The WSIS Forum is co-organized by ITU, UNESCO, UNDP and UNCTAD, in close collaboration with all WSIS Action Line Facilitators/Co-Facilitators. It represents the world's largest annual gathering of the 'ICT for development' community. The 2021 edition, focusing on ICTs for Inclusive, Resilient and Sustainable Societies and Economies, will be held entirely online, starting from January onwards and featuring a weekly program, including a series of thematic/country workshops, high-level policy sessions, a Hackathon, and an exhibition, providing a platform to track the achievements of the WSIS Action Lines in collaboration with the UN Agencies involved, as well as sharing information and analyses of the implementation of WSIS Action Lines since 2005. The final week of the Forum will take place from 17th to 21st May 2021, consisting of policy statements, interactive high-level dialogues, a WSIS Prize ceremony, a ministerial round table as well as a series of WSIS Action Line facilitation meetings. ITU Office for Europe and the UN Digital Transformation Group for Europe and Central Asia contributed to the WSIS Forum 2021 through a special workshop and a special session as follow:
ICTs for Inclusive, Resilient and Sustainable Societies and Economies (WSIS Action Lines for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals) - Europe Region on 16th April from 12:00 to 13:00 CET.
Focusing on the Europe region, this thematic workshop aimed to draw attention to the ongoing efforts of ITU and its partners in implementing the ITU Regional Initiatives for Europe, whose objectives are directly linked to the WSIS Action Lines and the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Therefore, achieved results effectively contribute to both WSIS and SDG processes. The workshop presented a series of flagship actions undertaken recently by the ITU Office for Europe in the areas of Connectivity, Digital Skills, Child Online Protection, Digital Accessibility and Digital Services through the presentation of a series of country-based case studies and best practices.
Click here to learn more about the workshop
UNDTG4ECA: Driving the WSIS Action Lines to foster digital transformation in Europe and Central Asia on 26th April from 12:00 to 13:00 CET.
This thematic workshop is organized by the United Nations Digital Transformation Group for Europe and Central Asia (UNDTG4ECA), and facilitated by ITU and UNECE, co-leader of the group. The UNDTG4ECA is a multiagency platform facilitating coordination of the efforts of the UN system in accelerating digital transformation across the regions to achieve the SDGs. This workshop built upon the Cross-Cutting Session on Digitalization, held within the framework of the Regional Forum for Sustainable Development, where increasing multi-stakeholder, cross-sectoral and inter-agency coordination at national and regional levels has been recognized as key to capture the enabling potential of ICTs in achieving the SDGs. Through interactive panel discussions and the participation of multiple representatives of UN agencies, the workshop drew attention to projects, initiatives and efforts aiming at advancing implementation of the WSIS Actions Lines. This workshop also provided a platform for multi-stakeholder discussion on challenges and opportunities identified at the national/regional level. Each of UN agency had the opportunity to draw attention to the flagship initiative. A selection of initiatives and projects undertaken by UN Agencies in Europe and Central Asia can be found in the recent ICT Solutions Stocktaking Report by UNDTG4ECA (click here to download the copy).
Click here to learn more about the session.
