Anita Gurumurthy from IT for Change participated in CSTD's first open consultation titled 'WSIS at 20: Successes, failures and future expectations' which was organised in the Internet Governance Forum in Kyoto, Japan on 10 October 2023.
The General Assembly adopted the A/70/125 resolution on 16th December 2015, emphasizing the need for a high-level meeting in 2025 for a comprehensive review of the World Summit on the Information Society's (WSIS) progress known as WSIS+20 Review. The primary vision of WSIS is to form a “people-centered, inclusive and development-oriented information society” using information and communication technologies for sustainable growth. Due to rapid technological change, today’s information society differs greatly from what was envisaged in 2005. However, the WSIS vision remains highly relevant.
The event, in partnership with International Telecommunication Union, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and United Nations Development Programme, aimed to promote detailed discussions among diverse stakeholders like UN bodies, governments, the private sector, civil society, IGF, and other communities active in ICT development. The deliberations that took place will significantly contribute to the CSTD secretariat’s report to be prepared as inputs to the General Assembly's review in 2025, which will be central to the CSTD discussions on WSIS+20 Review, as instructed by the ECOSOC.
Read Anita's inputs to the discussion here.