WSIS at 20: Successes, failures and future expectations

General Assembly resolution 70/125 of 16th December 2015 decided that a high-level meeting will take place in 2025 to undertake a comprehensive review of progress after twenty years of implementation of the outcomes of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS). 

The primary vision of WSIS is to achieve a “people-centered, inclusive and development-oriented information society” using information and communication technologies for sustainable development. Due to rapid technological change, today’s information society differs greatly from what was envisaged in 2005. However, the WSIS vision still remains highly relevant.

Objective: 

The event is an integral part of open consultations that the CSTD secretariat will conduct, as part of the WSIS+20 Review, and aims to promote detailed discussions among diverse stakeholders (governments, civil society, the private sector, the technical and academic communities involved in ICT development and the international and regional organizations). 

The discussions are expected to contribute to the General Assembly's review in 2025, after being discussed at the CSTD as requested by the ECOSOC.

Themes of the discussion:

• To what extent and how has the vision of a "people-centred, inclusive and development oriented Information Society" evolved over the past 20 years since WSIS?
   
• How will ongoing trends and emerging technologies, particularly AI, impact progress towards human development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)? Moreover, how can these trends enable or hinder the realization of the WSIS vision?
   

What measures should be taken to advance international cooperation, including in terms of governance, to leverage emerging technologies for sustainable development in economic, social, environmental, and cultural dimensions?