Knowledge Café: Youth building the digital future – WSIS+20 Review and Beyond 2025

Summary

The Youth Knowledge Café was a special interactive session held as part of the WSIS Plus 20 High-Level Event 2025, designed to gather youth perspectives on the future of the World Summit on the Information Society process. The session brought together young leaders, ITU Youth Advisory Board members, young professional program officers, and ITU 160 gender champions to contribute ideas that would feed directly into the high-level dialogue and ultimately into reports submitted to the UN General Assembly in December 2025.

The event began with opening remarks emphasizing the historical significance of youth participation in WSIS and the importance of meaningful youth engagement in digital policy-making. Speakers highlighted that this session represented a youth-driven approach where young people would lead discussions rather than simply listen to presentations. Vladimir provided a comprehensive overview of WSIS history, explaining how the process began in 1998, evolved through summits in Geneva (2003) and Tunis (2005), and established eleven action lines that continue to guide digital development globally.

Participants were divided into working groups to brainstorm ideas for enhancing WSIS over the next 20 years. Key themes that emerged included the need to operationalize youth ideas rather than leaving them conceptual, ensuring dedicated seats for youth in high-level plenaries, and increasing participation of community-based organizations. Groups emphasized the importance of digital literacy initiatives that go beyond simple connectivity, advocating for programs that empower individuals to use technology effectively for community development.

Other significant recommendations included localizing WSIS outcomes to reach grassroots communities, improving awareness of WSIS among young people through storytelling and media engagement, and creating structured pathways for sustained youth involvement. Participants stressed that technology should serve people rather than the reverse, calling for ethical and responsible approaches to AI development that include diverse youth perspectives. The session concluded with a commitment to compile all ideas into a comprehensive report that would influence the December 2025 UN General Assembly review of the WSIS process.

Keypoints

## Major Discussion Points:

– **Youth Knowledge Café Introduction and WSIS Overview**: The session introduced participants to the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) process, its 20-year history since 2003-2005, and its upcoming review by the UN General Assembly in December 2025. Speakers emphasized that this youth-driven session would directly feed into high-level policy discussions.

– **Operationalizing Youth Ideas and Sustained Engagement**: Multiple groups highlighted the need to move beyond simply collecting youth input to actually implementing their ideas through concrete action. Participants called for sustained youth involvement throughout the WSIS process rather than one-off consultations, including dedicated seats for youth in plenaries and high-level events.

– **Digital Literacy, Capacity Building, and Inclusive Access**: Groups emphasized that connectivity alone is insufficient – there must be comprehensive digital literacy initiatives that empower people to effectively use technology. They stressed the importance of ensuring digital content represents diverse cultures and perspectives, with policies grounded in real community needs rather than bureaucratic requirements.

– **Localization and Grassroots Participation**: Participants advocated for making WSIS more accessible at the local level through storytelling, media engagement, and connecting with entrepreneurship hubs and community organizations. They emphasized the need for better awareness of WSIS among young people globally and creating pathways for grassroots participation.

– **Technology Serving People and Ethical Development**: A key theme emerged that “technology should serve people and not the other way around,” particularly regarding AI bias and data representation. Groups called for youth perspectives in developing ethical, responsible technology solutions and ensuring diverse representation in AI training data.

## Overall Purpose:

The discussion aimed to gather youth input for the WSIS+20 review process, specifically to shape policy recommendations that will be presented to the UN General Assembly in December 2025. The session was designed as a “youth-driven” consultation to ensure young voices are meaningfully integrated into global digital governance discussions and the future direction of the WSIS process.

## Overall Tone:

The tone was consistently energetic, collaborative, and empowering throughout the session. Speakers used encouraging language, repeatedly emphasizing that participants were “making history” and that their ideas would have direct policy impact. The atmosphere was supportive and inclusive, with facilitators actively working to create a “free and safe space” for innovative thinking. The tone remained optimistic and action-oriented from start to finish, with participants responding enthusiastically to calls for bold, creative solutions.

Speakers

**Speakers from the provided list:**

– **Charlyne Restivo** – Co-moderator from ITU, former WSIS intern

– **Dana Kramer** – PhD candidate at Toronto Metropolitan University, leads a youth internet governance forum for Canada

– **Hamza Hameed** – ITU Youth Advisory Board member of the Secretary General, Head of Space and Development at the Global Government Advisory

– **Speaker 3** – Role/expertise not specified

– **Roser Almenar** – PhD student in AI and Space Law at the University of Valencia in Spain, member of Secretary General’s Youth Advisory Board

– **Speaker 4** – Role/expertise not specified

– **Sylvia Poll** – Senior Gender and Youth Advisor to the ITU Secretary-General

– **Dunola Oladapo** – Youth Programme Officer in ITU, co-moderator

– **Speaker 2** – Role/expertise not specified

– **Nadia Tjahja** – PhD researcher at the United Nations University in Bruges, organizes the European Youth IGF

– **Clinton Oduor** – ITU Secretary General Youth Advisory Board member

– **Speaker 5** – Role/expertise not specified

– **Speaker 1** – Role/expertise not specified

**Additional speakers:**

– **Vladimir** – WSIS team member for 10+ years, involved in coordinating WSIS events and processes

# Youth Knowledge Café: Discussion Report

## WSIS+20 Review Process

### Executive Summary

The Youth Knowledge Café was an interactive session designed to gather youth input for the WSIS+20 review process, with outcomes feeding directly into the high-level dialogue and ultimately into reports submitted to the UN General Assembly in December 2025. The session brought together ITU Youth Advisory Board members, Young Professional Programme (YPP) officers, and ITU gender champions in a collaborative format emphasizing youth leadership and meaningful participation.

The session featured group discussions focused on identifying key priorities and actionable recommendations for the WSIS process, with facilitators emphasizing that participants were contributing to historic policy development. Unlike traditional consultations, this event positioned young people as leaders and experts, creating what organizers described as a “free and safe space” for innovative thinking.

### Session Context and Participants

The session was facilitated by five co-moderators including Charlyne Restivo from ITU (former WSIS intern), Sylvia Paul (Senior Gender and Youth Advisor to the ITU Secretary-General), Hamza Hameed (ITU Youth Advisory Board member), and Dunola Oladapo (Youth Programme Officer in ITU). Participants included Youth Advisory Board members, YPP officers, and gender champions selected from almost 1,300 applications.

Sylvia Paul emphasized that “youth should be in the driving seat of this completely youth-driven session to learn from young people,” positioning senior officials as learners rather than traditional mentors. This approach represented a significant departure from hierarchical consultation models.

### Opening Remarks and WSIS Context

#### Historical Framework

Vladimir, a WSIS team member with over 10 years of experience, provided comprehensive historical context explaining how the WSIS process began as a concept in 1998, evolved through landmark summits in Geneva (2003) and Tunis (2005), and established action lines that continue to guide digital development globally. He explained that the current review process, now branded as “WSIS Plus 20,” represents a critical juncture for assessing progress and setting future directions.

#### Youth Engagement Imperative

Hamza Hameed provided stark context by noting that “more than 2.6 billion people around the world remain offline, with more than half of them being young people.” He framed digital inclusion as both a technical challenge and “a moral responsibility,” arguing that “connectivity should be recognised as a fundamental human right.”

Charlyne Restivo emphasized that “youth are making history by being embedded in WSIS and their voices matter for the high-level dialogue,” positioning the session as a historic opportunity for direct policy influence.

### Group Discussions and Outcomes

The session featured two rounds of group work. Initially, participants were divided into four groups, later reorganized into three groups when groups 1 and 2 merged. Some participants joined online and contributed via chat.

#### Round One: Priority Identification

Groups engaged in brainstorming exercises to identify key priorities for WSIS+20. A QR code polling system was used to assess participants’ existing knowledge levels of WSIS processes.

#### Round Two: Focused Discussions

Groups developed specific recommendations around identified themes, with each group reporting back to the plenary.

### Key Themes and Recommendations

#### Operationalizing Youth Ideas and Sustained Engagement

Clinton Oduor, ITU Secretary General Youth Advisory Board member, emphasized the “need for operationalising youth ideas through utilising ITU and UN networks to move beyond the idea stage.” Multiple speakers identified the lack of structured pathways for youth to meaningfully engage and have their voices heard in WSIS processes.

Key recommendations included:

– Dedicated seats for youth in plenaries and high-level events

– Structured pathways for ongoing engagement beyond one-off events

– Utilization of existing ITU and UN networks to transform ideas into actionable projects

#### Digital Literacy and Inclusive Access

Participants emphasized that connectivity alone is insufficient for meaningful digital inclusion. One group representative noted: “Beyond simply providing connectivity, we must prioritise digital literacy initiatives that empower individuals to harness the internet effectively for community development and global benefit.”

Dunola Oladapo stressed the importance of “digital health equity and assistive technology access, especially e-health applications and disability inclusive digital development.” Participants consistently argued that information systems should “authentically reflect diversity of culture and perspectives rather than narrow subsets.”

#### Localization and Grassroots Participation

Multiple speakers identified low WSIS awareness in mainstream and education spaces as preventing young generations from knowing about activities. Dana Kramer, PhD candidate at Toronto Metropolitan University who leads a youth internet governance forum for Canada, advocated for the need to “localise WSIS and have more grassroots participation through storytelling and dedicated opportunities.”

Nadia Tjahja, PhD researcher at the United Nations University in Bruges who organizes the European Youth IGF, proposed that “WSIS should be promoted in entrepreneurship spaces and business hubs where youth can learn and contribute.”

#### Technology Ethics and Human-Centered Development

Roser Almenar, PhD student in AI and Space Law at the University of Valencia and member of Secretary General’s Youth Advisory Board, articulated a key principle: “Technology should serve people and not the other way around.” She specifically highlighted concerns about “AI bias and underrepresentation,” arguing for youth perspectives in developing ethical, responsible technology solutions.

#### Financial Barriers and Resource Accessibility

Participants identified “dedicated funding mechanisms” as essential, noting that “many youth want to attend but face financial barriers, especially in developing countries.” Dana Kramer noted that “there’s an opportunity gap both across countries and within countries that needs to be addressed for meaningful engagement.”

### Immediate Outcomes and Next Steps

#### Report Compilation

All group notes and ideas are being compiled into a comprehensive report that will feed directly into the WSIS+20 review process and the UN General Assembly submission in December 2025.

#### Continued Dialogue

Participants were encouraged to attend the immediate follow-up Multi-stakeholder Intergenerational High-Level Dialogue in plenary room C to continue the conversation and ensure continuity between youth-focused discussions and broader stakeholder engagement.

#### Direct Policy Contribution

Youth were advised to contribute directly to draft papers and white papers for the UN review process by connecting with co-facilitators from Kenya and Albania.

#### Institutional Integration

ITU committed to operationalizing youth ideas and integrating them across ITU work streams rather than leaving them as concepts. The Youth Advisory Board and Young Professional Programme officers were tasked with facilitating ongoing youth engagement beyond this event.

### Conclusion

The Youth Knowledge Café demonstrated a meaningful approach to youth engagement in international digital governance, moving beyond token consultation to substantive policy contribution. The session generated concrete recommendations around sustained engagement, digital inclusion, localization, technology ethics, and resource accessibility. The success of this model will ultimately be measured by how effectively the ideas generated translate into the formal WSIS+20 review process and subsequent policy developments.

The high level of engagement and sophisticated understanding demonstrated by participants suggests significant potential for youth contributions to global digital governance, provided that structural barriers around funding, access, and implementation pathways can be addressed.

Charlyne Restivo: And welcome to the Youth Knowledge Café. We’re very happy to host you today. So the Youth Knowledge Café is a very special event. We’re having here today. You are making history by just being here. Youth embedded in WSIS is part also history. So I am Charlyne from ITU and I will be your co-moderator today with my colleague Dunola. And our role is to keep the ideas flowing. This session has been conceived as an interactive session. We want to hear from you. So your role is to speak up, challenge assumptions, shape the conversations. So some of you are familiar with WSIS. Some of you may not be so familiar with WSIS. So not to worry. We’ll have an introduction as to what WSIS is, its importance and why your voice matters. So right after this WSIS Knowledge Café, there will be a multi-stakeholder intergenerational high-level dialogue. And the outcomes of this very session will feed straight into this high-level dialogue. So we will invite you to go straight to plenary room C to attend this important session. So today we will go in few stages. First, I would like to mention that the reason why this session is so special today is because we are joining forces as well with the Youth Advisory Board of the ITU Secretary General. And I would like to invite those Youth Advisory Board members to raise their hand. Yes. But we also have… with us today, some young professional program officers. So this is also a new initiative by the ITU to include young people in our work stream. So please, the YPPs in the room, raise your hands. So today’s session will be facilitated by five facilitators, and I would also like them to raise their hands, please. So our facilitators today are a mix of YPP, young professional program officers, and also youth advisory board members. So we will start with some remarks, some opening remarks, and then we’ll go into some icebreaker questions to warm you up a little bit. Afterwards, we will split in groups where you’ll be invited to think about some maybe tough questions, but we really want you to feel free in being innovative right now. So this is a free and safe space to share your vision. Okay, so we’ll do two separate exercises, one after the other. And you see here that you have some good snacks as well, so do enjoy. And we will conclude with some final reflections. So without further ado, I am pleased to introduce here Ms. Sylvia Paul, our Senior Gender and Youth Advisor to the ITU Secretary-General for some opening remarks. Over to you.

Sylvia Poll: No, thank you. Thank you very much, Charlene, and I know we’re in great hands with you and Dunola. I also would like to give a warm welcome to our ITU 160 gender champions. So please raise your hands, please. Who are you? Please raise your hands. Our gender champions were selected from its initiative. with the support of Canada were selected from almost 1,300 applications, and they’re coming from countries like Pakistan, Ghana, Iraq, Jamaica, and they were selected because of the digital inclusion projects they’re doing in their communities. So they’re going to bring probably a lot of great ideas to this discussion, and I hope that you all are very, very much engaged, and we’re very happy to have you here and participating today. So as everybody has already told you, welcome, welcome, welcome to the WSIS Forum, and also for as of tomorrow, the AI for Good, and especially this Knowledge Café for the Youth Track. I know my colleague Vladimir has done over the years a great job on the Youth Track, and now we’re collaborating even more closely with him to enhance, and next year it’s going to be even better, Vladimir. You’ll see, we’re going to have a lot more, even more things, and building on the great work that Vladimir has, Vladimir is over there. So he has like 10 hats, we saw him a few minutes ago, he was running around with the Secretary General and getting us, trying to get us together for the photo, with the Secretary General and the young people. Vladimir is an amazing colleague. And for us, this is a very special session, because the WSIS Youth Day is because of you. And for us, it’s very important that you as young people are taking the lead, you are in the driving seat. This is a completely youth-driven session. So all people like me are just going to listen and pay attention to what you’re going to do, and learn from you, especially learn from you. And it has been co-organized and will be co-facilitated by young ITU colleagues, and also young digital changemakers. It’s a great opportunity to have your voices to be heard, and your ideas. So every idea will be welcome and your solutions to be integrated into the heart of the WSIS process. And as Charlyne mentioned, what will come out of here, this will be part of the report which will be submitted to Jung Unga in September. So it’s important that what you share today, this will be part of that. And what we’re doing here is fully aligned with the UN Wide Youth 2030 Strategy with calls for meaningful youth engagement and policy making and decision making. This is also reflected to the Pact for the Future and the Global Digital Compact and the Declaration of the Future Generations, and as well the ITU Youth Strategy. For us, it’s very important, the work that we do on youth engagement and youth empowerment. And these frameworks, both the UN as well as the ITU one, they help us do a call for meaningful youth participation in the digital development process and advocate for creating the kind of environment where you, young people, can fully unleash the digital potential to advance the SDGs. So as you engage today in your breakout groups, I do encourage you, be reflective, be ambitious and innovative with your ideas. Your discussions today will contribute to the WSIS outcome report, as I just mentioned. So it counts. Think about what we can reshape and amplify the way young people are engaged in digital spaces, not only from the ITU’s perspective, from the work that we do in the ITU, but also in the whole WSIS process. How can young people better participate and benefit from this process? As a young expert and change maker, your insights on these issues are really valuable. And this session is really an opportunity. We don’t get many of these interactions, as you see. Many are just sitting and listening. But here, we really want to listen to you. And as Charlene mentioned, I’m very honored. I was appointed in February as the Senior Gender and Youth Advisor to the ITU. Secretary General. For me, it’s an enormous honor and privilege. And I’m heading a great team. Dunola is part of the team. Maud, where are you, Maud? Maud is over there. She’s also part of the team. And we have Arianna and Tracy. And we are working to really assure that meaningful youth engagement is not just a priority, it’s a mandate. Okay, we want to ensure that your ideas just don’t remain ideas. We on Friday, we had a the physical meeting, our youth advisory boards were Secretary General, and we told them that we want to operationalize, we want to make your ideas concrete. And, and we want to integrate them into the work of our across the ITU. So, as I already mentioned, it’s really great to see the youth advisory board members here, the YPPs, where are the YPPs? There you go. We’re that’s our first cohort, I hope the first of many, many cohorts. And also, as I just said, the ITU 160 gender champions. So thank you for having me. And if you see me around the week, I’m not very easy to not be seen. I’m very tall and flawed. Please reach out, say hello. Come talk to me. I would love to hear your ideas outside of this event. I’ll be here around the whole week. So thank you very much for having me here. And back to you, Charlene. Thank you.

Charlyne Restivo: Many thanks, Sylvia. It is indeed very energizing to be surrounded by so many bright young minds. And going now over to Hamza Hamid, who is the ITU Youth Advisory Board member of the Secretary General, and also the Head of Space and Development at the Global Government Advisory. Please share with us your opening remarks.

Hamza Hameed: Thank you very much. Charlene, thank you, Sylvia. Distinguished Minister, Honourable colleagues, fellow young leaders and friends. Good afternoon. It’s a real pleasure to talk to all of you and welcome you to this critical and inspiring session. Sincerely like to thank the ITU for opening up this space here for us, all of us today. My name is Hamza and I’m honored to be a member of the ITU Secretary General’s Youth Advisory Board. The Youth Advisory Board has been mentioned quite a lot in the opening remarks we’ve had thus far. And we’re really committed alongside all of you, all of you fellow young leaders, to make sure that the voice of the youth and the voice of the next generation is recognized as we build the next few years of WSIS. This is truly a unique moment for all of us, not just to talk about youth, but also to lead, to shape and to contribute our visions directly to the future of WSIS. The World Summit on the Information Society has already transformed lives over the past 20 years and has advanced digital development, ensuring that the benefits of technology are shared more equitably. Through its various action lines, WSIS has guided real progress in bridging the digital divide, particularly by promoting connectivity in rural areas, improving access to ICT for underserved communities, and fostering universal access to information. But that’s all done. The real question before all of us is what comes next? How can we, as young people, take ownership of this process and ensure that it continues to empower everyone, everywhere? I’m particularly delighted to see that WSIS’ multi-stakeholder community recognizes youth as an essential stakeholder in this process. The presence of so many young leaders in this room here today demonstrates that youth are not only included, but are also valued as one of the most important stakeholders. After all, it is all of you, the youth, that will be using, building and shaping the technologies of the future. We already know that young people are at the heart of digital innovation and inclusion. Around the world, youth-led initiatives are creating platforms for education, driving digital entrepreneurship, advocating for inclusion, and even shaping policies on AI and ethics. Yet, more than 2.6 billion people around the world remain offline, with more than half of them being young people. Bridging that digital divide is not only a technical challenge, but it’s a moral responsibility. And I believe that connectivity should be recognized as a fundamental human right and should be accessible to everyone so that they can unlock the opportunities that they need to succeed in this digital society. And this is why today’s session matters so much. This is your opportunity to think broadly and boldly about WSIS and what it should look like in the next 20 years. I encourage all of you to share your ideas freely, be creative, be critical, and be courageous. Whether you’ve been deeply engaged with the WSIS process for years or you’re learning about it for the first time ever, your perspective matters. Together, through conversations like this, we can shape a WSIS that reflects the needs, the energy, and the vision of our generation. A WSIS that leaves no one behind and truly reflects the aspirations of our generation. Thank you, and I look forward to hearing your insights and ideas throughout the session.

Charlyne Restivo: Thank you very much, Hamza. And you’re right, young people are at the heart of innovation. And actually, there will be great showcases throughout the week, especially in terms of AI. You’ll see that there will be some pitching competitions and also some winning solutions that have been led by the young people. And you will be able to attend the sessions during the AI for Good Summit. So, now, let’s move on. First, we will ask you one question. which is, how much do you know about WSIS? This is a question I ask myself because I started my career at ITU as a WSIS intern, as a matter of fact, some 10 years ago, let’s say. So, WSIS is not only a big annual event, it’s also a process, and we wanted to gauge your understanding on how much do you know about WSIS. Can they spell it out? Can you spell it out? Yes, exactly. So, we already asked that question, I believe, when you signed up and the results show. Next slide. Yes, here is a QR that you please pull out your phone so you can also answer this question live. I will do it myself. And then we’ll go into the results. Okay. So, results so far show that a majority of you have actively participated in WSIS events and activities. May we have the next slide showing? But this is still moving. So, what I see here is, yes, majority has actively participated in WSIS, then about 30%. Then we have a basic understanding of WSIS, and let’s say one third don’t know much about it. So, this is great. It sets the stage for my colleague, Vladimir. We will introduce what is WSIS and what have been the key achievements over the year. So, I would like now to hand over the floor to you, Vladimir. Thank you. Thank you.

Speaker 1: And another thank you. Can you hear me now? Mic is on. Check. One, two. It’s coming up, it’s coming up, it’s coming up. All right. So, welcome everyone to the WSIS Plus 20 High-Level Event 2025. We have rebranded the event that is generally WSIS Forum, but the ITU members thought that this particular event should be rebranded as the High-Level Event. So, why is it so important? It’s so important because we are in 2025 and what’s happening in 2025 is happening the second overall review by the United Nations General Assembly on 16th and 17th December in New York. They will be talking, deciding, discussing how well did we do in the last 10 years because the previous 10-year review was in 2015. And what will be the future of the WSIS Summit on Information Society process? So, I would like to, of course, thank our moderators, of course, Silvia, for providing opening remarks as always so well, really, you know, making, putting us in the context of the importance of youth for ITU, WSIS including. So, let’s go back to some of the history of the WSIS. Next slide, please. So, it is a UN process. It is hosted by International Telecommunication Union. However, we have been co-organizing this together with the UNDP, UNESCO and UNCTAD. So, besides that, more than 50 UN agencies are contributing either as WSIS Action Line facilitators. or really, you know, coming here to this event, organizing workshops, sessions, high-level dialogues and so on. Next slide. You will also learn that we started in 1998 as a concept idea. It was proposed by the ITU, Member State Tunisia, at the Minneapolis Planning Potentiary Conference in United States in 1998. And as the Planning Potentiary Conferences of ITU are the highest body, a governing body, where the resolutions are being discussed and adopted, this particular proposal by Tunisia was adopted. And in 2001, the ITU Secretary General at that time proposed to the United Nations General Assembly and the United Nations Secretary General that such a summit should take place. If you go back to 1998, not sure how many of you will be able to, but think about it. There was, all right, great, great, it’s, you know, we belong to a generation that was analog and moved to fully digital, a lot to praise about and a lot to, you know, go around criticizing, you know, how youth are using the digital, you know, too often or whatever, at least my son. So going back to 1998 and 2001, the world was completely different. They figured out that something big is happening. And they said, listen, we need to talk about what is this information society that we should be building. Some of the member states, some of the regions were already, you know, well-advanced into having some already insights into and use of ICTs. Some were really just, you know, starting to understand this. We are still, you know, having one third of the population offline. However, we are all here to, you know, join and work together that nobody stays behind. But you know, thinking about it at that time, no one knew that digital technologies will rise and develop so exponentially. Even today, we are now here discussing lots of things, very hard to predict. So think about 1998 and 2001, the heads of countries, prime ministers, presidents, ministers of ICTs, and all other segments of life came together to discuss, okay, so digital will be really in all segments of life, so we need to decide how we’re going to deal with this. And in 2003, the first summit took place here in Geneva. In 2005, it was in Tunis, and the two major versus, how would I say, basic texts were developed and brought together, the Geneva Declaration and Plan of Action and the Tunis Agenda and the Versus Action Alliance, and they are the ones that are still in power. So you can imagine there was something, you know, three to five years that was developed over the time, carefully, with everyone really on board, sharing and giving them contributions and input on how this Versus Action Alliance should be developed, and how can we cover all different segments of life. So in 2005, the first mandate was given to all stakeholders. A very important thing to mention, the world of UN prior to this summit was not so much multi-stakeholder, but this event really opened up doors to all stakeholders. And since then, we’ve been, you know, working on this with everyone to make sure that all stakeholders are there. It’s also an event and a process that is inclusive, that is crowdfunded. If you know, if some of you here are having their own sessions, you would know that you have to submit that to the open consultation process so that the session takes place. So we are here because of you, as Sylvia mentioned. If it wasn’t you telling us what we should be doing, we probably would do something, but not as good as, you know, together with you. So this special track on youth started years ago, and then we moved on having it for a couple of years. Then we started also including the special track on older persons. which is also very, very important. Then both communities came back to us and said, guys, we should do it intergenerational. So we went to the intergenerational angle, and this year we are kind of having a special youth track with intergenerational aspects. In 2005, the General Assembly gave the first mandate to all member states and different UN agencies and all other stakeholders to implement the VC section lines until 2015. So 2015, the first milestone that was reached kind of came timely with the new United Nations Development Agenda. From Millennium Development Goals, we moved to the Sustainable Development Goals. And this is when all the VC section lines and all the VC process got aligned with the 2030 Agenda for Development. And this was done by UN agencies, all of them coming together. And in the next slide, you will see that these are the action lines that were developed in 2003 and continue to be implemented. And in the next slide, this is the framework, the governance framework that has been running from the very beginning, similar to this wheel, from the VC section lines and the VC forum as the annual event, the VC stock taking, a database that has been maintained by ITU since 2004, having more than 15,000 entries. It’s a kind of a museum of ICT and digital projects from 2004 till date. And you can always go back to history thinking about, okay, so which technology was used where and how to make impact on a particular topic or theme. So it’s a great and valuable database that you are all invited to use and contribute to. The UNGES, United Nations Group on Information Society, is something that I would like to mention here. So going back to the mandate in 2005, 2015, this is where this group came together to, first of all, it was established in 2005 by the Chief Executive Board of United Nations. Then in 2015, they worked on this VSIS and SDG matrix. that we’ve been working and implementing since 2015. So in that timeline, you will see that in 2025, where we are right now, is the moment where the second overall review of what we have all been doing is coming together in New York and the decisions will be very important and made by the contributions by all of us. So you are all invited to follow this review and contribute to it more than anyone else because the future and beyond 2025 belongs to you. So don’t miss this opportunity. It’s an open call. There is the modalities resolution, I’ll tell you more about it later, but this is very important to repeat this and have you really contribute actively to this. So you can come back to us, the WSIS team, and ask questions on how you can actually be engaged in that. In the next slide, you will see that what I mentioned, the importance of the multi-stakeholder process and its nature involving all stakeholders for all these many years. In the next slide, we’ll have a bit of a data of what has been achieved since 2005. So not so well-developed targets maybe at the beginning, very difficult to maybe bring the KPIs, but this is something that actually came from ITU Facts and Figures 2024 publication, a very important ITU publication that we all should be using, on how many people are connected, how many schools are connected, what about the gender mainstreaming, the equality in using the internet, again, how much youth, and you can see here 15 to 20 years of age, 79% of youth around the world are using internet. So these are some of the targets that we are still working very hard to continue and reach out to everyone, make sure that everyone stays connected and is connected. So again, this all will be discussed at this review in December, and perhaps the targets will be better shaped. So your input will be very important. In the next slide, we’ll have a bit of a data of what has been achieved since 2005. So not so well-developed targets maybe at the beginning, very difficult to maybe bring the KPIs, but this is something that actually came from ITU Facts and Figures 2024 publication, a very important ITU publication that we all should be using, on how many youth, and you can see here 15 to 20 years of age, 79% of youth around the world are using internet. So again, this all will be discussed at this review in December, and perhaps the targets will be better shaped. So your input will be very important. Next slide. We have some of the impact of the stock taking that I was mentioning about. Very important to mention here, not sure if the next slide will be presenting that, but go to the WSIS stock taking platform, research on the database, contribute to it. And one important spinoff of the WSIS stock taking took place in 2012. Now, a lot of people know about WSIS because of it. It’s called the WSIS Prizes Contest. And more than 6,000 projects were submitted for this since 2012. In the last five, six years, we’ve been averaging 1,000 submissions received each year. So please use this opportunity to, again, mark your calendars for the next year WSIS Prizes and submit. It doesn’t have to be your project. It could be projects that you have been experiencing and you think the world should know about. So it doesn’t have to be really just from our own personal interest and angle, but really to show and present the good work that is being done around the world. The group On Information Society, as I also already mentioned, is a very important group. So the entire process is being, you know, co-organized, implemented by United Nations family, each of them having different tasks or really just in a collaborative manner. In the next slide. The WSIS Forum, the event that started in 2009. So if you follow the history, 2003, 2005, after that there was some cluster of meetings that took place since 2006 until 2009. And at that time, we already saw that so much reporting has been coming through member states, through international organizations, civil society, private sector as well, technical organizations, academia, that ITU started to actually have and host together, co-organizing with other agencies the WSIS Forum annual event. This is where we are right now. So it’s been quite a pleasure for me personally to be a part of the WSIS team the last 10 years. So I joined 2014, my first WSIS Forum as an organizer was in 2015. But prior to that, my first WSIS Forum was in 2009. A very, very unique event where, you know, we can always meet with those VIPs and decision makers and actually bring our topics to them directly. In the next slide, we’re just going to go with some of the data on what is happening this year. Just numbers really say the story for itself. I don’t want to go into too much into it because we are right now. So better experience it than me telling you about it. So if you go more to the VISIS review, I spoke about it in the next slide, you will see some of the important timelines and achievements of the VISIS in the past 20 years. This will all be discussed in December this year in New York in the next slide. We will also have the VISIS Plus 20 review joint preparatory process. It’s been two years since we’ve been doing this. So you know, this is the final milestone. As you can see here, last to last milestone is this event and then we’re going to New York. So at this event in various workshops and sessions, you’ll be hearing how different UN agencies have been implementing their VISIS roadmaps with the outcomes of the important events of all of these sessions will also be delivered at our event. So it’s a very unique space where you’ll be able to learn about all of that without actually being there before. We’ll also be having co-facilitators, as you will see in the next slide, of the modalities resolution on the review. The ambassadors from Kenya and Albania are leading this. So reach out to them, send them your contributions directly. There is also a process on how you can contribute to the draft papers, white papers, elements papers, all those papers of United Nations process on how you are actually going to the review and discussing a certain resolution. So please use this opportunity and also join the sessions where they will be here during this event, and they will be discussing the progress so far and what is, you know, waiting for us until December. In the next slide, I think some of the roadmaps of these modalities processes is very important for you to maybe take a photo of and see how you can contribute to it. Of course, these presentations are all available online and you’ll be able to access them. The next slide, again, you’re going back to the achievements, the milestones and the challenges. We’ll be discussing them this year, this event, and of course in New York. I think this is the last slide. Okay, so please join, you know, and share your story with us as well. Just, you know, put it up on social media. We’d love to hear following today or this year’s event. What do you, what is your story? If you haven’t had it before now, you definitely will have it. The next slide is just a big thank you for again, for being here with us. Youth Special Track to this year is really having an amazing program. Thanks to the colleagues coordinating all of that. I could be telling you about WSIS, you know, for additional couple of hours or days.

Charlyne Restivo: So please, you know, when you see me on the corridor, as anyone else from the coordinating team, approach me and I’ll be very happy to talk more about WSIS with you. Thank you very much. Thank you very much, Vladimir, for this very insightful presentation of what WSIS is. Now I would like to ask you in the audience, one way the WSIS process is making a difference to you or your community. opening the floor, encouraging you to raise your hand and share your story with us of how WSIS has impacted your community, your country, perhaps some project that has been submitted, won a WSIS prize, best practices that has been shared in this forum. If everybody’s feeling a bit shy, yes, please. Sorry, it looked like we had a bad mic there, and it might have been my fault for touching up

Dana Kramer: to bring it closer. Dana Kramer, for the record, at Toronto Metropolitan University, PhD candidate there. And I also lead a youth internet governance forum for Canada. I think one of the biggest takeaways for WSIS, honestly, like for at least myself, my community have been the NRI network with the IGF and that the IGF was, of course, created through WSIS, because it’s allowed a lot of bottom up youth capacity building in this space for youth to be able to come together as distinct stakeholder groups that are kind of in between, not sure where their career will go, not sure where their learning will take them, and then be able to still convene and connect and then build into these broader global processes. Thank you.

Charlyne Restivo: Excellent, great to hear that. Anybody else? No? Okay. What I really take from Vladimir’s presentation is also the call to action for you to contribute to the draft papers that will be submitted to the UNGA, the final milestone. So really inviting you. to connect with Vladimir, other members of the team, because we are also aware you can have a tangible impact. With that, now, let’s go on to the group exercise. For that, I hand over the floor to my dear colleague, Duna Ola. Thank you. OK, we’ll do the same thing. Oh, hello. Is this better? Great. So, I know some people are scotted enough, that’s fine. If you know that you’re staying, you can now come and take some of those seats so that we can have the full circle. Is everyone able to hear me well?

Dunola Oladapo: Yeah, OK, great. So, I’m Duna Ola, and I’m Youth Programme Officer in ITU. And this is now the meat of the session, because we’re handing the mic now to each of you. And as Sylvia was sharing in her remarks earlier, the ideas that come from your groups will actually feed into the overall report. So, it’s really important that you share your ideas, and Hamza was encouraging everyone to be brave and innovative in your ideas. Please do this. So, now, I will ask the facilitators to please stand up, if you know you’re facilitating a session or you’re a scribe for a group. So, then we break you into groups of five, right? But I need to make sure that each of the facilitators are here. So, if we can have this corner as group one, this corner as group two, yeah? Then this long belt there as group three, that corner as group four, and this corner as group five. So, if you just go to the one closest to you, and then the facilitators will move accordingly. So, group one, only move if you’re a facilitator or a scribe, but everybody else can just keep their seats. Group two, in this corner. Group three, there, and those that are sitting just behind. Group four, there, and then group five. Yes, so group one will be facilitated by Clinton Oduor. Do you want to wave Clinton and just come here? He’ll facilitate this and then Yueqi Qu, who is the founder and general manager of PALS Lightyear Artificial Intelligence. If you’re here, please join because you’ll be helping to be the scribe. Group two will be coordinated by Tan Yuzhi, research assistant at Tsinghua University and Flora, you’re the scribe for this group, so Flora here. Dorian Amanda Clark is facilitating, yes, group three, so you’re sat exactly in the right place already and Prateek, you’ll be helping to take the notes there. Katherine is facilitating group four just in that corner and N’Goran Franck Konan will be taking the notes. Nadir will be facilitating for group five and Tadala will take the notes. So we’re just going to time you for about 10 minutes where we just want everyone in the group, you know, introduce yourselves to each other and start to list as many ideas as possible you can think of about enhancing the work of WSIS for the next 20 years. At the end of that, we will just ask each group to share the top three ideas that came out of that. So please take as many notes as possible, discuss, and I will walk around to make sure that everything is okay. If a facilitator is not around or something, maybe someone will step up and be a facilitator. So I’ll be ready to go. I’ll start the timer now. So introduce yourselves to each other and I’ll leave it to the facilitators. Please, if some people could join group two, if your group is too big, please send some people to group two. Ok, so it looks like this group is smaller actually. I think this group is smaller. I think join them. So group 1 and group 2 will be absorbed together. So Clinton will take care of you. So just to remind you, everyone should list as many ideas as possible they can think of. And near the end, you just vote for your top three ideas and share with everyone. Okay, yes. Please, for those that are joining us online, just look at the chat. You’ll see our colleague Shiyi will be coordinating with you and collecting your ideas. Thank you for our amazing virtual participants. One more minute. Please start grouping your ideas together. One more minute. One more minute. We are to time now, so we’ll just hear some ideas. Don’t worry, you have time, and you don’t need to move, so we’ll just go around. So if we could just wrap up our last sentence and we’ll start to check with each group. So what would be great is if either the session facilitator or someone in the group just wants to go to a mic and just share, you don’t have to say three, but up to three of the interesting ideas that came up from your team, and we go around like this. So group four slash five, please, if we could wrap up so we can hear what the top idea from group one and two merged was. So feel free to take the floor. I hope you can all hear me. Everyone, can we end our conversations? Don’t worry, you’ll have a chance to continue the conversations later. We’ll have a chance to carry on, so let’s just hear from Group 1 and 2, please.

Clinton Oduor: Yes, so first of all, let me just introduce myself again. My name is Clinton Oduor, and I’m part of the Youth Advisory, I’m part of the ITU Secretary General Youth Advisory Board. And I’m just going to go through quickly, like, the top three ideas that came from Group 1. And the first one was around operationalising, like, some of the ideas that come from youths. Like, youths have, like, a lot of ideas. Some of them are technical, but we usually just leave them at the idea stage. So, like, how can we move them to be at an operational level where they can move to the next stage? It can be through utilising, like, some of the ITU and UN networks to make that happen. But it’s something that we need to think about broadly. So the other idea that came up was to have, like, dedicated seats for the youth on plenaries under those high-level events, so that youth voices can also be heard. Yeah, then the third one was around, there are not quite enough community-based organisations, around non-profit organisations integrated into WSIS. So we also need to see how we can increase capacity around that. Yeah, so those are the top three ideas that came from Group 1. Thank you.

Dunola Oladapo: Thank you so much, Clinton. And I heard that the plenary this morning was very packed. So maybe if there were some dedicated seats for youth, we could have ensured that youth were in that room. So next, we go to the next group, quite a big group. So I don’t know if the group facilitator or somebody else wants to just very quickly share with us what the top three ideas that emerged from the group was.

Speaker 2: You just need to go to a mic and press the button. Good afternoon, everyone. So our group, Group 3, The main point that stood out for us was internet access, and we wrote, Beyond simple providing connectivity, we must prioritize digital literacy initiatives that empower individuals to harness the internet effectively for community development and global benefit. And what basically this means is that we foster digital equality and create an inclusive digital future where everyone feels genuinely connected and represented. The next point that we have is information systems should authentically reflect the diversity of culture and perspectives, ensuring that digital content represents the full spectrum of human experiences rather than a narrow subset. Most importantly, policies governing digital access and literacy must be grounded in real-world realities and genuine community needs rather than being designed merely to satisfy bureaucratic requirements or check compliances boxes.

Charlyne Restivo: So that’s what we had. Thank you so much. I love the support from the team. They were like clapping as soon as she finished. I love that. So we have the next group. If we could please have the facilitator or someone brave from the group to please share with us the top ideas. All right. So let me share my team’s. So the first one we got, we got a lot of ideas, but the first we want to have more voice from the young in decision making.

Speaker 3: And also we want to have more participation, I mean, physical participation to WSIS, I mean, forums and so. The second is we want to have more gender positive where we have more gender equality. The third one is capacity building. We want to make sure that every young connected is making use of the connectivity he has. Thank you. Thank you so much. And yes, definitely. The goal is that more young people are included in decision-making, and hopefully this is a great step in that direction.

Dunola Oladapo: And the last but not least group, if we could please have the facilitator or someone brave to share with us, just go to a mic and press the button so we hear your top ideas. All right, thank you very much. I’m Nadir, and basically in our groups, we’ve gathered such amazing ideas.

Speaker 4: But just prioritizing a few are that generally there’s seen the CIS as the lack of structured pathways for youth to meaningfully engage and have their voices heard. Secondly, it’s about the awareness of the CIS itself. So remaining the law in the mainstream and education spaces sometimes gets the young generation and professionals to not know much about CIS and their activities as well. The review process of the process itself overall feels too high level, and we need to generally localize and streamline it to the rich grassroots youth. There are needs for the dedicated funding mechanism as well, because many would like to attend, but there are certain necessities, and especially in the developing countries, the young generation are keen on attending, but the certain funding would really foster that initiative to support them. And of course, finally, we have to just highlight the importance of clearly defining youth as the current categorized versions in the categorization variety of fields, and especially having even more younger generation, like the undergraduate and the school children with their projects or their activities to participate in the certain booths and act their ideas would make CIS even more creative and initiative. Thank you.

Dunola Oladapo: Thank you. Thank you so much. I love the point on, you know, finance and investment, because I think we all know part of the major, one of the major barriers to youth engagement in general is lack of, you know, access to funding and investment in this space. So we’ll have the second and final kind of big group discussion now, and we’ll have this group and this group, one and two and three, we’ll have one topic, and these two have a different topic. It will come on the screen in a moment. And just to say, even if your idea was not read out just now or anything, we will collect from the scribes the notes, and it will all feed into a report. And I hope you all signed up for the session so that we can share with you the outcomes via the email you used to sign up afterwards. So what would be great now, after you’ve had this brainstorming of what could be done, is if we could try to be a bit more targeted. So this group one and the new group two, it will be great for, I know there are many ideas, but maybe you can try to discuss and negotiate and come up with the major topic for you as a young person or as young person adjacent, as some of us are here, or just previously young person that you wish WSIS could address. Try to agree on just one topic for your group, and then it’ll be great if you can explain why it’s important for WSIS to address. One of the reasons why we’re trying to get you to go from big ideas to kind of one big is because when we’re writing the report, to make sure people read it and are interested, we want it to be short and snappy and really to the point. So let’s try to see if there are really some key, like one key idea that you think would really make a difference. Try to think of something that would be impactful, but also feasible with this process. And then for the second group, so group three to five, basically four or five, it will be great for you to ideate how we can practically attract and empower more young people to engage in the WSIS process. So one of the ideas that came from Nadea’s team. was that for more young people to even have the awareness of WSIS. I know a lot of you said in the poll that you knew about WSIS, you’ve been to WSIS events, but you’re a very small portion of the world population. I’m sure there’s billions of people that don’t know about WSIS. How can we get to those young people, how can those young people know about WSIS and feel part of this process as well? It would be great to get some ideas. So we’ll start the timer now for 10 minutes and I please want to ask the facilitators to nominate somebody else in your team to now moderate the discussion and that would feed back to the group. Our scribes stay the same, help take notes please and of course contribute to the conversation as well. So please hand over to the new moderator and start your discussions now. If no one wants to take on the old moderators can be, but please try to be somebody new. I will leave the floor to Steve to get started. I will come back here for the results. Thank you.

Charlyne Restivo:

Dunola Oladapo: So the time is up. So it’s time to hear the ideas. I know the conversations could just go on and on, but we really must start to conclude. Because as you know, we have the high level dialogue on youth happening after this in Room C. And it’ll be nice to all go together. And so this time we’ll start from group five and we’ll go this way to give group one and two a bit of a rest this time. So can we have our new moderator, or if you kept the same one, kindly just take the floor and share with us maybe up to three of the ideas you had on how we can practically attract and empower more young people to engage in the WSIS process for the next 20 years and beyond.

Charlyne Restivo: Group five, it’s okay, you don’t have to say everything, just some of the

Dana Kramer: highlights and we’ll collect everything in written form later. Hi there, group five, Dana Kramer, Toronto Metropolitan University, second moderator. So a large part of what we were talking about was localizing WSIS and trying to have more grassroots participation and engagement, both through storytelling as well as different opportunities for youth to be involved, such as through dedicated WSIS prizes, that there could also be more WSIS youth tracks in the future, but also encouraging panels to have a youth representative on them, both recognizing that youth track allows for a safe space for youth, but also too you want that meaningful youth engagement participation with a more diverse intergenerational panel, for instance, to multi-stakeholder engagement. So I’m just trying to read the handwriting. We also discussed training, the importance of creating media as well, because youth will only be as engaged as what catches the eye, we are in the attention economy. And finally, too, for funded opportunities to ensure that pluralistic youth from around the world can also meaningfully engage because there’s an opportunity gap, both across countries, but also too within countries, as we discussed the diversity of countries. on a meta and international scale, but also to that each country individually will have different regions within it that might be more prosperous or more financial opportunities than other areas, and that we need to understand the diversity for any type of meaningful engagement as well. Thank you. Thank you so much. We look forward to receiving those and

Nadia Tjahja: including them in the draft report. And if we can go to the next team, please. Hello, everyone. Good afternoon. My name is Nadia Chekhia. I’m a PhD researcher at the United Nations University in Bruges, and I organize the European Youth IGF. We discussed three issues. Firstly, to empower youth to do more practice at UISES. The second was to one thing to contextualize this point is UISES is focused a lot on outcomes. And one thing to then engage with is understanding how youth interact with that kind of process. So for example, if we’re looking at innovation, looking at, for example, entrepreneur spaces, so if you have spaces where they do entrepreneurship, like applying for funding, or hubs, fund business hubs and things like that, that they can also learn about UISES there, and that UISES then gets promoted as a space where they can further promote their work in a larger space and contribute more to the world understanding more about what is happening in digital innovation by young people. And then we talked about the role of the IGF national and youth initiatives, where there are young people who are interested in internet governance but are not getting involved in these spaces, and how for them to gain awareness. and to further develop them into the space, back into that context of if this is an outcome space how can we create WSIS in a place where it’s more accessible. This year’s track has been really great in which also you provided an introduction to WSIS and what you can contribute and how you can contribute to continue fostering spaces like this not only on the topics around WSIS but also the wider agenda on the different action lines but then to also create more spaces like previously was mentioned about having people, having youth on panels but also having youth being able to take an open mic or to contribute in discussions.

Dunola Oladapo: Thank you very much. Thank you. So now we move to the other questions where we would like to hear, we know there were several ideas over the course of the session but we want to hear the big idea from group three. If please the new moderator or whoever from the group wants to share can share this idea and why they think it’s important for WSIS to address this. Yes.

Charlyne Restivo: Hi everyone. Thanks Nunoa.

Roser Almenar: My name is Roser Almenar. I’m a PhD student in AI and Space Law at the University of Valencia in Spain and I also serve as a member of Madam Secretary General’s Youth Advisory Board. And basically I think the idea that we overall got and I could sense it for every intervention is that technology should serve people and not the other way around. So we’ve been talking about how AI might be biased and how some people from certain areas and regions are underrepresented and maybe also can misinform people about how they behave or other sort of data. So we believe that it is really important to touch this issue to provide real information maybe through scientific data which is already being discussed but basically in a way that is ethical and responsible. And especially, we’ve also discussed how this could be done from a youth perspective, from a youth angle. And we consider it is really important for youth to be given opportunities. So, for instance, it could be discussed how the Internet can provide opportunities for the youth in this regard. And as well, if we talk about data, how maybe having a youth representative could help in achieving a more solid and a more diverse set of data with which we can then train AI and other sorts of technologies. Thank you. Thank you.

Dunola Oladapo: That was a very powerful opening, like, you know, tech should serve people, that people serve with tech. Interesting. And if we could have the final group, group one and two merged, if you could please share with us what the major topic for you that you believe WSIS should address is. OK, I guess I’ll speak from my mind, from what we discussed. So maybe I’ll borrow that if that’s OK.

Speaker 5: Sure. So what we talked about as a group is we discussed this idea that there should be a concept of sustained youth involvement throughout the WSIS process, but also beyond. So this involves not only integrating youth who are kind of older, who have heard about the process for a long time, but also kind of fostering a sense of digital literacy throughout time and providing this through reaching smaller communities and really encouraging connectivity as a fundamental human right. So when we were sort of talking about this idea of connectivity and this sort of idea of sustained youth involvement, what we discussed was that there should be forums and processes that a variety of young people can get involved with. So whether it’s these high level events and ensuring that people have a seat at the table, or whether it’s individual projects that are funded and sustained throughout time. so that really young people can be encouraged to be involved in this process for years on end rather than just maybe attending one or two high-level events. So that was sort of what we discussed as a topic that’s quite important. Thank you. Thank you. I think sustainability of

Dunola Oladapo: engagement is really key just to make sure, especially when you’re working with young people, you know, every year it could be a different group and then you might lose some of the momentum. So trying to keep a sustained approach is really key. Because we don’t want to end the session too late, we want everyone to get good seats in the high-level dialogue for youth, which we hope you’re all going to in room C right after this. We’ll start looking at some closing remarks. But before everyone rushes off when we do end, which is not right now, so please hold your horses a little bit. Because we know several people on your team may have taken notes that we have scribes. It’s really important that the different ideas and the different notes are compiled into one. So please, if every group could just ensure that you have, whether it’s written on a piece of paper or written on a laptop, that you have synchronized notes and please share it with us before you leave the room so that we can ensure that the report is comprehensive of this session and feeds into the overall report, which will go to Unge later this year. So I’ll hand over now to Charlene to share some of her reflections as a co-moderator and I’ll also then check in to see if some of our colleagues that joined us online, if there are some key inputs from them. So over to you, Charlene. Thanks, Ginola, and a big thank you to everyone.

Charlyne Restivo: This has been a very inspiring session that we’ve held together. I took a few notes throughout. What really emerged today is the operationalization of the young people’s ideas, right? I think here there’s a call to see action. And that’s very important for also ITU as a secretariat of WSIS to take that into consideration. Then digital literacy, prioritizing digital literacy as well as capacity building, the diversity and the representation of young people, whether it is through panels or through open mic contribution like we try to aim to do today. The localization as well of WSIS outcomes is very important and the storytelling, telling the story, the success stories really like WSIS has been based also on showcasing what has worked to inspire others also to share what is working and to provide this platform for exchange of best practices. Then in terms of major topics for WSIS for the years to come, so really like the digital for the people and not the way around and sustained youth engagement. Dunola, is there anything else on your side that really caught your attention as well? Yes, there were so many things, but I just want to take the time to highlight some of the great ideas from our online group. I’m so sorry that we can’t see you because we’re projecting the slides instead, but thanks for also brainstorming in your breakouts. We really appreciate. Some of the key ideas that we’re seeing is going beyond invitation to integration. That’s similar to some of the stuff we were hearing from the other groups. And the other group, the big idea they had was to focus more on digital health equity and assistive technology access, and especially with focus on e-health applications and disability inclusive digital development. Of course, this is very important for young people across the world. So thank you so much. And please, as I said before you go, please ensure that whoever has all your ideas on their laptop. or on their notes please give it to us so that we can round off but because the session will start exactly at two and we want everyone to be seated inside and to have good seats I really really encourage you to just go directly downstairs to room C for the high level dialogue on youth which will be opened up by the ITU Deputy Secretary General Thomas. Thank you so much for your participation and please share the notes. Big round of applause. Recording stopped.

Agreement points

Need for meaningful youth engagement and leadership in WSIS processes

Speakers

– Charlyne Restivo
– Sylvia Poll
– Hamza Hameed
– Clinton Oduor
– Speaker 4
– Speaker 5

Arguments

Youth are making history by being embedded in WSIS and their voices matter for the high-level dialogue

Youth should be in the driving seat of this completely youth-driven session to learn from young people

Youth are essential stakeholders who will be using, building and shaping the technologies of the future

Need for dedicated seats for youth on plenaries and high-level events so youth voices can be heard

Lack of structured pathways for youth to meaningfully engage and have their voices heard in WSIS

Need for sustained youth involvement throughout the WSIS process and beyond, not just attending one or two events

Summary

All speakers agree that youth should have meaningful, sustained engagement in WSIS processes, with dedicated pathways and leadership roles rather than token participation

Topics

Development | Sociocultural

Digital connectivity should be universal and accessible to all

Speakers

– Hamza Hameed
– Speaker 2
– Speaker 3
– Speaker 5

Arguments

Connectivity should be recognized as a fundamental human right accessible to everyone

Need to prioritize digital literacy initiatives that empower individuals to harness internet effectively for community development

Need for more gender equality and ensuring every young connected person makes use of their connectivity

Need for sustained youth involvement throughout the WSIS process and beyond, not just attending one or two events

Summary

Speakers agree that digital connectivity should be treated as a fundamental right with accompanying digital literacy and capacity building to ensure meaningful access

Topics

Development | Human rights | Infrastructure

Need to localize and make WSIS more accessible at grassroots level

Speakers

– Clinton Oduor
– Speaker 4
– Dana Kramer
– Nadia Tjahja

Arguments

Need for more community-based and non-profit organizations integrated into WSIS

The review process feels too high-level and needs to be localized and streamlined to reach grassroots youth

Need to localize WSIS and have more grassroots participation through storytelling and dedicated opportunities

WSIS should be promoted in entrepreneurship spaces and business hubs where youth can learn and contribute

Summary

Multiple speakers agree that WSIS needs to be more accessible at the local and grassroots level, with better integration of community organizations and localized approaches

Topics

Development | Sociocultural

Financial barriers prevent youth participation and need dedicated funding mechanisms

Speakers

– Speaker 4
– Dana Kramer

Arguments

Need for dedicated funding mechanisms as many youth want to attend but face financial barriers, especially in developing countries

There’s an opportunity gap both across countries and within countries that needs to be addressed for meaningful engagement

Summary

Both speakers identify financial constraints as major barriers to youth participation, particularly affecting those from developing countries and requiring targeted funding support

Topics

Development | Economic

Technology should be human-centered and serve people’s needs

Speakers

– Speaker 2
– Roser Almenar

Arguments

Policies governing digital access must be grounded in real-world realities and community needs rather than bureaucratic requirements

Technology should serve people and not the other way around, addressing AI bias and underrepresentation

Summary

Both speakers advocate for human-centered approaches to technology development and policy-making that prioritize real community needs over bureaucratic or technological imperatives

Topics

Human rights | Development | Sociocultural

Similar viewpoints

Youth participation needs to move beyond ideas and events to sustained, structured engagement with concrete outcomes and operational pathways

Speakers

– Clinton Oduor
– Speaker 4
– Speaker 5

Arguments

Need for operationalizing youth ideas through utilizing ITU and UN networks to move beyond the idea stage

Lack of structured pathways for youth to meaningfully engage and have their voices heard in WSIS

Need for sustained youth involvement throughout the WSIS process and beyond, not just attending one or two events

Topics

Development | Sociocultural

WSIS needs better awareness and promotion strategies that reach youth in their existing spaces and communities rather than expecting them to discover WSIS independently

Speakers

– Speaker 4
– Dana Kramer
– Nadia Tjahja

Arguments

WSIS awareness remains low in mainstream and education spaces, preventing young generation from knowing about activities

Need to localize WSIS and have more grassroots participation through storytelling and dedicated opportunities

WSIS should be promoted in entrepreneurship spaces and business hubs where youth can learn and contribute

Topics

Development | Sociocultural | Economic

Digital systems and policies should prioritize inclusion, diversity, and equity across gender, cultural, and disability dimensions

Speakers

– Speaker 2
– Speaker 3
– Dunola Oladapo

Arguments

Information systems should authentically reflect diversity of culture and perspectives rather than narrow subsets

Need for more gender equality and ensuring every young connected person makes use of their connectivity

Focus on digital health equity and assistive technology access, especially e-health applications and disability inclusive digital development

Topics

Human rights | Development | Sociocultural

Unexpected consensus

Adults should learn from youth rather than just including them

Speakers

– Sylvia Poll
– Hamza Hameed

Arguments

Youth should be in the driving seat of this completely youth-driven session to learn from young people

Youth are essential stakeholders who will be using, building and shaping the technologies of the future

Explanation

It’s unexpected for senior officials to explicitly position themselves as learners from youth rather than mentors or guides, representing a significant shift in traditional hierarchical approaches to youth engagement

Topics

Development | Sociocultural

Need for fundamental restructuring of WSIS processes rather than incremental improvements

Speakers

– Clinton Oduor
– Speaker 4
– Dana Kramer

Arguments

Need for dedicated seats for youth on plenaries and high-level events so youth voices can be heard

The review process feels too high-level and needs to be localized and streamlined to reach grassroots youth

Need to localize WSIS and have more grassroots participation through storytelling and dedicated opportunities

Explanation

The consensus around needing structural changes to WSIS processes rather than just better youth inclusion suggests a more radical reimagining of how international governance processes should operate

Topics

Development | Sociocultural

Overall assessment

Summary

Strong consensus exists around the need for meaningful youth engagement, universal digital access, localization of WSIS processes, addressing financial barriers, and human-centered technology approaches. The discussion reveals broad agreement on both problems and solutions.

Consensus level

High level of consensus with remarkable alignment across diverse speakers on fundamental issues. This suggests the youth engagement challenges in WSIS are well-recognized and there’s shared vision for solutions, which could facilitate concrete action and policy changes.

Different viewpoints

Unexpected differences

Overall assessment

Summary

The session showed remarkable consensus among speakers on core issues, with differences mainly in emphasis and approach rather than fundamental disagreements

Disagreement level

Very low disagreement level. This was a collaborative consultation where speakers built upon each other’s ideas rather than opposing them. The few partial agreements identified represent complementary approaches to shared goals rather than conflicting viewpoints. This high level of consensus suggests strong alignment among youth stakeholders on WSIS priorities, which could facilitate unified advocacy and implementation efforts.

Partial agreements

Similar viewpoints

Youth participation needs to move beyond ideas and events to sustained, structured engagement with concrete outcomes and operational pathways

Speakers

– Clinton Oduor
– Speaker 4
– Speaker 5

Arguments

Need for operationalizing youth ideas through utilizing ITU and UN networks to move beyond the idea stage

Lack of structured pathways for youth to meaningfully engage and have their voices heard in WSIS

Need for sustained youth involvement throughout the WSIS process and beyond, not just attending one or two events

Topics

Development | Sociocultural

WSIS needs better awareness and promotion strategies that reach youth in their existing spaces and communities rather than expecting them to discover WSIS independently

Speakers

– Speaker 4
– Dana Kramer
– Nadia Tjahja

Arguments

WSIS awareness remains low in mainstream and education spaces, preventing young generation from knowing about activities

Need to localize WSIS and have more grassroots participation through storytelling and dedicated opportunities

WSIS should be promoted in entrepreneurship spaces and business hubs where youth can learn and contribute

Topics

Development | Sociocultural | Economic

Digital systems and policies should prioritize inclusion, diversity, and equity across gender, cultural, and disability dimensions

Speakers

– Speaker 2
– Speaker 3
– Dunola Oladapo

Arguments

Information systems should authentically reflect diversity of culture and perspectives rather than narrow subsets

Need for more gender equality and ensuring every young connected person makes use of their connectivity

Focus on digital health equity and assistive technology access, especially e-health applications and disability inclusive digital development

Topics

Human rights | Development | Sociocultural

Key takeaways

Youth voices and ideas from this session will directly feed into the WSIS+20 review report submitted to the UN General Assembly in December 2025, making this a historically significant moment for youth participation in global digital governance

There is a critical need to operationalize youth ideas rather than leaving them at the conceptual stage, utilizing ITU and UN networks to move from ideation to implementation

Digital literacy and capacity building must be prioritized alongside connectivity, as simply providing internet access is insufficient without empowering people to use it effectively for community development

Technology should serve people rather than people serving technology, with emphasis on addressing AI bias, ensuring diverse representation, and maintaining human-centered approaches to digital development

WSIS awareness remains low among youth globally, requiring localized outreach, storytelling, and integration into entrepreneurship spaces and educational institutions to reach broader youth populations

Sustained youth engagement throughout the WSIS process is essential, moving beyond one-time event participation to long-term involvement and capacity building

Financial barriers significantly limit youth participation, particularly from developing countries, highlighting the need for dedicated funding mechanisms

Digital inclusion must address diversity and representation, ensuring that information systems reflect the full spectrum of human experiences rather than narrow subsets

Resolutions and action items

Collect all group notes and ideas to compile into a comprehensive report that will feed into the WSIS+20 review process and UN General Assembly submission

Participants encouraged to attend the immediate follow-up Multi-stakeholder Intergenerational High-Level Dialogue in Room C to continue the conversation

Youth advised to contribute directly to draft papers and white papers for the UN review process by connecting with co-facilitators from Kenya and Albania

ITU committed to operationalizing youth ideas and integrating them across ITU work streams rather than leaving them as concepts

Participants encouraged to submit projects to the annual WSIS Prizes contest and contribute to the WSIS stocktaking database

Youth Advisory Board and Young Professional Program officers tasked with facilitating ongoing youth engagement beyond this event

Unresolved issues

Specific mechanisms for creating dedicated youth seats on plenaries and high-level events remain undefined

Concrete funding solutions for youth participation from developing countries not established

Clear pathways for sustained youth engagement throughout the WSIS process beyond events not fully developed

Methods for reaching and engaging the billions of young people globally who are unaware of WSIS not specifically outlined

Integration strategies for more community-based and non-profit organizations into WSIS processes require further development

Specific approaches for localizing WSIS outcomes to grassroots level need more detailed planning

Clear definitions and categorizations of youth stakeholders, including younger demographics like undergraduates and school children, remain to be established

Suggested compromises

Balance between dedicated youth-only spaces (like youth tracks) and meaningful intergenerational participation on diverse panels to ensure both safe spaces for youth and cross-generational dialogue

Approach to youth engagement that includes both high-level event participation and individual project funding to accommodate different levels of involvement and expertise

Integration of WSIS promotion into existing entrepreneurship and business hub spaces where youth already gather, rather than creating entirely separate outreach mechanisms

Combination of global WSIS processes with localized grassroots engagement to bridge the gap between high-level policy and community needs

Beyond simple providing connectivity, we must prioritize digital literacy initiatives that empower individuals to harness the internet effectively for community development and global benefit… policies governing digital access and literacy must be grounded in real-world realities and genuine community needs rather than being designed merely to satisfy bureaucratic requirements or check compliances boxes.

Speaker

Speaker 2 (Group 3 representative)

Reason

This comment is insightful because it challenges the common assumption that connectivity alone solves digital divide issues. It introduces the critical distinction between access and meaningful use, and boldly critiques bureaucratic approaches to policy-making that may miss actual community needs.

Impact

This comment shifted the discussion from technical solutions to human-centered approaches. It elevated the conversation beyond infrastructure to focus on empowerment and authentic community engagement, influencing subsequent groups to consider grassroots and localized approaches.

Technology should serve people and not the other way around… we believe that it is really important to touch this issue to provide real information maybe through scientific data which is already being discussed but basically in a way that is ethical and responsible.

Speaker

Roser Almenar (Group 3 new moderator)

Reason

This philosophical statement reframes the entire technology discourse by questioning the fundamental relationship between humans and technology. It challenges the tech-centric narrative and introduces ethical considerations as central rather than peripheral to WSIS discussions.

Impact

This comment provided a unifying framework that resonated across groups and became a central theme. It shifted the conversation from ‘how to use technology better’ to ‘how to ensure technology serves human needs,’ influencing the overall direction toward more human-centered solutions.

There’s seen the WSIS as the lack of structured pathways for youth to meaningfully engage and have their voices heard… The review process of the process itself overall feels too high level, and we need to generally localize and streamline it to the reach grassroots youth.

Speaker

Nadir (Group 5 facilitator)

Reason

This comment is particularly insightful because it provides a meta-critique of the very process they’re participating in. It identifies structural barriers to youth engagement and challenges the top-down approach of international processes.

Impact

This comment introduced a critical self-reflection element to the discussion, prompting other groups to consider not just what WSIS should address, but how it should operate. It led to concrete suggestions about funding, awareness, and structural changes to make the process more accessible.

We discussed this idea that there should be a concept of sustained youth involvement throughout the WSIS process, but also beyond… whether it’s these high level events and ensuring that people have a seat at the table, or whether it’s individual projects that are funded and sustained throughout time.

Speaker

Speaker 5 (Group 1&2 representative)

Reason

This comment addresses a fundamental challenge in youth engagement – the sustainability problem. It recognizes that one-off participation doesn’t create lasting change and proposes a systemic approach to continuous involvement.

Impact

This insight tied together many of the previous discussions about funding, pathways, and meaningful engagement. It provided a strategic framework for thinking about youth involvement as a long-term investment rather than episodic consultation, influencing the final recommendations.

More than 2.6 billion people around the world remain offline, with more than half of them being young people. Bridging that digital divide is not only a technical challenge, but it’s a moral responsibility. And I believe that connectivity should be recognized as a fundamental human right.

Speaker

Hamza Hameed (ITU Youth Advisory Board member)

Reason

This comment reframes the digital divide from a technical problem to a moral imperative and human rights issue. It provides both stark statistics and a philosophical foundation that elevates the urgency and importance of the work.

Impact

This early comment set a serious, rights-based tone for the entire session. It influenced subsequent discussions to consider equity and justice rather than just technical solutions, and the concept of connectivity as a human right became a recurring theme throughout the breakout sessions.

Overall assessment

These key comments fundamentally shaped the discussion by introducing three critical shifts: from technology-centered to human-centered thinking, from episodic to sustained engagement models, and from top-down to grassroots approaches. The comments created a progression where participants moved beyond surface-level solutions to examine structural barriers and philosophical foundations. The human rights framing early in the session established moral urgency, while the meta-critiques of WSIS processes encouraged honest self-reflection. The technology-serving-people principle became a unifying theme that influenced how groups approached all subsequent discussions. Together, these insights transformed what could have been a routine consultation into a deeper examination of power structures, engagement models, and the fundamental purpose of digital development initiatives.

How can youth ideas be operationalized and moved from the idea stage to implementation level?

Speaker

Clinton Oduor (Group 1)

Explanation

This addresses a key gap where youth generate many technical and innovative ideas but lack pathways to turn them into actionable projects or policies

How can we increase integration of community-based organizations and non-profit organizations into WSIS?

Speaker

Clinton Oduor (Group 1)

Explanation

There’s recognition that grassroots organizations are underrepresented in WSIS processes, limiting community-level engagement

How can WSIS be localized and streamlined to reach grassroots youth?

Speaker

Nadir (Group 5)

Explanation

The current review process is seen as too high-level, creating barriers for local youth participation and engagement

How can dedicated funding mechanisms be established to support youth participation from developing countries?

Speaker

Nadir (Group 5)

Explanation

Financial barriers prevent many young people, especially from developing countries, from participating in WSIS events and processes

How should ‘youth’ be clearly defined and categorized within WSIS processes?

Speaker

Nadir (Group 5)

Explanation

There’s inconsistency in how youth are categorized across different fields, and need to include even younger participants like undergraduates and school children

How can WSIS create more accessible spaces for youth who are interested but not currently engaged?

Speaker

Nadia Tjahja (Group 4)

Explanation

Many young people interested in internet governance and digital issues are not aware of or engaged with WSIS processes

How can WSIS leverage entrepreneurship spaces and innovation hubs to reach more youth?

Speaker

Nadia Tjahja (Group 4)

Explanation

Youth often engage with digital innovation through entrepreneurship and business contexts, which could be entry points to WSIS

How can AI bias and underrepresentation of certain regions/populations be addressed through youth involvement?

Speaker

Roser Almenar (Group 3)

Explanation

Youth perspectives could help create more diverse datasets and ethical approaches to AI development

How can sustained youth involvement be maintained throughout and beyond WSIS processes?

Speaker

Group 1&2 merged

Explanation

Current engagement is often limited to one-time events rather than long-term participation that builds momentum and expertise

How can digital health equity and assistive technology access be better integrated into WSIS?

Speaker

Online participants

Explanation

There’s a need to focus more on e-health applications and disability-inclusive digital development from a youth perspective