The following are the outputs of the captioning taken during an IGF intervention. Although it is largely accurate, in some cases it may be incomplete or inaccurate due to inaudible passages or transcription errors. It is posted as an aid, but should not be treated as an authoritative record.
***
>> Hello, good afternoon.
Unfortunately, this is not as big of letters. So I have to put my glasses.
It's horrible. No, come on, I'm kidding, of course.
So welcome to the this first open consultation on the WSIS at 20. I don't think a lot of people here in this IGF they know that this is the first open consultation for the future of the WSIS, but nevertheless, I'm sure we will get more for the throughout the next two years.
So Excellencies, distinguished guests, thank you to the CSTD on the WSIS plus 20 review, as an open forum event on the Internet Governance Forum 2023.
So I am Ana Cristina Amoroso das Neves and today, I'm moderating this event entitled WSIS at 20: Successes failures and future expectations a partner between the CSTD, ITU, UNESCO and UNDEP all key actors. The WSIS vision is to establish and now I'm going to quote some Geneva action plan text. People‑centered inclusive and development oriented society for harnessing the potential of information communication technologies for sustainable development.
So we have different questions. To what extent and how has the vision of people‑centered and development‑oriented society evolved over the past 20 years of WSIS. We are talking about people‑center and human‑centerric inclusiveness and development in 2003, we were talking about Information Society. Nowadays we are talking about digital. We have to understand what we mean by that, but we know that from the Geneva agenda of 2005 where this Internet Governance Forum was set up and we had all of these problems already and diagnosis and we were trying to make the world a better place to live.
How will ongoing trends and emerging technologies nowadays particularly, artificial intelligence, but we have so many other emerging technologies, et cetera. So how will ongoing trends and emerging technologies impact progress towards human development and Sustainable Development Goals? Moreover, how can these trends enable or hinder the realization of the WSIS vision. What measures should be taken to leverage Sustainable Development Goal for sustainable develop in social, environmental and cultural dimensions?
These are some of the questions that we invite you to consider. If I put them simply, how much progress have we made towards that vision? What challenges remain? Those are issues that the CSTD have been addressing in terms of the ECOSOC and the General Assembly mandate to review the implementation of the WSIS outcomes, including through annual reports to the ECOSOC and the General Assembly and the contribution of inputs to the WSIS+10 review back to the General Assembly in 2015.
And as some of you may remember, the General Assembly adopted a resolution on the 16 December 2015, and in that resolution, called for a high level meeting to be held in 2025 to review the overall implementation of the outcomes of the World Summit on Information Society known as WSIS+20 review.
So the WSIS+20 it requests the CSTD to request Member States and stakeholders to organize during the upcoming session in 2024, March 2024, and in its 28th session, the year after, in 2025, substantial discussions on the progress made in implementation of the outcomes of WSIS during the past 20 years and to report thereon through the ECOSOC then to the General Assembly.
The CSTD members adopted a roadmap at its annual session last March 2023, to guide the CSTD's work on WSIS+20 review. Here's a snapshot of the roadmap. So you can see the roadmap. And thanks, Eva, for sharing the slide.
So you can see on the slide, March 2023, the CSTD so it was determined that CSTD has a major role on the WSIS+20 review, and that the CSTD has to produce a synthesis report which first draft will be presented to the CSTD in March 2024. And the final draft will be presented on the 28th CSTD in 2025. The CSTD outcomes will be submitted via ECOSOC to the General Assemblies WSIS review in 2025.
So this is an open consultation that will be held at national, regional and international level. And with multilateral agencies, private sector, technical community, national governments, civil society, academia. So we have these two two years ahead of us, until resolution will be adopted in UNGA, the United Nations General Assembly in 2025.
I wish to underline that WSIS+20 at CSTD will take a forward‑looking approach by not only looking at the present but more importantly, looking to the future. Equality, I want to emphasize that an integral part of the CSTD WSIS+20 review is the engagement of all stakeholders in open consultations and in the survey questionnaire that the CSTD Secretariat will conduct from late 2023 until late 2024.
The CSTD is grateful to the Internet Governance Forum for giving us space for the CSTD to open the open multistakeholder consultation in this beautiful city of Kyoto.
Internet Governance is an important component of the WSIS process and, of course the IGF itself is an outcome of WSIS.
But it's important to remember that the WSIS process covers all aspects of digitalization. The objective of today's event is to engage an open dialogue on drawing on the collective wisdom and perspectives of various stakeholders. It will undoubtedly contribute to the synthesis report that will be prepared by the CSTD Secretariat which is intending shape substantive discussions.
At the CSTD WSIS+20 review as mandated by ECOSOC. Our session is structured as follows:
Ms. Shamika So will make opening remarks and Mr. Umeno, on behalf of Yoichi lida, the government of Japan will deliver a keynote speech.
And he will be followed by six discussant start'ers, who will share with us their views and insights. Thereafter, I will open the floor to both in‑person attendees and remote participants for a freestyle roundtable discussions and my moderation including judicious time management.
So I would like to remind the remote participants that they should request the floor on the hand raising feature on Zoom.
Now it's my great pleasure to invite Ms. Shamika Sirimanne. And I will invite her to make opening remarks. The floor is yours.
>> SHAMIKA SIRIMANNE: Good afternoon and good morning and good evening to all of you joining from online. So let me take the opportunity to join the chair of the CSTD in welcoming you to this year's CSTD open consultation on the WSIS+20 review.
And I think we all agree that the WSIS vision of the people‑centered inclusive and development‑oriented societied remains as valid as ever and also quite unfulfilled. So the journey has not ended.
And, in fact, it's quite concerning when we know that the 95% of the world's population live today within range of mobile broadband network. In LDCs, just 36% of their people are connected and these are concerned and women remain digitally marginalized in many of the world's poorer countries and there's a massive urban/rural divides and many multifaceted divides.
I think we also have seen that these divides have become quite serious, development divide, its no longer a digital divide, but a development divide, and we experienced that during COVID‑19 times. Those who have access to Internet and managed to live and to work and managed to have education online and buy stuff online, and those who were not connected basically were locked out of, you know, of the functioning world, and that's a concern.
So as our CSTD Chair and as you said, the CSTD is opening a consultation process and we want your input about the lessons of the 20 years of WSIS implementation, and from that lessons, we also need to understand from your ‑‑ all of your viewpoints, how are we going to navigate this emerging world, you know, we are going through a massive digital technological revolution. And this is probably the technological revolution of our lifetimes.
So how do we ‑‑ we are walking into unchartered territory as we heard in many, many rooms of the IGF.
So we want to hear from you about the new themes, the threats, the opportunities that need responses from the UN system. We also ask you as WSIS stakeholders and you ushered WSIS to tell us about ways that the WSIS process contributes to preserving and improving multilateral cooperation in the digital sphere.
I want to also say that we are working very close with the other key WSIS players and the great partners like the ITU, UNESCO, UN DP and the regional commissions in this review and I'm happy to have all of us coming together because we will all do our own consultations because we all have our own lines, Action Lines, but we will all merge. We will all use that input into the WSIS process as we prepare the material for the General Assembly.
So I'm very happy to let you know that this is done with the one UN kind of approach. And I'm also very happy to is say as Ana said earlier, this is truly a multistakeholder consultation and that's what we need. We cannot ‑‑ it's not just the governments can navigate this emerging world. It's no the just the international organisations, it's academia and civil society and the private sector, we all need to be at the table. And we all need to put our voices. So here I would like to now show case the ‑‑ the time line of the various WSIS prosises over the years showing the different agency contributions. Maybe you will not be able to see it very well, but we will share with this document with you, because it shows the processes that is going towards how are we going to all conversion. So we will not walk on parallel roads. And I also want to emphasize this example of interagency, we have jointly circulated a questionnaire to seek stakeholder inputs for the WSIS+20 review and please help us circulate it among your networks and it's extremely important that we get property data otherwise it's all anecdotal, somebody said this, and somebody said that.
So we are looking to collect data and have a report which is fact‑based. So please help us. I think we spend a lot of time. Its a simple questionnaire but we spend time to make sure that we get good data. Let me end here and I look forward to a productive discussion and just it's Ana said, this is just the beginning. We will have regional consultations and we will have consultations wherever you open a room for. So thank you.
(Applause)
>> ANA CRISTINA AMOROSO DAS NEVES: Thank you for your very insightful and interesting remarks and opening remarks on WSIS. I wish this opportunity to ‑‑ to for everyone to revisit the Geneva action plan, and maybe it's good for everyone to reread these documents because from three days of IGF, it seems like some of us never read those documents. And now that we are discussing the WSIS+20, it's very important to have those in mine.
Now, I'm pleased to invite Mr. Weno that will read the keynote speech on ber behalf of Mr. Yoichi Lida for the G7/G20 relations government of the Japan to deliver Mr. LIDA.
I'm with the ministry of internal affairs and communications Japan. My boss Mr. Iida was planning to delever a keynote speech here but we could not attend this session because of urgent business. So please allow me to deliver his speech on behalf of him.
Firstly, I would like to say welcome to Kyoto, welcome to IGF 2023, I appreciate both physical participants and remote participants. I heard the number of registration for IGF Kyoto is now over 8,000. We as host country is very glad with this figure. Also this number shows how important IGF is.
Government of Japan has multistakeholder approach for Internet Governance. In this IGF, it is important to respect the efforts of the past 17 times of this event and to build on new efforts. From this perspective, we actively participate in leadership panels. We have benefits from the standpoint of the host country.
As the concept note of this session points out the current digital society has greatly changed since 2005, but the idea of a people‑centered, inclusive and development‑oriented Information Society has not changed. For this purpose, a free, open and global Internet is important. In this context, we should continue to bring about socioeconomic development so that no one left behind from human centered innovation.
Also to enhance the reliability of Internet, it is important to address the issue of misinformation and disinformation and cyber secure at the. It's important for the international community to develop digital infrastructuren aen address the issue of digital divide.
The idea of people‑centered, and development‑oriented Information Society is the same for AI governance, which is currently an important issue for our Internet Society.
And currently, the leader of Japan is discussing AI as Hiroshima AI process. We are planning to advance this Hiroshima AI process in cooperation with the United Nations. With the WSIS+20 review coming up in 2025, I believe that the everything Kyoto this year is a very important opportunity.
We are looking forward to sharing and exchanging opinions and ideas between various stakeholders thank you very much.
(Applause)
>> ANA CRISTINA AMOROSO DAS NEVES: Thank you very much, Mr. Weno for setting the scene of our discussions today, and sharing Mr. Iida.
Congratulations for the 8,000 registrations. That is huge. Nobody can say that it's not huge and powerful. Wow! Congratulations again. So next, I will invite the five discussants to share think view and insights with us. Each speaker has four or five minutes at most and then it will be open for everyone in this room and online, of course to make a statement or to say whatever they want.
So I will start with Ms. Isabelle Lois, senior policy advisor at the Swiss federal office of communications.
So I think that you are going to reply to a question, which is what needs to be done in internation a cooperation for a better achievement of the WSIS vision.
Is that right?
Please.
Thank you.
>> ISABELLE LOIS: So it's been two decades since the first world summit took place. I would like to start with acknowledging the tremendous progress that has been achieved since then. I mean, inclusive, transparent and multistakeholder processes have proven to be essential in addressing the complex issues of digital governance and we have learned that cooperation, exchange of information and joint edification of relevant cross‑sectoral issues are key in this process and fostering strong partnerships between all the stakeholders.
Building trust between stakeholders and taking action is crucial. As we look forward to the future and the WSIS+20 review, our task and the task is clear. We need to strengthen the process that empowers individuals regardless of their gender, age or origin. We need to center the governance of emerging technologies that lead to a sustainable development and economic, social, and environmental dimension.
As a government representative, I have to remind myself and my fellow counterparts that by actively listening and taking into account the needs and the knowledge of the civil society, private sector, technical communities, academia and more, we can create an inclusive environment that thrives on constructive criticism and uses the experience that we may not have.
And that is what I have been seeing in the past IGFs and here again in the successful Kyoto edition.
This is one of the most inclusive processes to date and the outcome reflects it. There is the sense of community and a commitment of all that are involved, that none straits the power of the democratic multistakeholder participation. However, we must ensure that this participation remains consistent, inclusive and representative of all regions of the world. CSTD, CSTD could seek synergies with the wide and rich initiatives as was mentioned before. Only 6% of the world population this access to the Internet. And today that number stands at 70%. And the principles laid down in 2003, remain valid, especially regarding the multistakeholder approach but we must build upon the knowledge and experience we have gained since. And focus on connecting the remaining 2.6 billion individuals who are still dis connected and then ensuring it that a connection is meaningful.
And then effectively govern together based on those common principles. This can only be achieved through collaboration and inclusion.
The WSIS+20 review comes at Fay particular time as AI and its governance is at the forefront of many minds. It is essential to adapt as well a gender lens. Women's voices and perspective must be included and valued in all aspects of Internet Governance. By doing so, it will create a human‑centered free and secure digital world that benefits everyone. This is a perspective that mane have taken seriously. You can take ITU or UNESCO and we should do so as well in the CSTD.
Switzerland firmly believes that inclusive multistakeholder and cross silo representation are rereck sets for a digital world. Let's make sure that the benefits of Internet are accessible to all and thank you I look forward to the discussion. Thank you very much.
>> ANA CRISTINA AMOROSO DAS NEVES: Thank you very much Isabelle Lois.
The next ‑‑ the next discussant will be Mr. Kamel Saadaoui, who is from Tunisia.
>> KAMEL SAADAOUI: Good morning. Can you hear me?
>> ANA CRISTINA AMOROSO DAS NEVES: I think you will talk about the ultimate maniy stakeholder discussion, how has the international multistakeholder evolved since WSIS and more importantly, how should it evolve in future? Mr. Kamel Saadaoui, I will give you 4 or 5.
>> KAMEL SAADAOUI: Good morning, it's 7:30 in the morning. Distinguished guests and participants, I'm honored to be with you about our challenges of 20 had I have year journey of the WSIS. Tunis has the privilege to be linked to the summit through its report, referred to as Tunis agenda and outcomes. And I know you remember that IGF is an outcome of the WSIS 2005.
This this took place between the boom of the Internet, and the accommodations were relevant that has an open and inclusive and fragmented Internet, endorsing the human rights and cultural diversity.
Tunisia recognizes that institutions such as ICANN, and ITU have gone through many improvements since 2005 in allowing for more transparency and accountability even if the government's participation in ICANN remains an at advisory level but that can be further improved and put to have meaningful impact.
Toward emerging issues to hide items in the agenda more than the more technical aspects such as artificial intelligence. Developing countries cannot deal with major platform providers when it comes to this, for example or imposing local rules for personal data protection. For that reason, Tunisia proposes to reconsider the framework of enhanced cooperation. We are not suggesting on bringing back the debate of the governments taking over the Internet, because the civil society, and the experts community is needed to keep leading to new horizons. The multistakeholder approach remains the most appropriate. We should seek for equal footing meaningful representation.
ICANN and ITU have played a role in ensure a stable internet. They should be supported for an resilient and unfragmented Internet for all. We are facing more challenges. IGF today is more relevant to share outcomes of the multiple forums and institutions involved in Internet Governance and needs to secure financing for bigger role and better outcomes.
EnHansed cooperation can be uses involving nations such as managing cyber threats and the misuse of money laundering and human trafficking. Other international institutions such as ITU and others, must have open consultation and transparent reporting and finally, each country should watch out for the potential digital gap between regions. Since they have to be managed locally. Thank you.
>> ANA CRISTINA AMOROSO DAS NEVES: Thank you very much.
(Applause)
Now I will give the floor to Ms. Anita Gurumurthy, the founding member and executive director of IT for Change India and I think that you are going to give some remarks into Internet in our lives. How should that be shaped in please Anita.
>> ANITA GURUMURTHY: Thank you so much. It's an honor to be here. As we move towards the WSIS+20 mark I think digital public policy issues we all acknowledge have expanded infinitely, some us here will recall that the WSIS Geneva principle, one of those principles in 2003 held in optimism, and I quote we are firmly convinced that we are collectively entering a knew era of enormous potential it said ‑‑ a new era of enormous potential. It said. This is broken. The ax I moment is similar in many ways and not so similar in the Gutenberg moment in the 14th century when Gutenberg's letter press revolutionized the world of knowledge. AI is moving us to' society of archiving like the printing press did but unlike Guttenburg's technology the algorithms that are indiscernible to the. The printing press shifted power into the hands of private forces taking it away from the state and destabilizing the authority of the church.
Today the force field is similarly controlled by corporations to seek servitude in exchange for data and information. Our sections are growing as they did in the age of enlightenments but algorithm society is also a society of fragmentation. As much as the press led to suffrage movements and in my own country, a struggle against coloniality, it led to competing ideas of good and the blood shed and the risk for AI and wore and annihilation cannot bridged away. It's no accident that those who control these technologies have little incentive to change the status quo. WSIS did call this out inequivocally, especially for the governance of digital technologies.
The starting point is to recognize what ails the corporation and I would like to highlight the neocolonial dynamics and the AI economy that demand our immediate attention at this point.
The trade forums are used wrongly by the more powerful to across rules and across borders. We need a separate space for the negotiations around data governance globally. Secondly, data tends to be extractive. They open up to span surveillance, normalizing the public systems on extracted private firms.
Thirdly, intellectual with the patents owned by the Big Tech firms, it's difficult. Big Tech forms have preemptive patenting stifling innovation and stifling development of domestic industry. Fourthly, the everyemphasis of personal at the cost of the market regulation have proven to be detrimental. Large tech companies typically owned and operated by white men are extracting data from uninformed users and do predictive analytics. Strong data protection laws will not allow this to continue.
Fifth, in fact yesterday "The New York Times" had an article why African debt needs to be written off.
Recent shocks to supply chain. It's pushing many Global South nations to the verge of crisis. I think there's a four‑pronged strategy that's needed in digital cooperation. We need a human rights constitutionalism that is not only liberal but is superable. Incisive enough to cut through the injustices in the economic order.
Secondly, we effectively need to look at global public goods. And such as for instance, through principles like cover common but differentiated responsibility explode in other international negotiations.
Thirdly, we need to urgently mobilize the public financing to galvanize the digital ecosystems. We often talk about digital public goods. I think we need to set that right and the digital development tax mechanism is particularly relevant in this regard.
And are fourthly and finally, I think it's still important and thousand it seems far away to meaningfully internationalize the Internet Governance. It's imperative that it's governed democratically. An issue that was dropped at the policy table at the WSIS moment but is indeed long overdue. Thank you very much.
(Applause)
>> ANA CRISTINA AMOROSO DAS NEVES: Thank you, Ms. Anita Gurumurthy for your interesting remarks.
And now I give the floor to Ms. Anriette Esterhuysen on global and regional Internet governance, Association for Progressive Communication. So what can the Internet be improved for better participation of civil society in the future of the WSIS process. The floor is yours.
>> ANRIETTE ESTERHUYSEN: Thank you, Ana and thank you very much for inviting me.
I think I would like to respond both at the level of process and also at the level of substance, but, first I want to say that we should recognize how powerful WSIS has been in terms of facilitating civil society participation. And if you read, Ana talked in her opening, about reading the WSIS outcome documents. I read them all the time and I read other UN outcome documents. There's something very unique. The fact that they are the outcome of contestation between Member States, normal to have that in UN processes.
But contestation and collaboration that was mediated by non‑state actor participation. And views submitted. We were not always in the room but if we were always in the room, we were at the back of the room and we were in the caucusing in the corridors and we submitted our own content and statements. Even though civil society and business and other stakeholder groups had their own outcome documents, our views are reflected in that. So that's one thing, the process. I think secondly the fact that WSIS is granular. It has the Geneva principles which are broad based which highlight, which are people‑centered. Not tech centered which I feel many of our current documents, the roadmap on digital cooperation, the Global Digital Compact, to me, the WSIS documents speak much more powerfully as somebody who believes in social justice and equity from the Global South. It's about people‑centered development.
And it has human rights, the importance of human rights. It mentioned open innovation and open source. When do you get that is? So it has the broad overarching principles and the emphasis on governments having to play a role in creating an enabling environment. But then it's granular and addresses some of the issues that are fundamental to have inclusive society and effective governance and it talks about education. It talks about food security, through the agriculture Action Line, media freedom. And if you look at all the Action Lines they are all very relevant. And then the Action Line on enabling environment talks about security and trust.
So I think it actually frames ‑‑ and perhaps because it was not about the Internet. It was about ICTs that it has give ten a longevity that I think remains relevant. It allowed space for advocacy groups working on social justice issues and working on trade justice issues and financing as Anita just mentioned but it also creates space for people that are working on small scale agriculture, and on bringing education to people in remote areas who don't have access via technology. So in a sense, I think many of the responses that help us with the COVID crisis, that was ground that was laid by WSIS implementation. I will say let's bill on that and have spaces in the WSIS process that has opportunity for civil society to not just be consulted but shape the debate at some of the macro issues, the issues that Anita just mentioned and financing. I think public financing is one of the failures, the lack of public financing. That debate is on the table again now. Because we are talking about digital public infrastructure. Can we look at from the lessons of WSIS? And it also still has those specific subject areas. I think the importance is to make the process inclusive, both at the broader advocacy level, but also at the grassroots level, where civil society, the only way in which you actually achieve change is when community organisations have the power to have their own connectivity to collaborate with small businesses, to work with local government. That's where you actually have change on the ground and I think WSIS creates the space for us to be involved at all levels.
I think the IGF needs to be strengthen and so has the WSIS Forum. I think the tensions sometimes between the two processes sock different, the one being more Global South and the other one maybe being a little bit more Global North, I think that's a productive tension. So let's work with that. Let's guild on that, and and then on civil society, the U.N. has its own diversity it has relationships with different civil society organisations who work in different places. And I'm sure they can be strengthens in terms of the inclusivity, but better collaboration and it will also facilitate greater collaboration and involvement of civil society.
(Applause)
>> ANA CRISTINA AMOROSO DAS NEVES: Thank you very much, Anriette. I know you read both documents and you are so much involve and from your intervention, of course, we will acknowledge that you really read them and you were part of the process. So it's very good to have you here. And to refresh some memories.
Now I will give the floor to Ms. Temilade Adelakun. So you will speak under two different hats. To Temilade is the youth ambassador the Internet Society, and she is also associate product marking manager of Google Sub‑Sahara Africa.
So Temilade, you are going to respond to two questions because of your two hats.
So use perspective, what do youth want from the WSIS process and secondly from the private sector perspective as Google manager, how can ongoing trends and emerging technologies, particularly artificial intelligence enable or hinder the realization of the WSIS vision?
>> TEMILADE ADELAKUN: Thank you so much, Ana. Standing on the existing protocol, my name is Temilade Adelakun and I'm a ambassador and Google. Just like Ana mentioned, I will wear two hats. One as a global youth ambassador, one as an African youth. I will start with the first question because I'm here to actually advocate for a more inclusive and youth‑centered approach in the World Summit on Information Society, WSIS.
I say ironically that the youth of today are deeply connected through the use of platforms such as media, digital platforms and entrepreneurship just to mention a few. This connection actually tells just one story, that African youth recognize the immense connection to I can. We have a design, we want to be stronger representative in policies to influence the development and youth of these technologies.
I want to quote the statistics that we are familiar with, but I will quote again, actually, 30% of Sub‑Saharan Africa are under 30,en needless to say that it's due time that we, African youth have a seat at the table. We have decisions about the regulations.
African youth have been known to influence and prefer data‑driven to lead in ICT, but we can be more and that's part of that zero rating recommendations.
To continually ship ICT systems and global shakers that we are, we call for greater inclusivity in the WSIS process. We ask take holders to provide financial support and create development opportunities for us to share innovative inside and address our concerns as mentioned by one of the previous speakers.
Further more, we want the WSIS process to focus on improved access to education and influence the technology in our respective countries across the continent. ICT can be a force for radical change and I'm sure we are all aware of this, it's opening doors to healthcare access and partnerships with Africa.
I have a strong conviction that the WSIS process holds immense potential to be change and solution for African and the world. It's a platform where we can work collaboratively to develop targeted solutions and ensure that ICT contribute to sustainable development benefits all of humanity. And to focus on ongoing trends and emerging technologies and AI and how it impacts the WSIS vision.
I would like to say that AI holds an immense potential for advancing human development. AI can influence job creation and climb Ang change and poverty and AI can pave the way for a more inclusive and people‑centered Information Society by improving accessibility for persons living with disability even through assistive technologies including screen readers and text‑to‑speech software which I know we are all aware of.
Further more, AI plays a pivotal role such as health care, education and government services it's contributes to the diagnosis of treatment of diseases and educational resources to remote areas and during COVID, we saw how AI was useful in some of the initiatives that we brought about, however, AI also presents potential threats, in the form of data privacy, to the WSIS vision, including the creation of surveillance systems and new forms of discrimination and exclusion.
It is imperative to Senn sure that AI is developed and employed in a manner that upholds human rights and the WSIS onive. The impacts of AI on the human development, SDGs and WSIS vision, hinges on responsible very maniment and utilization. To achieve this, it is essential that we invest in research, and understand ax I's ethical and social implications. It's important that we also establish international standards and guidelines to force the transparency, the accountability and even to educate the public about AI's potential benefits and risk and to teach individuals to have control over their own data and usage.
This closing, I want to reiterate that the time is now. Together we can ensure that WSIS process reflects the aspirations and concerns of youth globally and even in Africa and in doing so we can pave the way for a brighter and more inclusive future.
Thank you and I look forward to the discussions.
(Applause)
>> ANA CRISTINA AMOROSO DAS NEVES: Thank you, Temilade. And now we are almost opening the roundtable discussion. But before that, I will give the floor to our copartners, ITU UNESCO and UNDP. I would like to Ms..
>> I would like to thank for CSTD for ensuring a joint process and we are all working for working together on it. As we have been, you know, discussing all throughout that we have limited resources and capacities and so the UNDP, and UNCTAD, we are owl joining hands to on this.
WSIS actually set the foundations of digital cooperation, right, in 2003. The multistakeholder principles which were adhering to even now, inclusion, and in terms of what we have achieved, we have achieved a lot in terms of digital cooperation, at least, you know, looking at how the UN has been working together, and how we have been aligning with the different UN processes. Those of you who are involved in the WSIS Forum, the WSIS special initiatives, the WSIS Prizes, we have been aligning them with the decades of Indigenous languages with UNESCO, Prateek will talk about it later, we are looking at the role of aging and so many other UN processes like the HLPF, we have been asked to align the WSIS Action Lines with the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development, highlighting the role of digital and achieving the Sustainable Development Goal, ITU and UNDP did a very successful SDG digital where we, again, highlighted the importance of digital preceding, the General Assembly. So there are great examples of what the UN has been doing in collaboration, not only with each other but also with all the stakeholders, the WSIS prizes is such a great example.
I see so many WSIS Prize winners here where we have been able to give them international recognition and elevate their products. Thank you for being here so many of you and of course, some of the things that we need to pay attention on, you will recall ‑‑
>> ANA CRISTINA AMOROSO DAS NEVES: I think that you achieved your two minutes.
>> Just four things to highlight.
Some things we need to pay attention to is the targets. We do remember that we had the WSIS targets which we probably should look at again. And also connecting it to new things like the UN high impact, the DNP and so forth. Thank you, Chair.
>> ANA CRISTINA AMOROSO DAS NEVES: And now I will give to floor to Mr. Cedric Bushholtz with UNESCO. Two minutes.
>> It's Prateek,.
>> PRATEEK SIBAL: I'm program specialist at UNESCO and I will speak on behalf of UNESCO today. Thanks to the Secretariat and CSTD for having us here.
I would echo Gitanjali's remarks and cooperation across the UN agencies forming the basis of our work. We have been closely cooperating with UNDP, and ITU, and UNCTAD but I would now really focus on some of the more thematic achievements and challenges.
And UNESCO has been co‑facilitating leading about six Action Lines and on access to information, I would like to share between 2016 and 2023, this have been about 1200 Internet shutdowns. UNESCO has been looking at the rights based open, accessible and multistakeholder approach in about 45 countries and this work will need to be strengthened also with the support of civil society, academia, and the private sector.
We have been able to have access to information day which is celebrated on the 28th of September which is a great moment for advocacy on open access to information, in governments as well, and Gigi tangly has mentioned. Media and literacy remains a major challenge, when we talk about misinformation and misinformation and in this doe pain we have strengthened our programs also including youth building Dynamic Coalition to involve different actors and promote different kinds of responses when it comes to fact checking or supporting civil society organisations in upskilling.
I will speak briefly about escience, so we have several standards that I will just stop soon. Yeah.
(Laughter)
So just several standards‑setting instruments which are really bringing global communities together which is the recommendation on open science, the recommendation on the ethics of artificial intelligence and the recommendation on open educational resources. They are essential tools to bill communities globally.
So looking forward to the input and the feedback over here, and we continue to remain engaged with the WSIS process and with our partners, yeah.
>> ANA CRISTINA AMOROSO DAS NEVES: Thank you very much.
[ Applause ]
Now Mr. Robert OPT, with UNDP. Two minutes.
>> Robert: Thank you, I don't plan to take two minutes. We are here to listen and I think the issues coming up already are extremely relevant and it's great to hear the themes emerging.
I think ‑‑ if I think back 20 years ago and I think of what has changed. I think probably for the people in this room and those involved, the ICT or the ICT for development would be considered quite important but I think today you cannot deny that it's an absolute mega trend driving global change and issues worldwide. In the order of climate change, which has also become a super mega trend.
I think that means that the urgency is greater than ever, and we have done a lot in the 20 years but the pace of change is accelerating and that's when we look forward to WSIS+20, and the multistakeholder groups. This is what we need to keep in mind that it's an urgent situation. I will leave it there. Thank you, Chair and thank you to the Secretariat.
>> ANA CRISTINA AMOROSO DAS NEVES: Thank you very much, sir.
So I will now open nor our in freestyle roundtable discussion after thanking to all the discussion starters.
So now we have two minutes, the people who are going to intervene. I think, sir, you were first. Then we have you and three. So then European Commission on behalf of the European Union and Cuba.
So who can help me. I have four in my mind here and not in the rear.
>> Thank you very much, Ana. I'm Peter Brook, I'm chairman of the World Summit Award.
>> ANA CRISTINA AMOROSO DAS NEVES: You have three minutes.
>> We started in 2003 to focus on the best practice in content, in ‑‑ with the ICT, which was a multiMember States state initiative. And we've had 12,800 participants.
I think that the review is a very difficult exercise. And time saying this very clearly because I think WSIS and the WSIS process has lost half of the focus. The first focus is on digital divide and digital institution Kluge and Anriette was speaking about this, and our friend from India but there's the transformation into the knowledge society.
I would say that we have technology success, but knowledge failure. And if you are looking at disinformation, misinformation, hate speech, fake news and things like this, these are issues which we need to take seriously. That' the first point. The second point is WSIS is pre‑Sustainable Development Goal and Millennium Development Goals. The difference between the Sustainable Development Goal and the millennium development goals. We have 176 which actually give us KPIs of what we have achieved.
The Tunis plan of action does not have KPIs and we have a real issue in terms of the review and the review will be moving back and forth and so on. Last thing, which I want to stress is we have in the Tunis plan of action, a line, C‑9 and that's is media. And media is a completely different kind of landscape today, due to the digital platform monopolization. We have for this year the first time in human history, talking about the Gutenberg moment, 54% of global advertising revenues goes to five American companies.
And it means that digital publishing, I'm talking about community publishing in Canada, 567 papers have been closed in the last two months. So if you are thinking about media diversity and things like this, then you are just really looking at something where we have a loss of all those intermediaries which we have called editorial added value. And that needs to be front and centered in the review and I'm offering the World Summit Award and the international center for the media and the partners in 182 countries as a partner also in this exercise.
Thank you etch have.
Franz thank you very much and I hope up that you will be ‑‑
>> ANA CRISTINA AMOROSO DAS NEVES: Thank you very much and I hope you will be able to respond to the question in written form as everything that you said is very important, yes. That is talking here but responding to the questionnaire will be very, very important.
Now, I will give the floor to Bangladesh.
>> Madam Chair, when I entered the WSIS era, I was a youth ambassador. Now I am former youth.
Okay. I asked my sister Secretariat to share what does Bangladesh expect from WSIS. I'm so grateful for giving me the opportunity.
Bangladesh government ‑‑ Bangladesh is a unique country. Bangladesh form Working Group on WSIS with multistakeholder, and I am one of the proud member of the Bangladesh Working Group on WSIs. After summit, C1 to C11, Bangladesh government has integrated with the five‑year plan, as well as CSSO community, integrated C1 to C11 of the annual plan.
Thirdly, as a result. Bangladesh government and the technical community receives lots of WSI prize as winner.
Fourth CSO has successfully addressed the COVID‑19 operation. That is called C7, ICT application. And as WSIS outcome, Bangladesh has been organizing the Bangladesh international governance forum. Madam Chair we expect as the WSIs, we have been declared a smart Bangladesh, there are four area, assuming sustainable economic growth, reducing poverty and justice and the third one is very important, creating a digital and knowledge‑based society. One is a smart citizen and the other one is a smart society and the other one is smart economy and as well as smart government.
In conclusion, we need WSIs really. Second, now we are preparing for participation in the WS Is from 2024 including member of the parliament, as well as municipal corporation promoting local governance.
Third, we would appreciate it if the WSI Secretariat would publish a hand book for the parliamentarian, as well as like the Secretariat. It would be very useful.
They can learn, as well as the WSI and the Secretariat, what is multistakeholderrism thank you madam.
>> ANA CRISTINA AMOROSO DAS NEVES: Thank you very much. And now I think it's the time to give the into are to Cuba.
And then European Commission.
>> CUBA: Dear colleagues, on December 12th, 2003, the first phase of the World Summit On the Information Society ended with the adoption of the final documents by the head of state and government of 175 countries. After arduous discussions, the developing countries South Korea seeded in having the so‑called ‑‑ have succeeded in having the so‑called digital divide and allowed ‑‑ allowed this topic to move out of the technical debate at the expert level and become a political issue of tern to the international community. 20 years later it has been demonstrates without a doubt that the information and communication technology in general and. Internet in particular are essential tools for the development of the country. But it's confirmed that the beneficial impact of ICTs and the Internet is significantly lower in developing countries compared to developed countries. The unfilament of the many of the WSIS agreements has had a negative impact on developing countries. For example, financial mechanisms to address the challenges of using ICT for development has not been established.
In addition, persist the application of unilateral measures not in accordance with international law and the charter of the United Nations that impedes the full achievement of economic and social development of the affected countries.
Madam Chair, dear colleagues, all these issues were addressed with concern by numerous head of state at the G77 and China summit held in Havana Cuba, last December. The final declaration of this summit reaffirmed the 2005 Tunis agenda for the Information Society stating that the G7. And China, promote, between the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
It also called for a close importance of the WSIS project with the Addis Ababa agenda aother outcomes of relevant global processes including the Global Digital Compact and the summit of the future.
It was further agreed to work towards a strong and concerted position of the G77 and China to ensure that will WSIS+20 cent to Inter alia, the achievement of closing the digital divide between the development and developing countries.
It it was reiterated that the Tunis ‑‑
>> ANA CRISTINA AMOROSO DAS NEVES: You are out of time now.
>> CUBA: It should lay down the ‑‑
>> ANA CRISTINA AMOROSO DAS NEVES: You are finishing right?
>> CUBA: I am finishing, the declare, entitled billing the Information Society a global challenge for the new millennium establish a common view of the Information Society, which among other attributes should be people‑centered inclusive and development oriented. Decision the declaration noted ‑‑
>> ANA CRISTINA AMOROSO DAS NEVES: Okay, I think that your main message was already conveyed.
>> CUBA: No. I will just finish by saying it's up to ‑‑ it's up to use now to finally a make reality of that common vision that was envisioned 20 years ago.
>> ANA CRISTINA AMOROSO DAS NEVES: Very well. Thank you very much.
(Applause)
Now I will give the floor to Mr. Pierce O'Donohue who will speak on behalf of the European Union.
>> EUROPEAN UNION: Yes, we welcome the opportunity to share lessons learned from the WSIS implementation process at this crucial moment in the history the Internet. We cannot appreciate the Internet's unprecedented success without recognizing the vital role of the WSIS and the multistakeholder model, which is applied. We continue to support the principles set out in the Geneva action plan and the Tunis agenda but our efforts do not end here.
The multistakeholder model is not flawless, but it is still our most reliable instrument for effective Internet governance, and the foundation for a dynamic system involving all stakeholders in the running the Internet. We shall make every effort to ensure that it will never be replaced. The IGF is living proof that this cooperative approach works. Its value stems from adopting, civil society, the technical community and academia are heard and engaged in pivotal discussion on the Internet's future and governance. The EU promotes an ambitious. Preserving human dig knit and equality of all people, without discrimination of any kind online and offline. We welcome the setting up. High level advisory board on artificial intelligence, the EU which puts artificial intelligence technologies to the center may serve as a model for regulation elsewhere.
As we approach WSIS+20, we have a golden opportunity to bolster this framework, and to reinforce our foundational multistakeholder principles, establishing centralized control, the focus should be on the contrary to keep it open and free. This vision aligns with the SDGs, as the E U. highlighted in the recent statement on the UN Global Digital Compact, swifter progress on the SDG goes hand in hand with a more inclusive digital future.
This this regard, the EU and the Member States are working very hard as team Europe to deploy digital networks and infrastructures worldwide, prioritizing underserved regional operations ten. It's critical that the IGF strength thens the role in neherring and inclusive, open and sustainable digital environment and eel volume offed to a more impactful and vision. The full version will be made available shortly.
Thank you very much.
>> ANA CRISTINA AMOROSO DAS NEVES: Thank you very much.
(Applause).
And now I will give the floor.
>> Thank you very much, thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you colleagues here. I'm a senior advisor on digital transformation at gentleman pap international corporation agencies but I actually wanted to make questions to you, as an individual who has ‑‑ you know intimately involved in the WSIS process and where, like, especially in the if many mechanism part. I used to work in the UNDP.
Now, three weeks ago I was at digital summit and it struck me, fundamental questions that we asked 20 years ago remain the same. Digital inclusion, financial mechanisms. Should you have worked harder. I should have worked hard area so I could make a difference and then solve some of the fundamental challenges. Now we have the digital technology, which is like a fact, right and I remember what happened after 2005. Everybody actually went out. They said, sorry, with he had enough of this. The revenue partners, they left and even the permanent countries were excited about this they left. So my questions to you is what can we do, now can we do something different? We will have the future compact and we will have WSIS plus 20. If we cannot make a difference this time, I believe that we will have the same failure we saw from 2005, to around 2012. This seven years of dark age of digital failure. So I urge you, all of you, can we actually come up with a real concrete solutions and that we can make a difference, yes, digital technology and then ICT can actually work for everybody to create information digital society and the development of the different countries.
Thank you.
(Applause)
>> ANA CRISTINA AMOROSO DAS NEVES: Thank you. Thank you very much.
(Off microphone comment).
>> ANA CRISTINA AMOROSO DAS NEVES: Oh, many my God!
Please go ahead.
>> AUDIENCE MEMBER: Thank you very much. I just want us to go back to look at why there are big disparities and we look into the WSIS+20. You discover that it's good when we have all the UNDP, the UNESCO, they claim they work together, at the top level. If you go down to the bottom level, there's no cooperation at country level and that's why we are still dealing with big gaps in the digital divide.
And the NRIs are now well strengthened that they can help all of these big international agencies on the ground and I would suggest that you have to work with the NRIs because the governments that are a part of that process. A good example I will stop at. Recently during the UNESCO RUR as a lead researcher in the Gambia, UND P. not involved. They didn't know about it. UNDP country office. So how do you filter down information? And we have to look at that seriously. There's good folks who work for Geneva and New York, they say we work to go. But do you really work together?
>> ANA CRISTINA AMOROSO DAS NEVES: Thank you very much.
Now, please.
>> AUDIENCE MEMBER: I am living in Japan. I used to be participating in all the prep and processes of the WSIS, and I do agree with what my friend, colleague said, have we done our homework? We used to have much more dissenting voices to hear from the east and the south. Where is China now here? Iran, India, Russia? South Africa? I don't see them. We think about who will speak this or that and a lot of rules about you substances. And civil society like us we didn't really agree with, but it was a very interesting and creative process that we tried to listen to each other. I feel like it's gone. I might be naive, but WSIS was proposed after the 9/11, there was fear from the south that that the digital divide would keep them out.
Was invited to China's world Internet Governance ‑‑ no, the dialogue on digital civilization in June of this year, yeah. I was the only Japanese. The only one of 19, you can blame China not inviting them but that's not the way. There will be another world Internet conference next month. Let's see how many will join together.
Also we heard what is going in Palestine and Israel. I feel like the ICT is very powerless in talking about the SDGs and the human rights.
Also how about the status for women in certain countries. It went worse than 20 years ago as we all know. So how much ICT could play? How much we have ‑‑ of course there are areas that they played a very good job. Butz we cannot just remain optimistic and ask AI for, you know, rescue or whatever.
So the multistakeholder approach and the human centric approach. Yes it was a great result of our blood, sweat and tears in Geneva so the multistakeholder was not given. How about climate change? We had worst summer in Japan than many others. 40 you can technologies do while conserving a lot of servers and energies on AI. I would like you to address the real difficult issues and don't just result to the friendly nice, warm, environment that Kyoto presents.
Thank you.
(Applause)
>> ANA CRISTINA AMOROSO DAS NEVES: Thank you very much.
Now I will give the floor to Peter Myer, please.
>> PETER MYER: Thank you. I want to react. I didn't intend to react directly, indirectly, but anyway. So multistakeholders. I think in this environment, and in this CSTD open forum, we can be proud. We can be proud because we were one of the first ones who implemented or tried to introduce the multistakeholder approach. In the second Working Group it was smooth. So personally, I'm proud of it and on belast CSTD, I think he can be proud of that so probably this is the way to go forward, not only the CSTD but the whole UN.
That's for one, hot potato.
We are in the setting of the IGF. The IGF we may think is very relevant. That's what we think. Do other stakeholders think the same way? Do govs think the same way? I'm afraid not and why? We have the IGF with the outcomes but it's mandated not to have resolutions. So if there's no resolution, the UN, you don't exist.
So how can we bring this gap? CSTD is mandated to review the processes within the UN system. Everything Secretariat really give ‑‑ IGF Secretariat really gives reports. And we write IGF Secretariat give the report. We don't know about the content. We don't know about any recommendations. We don't follow up and that's the key. We should follow up. We should have in the are e solution, the key messages. We should have if not in the resolution, because it's very hot debate all the time, we can manage to have it in resolution. We can manage to have it in the annex but we can, and we should ECOSOC so all Member States will be aware that we are doing something that's relevant that is relevant, not only in the field of ICTs but is relevant for the Sustainable Development Goals. Thank you.
(Applause)
>> ANA CRISTINA AMOROSO DAS NEVES: Thank you Peter very much. It's a pity that some of the governments that make our lives sometimes very difficult in our discussions at the CSTD, they are not here. So they cannot say. No, but Cuba is here. Just leaving.
Who was first. I don't know.
I please sir, Nigel. Introduce yourself.
>> AUDIENCE MEMBER: My name is Nadish, I'm come from Bangladesh. Our main activity is research on how to include low literate purpose as first‑class citizens of the Internet. That is one thing that I think there are more than 3 billion people who come in like this and I don't see that we are focusing on them. We find Internet access but what does it mean for low literacy. If you don't know how to read or write, what is Internet for you? What is Google for you? Can you do keywords what is the result for you? Think like that. There are too many people who we don't want to see or not willing to supply that is something that we can something about it. It's now that we need technical people to address this issue and get them to bring Internet as a first‑class available thing for low literate people.
>> CHAIR: Thank you very much, Nigel. If you could, please.
(Off microphone comments).
>> AUDIENCE MEMBER: I will sit next to you. Nigel Hixon with the U. K and really, I just wanted to say about three things. I think first it's really excellent to have this debate here.
If we didn't have a constructive debate about the WSIS process at the IGF, then we can't have it anywhere so it's really excellent to have it here. I listened to pierce O'Donohue who was speaking for the European Union and I think he's speaking tore the whole of the European Union and then I remembered that we are not in the European Union. I'm getting to the edge of my career and I can say things like this.
(Laughter).
I want to completely endorse what he said. I think it's so important that we have these discussions and I think it's so important that we also recognize where we have come from, and we also we recognize what has happened since 20 05 (No audio) were recognize the work taken place in the UNSCD and the reports that have been written, and in the WSIS Forum where we have excellent discussion year after year on many issues and the work that UNESCO has done as well. There has not been silence since 2004. There's evolution. There's evolution at ICANNing, evolution at IGF, we have moved forward. Yes, of course, it's not perfect. And that's why it was so wise at Tunis that the language in the Tunis agenda says, yes, we ought to review it. We reviewed it after ten years and we ought to review again. Let's lift the drain covers up and not forget where the progress that we have made. Let's not forget why we got together in Geneva and Tunis.
It wasn't to discuss Internet Governance as such or the mechanisms of the Internet there's no harm to discuss that. It was to do better than that. It was to connect people. It was to discuss why we have disparities regional disparities as we heard from the ITU Secretary‑General at the beginning of this conference, we still have those issues. So let's focus. Let's focus on sustainability, let's focus on what really matters.
Thank you.
>> ANA CRISTINA AMOROSO DAS NEVES: And with Nigel from the UK, I think we come to an end of these first open consultation. I would like to send my heartfelt gratitude to each and every one of you for your active and valuable participation through this session. Your contributions have greatly enriched our discussions.
Don't forget the questionnaire. Fulfill the questionnaire. It's on the website of CSTD. It will be in the session ‑‑ in the website of the IGF in this session and it will be spread widely and it's important to have your inputs in written form. With that I desire the first open consultation closed, if we will be in the UN, I would have a hammer. So since I don't have a hammer, I will use this bottle of water.
(Applause)