel, we really want to have as open as possible discussion on what the next 20 years of the Internet Governance Forum will look like, not just about the mandate renewal, but also making sure it remains a clearinghouse with its efficient early warning systems and so on. And we, the Working Group Strategy also wants to make sure we have some youth voices joining the conversation above all. So everyone is invited to join, please join us there, it’s on the 8th of July, and it starts at 15.15, and really looking forward to having this open discussion as we do want to take it over from the very beginning and the early days of WSIS until what came to be the IGF, and why this is such a relevant space, and why we should keep pushing for multi-stakeholder participation. So I think I’ll stop here for the sake of time. Thanks, Gitanjali.

Gitanjali Sah: Thank you so much, Bruna, we look forward to continuing this partnership. Of course, all of this is not possible without the civil society, and yet APC has been such a strong voice of implementing and also bringing the voices of the people from the ground into the process. Over to you.

Anriette Esterhuysen: Thanks very much Gitanjali. I’m speaking as someone from civil society. I really urge civil society to participate in the WSIS Forum. I think we’ve had so far three days of a very impactful IGF and I think the message of the importance of renewing the IGF has, I think, been brought across substantially. But I also want to urge the value of the WSIS Forum. What the WSIS Action Line Framework gives all of us, but also gives civil society, is a framework that enables you to work collaboratively on implementation at country level. Collaborate with governments, collaborate with other stakeholders. It also gives civil society a framework and I think, as Gitanjali and Yuping have said, it’s a very ambitious framework. I think the vision of a people-centered, inclusive information society that’s human rights oriented, it’s ambitious, it’s important and I think it gives us something that, in my view, is more powerful than what most other tech-related UN frameworks gives us. So come to the WSIS Forum. It’s an opportunity you will meet regulators, you’ll meet ministries of communications and you’ll meet people that are actually building infrastructure on the ground, that are developing capacity building programs. So it’s extremely complementary with the IGF where we talk so much and intensively about governance challenges. At the WSIS Forum we talk about policy and governments, but we also talk about implementation in a very concrete way and it’s vital, I think, for civil society to be part of that process as well. Back to you, Gitanjali. Thank you.

Gitanjali Sah: Richard from WIPO. WIPO has been a very active participant also in the WSIS process. Richard, over to you.

WIPO respresentative: Thank you very much, Gitanjali, and a very good morning to everyone. Just for a bit of maybe context, just to say that when thinking about intellectual property, of course, the legal framework is is important, but other aspects are equally important that shape that conducive IP system. This includes the infrastructure that helps the innovators and creators more easily protect and manage their IP, and this is about collaboration with academia and industry, this is accessing financing by start-ups and SMEs, and this is of course making sure that everyone everywhere can benefit from the IP system. WIPO serves of course the innovators and creators from across the world in all of these areas, and many, many of our initiatives are contributing to the VCs Action Lines. We’ve submitted of course the VCs, our report for VCs plus 20, and I had three examples I wanted to give you, but because I’m very aware of the ticking clock, I’ll just give you one, but happy to expand on those during the VCs forum. So the one I just wanted to mention is that we’re supporting the ICT applications and IP institutions, so this is about making sure that that infrastructure, that digital infrastructure is available to everyone. So we help national regional IP offices in every corner of the world to enhance the efficiency of their IP registration, and that they can adopt their own digital transformation strategies. This includes among others improving their online services, including search and registry filing systems, and the integration to the regional and international IP systems so that they can more easily exchange data and documents. And since it was launched, already 90 IP institutions from across the world are using one of the modules from our WIPO IP office suite. This is just an example of the many, many things that we are doing that contribute to the VCs Action Lines. Being here in IGF, of course listening to all the many discussions also on AI, let me also mention our WIPO conversation, which is our discussion on the impact of all the frontier technologies on all the IP rights, and we also of course want to bridge the information gap through this forum. Past sessions focused on GNI or data and how those impact intellectual property. So of course we’ll be also speaking about these things further down the road. Seeing that clock, let me say that just as we have done over the past 20 years, WIPO stands ready to support VCs through dialogue as well as through practical outcomes that lead to real world impact. We’ll see you of course in July in Geneva in Palaixco. Like all the past years, we’ll be there contributing to a range of activities together with all our great partners also at this table.

Gitanjali Sah: Thank you, our neighbour from Geneva. They’re just opposite ITU in Geneva. Thank you. If I could please request the producer, the next session is also ours. So if we could please have five minutes. Oh no, we can’t. Okay. So Andy, I missed out the parliamentarians in the high levels who are going to be there with us. We have several parliamentarians joining us. Andy, if you could please.

Inter Parlamentary Union representative: Thank you. So Andy Richardson from the Inter-Parliamentary Union. And yes, thank you for this opportunity for parliaments to contribute to this plus 20 event, which comes as a great compliment to the strong parliamentary track here at IGF. This week, Ambassador Schneider referred to dialogue and decision making, and I think this is why it’s so important to have parliamentarians at the table in addition to the core functions of adopting legislation, carrying out oversight, allocating budgets. Really what parliaments try to do is to balance a range of interests, both supporting innovation and protecting citizens, protecting rights. And they bring a strong perspective on how the information society affects the people that they represent. So we’re happy to work with you. take part in this high-level dialogue with the Secretaries General of the ITU and the IPU and a number of parliamentarians. Thank you.

Gitanjali Sah: Thank you, Andy. And we are closing with Meli.

ICC representative: Okay, this is on. So, just to quickly say, as ICC, we have been participating and engaging with the WSIS process since really the get-go. We are still very much engaged into the process and we will make sure to be present in all instances, including the WSIS Plus 20 high-level event coming up very soon. So, I just wanted to quickly flag that we will have a number of sessions that we are organizing. So, there is an ICC basis workshop. This is the Business Action to Support the Information Society that has been the group of our membership involved with the WSIS process. So, it will be on the 10th of July from 3 to 3.45 on Global Adoption, Global Progress, Managing the Challenges of AI Inclusion. Again, pointing to the fact of the importance of the, let’s say, the neutrality of the WSIS Action Lines and how they can really apply in various challenges, including AI. So, we will be talking a little bit about that. And then, of course, we are also organizing jointly with the United States Council of International Business and Knowledge Cafe that is taking place on the 9th of July from 12 to 2 p.m. that will address the imperative of strengthening multistakeholderism. So, really looking forward to seeing you there in person in a few weeks’ time, a few days’ time rather. Thank you.

Gitanjali Sah: Thank you, Many. Thank you to all of you. The next session starts and it’s going to be ours as well. So, stay back. And thank you to the production team for giving us some time. Thank you very much.

Agreement points

Multi-stakeholder participation is fundamental to WSIS and IGF processes

Speakers

– Gitanjali Sah
– Thomas Schneider
– Representative of South Africa
– ICANN representative
– Anriette Esterhuysen
– ICC representative

Arguments

WSIS evolution from 1998 proposal to current plus 20 review milestone with multi-stakeholder participation maintained throughout

WSIS architecture allows inclusive dialogue with many voices heard, though dialogue must translate into actual decision-making and results

South Africa honored to chair event, demonstrating long-standing commitment to WSIS process since 2003 Geneva Summit

Multi-stakeholder model of Internet governance successfully enabled current digital economy and accessibility

Civil society should participate in WSIS Forum as it provides framework for collaborative implementation at country level with governments and stakeholders

ICC has engaged with WSIS since inception and will organize sessions on AI inclusion and strengthening multi-stakeholderism

Summary

All speakers consistently emphasized that multi-stakeholder participation is core to the WSIS DNA and has been successfully maintained throughout its evolution, enabling inclusive dialogue and collaborative implementation across different stakeholder groups.

Topics

Development | Legal and regulatory

WSIS and IGF are complementary platforms that work together effectively

Speakers

– Gitanjali Sah
– Thomas Schneider
– ICANN representative
– MAG representative

Arguments

WSIS evolution from 1998 proposal to current plus 20 review milestone with multi-stakeholder participation maintained throughout

WSIS Forum and IGF are complementary platforms with different settings, both important for comprehensive digital governance dialogue

IGF mentioned in Global Digital Compact as primary meeting space for Internet policy discussions, requiring recognition in WSIS Plus 20

Two IGF-focused panels planned for July 8th high-level event to discuss mandate renewal and next 20 years vision

Summary

Speakers agreed that WSIS Forum and IGF serve complementary roles with different settings, both being essential for comprehensive digital governance dialogue and policy discussions.

Topics

Legal and regulatory | Development

Implementation and capacity building are critical priorities

Speakers

– Yu Ping Chan
– Representative of South Africa
– FAO representative
– WIPO respresentative

Arguments

UNDP’s top request from governments is capacity building, reflecting enduring WSIS principles with 170 country offices supporting digital transformation

South Africa chairs ITU Council Working Group on WSIS and SDGs, showing commitment through multiple leadership roles

FAO uses WSIS process to address 700 million undernourished people through agri-food system transformation enabled by technology

WIPO supports 90 IP institutions globally with digital infrastructure for IP registration and online services

Summary

Multiple speakers emphasized that capacity building and practical implementation are fundamental needs, with concrete examples of how their organizations are addressing these priorities through the WSIS framework.

Topics

Development | Capacity development

Similar viewpoints

All three speakers emphasized the critical need to move beyond dialogue to actual implementation and decision-making, with concrete action and results being essential for meaningful impact.

Speakers

– Thomas Schneider
– Yu Ping Chan
– Anriette Esterhuysen

Arguments

WSIS architecture allows inclusive dialogue with many voices heard, though dialogue must translate into actual decision-making and results

UNDP’s top request from governments is capacity building, reflecting enduring WSIS principles with 170 country offices supporting digital transformation

Civil society should participate in WSIS Forum as it provides framework for collaborative implementation at country level with governments and stakeholders

Topics

Development | Legal and regulatory

These speakers shared pride in the global recognition and success of the WSIS process, highlighting high-level participation and long-term commitment as evidence of its effectiveness.

Speakers

– Gitanjali Sah
– Representative of South Africa
– ICANN representative

Arguments

67 ministers and deputies confirmed, demonstrating global recognition of WSIS importance across all regions

South Africa honored to chair event, demonstrating long-standing commitment to WSIS process since 2003 Geneva Summit

Multi-stakeholder model of Internet governance successfully enabled current digital economy and accessibility

Topics

Development | Legal and regulatory

Unexpected consensus

Human rights and ethical frameworks integration

Speakers

– Tatevik Grigoryan
– Anriette Esterhuysen
– Inter Parlamentary Union representative

Arguments

UNESCO advocates for principled frameworks like ROMEX rooted in WSIS values of human rights, openness, and accessibility

Civil society should participate in WSIS Forum as it provides framework for collaborative implementation at country level with governments and stakeholders

Parliamentarians bring perspective on how information society affects constituents and balance innovation with citizen protection

Explanation

Unexpectedly, speakers from different sectors (UN agency, civil society, and parliamentary) all emphasized human rights and ethical considerations as central to digital governance, showing convergence on values-based approaches across institutional boundaries.

Topics

Human rights | Development

Technical and policy integration necessity

Speakers

– ICANN representative
– WIPO respresentative
– FAO representative

Arguments

Multi-stakeholder model of Internet governance successfully enabled current digital economy and accessibility

WIPO supports 90 IP institutions globally with digital infrastructure for IP registration and online services

FAO uses WSIS process to address 700 million undernourished people through agri-food system transformation enabled by technology

Explanation

Technical organizations (ICANN, WIPO) and a development-focused agency (FAO) unexpectedly showed strong consensus on the need for integrated approaches that combine technical infrastructure with policy frameworks to address real-world challenges.

Topics

Infrastructure | Development

Overall assessment

Summary

The discussion revealed strong consensus on multi-stakeholder participation as fundamental, the complementary nature of WSIS and IGF platforms, the critical importance of implementation and capacity building, and surprisingly, the integration of human rights and ethical frameworks across different sectors.

Consensus level

High level of consensus with significant implications for WSIS Plus 20 – the unified support across all stakeholder groups provides a strong foundation for mandate renewal and continued multi-stakeholder governance, while the emphasis on moving from dialogue to implementation suggests a maturation of the process toward more action-oriented outcomes.

Different viewpoints

Dialogue versus implementation gap

Speakers

– Thomas Schneider
– Yu Ping Chan

Arguments

WSIS architecture allows inclusive dialogue with many voices heard, though dialogue must translate into actual decision-making and results

UNDP’s top request from governments is capacity building, reflecting enduring WSIS principles with 170 country offices supporting digital transformation

Summary

Schneider emphasizes the gap between dialogue and decision-making as the biggest challenge, while Yu Ping Chan focuses on the translation from global discussions to direct community impact through capacity building

Topics

Development | Legal and regulatory

Unexpected differences

Recognition of WSIS Forum in UN processes

Speakers

– Gitanjali Sah
– ICANN representative

Arguments

67 ministers and deputies confirmed, demonstrating global recognition of WSIS importance across all regions

IGF mentioned in Global Digital Compact as primary meeting space for Internet policy discussions, requiring recognition in WSIS Plus 20

Explanation

While both speakers advocate for recognition of WSIS processes, there’s an unexpected tension where ICANN representative notes that WSIS Forum was omitted from the elements paper, suggesting institutional recognition challenges despite the high-level participation that Sah emphasizes

Topics

Legal and regulatory | Development

Overall assessment

Summary

The discussion shows remarkably high consensus among speakers with minimal direct disagreements. Most differences are complementary rather than conflicting perspectives on implementation approaches and organizational priorities.

Disagreement level

Very low level of disagreement with high collaborative spirit. The main challenge identified is not disagreement between stakeholders but rather the systemic gap between dialogue and implementation, and ensuring proper recognition of multi-stakeholder processes in formal UN frameworks. This suggests strong alignment on goals with need for better coordination on execution methods.

Partial agreements

Similar viewpoints

All three speakers emphasized the critical need to move beyond dialogue to actual implementation and decision-making, with concrete action and results being essential for meaningful impact.

Speakers

– Thomas Schneider
– Yu Ping Chan
– Anriette Esterhuysen

Arguments

WSIS architecture allows inclusive dialogue with many voices heard, though dialogue must translate into actual decision-making and results

UNDP’s top request from governments is capacity building, reflecting enduring WSIS principles with 170 country offices supporting digital transformation

Civil society should participate in WSIS Forum as it provides framework for collaborative implementation at country level with governments and stakeholders

Topics

Development | Legal and regulatory

These speakers shared pride in the global recognition and success of the WSIS process, highlighting high-level participation and long-term commitment as evidence of its effectiveness.

Speakers

– Gitanjali Sah
– Representative of South Africa
– ICANN representative

Arguments

67 ministers and deputies confirmed, demonstrating global recognition of WSIS importance across all regions

South Africa honored to chair event, demonstrating long-standing commitment to WSIS process since 2003 Geneva Summit

Multi-stakeholder model of Internet governance successfully enabled current digital economy and accessibility

Topics

Development | Legal and regulatory

Key takeaways

WSIS Plus 20 represents a critical milestone year for reviewing and renewing the mandate of the World Summit on the Information Society, with the high-level event scheduled for July 7-11 in Geneva

Multi-stakeholder participation remains the core DNA of the WSIS process, successfully maintained over 20 years with representation from governments, civil society, private sector, technical community, and academia

There is a significant gap between dialogue and decision-making that needs to be addressed – while WSIS and IGF provide excellent platforms for discussion, translating these conversations into actual policy decisions and implementation remains challenging

The WSIS framework has achieved substantial qualitative impact including 5.5 billion people online and 280,000+ schools connected, though quantitative measurement remains difficult due to lack of indicators and monitoring frameworks

Capacity building emerges as the top priority request from governments globally, reflecting the enduring relevance of original WSIS principles

The IGF and WSIS Forum are complementary platforms that should be recognized and strengthened, with IGF already acknowledged in the Global Digital Compact as the primary meeting space for Internet policy discussions

Resolutions and action items

All stakeholders encouraged to submit comments and inputs to the UNGA overall review through the online form available until July 15th

ITU to work with ODET on GDC implementation roadmap, requiring a thousand-word document on current GDC implementation to be submitted to CSTD annual session next year

South African Minister Soli Malatsi to submit chair summary of high-level event outcomes to UNGA overall review

ITU Secretary-General to submit WSIS Plus 20 roadmap and report to the review process

Two IGF-focused panels scheduled for July 8th at the high-level event: one on Norway outcomes and another on the next 20 years of IGF

Stakeholders urged to highlight importance of WSIS Forum and IGF as multi-stakeholder platforms in their submissions to UNGA review

Registration forms for limited space at Palexpo to be completed as soon as available online

Unresolved issues

WSIS Forum was notably absent from the elements paper released for the UNGA review, requiring feedback and advocacy to ensure inclusion

Lack of indicators and monitoring frameworks for WSIS action lines makes quantitative measurement of achievements difficult

The fundamental challenge of translating multi-stakeholder dialogue into actual decision-making by governments and institutions remains unaddressed

Need for more incubators and support systems for young innovators developing digital solutions, particularly in areas like agriculture

How to maintain the ambitious vision and momentum of the WSIS process while adapting to new technological challenges and opportunities

Suggested compromises

Building on existing WSIS architecture rather than creating entirely new structures, as referenced in Switzerland’s non-paper with concrete proposals

Using complementary nature of WSIS Forum and IGF rather than viewing them as competing platforms, recognizing their different but valuable roles

Leveraging the Global Digital Compact language and framework to update and strengthen WSIS Plus 10 outcome document rather than starting from scratch

One challenge that all of us face is that the WSIS action lines don’t have indicators and monitoring frameworks. So we really can’t measure and tell you that quantitatively this is what we’ve achieved in the WSIS action lines.

Speaker

Gitanjali Sah

Reason

This comment highlights a fundamental weakness in the WSIS framework – the inability to quantitatively measure impact after 20 years of implementation. It’s particularly insightful because it acknowledges a critical gap between ambitious goals and accountability mechanisms.

Impact

This observation set a realistic tone for the discussion, moving beyond celebratory rhetoric to acknowledge structural limitations. It influenced subsequent speakers to focus more on concrete implementation challenges and the need for measurable outcomes.

We all know that dialogue is only a necessary but not sufficient step in getting things done and actually making things happen… the biggest gap that I think we currently have, which is to help make sure that the dialogue that we’re having is actually turning into result in decision-making.

Speaker

Thomas Schneider (Ambassador)

Reason

This comment cuts to the heart of a persistent challenge in international governance forums – the translation of discussion into action. It reframes the entire purpose of these gatherings from dialogue-focused to outcome-focused.

Impact

This observation became a recurring theme throughout the session, with multiple subsequent speakers (Yu Ping Chan, Anriette Esterhuysen) explicitly referencing and building upon this dialogue-to-action framework. It shifted the conversation from process celebration to effectiveness critique.

The number one ask from the national governments and communities that we serve is capacity building… this is a pertinent example of what Ambassador Schneider says that the principles underlying WSIS are even more relevant today than ever before.

Speaker

Yu Ping Chan (UNDP)

Reason

This comment provides ground-truth validation from field experience, connecting high-level policy discussions to actual grassroots needs. It bridges the gap between Geneva-based deliberations and real-world implementation challenges.

Impact

This field-based perspective added credibility to the discussion and influenced other speakers to provide more concrete examples of implementation. It reinforced the relevance of WSIS principles while highlighting persistent capacity gaps.

What the WSIS Action Line Framework gives all of us, but also gives civil society, is a framework that enables you to work collaboratively on implementation at country level… it’s a very ambitious framework… more powerful than what most other tech-related UN frameworks gives us.

Speaker

Anriette Esterhuysen (APC)

Reason

This comment reframes WSIS not just as a dialogue platform but as a practical implementation tool, distinguishing it from other UN frameworks. It provides a civil society perspective on why WSIS remains uniquely valuable for collaborative action.

Impact

This intervention shifted the discussion toward the practical utility of WSIS frameworks for stakeholders, moving beyond institutional perspectives to user experience. It reinforced the multi-stakeholder implementation theme while highlighting WSIS’s distinctive value proposition.

We were quite surprised to note that the WSIS Forum was not noted on [the elements paper] so we will provide our feedback but if all of you could we would like to encourage all of you also to submit your comments and inputs through the online form.

Speaker

Gitanjali Sah

Reason

This comment reveals a significant oversight in UN documentation and transforms the session from informational to mobilizational, calling for collective action to address institutional visibility gaps.

Impact

This observation prompted immediate responses from other stakeholders (notably the ICANN representative) who committed to addressing the omission. It shifted the session from passive information sharing to active advocacy coordination.

Overall assessment

These key comments fundamentally shaped the discussion by moving it beyond ceremonial celebration of WSIS’s 20-year history toward critical examination of its effectiveness and future relevance. The dialogue-to-action framework introduced by Ambassador Schneider became the organizing principle for subsequent interventions, with speakers consistently addressing how to translate multi-stakeholder discussions into measurable impact. The acknowledgment of measurement gaps and institutional visibility challenges created a more honest, problem-solving oriented conversation. Rather than simply promoting the upcoming high-level event, the session evolved into a strategic planning discussion about strengthening WSIS’s practical utility and ensuring its continued relevance in global digital governance. The comments collectively established a tension between WSIS’s ambitious vision and implementation realities, which energized participants to think more concretely about solutions and collective action.

How to develop indicators and monitoring frameworks for WSIS action lines to enable quantitative measurement of achievements

Speaker

Gitanjali Sah

Explanation

This is a significant gap identified in the WSIS process – the lack of quantitative metrics to measure progress and impact of the action lines over the 20-year period

How to better translate dialogue into decision-making and actual implementation

Speaker

Thomas Schneider

Explanation

Ambassador Schneider identified this as the biggest gap currently – ensuring that voices heard in forums like IGF and WSIS actually influence real decision-making processes

How to develop more incubators for innovative solutions emerging from hackathons and youth initiatives

Speaker

Gitanjali Sah

Explanation

Based on experience with the ‘hack against hunger’ initiative, there’s a need for better support systems to guide young innovators after they develop applications

How to ensure WSIS Forum is properly recognized in UN processes, particularly in the elements paper for UNGA review

Speaker

Gitanjali Sah and ICANN representative

Explanation

Both speakers noted that the WSIS Forum was surprisingly omitted from the elements paper and called for stakeholder feedback to correct this oversight

How to strengthen capacity building mechanisms, particularly for SMMEs (Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises)

Speaker

Representative of South Africa and Yu Ping Chan

Explanation

This was identified as the number one request from national governments and communities, and is a key focus area for South Africa’s G20 presidency

How to better connect rural communities and farmers to markets and services through meaningful connectivity

Speaker

FAO representative (Dejan)

Explanation

With 700 million people still undernourished, there’s urgent need to understand how to leverage technology to transform agri-food systems and connect rural communities

What should the next 20 years of the Internet Governance Forum look like beyond mandate renewal

Speaker

MAG representative (Bruna)

Explanation

This relates to ensuring IGF remains relevant and effective as a clearinghouse with efficient early warning systems for future digital governance challenges