Opening Remarks by Malcolm Johnson, ITU Deputy Secretary-General
WSIS Forum 2022
3rd Virtual Meeting of the Open Consultation Process
2 May 2022
Good morning, good afternoon, good evening and thank you very much for joining us for this 3rd and final Meeting of the WSIS Forum 2022 Open Consultation Process. Our deepest appreciation to all WSIS stakeholders for their continued support and contribution to the WSIS process, as well as our co-organisers, UNESCO, UNCTAD, and UNDP, and the more than 30 contributing UN Agencies for their commitment towards the WSIS Process.
It is nice to see each year the growth of the WSIS community, and new initiatives being launched to accelerate the achievement of SDGs.
This year’s WSIS Forum began in March and we have already hosted more than 50 workshops, which cover the various issues highlighted as important by WSIS Stakeholders in the open consultation process. The final week of the Forum will once again be held physically, but with extended remote participation, from 30 May to 3 June 2022 at the ITU Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.
We have been anxiously awaiting the opportunity to gather again in person and we look forward to welcoming many of you in Geneva during the final week.
The preparations for the final week are well underway, and the main purpose of this meeting is to provide you all with updates on the final plans. This year’s Forum will feature several workshops, knowledge cafes, high-level dialogues, high-level track, and we are delighted to see such strong commitment and active participation of WSIS stakeholders to all these activities.
We will also announce 18 Winners of the WSIS Prizes 2022 during the final week and I would like to commend all submitters for their innovative projects leveraging technology to bring its benefits to society.
We are also working side by side with UNESCO in support of the International Decade of Indigenous Languages, through our virtual Hackathon. We have more than 250 participants and around 30 teams who are at present developing solutions in persevering, revitalizing, and promoting indigenous languages through ICTs.
I would also like to acknowledge the engagement of the many different communities at the WSIS Forum – youth, sports communities, accessibility group, older persons, including ambassadors and mayors – who give diverse insights and share their experiences.
Your participation in the WSIS Forum truly reflects our shared commitment towards building inclusive and development-oriented information and knowledge societies.
As you are aware, the WSIS Forum is extra-budgetary and it would not have been possible to organize an event of this magnitude without the support of our partners so I would like to take this opportunity to thank all our WSIS Forum 2022 Partners for their commitment and continued support.
WSIS is about collaborating for the common good which is why it is such a nice event.
Thank you all for your support and I look forward to welcoming you to the WSIS Forum 2022 final week in Geneva.
Thank you.