Agenda

Action Line Facilitators

Pursuant to Article 109 of the Tunis Agenda, the sixteenth meeting of the UN WSIS Action Line Facilitators will take place within the framework of the WSIS Forum 2021.

The purpose of the meeting is to assess the general progress made within the WSIS Action Lines, as well as to identify measures to strengthen the overall WSIS implementation process. In addition, this year’s meeting will focus on innovating trends in ICTs and the implementation of the WSIS Action Lines to facilitate the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Format

This session will be moderated in a dialogue style format engaging all UN WSIS Action Lines Facilitators to identify the key priorities, opportunities and challenges for their respective WSIS Action Line towards the achievement of the SDGs, in particular highlighting the implementation of the WSIS process and the role of the WSIS Action Lines in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

WSIS Action Lines

С1. The role of public governance authorities and all stakeholders in the promotion of ICTs for development: Deniz Susar, Governance and Public Administration Officer, UN DESA

С2. Information and communication infrastructure: Istvan Bozsoki, Head of Division, ITU

C3. Access to information and knowledge: Joe Hironaka, Programme Specialist, Digital Innovation and Transformation, Communication and Information Sector, UNESCO

C4. Capacity building: Halima Letamo, Capacity and Skills Development Officer, ITU 

C5. Building confidence and security in the use of ICTs: Preetam Maloor, Head Emerging Technologies Division, ITU

C6. Enabling environment: Sofie Maddens, Head, Regulatory and Market Environment Division, Telecommunication Development Bureau, ITU

C7. ICT Applications:
E-government: Deniz Susar, Governance and Public Administration Officer, UN DESA
E-business: Paul Donohoe, Manager, Digital Economy and Trade Programme, UPU / James Howe, Senior Adviser International Marketing, Branding and e-Commerce, ITC / Scarlett Fondeur Gil, Economic Affairs Officer, ICT Policy Section, UNCTAD
E-learning: Valtencir Mendes, Senior Programme Lead, Division for Policies and Lifelong Learning Systems, UNESCO Education Sector  
E-health: Hani Eskandar, Digital Services Senior Coordinator, ITU / Sameer Pujari - Vice-Chair, Focus Group: AI 4 Health, WHO
E-employment: Maria Prieto, Employment and Future of Work Specialist, ILO
E-environment: Omar Baddour, Head of the Climate Monitoring and Policy division, WMO / Maritza Delgado, Program Officer of the Environment and Emergency Telecommunications Division, ITU / (TBC), UNEP
E-agriculture: Meng ZENG, Information Technology Officer, FAO
E-science: Joe Hironaka, Programme Specialist, Digital Innovation and Transformation, Communication and Information Sector, UNESCO

C8. Cultural diversity and identity, linguistic diversity and local content: Rochelle Roca-Hachem, Programme Specialist, Communications, Cities and Events Unit, UNESCO Culture Sector                                            

C9. Media: Joe Hironaka, Programme Specialist, Digital Innovation and Transformation, Communication and Information Sector, UNESCO

C10. Ethical dimensions of the Information Society: Maksim Karliuk, Programme Specialist Section for Bioethics and Ethics of Science and Technology, UNESCO Social & Human Sciences Sector                    

C11. International and regional cooperation: Deniz Susar, Governance and Public Administration Officer, UN DESA