The World Summit on the Information Society marks 20 years
United Nations
The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) marks its auspicious 20-year anniversary in 2025, with this high-level meeting an opportunity for the international community to reimagine its focus being all about people.
The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) called for the meeting to review the overall implementation of the WSIS – a global multi-stakeholder platform to discuss and coordinate strategies on leveraging information communication technologies (ICTs) for development.
The WSIS+20 Review in 2025 aims to harness the potential of information and communication technologies for sustainable development, its work built off the base of the Tunis Agenda of November 2005. This, says UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD), was the first-ever, clear statement of political will to establish a people-oriented, digitally connected global society, harnessing ICTs to support development objectives in the wake of the digital revolution.
Its covenors wrote in their agreement of the
need to build more awareness of the Internet in order to make it a global facility which is truly available to the public
They called on the UNGA ‘to declare 17 May as World Information Society Day to help to ‘raise awareness on an annual basis of the importance of this global facility, especially the possibilities that ICT can bring for societies and economies’.
The South African government supports this initiative, and its events in 2024 can be found here.
World Telecommunication and Information Society Day (WTISD) 024 sought to explore how digital innovation can help connect everyone and unlock sustainable prosperity for all. The Day and the WSIS are aligned with the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), ensuring the information society directly contributes to sustainable development.
The UN is concerned that, with 2.6-billion people still unconnected, glaring digital gaps hinder innovation across much of the world. Many countries – lacking key policies, investments, and digital skills – are struggling to keep up in today’s fast-changing digital landscape
WTISD 2024 reminds the world of the progress yet to be made to ensure that everyone can benefit from digital technologies.
Explaining the purpose of the event, UNCTAD notes that ‘with the growing pervasiveness and rapid evolution of ICTs into digital technologies, today’s information society differs greatly from what was envisaged in 2005’. However, the WSIS vision still remains highly relevant.
Here are five things to know about the summit, highlighting the eTrade for All initiative through which UNCTAD helps developing countries access resources and services.
‘As frontier technologies redefine the contours of the information society,’ writes UNCTAD, ‘WSIS priorities seek to reflect a balance of embracing innovation while ensuring equity, security and sustainability.
The World Intellectual Property Organization explains that frontier technologies ‘are emerging at the intersection of radical scientific breakthrough and real-world implementation’.
Artificial intelligence. Big data. The Metaverse. Bioprinting. Quantum computing. These technologies are changing our lives. How we communicate, innovate, create and do business. And they hold one of the keys to addressing some of the most pressing global issues we face
UNCTAD is clear, that ‘to bridge the digital divide’, universal access must be prioritised ‘to ensure everyone benefits from frontier technologies and infrastructure development, especially in rural and underserved areas’.
‘To harness the potential of technological advances, people need the skills to use, understand and develop them. This means a stronger focus on global digital education and literacy campaigns, reskilling and upskilling initiatives.’
To mitigate the ethical dilemmas posed by frontier technologies – whether it’s artificial intelligence decision-making, biotech interventions or data privacy in a world dominated by the Internet of Things, WSIS will continue to bolster frameworks ensuring ethical development and application of such technologies.
