Strengthen Digital Governance and International Cooperation to Build an Inclusive Digital Future

Summary

The WSIS Plus 20 Forum focused on strengthening digital governance and international cooperation to build an inclusive digital future, bringing together representatives from governments, international organizations, enterprises, and think tanks. The Chinese Academy of Cyberspace Studies hosted the event, emphasizing the need for collaborative approaches to address emerging technology challenges and opportunities. Opening remarks highlighted four key principles: seizing AI opportunities for high-quality development, maintaining innovation and openness to ensure digital dividends reach all humanity, enhancing mutual trust to address security risks, and encouraging multi-stakeholder participation in global digital governance.

Dr. Francis Gurry identified two major governance challenges posed by digital technologies: the unprecedented speed of technological adoption and increasing complexity of emerging technologies like AI, quantum computing, and 5G. He noted the growing lag between technology deployment and regulatory responses, citing the example of AI training on copyrighted data as a divisive issue requiring international coordination. Thomas Basikolo from ITU presented the AI for Good initiative, showcasing projects like “Innovate for Impact” and “Innovation Factory” that develop AI solutions for healthcare, education, and climate action while addressing challenges such as energy consumption and the digital divide.

China Mobile’s representative shared practical examples of 5G-AI integration, including building 2.5 million base stations and developing multi-modal AI models for various industries. However, speakers acknowledged significant challenges including uneven global digital infrastructure development, insufficient integration capabilities in traditional industries, and AI talent shortages. The discussion emphasized that international cooperation through organizations like ITU, BRICS, and UN frameworks is essential for creating inclusive digital governance that ensures no one is left behind in the digital transformation.

Keypoints

## Major Discussion Points:

– **Speed and Complexity Challenges in Digital Governance**: The rapid pace of technological innovation (exemplified by ChatGPT reaching 1 million users in 3 days vs. Netflix’s 3.5 years) and increasing complexity of emerging technologies are outpacing traditional governance frameworks, creating regulatory gaps and enforcement challenges.

– **AI Applications and Infrastructure Development**: Focus on leveraging AI and 5G technologies for societal benefit through initiatives like ITU’s “AI for Good” platform, China Mobile’s massive infrastructure deployment (2.5 million 5G base stations), and capacity building programs, particularly targeting developing countries and underserved communities.

– **Digital Divide and Inclusive Development**: Addressing the uneven global distribution of digital infrastructure and capabilities, with emphasis on international cooperation to ensure marginalized communities, especially in Africa and developing nations, are not left behind in the digital transformation.

– **International Cooperation Frameworks**: Discussion of various governance models including the BRICS cooperation mechanism, UN-based initiatives, and the need for multi-stakeholder approaches that balance innovation with regulation while fostering global collaboration on digital policies.

– **Sustainability and Resource Challenges**: Concerns about the environmental impact of digital technologies, including massive energy consumption by AI data centers and the need for critical minerals (potentially 500 times more demand by 2060), highlighting the tension between technological advancement and environmental sustainability.

## Overall Purpose:

The discussion aimed to strengthen global digital governance mechanisms and promote international cooperation for building an inclusive digital future, specifically focusing on how emerging technologies can be harnessed for societal benefit while addressing governance challenges and ensuring equitable access across all nations and communities.

## Overall Tone:

The discussion maintained a consistently collaborative and optimistic tone throughout, with speakers emphasizing partnership, shared responsibility, and collective action. While acknowledging significant challenges (digital divides, regulatory gaps, environmental concerns), the tone remained constructive and solution-oriented, with participants sharing concrete examples of successful international cooperation and expressing commitment to working together toward common goals.

Speakers

**Speakers from the provided list:**

– **Zhiqiang Lin** – From the Data and Technical Support Center of Cyberspace Administration of China (Forum moderator/host)

– **Jiang Bai** – Deputy Director General of Chinese Academy of Cyberspace Studies, representative of the forum organizers

– **Francis Gurry** – Vice Chair of the World Internet Conference, former Director-General of WIPO

– **Thomas Basikolo** – Program Coordinator of the ITU Telecom Communication Standardization Bureau, works in the AI for Good team

– **Yuhong Huang** – General Manager of China Mobile Research Institute

– **Ke Gong** – Executive Director of Chinese Institute of New Generation Artificial Intelligence Development Strategy, former President of World Federal of Engineering Organization

– **Torbjorn Fredriksson** – Head of the Economical and Digital Economy branch at the UN Trade and Development

– **Wolfgang Kleinwaechter** – Professor Emeritus of University of Aarhus, Denmark

– **Luca Belli** – Director of the CyberBRICS Project at FGV Law School, Professor at FGV Law School where he directs the Center for Technology and Society (participated via video)

**Additional speakers:**

None – all speakers who participated in the discussion were included in the provided speakers names list.

# WSIS Plus 20 Forum: Strengthening Digital Governance and International Cooperation for an Inclusive Digital Future

## Executive Summary

The WSIS Plus 20 Forum brought together representatives from governments, international organisations, enterprises, and think tanks to address the critical challenges of digital governance in an era of rapid technological advancement. Hosted by the Chinese Academy of Cyberspace Studies, the forum emphasised the urgent need for collaborative approaches to harness emerging technologies whilst ensuring equitable access and sustainable development. The discussion revealed both significant consensus on the need for international cooperation and notable disagreements on regulatory approaches and development priorities.

## Opening Framework and Key Principles

The forum was moderated by **Zhiqiang Lin** from the Data and Technical Support Centre of Cyberspace Administration of China, with **Bai Jiang**, Deputy Director General of Chinese Academy of Cyberspace Studies, representing the forum organisers. Bai established four foundational principles that guided the discussion: seizing AI opportunities for high-quality development, maintaining innovation and openness to ensure digital dividends reach all humanity, enhancing mutual trust to address security risks, and encouraging multi-stakeholder participation in global digital governance.

These principles reflected a broader vision of the internet as “a shared home of humanity” requiring collective responsibility for creating a clean, safe, and prosperous digital space. Bai highlighted China’s implementation of the Global AI Governance Initiative and extended invitations to participate in the 2025 World Internet Conference Wuzhen Summit, noting that “friendship is the only ship that never sinks,” quoting Karl Spitaler.

## The Governance Challenge: Speed and Complexity

**Dr Francis Gurry**, Vice Chair of the World Internet Conference and former Director-General of WIPO, provided a compelling framework for understanding contemporary digital governance challenges. He identified two fundamental issues: the unprecedented speed of technological adoption and the increasing complexity of emerging technologies like AI, quantum computing, and 5G networks.

Drawing on Arthur Conan Doyle’s observation that “knowledge begets knowledge as money bears interest,” Gurry illustrated the acceleration of technological adoption with concrete metrics. He noted that Netflix took three and a half years to reach one million users in 1999, Facebook required 13 months in 2004, whilst ChatGPT achieved the same milestone in just three days in 2022. This exponential acceleration is creating an ever-widening gap between technology deployment and regulatory responses.

The complexity challenge was equally significant, with Gurry observing that whilst we intuitively understand that innovation is quickening from our daily experiences, “we don’t really have a good measure of it.” He cited the ongoing controversy over AI training on copyrighted data as an example of how new technologies create divisive issues requiring international coordination, noting that 46 lawsuits are currently pending in the United States alone, reflecting “bitter divisions” between technology and cultural communities. This represents what he called “a classic case for international intervention.”

## AI for Good: Practical Applications and Global Initiatives

**Thomas Basikolo**, Program Coordinator of the ITU Telecom Communication Standardisation Bureau working in the AI for Good team, presented practical applications of technology for addressing global challenges. He outlined the AI for Good initiative, which serves as a platform for cross-sector collaboration aimed at leveraging artificial intelligence for societal benefit.

Basikolo highlighted specific programmes including “Innovate for Impact” and “Innovation Factory,” which develop AI solutions for healthcare, education, and climate action whilst addressing challenges such as energy consumption and the digital divide. These initiatives focus particularly on supporting local talent and entrepreneurship in developing countries, with concrete examples of capacity building programmes that have shown success in various regions.

The AI for Good approach represents a practical framework for ensuring that technological advancement serves inclusive development goals. Basikolo emphasised the importance of AI readiness frameworks to help countries prepare for digital transformation, acknowledging that whilst AI offers tremendous potential, it also presents challenges including massive energy consumption and the need for environmental standards to address e-waste and emissions.

## Infrastructure Development and Industry Integration

**Yuhong Huang**, General Manager of China Mobile Research Institute, provided insights into large-scale infrastructure deployment and its role in enabling digital transformation. China Mobile has built what Huang described as the world’s largest 5G network, with 2.5 million base stations, alongside significant AI computing infrastructure including 43 EFLOPs computing capacity, IPv6 barrier network, and 40-gigabit optical network to enable AICT (AI integrated with communication and IT technology infrastructure) development.

This infrastructure investment has yielded practical results, with over 50,000 5G use cases developed across vertical industries including healthcare, manufacturing, and smart cities. Huang noted the emergence of “new three products” – AI-embedded devices, intelligent electronic vehicles, and robots – replacing traditional consumer electronics like TV, refrigerator, and washing machine.

Through China Mobile’s Intelligence Integration Index (MI3) research conducted with Omedia and GTI, they identified several persistent challenges: uneven global digital infrastructure development, insufficient integration capabilities between AICT technologies and traditional industries, and shortage of AI talent limiting digital transformation. Huang also highlighted international partnerships including the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor Framework and joint laboratory with Cinemas group in Indonesia.

## Global Economic Perspectives and Sustainability Concerns

**Torbjörn Fredriksson**, Head of the Economic and Digital Economy branch at UN Trade and Development, provided a sobering analysis of the economic and environmental implications of digital transformation. His presentation included striking statistics that reframed the discussion around questions of global equity and sustainability.

Fredriksson noted that six major American technology companies have a combined market capitalisation of almost $17 trillion, which is six times greater than the total GDP of the African continent and 57 times more than all official development assistance provided by OECD countries. This comparison highlighted the extraordinary concentration of digital wealth and power.

The environmental challenges were equally concerning. Fredriksson explained the evolution of resource intensity in communication devices: smartphones in the 1960s required 10 elements from the periodic table, mobile phones in 1990 used 27 elements, whilst modern smartphones require 63 elements – more than half of all known elements. He projected that AI data centres are expected to consume more electricity than all energy-intensive industries combined in the United States, whilst demand for platinum group minerals could increase 500 times by 2060.

These statistics raised fundamental questions about the sustainability of current digital development trajectories and whether it is possible to obtain necessary minerals and metals “without sacrificing the world.”

## Governance Frameworks and International Cooperation Models

**Professor Wolfgang Kleinwaechter**, Professor Emeritus of University of Aarhus, Denmark, brought historical perspective and definitional clarity to the governance discussion. As a former member of the United Nations Working Group on Internet Governance with a mandate from Kofi Annan, Kleinwaechter emphasised the need for clear understanding of what constitutes governance in the digital age.

He outlined three elements of internet governance established 20 years ago: the multi-stakeholder approach involving governments, international organisations, businesses, academia, and civil society; the collaborative approach with shared principles, norms, and decision-making procedures; and the holistic approach covering both technical and policy layers. This framework, rooted in UN precedent, provided conceptual grounding for understanding governance challenges across different technologies and contexts.

Kleinwaechter advocated for political frameworks such as AI declarations rather than legally binding instruments at the global level, whilst maintaining that legally binding documents might be more appropriate at regional levels. This approach recognised the complexity of governing rapidly evolving technologies whilst maintaining flexibility for effective international cooperation.

## Global South Leadership and BRICS Cooperation

**Professor Luca Belli**, Director of the CyberBRICS Project at FGV Law School, participated via video to highlight the increasingly important role of Global South countries in shaping international digital policies. He emphasised BRICS as a significant “club governance mechanism” that facilitates cooperation among Global South nations on digital policy issues.

Belli noted that the first global cybercrime treaty was “lobbied intensely by several BRICS members” and “brokered also with the very important help of Brazilian diplomacy,” demonstrating Global South engagement in digital governance. Under the Brazilian BRICS presidency, there is a focus on strengthening Global South cooperation for inclusive and sustainable governance, with a commitment to create a global data framework for legal interoperability among member states.

This perspective highlighted a shift from traditional North-South dynamics in international governance, recognising emerging economies as key drivers of digital policy innovation.

## Engineering and Capacity Building Perspectives

**Ke Gong**, Executive Director of Chinese Institute of New Generation Artificial Intelligence Development Strategy and former President of World Federation of Engineering Organisations, provided insights into practical capacity building approaches, particularly highlighting the UN General Assembly resolution “Enhancing the International Collaboration on Capacity Building of Artificial Intelligence.”

Gong detailed successful engineering capacity building programmes in Africa, specifically describing a Kenya pilot program involving 50 engineers from Kenya Power, Kenya Railway, and 10+ industrial companies. The five-day program was described by participants as “eye-opening, enlightening, engaging, exciting,” demonstrating how targeted capacity building initiatives can create sustainable foundations for digital development in emerging economies.

## Areas of Consensus and Continuing Challenges

The forum revealed strong consensus on several key principles. All speakers agreed that international cooperation is essential for effective digital governance, with unanimous support for multistakeholder approaches involving multiple types of organisations and communities. There was also agreement that digital technologies must serve inclusive development and bridge digital divides rather than exacerbate existing inequalities.

The speed and complexity of technological change creating significant governance challenges was universally acknowledged, with all speakers recognising that traditional governance mechanisms struggle to keep pace with rapid innovation cycles. Notably, there was also strong consensus on environmental sustainability concerns, despite the forum’s focus on promoting digital technologies.

However, significant disagreements emerged on specific approaches. The most notable concerned regulatory mechanisms, with Gurry emphasising the need for international cooperation to address regulatory gaps, whilst Kleinwaechter specifically advocated against legally binding instruments at the global level, preferring political frameworks and declarations.

Different speakers also emphasised different priorities: Basikolo highlighted the benefits of AI through initiatives like AI for Good, whilst Fredriksson focused on environmental costs and unsustainable resource consumption. Similarly, Huang emphasised building massive infrastructure and expanding capabilities, whilst Fredriksson highlighted the problematic concentration of digital wealth and power.

## Future Commitments and Action Items

The forum generated several concrete commitments for future action. The Chinese Academy of Cyberspace Studies committed to hosting forums at the 2025 World Internet Conference Wuzhen Summit, with global think tanks contributing papers on building communities with shared future in cyberspace. The release of the 9th annual World Internet Development Report will present the latest achievements on global internet development and governance.

International cooperation initiatives will continue, including expansion of AI for Good programmes and engineering capacity building programmes in Africa following successful pilots. The development of AI readiness frameworks to help countries prepare for digital transformation represents another concrete outcome, whilst BRICS committed to creating a global data framework for legal interoperability among member states under the Brazilian presidency.

## Implications for Future Digital Governance

The forum revealed both the promise and complexity of international cooperation on digital governance. The strong consensus on the need for inclusive, sustainable, and collaborative approaches provides a foundation for future cooperation, whilst disagreements on specific mechanisms highlight the challenges of translating broad agreement into concrete policy actions.

The recognition of Global South leadership and the importance of environmental sustainability represents a maturing of digital governance discussions beyond purely technical considerations. The emphasis on practical capacity building and concrete applications demonstrates a shift towards implementation-focused approaches.

The discussion ultimately reinforced that digital governance is not merely a technical challenge but a fundamental question of how humanity will shape its technological future to serve the common good whilst preserving essential values and ensuring sustainable development for all. The combination of global cooperation with local needs-based approaches appears to offer the most promising path forward for addressing the complex challenges of governing digital transformation in an interconnected world.

Zhiqiang Lin: Okay, it’s time. Let’s get started. Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, good morning, everyone. I’m Lin Zhiqiang from the Data and Technical Support Center of Cyberspace Administration of China. Welcome to the WSIS Plus 430 Forum, hosted by the Chinese Academy of Cyberspace Studies, focusing on strengthening digital governance and international cooperation of an inclusive digital future. We have convened global representatives from governments, international organizations, enterprises, and think tanks to deliberate critical topics, applications, and challenges of emerging technologies in building an information society, global digital governance mechanisms, and international cooperation. Our goal is to collectively advance the capacity building in digital governance, promote AI 5G adoption, and foster global digital cooperation. Now, let’s get started. First, I’m delighted to invite Mr. Bai Jiang, representative of the forum organizers, and Deputy Director General of Chinese Academy of Cyberspace Studies, to deliver opening remarks. Bai Jiang Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,

Jiang Bai: good morning. It’s an honor and pleasure to gather with you in Geneva, the city of peace. On behalf of the Chinese Academy of Cyberspace Studies, I warmly welcome all participants to this WSIS Plus 20 High-Level Event Forum. Our discussions will focus on strengthening digital governance and international cooperation for a closer digital future. The Internet is a shared home of all humanity. It is the common responsibility of the international community to make this home cleaner, safer, and more prosperous. As WSIS Plus 20 marks a significant milestone from the perspective of a think tank, I would like to share some observations on how to strengthen digital governance and international cooperation. First, we should seize the opportunities presented by AI to advance high-quality development of the information society. We must proactively embrace these historical opportunities, continue to deepen the integration of AI with real-world applications, and fully unleash expectations to empower economic and social progress so as to jointly build a smarter, more efficient, and brighter future for humanity. Second, we should stay committed to innovation and openness to ensure digital dividends are enjoyed by all humanity. China is actively implementing the Global AI Governance Initiative, providing more public goods to the international community by translating divisions through openness. We advocate for global sharing of AI. of Air Research Research. By narrowing the digital divide, we can enable our countries to share in the dividends of digital progress and work together to build an inclusive, equitable, and sustainable digital future. Second, third, we should enhance mutual trust, dialogue, and exchange to jointly address security risks and challenges, so as to maintain a peaceful, secure, open, cooperative, and orderly cyberspace. Fourth, we should encourage active participation from all parties and work together to build a global digital governance system. In the face of growing digital divides, lacking essential frameworks and a fragmented governance, we shall strengthen international cooperation and advocate multilateral and multi-party participation in global digital governance. We call on governments, international organizations, businesses, academia, and social organizations around the world to join and engage in the global digital governance agenda and promote building open, fair, and efficient governance mechanism. Chinese academia of cyberspace studies under the leadership of Cyberspace Administration of China is a national leader think tank specialized on cyberspace affairs. We are much willing to develop exchanges and cooperation with international organizations, global research institutes, enterprise, et cetera. At the 2025 World Internet Conference Wu Zheng Summit, Chinese Academy of Cyberspace Studies will host a few more at-release papers contributing from global think tanks on joint-built communities with a shared future in cyberspace. We sincerely invite all friends to participate in engaging discussions on global digital development and cooperation. We will release the 9th annual World Internet Development Report presenting the latest achievements on global internet development and governance. As Karl Spitaler, the Swiss Nobel laureate in literature, once said, there is no greater happiness than having friends who share the same breath and destiny with oneself. Together, let’s join hands to promote innovative, secure, and inclusive development in cyberspace, jointly promote the building of a community with a shared future in cyberspace, and stride confidently towards a bright digital future. To conclude, I wish the Forum a great success. Thank you.

Zhiqiang Lin: Thank you, Mr. Bai. Let’s move to the next session, keynote speech. We have previously consulted with experts and various institutions to determine these two topics for discussion. Kindly note that it is just speech time, so I shall be with you. The first topic is Application and Challenges of Emerging Technologies in Building the Information Society. It is our great honor to welcome Dr. Francis Gurry, Vice Chair of the World Internet Conference, former Director-General of WIPO, to deliver a keynote speech. Welcome.

Francis Gurry: Thank you. Thank you very much, Mr. Lin Zhiqiang. Ladies and gentlemen, very good morning to you all. It’s a great pleasure to be here, and I’d like to thank the Chinese Academy of Cyberspace Studies for this opportunity to speak. Mr. Bai Jiang has set out a number of principles for governance to which I wholly subscribe. I’m going to speak about two aspects of governance, two challenges to governance, I think, that are brought about by digital technology in particular, but to some extent all technologies now, and conclude with one point for governance system design, which really is balance. So of the two challenges, I think that speed and complexity of contemporary technology are complicating the task of governance, and in particular, the life of our traditional institutions for governance, which were really developed in the Industrial Age, as I think we’re all very much aware. We know that the pace of innovation is very much quickening, and we know that from our daily lives. We don’t really have a good measure of it. However, I go back to Sherlock Holmes and Arthur Conan Doyle, who wrote in the 19th century, in 1885, that knowledge begets knowledge, as money bears interest. And so just as we have invention of new things, their deployment socially is speeding up at a great speed. Netflix, for example, it took Netflix three and a half years to reach 1 million users in 1999. It took Facebook 13 months to reach 1 million users in 2004, and it took ChatGPT three days to reach 1 million users in 2022. Now, at the same time as we have this great speed occurring, we also have complexity. And artificial intelligence, of course, quantum computing, 5G, 6G, nanotechnology, bioengineering, bioinformatics are only some of the very, very sophisticated fields of technology that are moving at this greater speed. So these twin, I think, challenges of speed and complexity are really major governance challenges for us. One challenge is the growing lag between the appearance and adoption of new technologies and the legislative or parliamentary or government response. And by definition, I think we know that radical new technologies don’t have a specific regulatory framework because they’re new. And so it may be that some existing laws do apply. We know we have protection of minors, defamation, privacy, personal information protection and so on. But there may also be voids or an inadequate. so many issues, the preoccupation of attention may go with one side and not the other. So in my view, there has been quite a preoccupation in Europe over the AI Act, and that has occupied much of the space, perhaps to the detriment of attention to strategy and industrial policy. But I just cited the example of Japan, where you have the opposite, really. It is an emphasis on industrial policy and strategy as opposed to, perhaps, the regulatory side. And the reason for this is quite simple, I think. It’s that governments don’t want to disadvantage their own economic actors. They don’t want to take a step which will put their economic actors and companies at a disadvantage from a regulatory point of view compared to other governments. This is the classic case for international, of course, intervention when you get a situation like this. And I’m perhaps running out of time, so I should be very quick. I have two more points, if I may, quickly. I think the one example is in my particular area, which is the training of AI models on copyrighted data and whether this is lawful or not. It’s a big issue all around the world, as we all know. And we’ve seen a lot of action on this. But it has really divided the tech community, on the one hand, from the cultural community, on the other hand. It’s quite a bitter division. We saw that play out, for example, in the United Kingdom, where the government came down on the side of the tech community, again, for the reason of not disadvantaging their own economic actors, even though the UK has an extraordinarily strong cultural industry. But this is playing out in all countries. It’s not just the UK. So my very last point is… And by the way, on that particular point, there are 46 lawsuits in the United States of America over this question, including all the content industries and then on one side and the tech operators on the other side. So my last point would be that as we go forward with governance, I think it’s going to be very important to find the appropriate balance between, on the one hand, the interests of innovation and making sure that we do get new technologies that can be extremely useful and beneficial for society and in facing all of our challenges, but on the other hand, not to ignore some of the traditional values of society, such as culture and cultural creation in the particular example that I cited. So thank you very much.

Zhiqiang Lin: Thank you, Dr. Gurry, for sharing your wonderful insights on technology governance challenges. Next, let’s invite Mr. Thomas Basikolo, Program Coordinator of the ITU Telecom Communication Standardization Bureau, to give a speech. Welcome.

Thomas Basikolo: Thank you so much. Ladies and gentlemen, good morning. First of all, I would like to give appreciation to the Chinese Academy of Cyberspace Studies for organizing this interesting session. We did appreciate your organization, as well as to WSIS for providing the forum. In my case, I would like to dwell on one area, which is AI, which is something that is at my heart. I do work at ITU in the AI for Good team, so we’re just having an event next door. So that’s why I would like to dwell on this topic, because I think it’s relevant to the discussion today. And the theme on applications and challenges of emerging technologies. First, I would like to highlight the applications. Of course, yesterday we had the Governance Day, which highlighted not only the positive aspects. We know that AI is a double-edged sword, which can be used for good, but also in other cases, unfortunately, can be used in bad instances. But we do know that emerging technologies, in this case, are really good to shape an inclusive digital future. For me, In my role being part of ITU, I’ve seen firsthand how the advancement of digital technologies can help to bring positive change. And in this case, in terms of digital technologies, over the past few years, I would say, in terms of AI, we have seen that there is a digital revolution being brought by these technologies. So we have seen advancements in AI, machine learning, but also other technologies in general. I think over the past five years, we’ve seen how blockchain, metaverse, augmented reality, they are also shaping our society. So these emerging technologies, they are redefining how we communicate, how we work, and also how we solve global challenges. And in our case, the innovations, they hold a good promise to build a robust information society, and we would like to have a society, one that is inclusive, that is sustainable, but also that is resilient. We don’t want to have a society that continue to bring the digital device or to increase the device. And we see that, of course, with great potential in terms of these technologies, there is also significant responsibility that we need to bear as a society. And the journey to harness these technologies so that it can benefit everyone is not without obstacles, and it is through strengthened digital governance, international cooperation, we can overcome these challenges. And one of the most inspiring examples that we are working on, I would highlight different examples from the AI for Good team. And this global platform is bringing together experts from different fields to develop AI solutions that can address the pressing societal challenges. These are from different sectors, from different domains such as health care, education, to climate action and disaster response. And AI for Good, at the moment, I would say it’s not just a forum for discussion, it is a catalyst for action. And through the different projects under the AI for Good, we are turning innovative ideas into real-world impact. And one important aspect is we have a project called Innovate for Impact, which supports experts and scholars from around the world, especially in developing countries, to develop AI-driven solutions that are tailored to local needs. So by focusing on these real-world problems, but also fostering cross-sector collaboration, this is one of the examples that is demonstrating how technology can be harnessed to bridge the gaps, but also build an inclusive society. And to complement these efforts, we also have another project, which is Innovation Factory. And this project is basically to nurture local talent and technology entrepreneurship, so that we can accelerate development of digital solutions. So by providing mentorship, providing resources, providing incubation, and a platform of digital solutions. So we do help the innovators to turn their ideas into scalable and impactful products and services. And if you go to the exhibition space, you’d find several interesting projects from the Innovate for Impact, showcasing their solutions, exhibiting their solutions that are driving change in society, from climate change, to healthcare, to education, and natural disaster management. All you can see there that are part of the Innovation Factory. So this not only drives economic growth, but also it strengthens the digital ecosystem from the grassroots. So it’s not only projects from the developing country, but also from the developed world, but also from developing countries. So we try to make sure that we drive positive change in the developing world as well. And of course, technology alone is not enough. We also want to build an inclusive information society, we must invest in people. So talent is another important aspect. And with this, we focus mainly on the youth, because we know that the youth are the future, the next generation that is going to build our ecosystem, technological ecosystem. So we have different projects, we have the AI Skills Coalition, we have the ITU AI Machine Learning Competitions. And these have emerged to be path two for youth engagement and capacity development, because we are providing real world problems that students can solve. So it complements their academic theoretical studies in classroom with real world data that they can use to complement and solve real world problems, but also they are contributing to the advancement of technology. So these competitions, they provide young innovators in developing countries with the skills, the mentorship and global and Prof. Thomas Basikolo. So, by tackling real-world challenges, the participants also gain hands-on experience to become active contributors on the digital revolution. And of course, to support these initiatives, these projects, we also have a project called AI Readiness, which plays a big role in helping countries, not only countries but also domains, to prepare for the digital age. And the project provides policymakers with the tools and frameworks they need to develop inclusive digital policies, but also infrastructure. And by focusing on readiness, we ensure that no one is left behind in the digital transformation. But of course, we have these successful projects, but it comes at a cost. We have also significant challenges that still remain. The rapid pace of technology, we can see, can outstrip governance frameworks. So, there has been discussion on how much can we bring our regulation. Is regulation stifling innovation? We have all these issues that we still need to come together to discuss and find solutions. And marginalized communities, particularly in rural and low-income areas, they risk being excluded to benefit from the digital innovation. But of course, the environmental impact cannot go unnoticed. Because these technologies, for example, AI, if you are talking about AI, of course, we have to make sure that we separate. We have the machine learning, natural language processing, deep learning, and then we have large language models. So, in the case of generative AI foundation models or large language models, we have seen that there’s issues with energy consumption. At technology, on its own, we have issues in terms of e-waste. So, we need to focus on these issues as well. We just don’t want to talk about the positive aspects, but also we need to include the negative aspects. And at ITU, we are committed to advance sustainability initiatives through different collaborative projects. We have the Green Digital Action, which promotes responsible digital transformation. We have Study Group 5, which develop international standards in environment, e-waste, and of course, emissions. Looking ahead, I believe that the path to inclusive digital future lies on collaboration. So, we need to make sure that we are collaborating, we are working together with different stakeholders. And by strengthening digital governance and international collaboration, we can ensure that emerging technologies save the common good. And at ITU, together with partners, we remain dedicated to build a world where digital opportunities are accessible to all, and where innovation is guided by principles of equity, accountability, and sustainability. So, at this point, I would like to thank you all for your commitment to shape a better digital future, and I hope together we can build an information society that leaves no one behind. Thank you very much.

Zhiqiang Lin: Thank you, Mr. Basikolo. Thank you, Dr. Basikolo, for your sharing on the latest update of ITU and AI for Good in promoting the application and digital technologies. Now let’s welcome Mr. Huang Yuhong, General Manager of China Mobile Research Institute to give a speech. Welcome.

Yuhong Huang: Okay, ladies and gentlemen, good morning. I’m Huang Yuhong from China Mobile Research Institute. I’m very glad to join this forum to share with you about China Mobile’s practice in advancing the development of the latest ICT AI technology to build an inclusive digital future. Here I have a slide. As we all know that the latest ICT technology, like 5G, AI, is shaping the global socioeconomic landscape, influence a lot our daily life, the manufacturing, the governments, to make it more convenient, efficient, and productive. To make it happen, we think the AICT – AICT, I call it – is AI integrated with communication and IT technology infrastructure. We think a telecom operator should – we played an important role to build a strong and ubiquitous advanced infrastructure to enable the AICT development. So I’ll share about China Mobile’s practice. For information infrastructure, China Mobile has built the world’s largest network. For the mobile, for 5G, we already built 2.5 million base stations, which account for one-third of the total number of the global 5G base stations. And we also built the largest IPv6 barrier network, and built the world’s first 40-gigabit optical network. As for the AI computing capability, we built important and the largest, very powerful computability infrastructure. We already have 43 EFLOPs computing capacity, and we connected all the IDCs to provide cloud edge terminal computing power collaboration. As for the AI engine, China Mobile developed our in-house AI-powered enabled engine. We built our multi-modal large models, AI models, support large language model, and also a vision model, speech model, data model, which can be used in different scenarios. And importantly, we think we need to make our infrastructure a 5G AI capability to empower the industry’s transformation to digital intelligence. So actually, we have already developed. more than 50,000 5G user case to enhance the vertical industry like tourist, health care, manufacturing, power grid, smart city, education, etc. The gentleman from ITU just mentioned AI consume a lot of energy. But we think AI can also help the energy industry to save the energy. So we think it’s very important to use this technology to bring the green development. And for our daily life, China Mobile also worked with our partner to empower our smart digital life. For example, we developed 5G new calling capability. That is, when we’re doing a phone call, we can, for example, the caller in different country, you can experience the simultaneous translation. And so it’s very important and a very good service to our customer. We also developed our AI agent called Lingxi to do our customer service. And we also actually work with our partner to provide, we call it new three products for our customer. Before in China, every family need three important things. That is TV, refrigerator, and the washing machine. Now we think the new products is also very important for consumer service, that is AI-embedded device, the intelligent electronic vehicle and robots. So we worked with our partner to develop those kind of product to serve our customer. With the very promising development, we still see there’s a challenge. Here I’d like to share that Chen Mobile worked together with Omedia and the GTI. We do a research to analyze the, we call it, an index, we call it Mobile Intelligence Integration Index. This MI3 is to evaluate the level of the global mobile intelligence integrated development and offer reference and guidance to the relevant stakeholders. With this research, we found that the global, there is an even development for the digital infrastructure. So that is a global digital infrastructure gap. And we also noticed there’s insufficient integration of the AICT’s capability with vertical industry. The traditional vertical industry lack of the capability to integrate with the latest technology. And the third one, we think, is shortage of the AI talents. To tackle those challenges, we think a global cooperation open. and Global Cooperation is very important. So China Mobile actually participates in global organizations like ITU. We participate in the activities in ITU for AI for Good. We contribute our best practice to sharing our 5G AI user case. And we also participate in GSMA together with a telecom operator to promote the telecom authentic AI. And also for the GTI, actually China Mobile is the founder of GTI, which is also a global cooperation platform. We developed a program named 5G AI to promote the global cooperation for the technology innovation, the product innovation, and the service innovation for 5G times AI. We already developed many user cases and set up labs for the collaborative cooperation. And we also set up an international partnership. For example, we have a joint AI education initiative and the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor Framework to help to have more AI talent. We also set up a joint lab with a cinemas group that is in Indonesia to promote the AI service. So let’s just share some practice of our China Mobile promoting the latest technology and promoting the global cooperation to

Zhiqiang Lin: Thank you, Mr. Huang, your unique perspective from an enterprise offers a vivid example of how the new generation of ICT can empower our life and our product. Now let’s move to the second topic, Global Digital Governance Mechanism and International Cooperation. It’s our pleasure to invite Prof. Gong Ke, Executive Director of Chinese Institute of New Generation Artificial Intelligence Development Strategy, former President of World Federal of Engineering Organization, to share his insight. Welcome.

Ke Gong: Thank you. Thank you so much, Chair. Very good morning to all of you. On my behalf of the Special Task Force for Engineering Capacity Building for Africa program, to give you a concrete, tangible example on the international collaboration for the AI capacity building. So just one year ago in New York, the United Nations General Assembly has adopted a very, very important resolution, which is titled Enhancing the International Collaboration on Capacity Building of Artificial Intelligence. And later in the Global Compact of – Global Digital Compact, the GDC, the capacity building also stressed why the capacity building is so important, because the AI capacity gap We are a digital-plus engineering program. We leverage digital technology to plus various engineering profession practices. And we also try to embed the ethical principles into our courses so we can leverage technology for the African engineers to carry out digital transformation in an ethical way. So the purpose is to enhance the capacity in engineering education, to enhance the capacity of continuous professional development, and to enhance the capacity of engineering transfer or digital adoption. So we are going to set up some capacity-building centers in different parts of the African continent. And with this center, we mobilize the international experts, courses, tools, funds into African continent. So we have inaugurated this program early this year in Kenya. We have 50 engineers from workplaces, from the Kenya Power, Kenya Railway Station, Railway, and so on and so forth, more than 10 industrial companies. And they brought their own data by using the big fundamental model and to treat those data to make some predictions. So five full-day program attracted a lot of interest of engineers. And these are their feedbacks. So eye-opening, enlightening, engaging, exciting, and so on and so forth. What is we learned from the success of the inauguration, we call it the The pilot training is that first, there’s really the local need-based. So we call for participation, and they pay their fees to attend these courses. And also, they’re organized based, they’re locally organized. We work closely with the Institute of Engineers of Kenya together. They gather this workshop, and we got support from industry, from academia, from the universities. And also, we got support from international organizations. We used, we leveraged the convening power of UNESCO to do this. And also, we work with United Nations University. They are going to certificate our courses. So that’s a real application example for the international collaboration on engineering capacity building. So I just stop here. We look forward to working with all of you together to strengthen this effort to make this a great success for Africa and for the whole world. Thank you so much.

Zhiqiang Lin: Thank you, Professor. Now, next, let’s welcome Mr. Torbjörn Fredriksson, Head of the Economical and Digital Economy branch at the UN Trade and Development. Welcome.

Torbjorn Fredriksson: Thank you very much. In the interest of time, I think I will skip my prepared presentation and just make some reflections. I very much like the comments by Dr. Guri about speed and complexity. This speed, we can also get carried away by all these new things that are happening. And from our perspective, from the UN Conference on Trade and Development, our main concern is that we don’t lose track of those that are not at the frontier. It’s very much, as was said, stress that there is a high level of concentration. Where is this most exciting things happening? It’s not in Europe. I say it’s in China, in the U.S. And because of the speed and the complexity of what we’re seeing now, it’s also a tremendous challenge for governments in every country, I would say, to really keep track of what should we look at and what should we look at. Just to illustrate this complexity issue, we have recently presented our digital economy report where we looked at the interface between digitalization and environmental sustainability. And if you look at the just a simple thing, you would think as a phone. When we produce phones in the in the 60s, that lasted for many decades, of course, you needed 10 different elements from the periodic table. 10. By the first mobile phones at 1990, we used 27 elements. And in the smartphones that we are using today, you’re all sitting with it, it takes 63 elements from the periodic table. That’s more than half of all the components and elements that exist in the world for one smartphone. That just shows the complexity and also the artificial intelligence here. It is now anticipated that the energy consumption of data centers linked to AI development, especially the generative types of AI, will consume more electricity in the U.S. than all the energy intensive other industries taken together, like cement, steel, and so on and so forth. The challenge is what do we do about that? Because as this is happening, we have a very strong tendency of looking at the potential opportunities that all this AI, blockchain, and other technologies can bring. How do we give equal attention to the potential downsides of this, so that when we finally get to come together and govern what’s happening, it’s not too soon. Right now, we’re seeing the combination of digitalization and the need to shift to more green technologies, more renewable energies and so on and so forth. It’s creating tremendous demand for certain critical minerals, so much so that some of these, especially the platinum group, they’re expected to be 500 times more in 2060. It’s a big question mark. Can we get these minerals and metals to continue this, to sustain this, without sacrificing the world? In fact, you can see a good illustration of this by looking at the interest from governments and from companies to start mining in the deep seas, because they are worried that they can’t find it on the Earth’s crust. And the strong interest in mining outer space. All of this creates tremendous governance challenges, because it’s not clearly defined who controls these parts, who will take care of the potential downside, the increasing space waste, and so on and so forth. But at this time, I will just say that the issue of governance is so important, and I fully, strongly agree with the need for international efforts, because this is not for individual countries to manage, and the need also for having more international cooperation. I cannot help ending my remarks with a comparison here. We have six companies, all American, leading in terms of value in the world. These six companies, they are worth almost $17 trillion, trillion dollars in market capitalization value. Let’s compare that. That’s six times more than the total value of the African continent’s GDP, and it is 57 times more than all the official development standards. assistance by all the OECD countries. Surely, we must be able to secure more funding to create an inclusive digital economy to help those countries that are lagging behind to build the capabilities, the infrastructure, and the governance that is needed to make it a good world. Thank you very much.

Zhiqiang Lin: Thank you, Mr. for the full direction. Now, let’s invite Prof. Wolfgang Kleinwaechter, Prof. Emeritus of University of Aarhus, Denmark. Welcome.

Wolfgang Kleinwaechter: Thank you. Can you hear me? Yes. Thank you very much. I see we are running out of time, and so I will be very brief. Thank you for the invitation. My presentation fits directly to what Torbjörn has just said, because as an academic person, we are dealing with definitions. This leads to the definition what we understand under digital governance in the digital future. We have now a confusing number of different terminologies. We are speaking about artificial governance. I was in a workshop the day before yesterday on quantum governance. I was involved 20 years ago. This is a plus 20 event here when we defined internet governance. I think we should clarify what is our understanding of governance in the digital age and why we will see a proliferation of terminologies like digital cyber governance, data governance. We have now a working group on data governance in the UNCSTD. We should remember the basics. I was a member. of the United Nations Working Group on Internet Governance, which had a mandate from the Secretary General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, 20 years ago to define internet governance. And we had a difficult time to agree on a narrow definition or a broad definition. We decided in favor of a broad definition, which was then adopted by the 193 member states in the Tunis Summit on the World Information Society. And this broad definition has three elements, which in my eyes are very relevant for all forms of governance in the digital age, including AI governance, digital governance, quantum governance, cyber governance, or data governance. So the first element is that it says, you know, if you come to governance mechanism, you have to involve all stakeholders. So the mighty stakeholder approach is important. The second element was, so internet governance has to be based on shared principle norms, programs, and decision-making procedures. So that is the collaborative approach. You have to work together and to share. I think this is the sharing and the collaborative approach. And the third element was we referred to the evolution and the use of the internet that is the technical and the application layer. We all know the internet is a layered system. And so what you need is to have a holistic approach, which includes not only the technical aspects, but also the policy applications in particular consequences for internet related public policy issues. So, and I think this three elements, the mighty stakeholder approach, the collaborative approach, and the holistic approach is very relevant for digital governance, for AI governance, and as a form of governance in the digital age. To clarify this, This issue is important if we move to regulation. I will not go deeper in the challenges which are coming with regulation, because in particular in the field of AI, we see also a huge debate how far we should go with regulation. One speaker has mentioned the conflict between regulation and innovation, how we can settle this. My recommendation also for the new AI bodies in the context of the United Nations, the AI panel and the AI dialogue, is not to look for a legally binding instrument on the global level, but for something like an AI declaration, which could be adopted in 2027, when the first GDC review and the IGF review is on the table. Legally binding instruments are probably good for the local level and the regional level, as we have seen in the European context or in the Council of Europe context, which have also a legally binding document. But on the UN level, it’s probably better to work towards political frameworks, as we have from the UNESCO, the AI recommendation on ethics. And if the United Nations want to do something, then probably a general declaration, a universal declaration on AI, which is based on the OECD principles from 2019, could be a step forward. Thank you very much for your attention.

Zhiqiang Lin: Thank you, Professor Koller-Wurz. Now let’s invite Professor Prof. Luca Belli, Director of the CyberBRICS Project at FIDACO, Titolio, Vegas, Brazil, to share his insights with the video.

Luca Belli: Good morning, and thank you very much. for having invited me to this session on Strengthen Digital Governance and International Cooperation to Build an Inclusive Digital Future. I think this is an excellent topic, a very timely topic. I would like to salute the initiative of the Chinese Academy for Cyberspace Studies for organizing this session. My name is Luca Belli, I’m a professor here at FGV Law School where I direct the Center for Technology and Society and also the CyberBRICS project that has been mapping the digital policies of the BRICS groupings, so Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, and then the six new groupings, Ethiopia, Egypt, Iran, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, and how this grouping has facilitated what in internet governance vernacular we can call enhanced cooperation to solve digital matters, right? So I think that over the past 10 years especially we have seen the BRICS playing a very important role as a club governance mechanism that facilitates cooperation amongst member states and also recently together also with the associate countries, the partner countries, an increasing number of these countries coming from the global south. And I think that it really it is really interesting to pay attention to BRICS dynamic precisely because this is the only club governance mechanism that facilitates interaction amongst global south leaders and with the aim to then create policy suggestions and articulate support for those policy suggestions to propose them at the International level, especially at the UN level, being the UN the only organization that is recognized as the appropriate venue, the appropriate forum, to discuss international digital policies and have them implemented into concrete output. And let me give you a very, very interesting example. A case in point of this cooperation is the very recent adoption of the Convention against Cybercrime, which has been lobbied intensely by several BRICS members, brokered also with the very important help of Brazilian diplomacy that played a key role into this. And the result has been the adoption of the first global treaty on digital matters, quintessentially lobbied for and created by global South leaders. Now, of course, as any treaty, this can be criticized, but it is a very interesting example of why paying attention to BRICS dynamics is very important. It has become actually key in internet policy and digital policy matters. A very interesting evolution that also has been witnessed by our research on data governance and cybersecurity has been also the recent commitment since the Kazan Declaration in 2024 to create a global data framework that facilitates legal interoperability amongst different policy frameworks that are already existing at the national level in the BRICS group. So these are only a few examples of how the BRICS can play a very important role, is already playing actually a very important role in facilitating dialogue, also creating a sort of policy incubator. where then solutions that are conceived in the Global South by global majority leaders can then be brought at the international level and adopted. And I think that a very important way also to witness this is the choice of the Brazilian presidency of the BRICS grouping that has chosen for 2025, the year of the presidency, the team is strengthening Global South cooperation for more inclusive and sustainable governance. And this really witnessed the intention of the grouping and especially this year under the Brazilian chairmanship to intensely lobby for a more inclusive and sustainable governance including in regards to digital matters. Thank you very much for having me and I wish you an excellent conference. Bye-bye.

Zhiqiang Lin: Thanks for a very time flat. We have to end the forum. Thank all the judges and the colleges for their wisdom and efforts contributed to this forum. Also, we need to appreciate the high-level event secretaries for providing us with a great platform for exchanges. Thank you for your participation. Let’s end. Thank you.

Agreement points

International cooperation is essential for effective digital governance

Speakers

– Francis Gurry
– Wolfgang Kleinwaechter
– Luca Belli
– Thomas Basikolo
– Jiang Bai
– Zhiqiang Lin

Arguments

International cooperation crucial when governments avoid disadvantaging their own economic actors through regulation

Need for multistakeholder approach, collaborative mechanisms, and holistic governance covering technical and policy layers

BRICS serves as important club governance mechanism facilitating Global South cooperation on digital policies

Need for AI readiness frameworks to help countries prepare for digital transformation

Enhanced mutual trust, dialogue, and multilateral participation essential for addressing security risks

WSIS Plus 20 Forum aims to strengthen digital governance and international cooperation for inclusive digital future

Summary

All speakers emphasized that digital governance challenges are too complex and global in nature to be addressed by individual countries alone, requiring coordinated international cooperation, multilateral approaches, and collaborative frameworks involving multiple stakeholders.

Topics

Legal and regulatory | Development | Capacity development

Digital technologies must serve inclusive development and bridge digital divides

Speakers

– Thomas Basikolo
– Jiang Bai
– Yuhong Huang
– Torbjorn Fredriksson

Arguments

AI for Good platform demonstrates how technology can address societal challenges through cross-sector collaboration

Need for innovation, openness, and global sharing of AI research to ensure digital dividends benefit all humanity

Over 50,000 5G use cases developed across vertical industries like healthcare, manufacturing, and smart cities

Six major tech companies worth $17 trillion highlight concentration of digital power and need for inclusive development

Summary

Speakers agreed that digital technologies should be developed and deployed to ensure inclusive benefits for all, particularly addressing the needs of developing countries and marginalized communities, rather than concentrating benefits among a few major players.

Topics

Development | Digital access | Economic

Speed and complexity of technological change create significant governance challenges

Speakers

– Francis Gurry
– Wolfgang Kleinwaechter
– Torbjorn Fredriksson

Arguments

Speed and complexity of technology are creating governance challenges, with traditional institutions struggling to keep pace with rapid innovation

Need for multistakeholder approach, collaborative mechanisms, and holistic governance covering technical and policy layers

Modern smartphones require 63 elements from periodic table, showing increasing complexity and resource demands

Summary

Speakers acknowledged that the rapid pace of technological innovation and increasing complexity of digital systems are outpacing traditional governance mechanisms, requiring new approaches to regulation and oversight.

Topics

Legal and regulatory | Infrastructure | Development

Similar viewpoints

Both speakers emphasized the challenges of traditional regulatory approaches in addressing rapidly evolving technologies and suggested more flexible, collaborative governance frameworks rather than rigid legal instruments at the global level.

Speakers

– Francis Gurry
– Wolfgang Kleinwaechter

Arguments

Growing lag between technology adoption and legislative response creates regulatory voids and inadequate frameworks

Preference for political frameworks like AI declarations over legally binding instruments at global level

Topics

Legal and regulatory | Human rights principles

Both speakers highlighted successful examples of capacity building programs that support local talent development in developing countries, particularly in Africa, through international collaboration and practical training initiatives.

Speakers

– Thomas Basikolo
– Ke Gong

Arguments

Projects like Innovate for Impact and Innovation Factory support local talent and entrepreneurship in developing countries

Engineering capacity building programs in Africa show successful model for international AI collaboration

Topics

Development | Capacity development | Online education

Both speakers acknowledged the significant environmental challenges posed by digital technologies, including energy consumption, e-waste, and resource depletion, emphasizing the need for sustainable approaches to digital development.

Speakers

– Thomas Basikolo
– Torbjorn Fredriksson

Arguments

Green Digital Action and environmental standards needed to address e-waste and emissions from digital technologies

AI data centers expected to consume more electricity than all energy-intensive industries combined in the US

Critical mineral demands may increase 500 times by 2060, raising questions about sustainable technology development

Topics

Development | Sustainable development | E-waste

Unexpected consensus

Environmental sustainability concerns in digital development

Speakers

– Thomas Basikolo
– Torbjorn Fredriksson
– Yuhong Huang

Arguments

Green Digital Action and environmental standards needed to address e-waste and emissions from digital technologies

AI data centers expected to consume more electricity than all energy-intensive industries combined in the US

Global digital infrastructure gaps and insufficient integration with traditional industries remain major challenges

Explanation

Despite the forum’s focus on promoting digital technologies and AI development, there was unexpected consensus among speakers about the serious environmental challenges posed by digital technologies. This suggests a mature understanding that technological advancement must be balanced with sustainability concerns.

Topics

Development | Sustainable development | Infrastructure

Global South leadership in digital governance

Speakers

– Luca Belli
– Ke Gong
– Jiang Bai

Arguments

BRICS successfully lobbied for first global cybercrime treaty, demonstrating Global South leadership in digital governance

Engineering capacity building programs in Africa show successful model for international AI collaboration

Need for innovation, openness, and global sharing of AI research to ensure digital dividends benefit all humanity

Explanation

There was unexpected consensus on the importance of Global South leadership and participation in digital governance, moving beyond traditional North-South dynamics to recognize emerging economies as key drivers of digital policy innovation.

Topics

Legal and regulatory | Development | Capacity development

Overall assessment

Summary

The speakers demonstrated strong consensus on the need for international cooperation in digital governance, the importance of inclusive development that bridges digital divides, and the recognition that technological complexity requires new governance approaches. There was also unexpected agreement on environmental sustainability concerns and the value of Global South leadership in digital policy.

Consensus level

High level of consensus with significant implications for digital governance policy. The agreement suggests a mature understanding that digital transformation requires collaborative, inclusive, and sustainable approaches rather than purely technology-driven solutions. This consensus could facilitate more effective international cooperation and policy coordination in digital governance initiatives.

Different viewpoints

Approach to AI regulation – legally binding vs political frameworks

Speakers

– Francis Gurry
– Wolfgang Kleinwaechter

Arguments

International cooperation crucial when governments avoid disadvantaging their own economic actors through regulation

Preference for political frameworks like AI declarations over legally binding instruments at global level

Summary

Gurry emphasizes the need for international cooperation to address regulatory gaps and prevent governments from avoiding regulation to protect domestic companies, while Kleinwaechter specifically advocates against legally binding instruments at the global level, preferring political frameworks and declarations instead.

Topics

Legal and regulatory

Focus on positive applications vs environmental concerns of digital technologies

Speakers

– Thomas Basikolo
– Torbjorn Fredriksson

Arguments

AI for Good platform demonstrates how technology can address societal challenges through cross-sector collaboration

AI data centers expected to consume more electricity than all energy-intensive industries combined in the US

Summary

Basikolo emphasizes the positive applications of AI through the AI for Good platform and cross-sector collaboration for societal benefits, while Fredriksson focuses heavily on the environmental costs and unsustainable resource consumption of digital technologies, particularly AI’s massive energy demands.

Topics

Development | Sustainable development

Infrastructure development priorities – building capacity vs addressing concentration

Speakers

– Yuhong Huang
– Torbjorn Fredriksson

Arguments

China Mobile built world’s largest 5G network and AI computing infrastructure to enable AICT development

Six major tech companies worth $17 trillion highlight concentration of digital power and need for inclusive development

Summary

Huang focuses on building massive infrastructure and expanding 5G/AI capabilities as solutions to digital development challenges, while Fredriksson emphasizes the problematic concentration of digital wealth and power, arguing for more inclusive distribution rather than just infrastructure expansion.

Topics

Infrastructure | Development | Economic

Unexpected differences

Role of large infrastructure development in addressing digital divides

Speakers

– Yuhong Huang
– Torbjorn Fredriksson

Arguments

Over 50,000 5G use cases developed across vertical industries like healthcare, manufacturing, and smart cities

Six major tech companies worth $17 trillion highlight concentration of digital power and need for inclusive development

Explanation

This disagreement is unexpected because both speakers are addressing digital inclusion, but from completely opposite perspectives. Huang presents massive infrastructure development and use case expansion as the solution, while Fredriksson argues that the concentration of digital wealth and power is the fundamental problem that infrastructure expansion alone cannot solve.

Topics

Infrastructure | Development | Economic

Emphasis on technical solutions vs governance frameworks for AI challenges

Speakers

– Thomas Basikolo
– Wolfgang Kleinwaechter

Arguments

Projects like Innovate for Impact and Innovation Factory support local talent and entrepreneurship in developing countries

Need for multistakeholder approach, collaborative mechanisms, and holistic governance covering technical and policy layers

Explanation

While both speakers address AI governance, Basikolo focuses heavily on technical capacity building and project implementation as solutions, while Kleinwaechter emphasizes the need for proper governance frameworks and definitions. This represents an unexpected divide between technical implementation versus governance structure approaches.

Topics

Development | Legal and regulatory | Capacity development

Overall assessment

Summary

The main areas of disagreement center around regulatory approaches (binding vs political frameworks), the balance between promoting digital innovation and addressing environmental/concentration concerns, and whether technical infrastructure development or governance reform should be prioritized.

Disagreement level

Moderate disagreement with significant implications. While speakers share common goals of inclusive digital governance and international cooperation, their different approaches could lead to conflicting policy recommendations. The disagreements reflect broader tensions between developed and developing country perspectives, technical versus governance-focused solutions, and optimistic versus cautious approaches to digital transformation.

Partial agreements

Similar viewpoints

Both speakers emphasized the challenges of traditional regulatory approaches in addressing rapidly evolving technologies and suggested more flexible, collaborative governance frameworks rather than rigid legal instruments at the global level.

Speakers

– Francis Gurry
– Wolfgang Kleinwaechter

Arguments

Growing lag between technology adoption and legislative response creates regulatory voids and inadequate frameworks

Preference for political frameworks like AI declarations over legally binding instruments at global level

Topics

Legal and regulatory | Human rights principles

Both speakers highlighted successful examples of capacity building programs that support local talent development in developing countries, particularly in Africa, through international collaboration and practical training initiatives.

Speakers

– Thomas Basikolo
– Ke Gong

Arguments

Projects like Innovate for Impact and Innovation Factory support local talent and entrepreneurship in developing countries

Engineering capacity building programs in Africa show successful model for international AI collaboration

Topics

Development | Capacity development | Online education

Both speakers acknowledged the significant environmental challenges posed by digital technologies, including energy consumption, e-waste, and resource depletion, emphasizing the need for sustainable approaches to digital development.

Speakers

– Thomas Basikolo
– Torbjorn Fredriksson

Arguments

Green Digital Action and environmental standards needed to address e-waste and emissions from digital technologies

AI data centers expected to consume more electricity than all energy-intensive industries combined in the US

Critical mineral demands may increase 500 times by 2060, raising questions about sustainable technology development

Topics

Development | Sustainable development | E-waste

Key takeaways

Digital governance faces unprecedented challenges due to the speed and complexity of emerging technologies, with traditional institutions struggling to keep pace with rapid innovation cycles

International cooperation and multistakeholder approaches are essential for effective digital governance, as individual countries cannot manage these challenges alone

AI and emerging technologies offer significant potential for addressing global challenges through initiatives like AI for Good, but require careful balance between innovation and traditional societal values

Global South countries, particularly through mechanisms like BRICS, are playing increasingly important leadership roles in shaping international digital policies and governance frameworks

Digital infrastructure gaps and capacity building remain critical barriers to inclusive digital development, requiring targeted international collaboration and investment

Environmental sustainability concerns are growing as digital technologies consume increasing amounts of energy and resources, with AI data centers expected to consume more electricity than traditional energy-intensive industries

The concentration of digital power in a few major tech companies (worth $17 trillion combined) highlights the urgent need for more inclusive and equitable digital development approaches

Resolutions and action items

Chinese Academy of Cyberspace Studies will host forums at the 2025 World Internet Conference Wuzhen Summit with global think tanks contributing papers on building communities with shared future in cyberspace

Release of the 9th annual World Internet Development Report presenting latest achievements on global internet development and governance

Continuation of AI for Good initiatives including Innovate for Impact and Innovation Factory projects to support developing countries

Expansion of engineering capacity building programs in Africa following successful pilot in Kenya

Development of AI readiness frameworks to help countries prepare for digital transformation

BRICS commitment to create a global data framework for legal interoperability among member states under Brazilian presidency in 2025

Unresolved issues

The fundamental tension between innovation and regulation remains unaddressed, with no clear framework for balancing technological advancement with necessary governance

How to address the growing lag between technology adoption and legislative response, particularly for radical new technologies without existing regulatory frameworks

The question of whether AI training on copyrighted data is lawful, with 46 ongoing lawsuits in the US and bitter divisions between tech and cultural communities

How to ensure sustainable development of digital technologies given the massive increase in critical mineral demands (potentially 500 times more by 2060)

The challenge of preventing marginalized communities, particularly in rural and low-income areas, from being excluded from digital innovation benefits

How to address the concentration of digital power and ensure more equitable distribution of digital dividends globally

The lack of sufficient funding for inclusive digital economy development, despite the massive market capitalization of leading tech companies

Suggested compromises

Preference for political frameworks like AI declarations over legally binding instruments at the global level, while maintaining legally binding documents at regional levels

Focus on collaborative approaches with shared principles, norms, and decision-making procedures rather than top-down regulatory frameworks

Emphasis on multistakeholder governance involving governments, international organizations, businesses, academia, and civil society rather than government-only approaches

Balance between promoting innovation and preserving traditional societal values, such as cultural creation and intellectual property rights

Combination of global cooperation with local needs-based and locally organized capacity building programs

Integration of environmental sustainability considerations into digital development through initiatives like Green Digital Action while continuing technological advancement

Speed and complexity of contemporary technology are complicating the task of governance… Netflix took three and a half years to reach 1 million users in 1999. It took Facebook 13 months to reach 1 million users in 2004, and it took ChatGPT three days to reach 1 million users in 2022.

Speaker

Francis Gurry

Reason

This comment provides a concrete, quantifiable framework for understanding the governance challenge. By using specific adoption timelines, Gurry transforms abstract concepts of ‘speed’ and ‘complexity’ into tangible metrics that demonstrate the exponential acceleration of technology adoption. This creates a compelling narrative that helps explain why traditional governance structures are struggling.

Impact

This comment established the foundational challenge that subsequent speakers built upon. It shifted the discussion from general observations about digital governance to specific, measurable problems. Later speakers like Torbjörn Fredriksson referenced similar themes about speed and complexity, and Thomas Basikolo acknowledged the challenge of regulation keeping pace with innovation.

These six companies [leading American tech companies] are worth almost $17 trillion… That’s six times more than the total value of the African continent’s GDP, and it is 57 times more than all the official development assistance by all the OECD countries.

Speaker

Torbjörn Fredriksson

Reason

This stark comparison provides a powerful illustration of global digital inequality and concentration of power. By juxtaposing the market value of six companies against entire continents and international aid budgets, Fredriksson quantifies the scale of digital divide in economic terms that are impossible to ignore.

Impact

This comment fundamentally reframed the discussion from technical governance challenges to questions of global equity and power distribution. It provided concrete context for why international cooperation and inclusive governance are not just idealistic goals but urgent necessities. The comment elevated the stakes of the entire discussion.

In the smartphones that we are using today… it takes 63 elements from the periodic table. That’s more than half of all the components and elements that exist in the world for one smartphone… AI development will consume more electricity in the U.S. than all the energy intensive other industries taken together.

Speaker

Torbjörn Fredriksson

Reason

This comment brilliantly illustrates the hidden complexity and environmental cost of digital technologies through concrete, relatable examples. By connecting everyday devices to fundamental chemistry and comparing AI energy consumption to entire industrial sectors, it makes abstract sustainability concerns tangible and urgent.

Impact

This shifted the conversation from viewing technology as primarily beneficial to acknowledging serious environmental and resource constraints. It added a critical sustainability dimension that other speakers had not fully addressed, forcing consideration of whether current digital development trajectories are sustainable.

We should clarify what is our understanding of governance in the digital age… the broad definition has three elements… the multi-stakeholder approach, the collaborative approach, and the holistic approach.

Speaker

Wolfgang Kleinwaechter

Reason

As someone who helped define internet governance 20 years ago, Kleinwaechter provides historical perspective and definitional clarity to a discussion that had been using ‘governance’ in various ways. His three-element framework offers a structured approach to understanding digital governance that transcends specific technologies.

Impact

This comment provided conceptual grounding for the entire discussion. By offering a clear definitional framework rooted in UN precedent, it gave other participants and future discussions a common vocabulary and structure for approaching digital governance challenges across different technologies and contexts.

AI can also help the energy industry to save the energy. So we think it’s very important to use this technology to bring the green development.

Speaker

Yuhong Huang

Reason

This comment provides a crucial counterpoint to concerns about AI’s energy consumption by highlighting AI’s potential to optimize energy use across other sectors. It demonstrates the complexity of technology impact assessment and the need for holistic rather than narrow evaluations.

Impact

This comment introduced nuance to the sustainability discussion, preventing it from becoming one-sidedly negative about AI’s environmental impact. It encouraged a more balanced view of technology’s environmental effects and highlighted the importance of net impact analysis rather than focusing solely on direct consumption.

Overall assessment

These key comments fundamentally shaped the discussion by providing concrete frameworks for understanding abstract challenges. Gurry’s speed/complexity framework established the core governance challenge, while Fredriksson’s economic comparisons and environmental data quantified the stakes and urgency. Kleinwaechter’s definitional framework provided conceptual structure, and Huang’s energy counterpoint added necessary nuance. Together, these comments elevated the discussion from general observations to specific, measurable challenges with clear implications for policy and international cooperation. They created a progression from identifying problems (speed, complexity) to quantifying stakes (inequality, environmental impact) to providing solutions frameworks (multi-stakeholder governance). The discussion became more sophisticated and actionable as a result of these interventions.

How can we measure the pace of technological innovation more effectively?

Speaker

Francis Gurry

Explanation

Gurry noted that while we know the pace of innovation is quickening from our daily lives, ‘we don’t really have a good measure of it,’ indicating a need for better metrics to quantify technological advancement speed.

How can international coordination address the regulatory lag between technology emergence and government response?

Speaker

Francis Gurry

Explanation

Gurry identified the growing lag between new technology adoption and legislative response as a major governance challenge, suggesting this is ‘the classic case for international intervention.’

How can governments balance innovation promotion with protecting traditional societal values?

Speaker

Francis Gurry

Explanation

Gurry emphasized the need to find ‘appropriate balance between the interests of innovation’ and ‘not to ignore some of the traditional values of society,’ using the example of AI training on copyrighted data.

How can AI energy consumption be balanced with environmental sustainability goals?

Speaker

Thomas Basikolo and Torbjörn Fredriksson

Explanation

Both speakers raised concerns about AI’s energy consumption, with Fredriksson noting that AI data centers may consume more electricity than all energy-intensive industries combined, requiring research into sustainable solutions.

How can we ensure adequate supply of critical minerals for digital technology without environmental sacrifice?

Speaker

Torbjörn Fredriksson

Explanation

Fredriksson highlighted that demand for critical minerals could increase 500 times by 2060, raising questions about sustainable sourcing and whether we can ‘get these minerals and metals without sacrificing the world.’

How can we develop clearer definitions and frameworks for different types of digital governance?

Speaker

Wolfgang Kleinwaechter

Explanation

Kleinwaechter noted the ‘confusing number of different terminologies’ in digital governance and emphasized the need to ‘clarify what is our understanding of governance in the digital age.’

What is the optimal approach for AI regulation at different governance levels (local, regional, global)?

Speaker

Wolfgang Kleinwaechter

Explanation

Kleinwaechter suggested different regulatory approaches for different levels, recommending political frameworks rather than legally binding instruments at the UN level, which requires further research and discussion.

How can Global South countries better participate in and influence international digital governance?

Speaker

Luca Belli

Explanation

Belli highlighted BRICS as an example of Global South cooperation in digital policy, suggesting the need for more research on how to enhance inclusive governance mechanisms that give voice to global majority leaders.

How can we address the global digital infrastructure gap more effectively?

Speaker

Yuhong Huang

Explanation

Huang identified ‘uneven development for the digital infrastructure’ as a key challenge through their Mobile Intelligence Integration Index research, indicating need for solutions to bridge this gap.

How can we better integrate AI capabilities with traditional vertical industries?

Speaker

Yuhong Huang

Explanation

Huang noted ‘insufficient integration of the AICT’s capability with vertical industry’ and that ‘traditional vertical industry lack of the capability to integrate with the latest technology,’ requiring further research on integration strategies.