Doreen Bogdan-Martin
Secretary-General, International Telecommunication Union (ITU)
Opening remarks at the
WSIS Forum 2026 Inaugural Session
[As prepared for delivery]
Excellencies, distinguished ministers, ladies and gentlemen,
Good morning!
And welcome to the WSIS Forum 2026.
It's so exciting to see so many of you back here in Geneva, where the WSIS (World Summit on the Information Society) story began more than two decades ago.
Let me begin by expressing my deepest gratitude to our generous co-hosts, and ITU's home, the Swiss Confederation; to our co-organizers and sister agencies UNESCO (United Nations (UN) Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), UNDP (UN Development Programme) and UNCTAD (UN Trade and Development); and to our WSIS Forum Chair Designate, His Excellency Raafat Hendy, Egypt's Minister of Communications and Information Technology.
I also want to thank all of you, representatives from government, the private sector, civil society, the technical community, academia and more.
You are the people that make this Forum and process people-centered.
Ladies and gentlemen,
This Forum is a special one ꟷ with an incredible milestone to celebrate.
The 20-year Review of the WSIS by the UN General Assembly resulted in a new mandate to 2035, one that has re-energized this community for the decade ahead.
I can feel that energy in this room!
When WSIS began in 2003, it was about laying the foundations of an information society that is not only people-centered, but also inclusive and development-oriented.
Who would have thought, twenty years on, that those very same building blocks would be in even higher demand as we move from the information to the intelligent society?
WSIS has always been about value creation, for people and planet: Equitable access to infrastructure; inclusive adoption of technology; and digital development with humanity at its core.
You built those foundations and created the value that 193 UN Member States chose to strengthen.
Which brings us to the road ahead.
A new digital era demands a new kind of WSIS. One that can rise to a challenging geopolitical moment, and a technological landscape changing faster than ever.
This year's Forum also takes place alongside our AI for Good Global Summit, and the first-ever UN Global Dialogue on AI Governance, which concluded just yesterday.
This convergence, ladies and gentlemen, is not a coincidence.
It's a signal of where the digital agenda is going, and where we must meet it.
Looking across the tracks of this Forum ꟷ a Programme you built from the ground up ꟷ we see cybersecurity and AI side by side, with digital health and accessibility, and financing for connectivity, alongside human rights and space sustainability.
Nearly every dimension of our economies and societies is represented, because digital is everywhere, and affects everyone.
Excellencies,
The Resolution to renew the WSIS mandate through 2035 also commends our WSIS Stocktaking platform and the WSIS Prizes.
And it recognizes ITU's data as the measure the world relies on to track digital progress.
It shows we keep innovating, keep evolving, as part of a collective effort, owned by all of us.
WSIS is also about accountability.
It reports through the CSTD (Commission on Science and Technology for Development) and ECOSOC (the Economic and Social Council), all the way to the UN General Assembly.
And it's the operational engine that drives the Global Digital Compact (GDC).
Every major GDC commitment, from open AI models to digital public infrastructure, has been mapped onto our eleven WSIS Action Lines.
We must make every effort to keep that alignment and build on those synergies.
That's why GDC coherence also has its own dedicated track this week.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Let me leave you with three ways the WSIS community can keep the momentum to 2035.
First, let's close the digital divide, and make connectivity truly meaningful for all.
Global Internet use reached 74 per cent last year; progress we can all be proud of.
At the same time, 2.2 billion people are still completely offline.
Affordability, relevant content and services, and digital skills remain the stubborn barriers on their path to universal, meaningful connectivity.
Second, let's close the 2.8-trillion-dollar financing gap.
ITU, as the UNGIS (UN Groups on the Information Society) Secretariat, has convened a task force on financing for digital development, with concrete recommendations due by 2027.
And with over 82 billion dollars (USD) in pledges, our Partner2Connect goal of mobilizing 100 billion by the end of this year is within reach.
The WSIS community is key to helping us get there.
Third, let's build AI capacity, so a new divide doesn't open on top of the old one.
As AI races ahead, the WSIS community is uniquely placed to answer a question everyone is asking: How do we keep people at the centre?
With AI for Good right next door (in Geneva's Palexpo), this is our chance to turn proximity into partnership.
Ladies and gentlemen,
As I told ITU Council in April, technology only serves humanity when we organize ourselves to make it so.
WSIS has over two decades of experience in transforming those words into action.
So, let's make the most of the next three days.
Let's build the kind of WSIS an AI-driven world needs: People-centred, inclusive, and development-oriented.
Our renewed mandate may have been adopted in New York. But it will be delivered by the people in this room, by the WSIS community here in Geneva (Switzerland), and all over the world.
And the impact of our efforts will continue to be felt by the people you see in the images behind me.
