IT for Change is organizing and participating in a number of critical sessions at the WSIS Forum 2026, which will take place from 6 to 10 July in Geneva, hosted at ITU Headquarters from 6–7 July and at Palexpo from 8–10 July.
Register to attend WSIS Forum 2026 in person or online here.
Monday, 6 July 2026
Session 271. Measuring what matters: Embedding gender equality in AI governance through gender-specific indicators
Organizer: The Gender in Digital Coalition (GiDC)
14:00–14:45 (UTC+02:00) | Room G3, ITU Varembé Building
Learn more and register here.
Speakers: Marina Meira (Derechos Digitales), Nandini Chami (IT for Change), Pavitra Ramanujam (Association for Progressive Communications), Caitlin Kraft-Buchman (Women At The Table / A+ Alliance for Inclusive Algorithms / AI & Equality Initiative), Mrinalini Dayal (Equality Now).
Nandini Chami is a speaker in this round table session that will bring together Action Line facilitators, government representatives, and civil society to engage across three areas:
1. Without integrating gender considerations, the development of AI will miss the insights and innovation of women and gender-diverse groups, failing to comprehensively address harms and gender-based violence in AI systems and promote feminist tech design pathways.
2. Embedding gender equality in AI governance through specific actionable indicators which include but are not limited to: increasing leadership positions of women and gender-diverse groups in AI organizations; training AI practitioners in gender responsive design; increasing meaningful connectivity for women; public financing pledges for gender-responsive AI services in the Global South; and
3. Gender mainstreaming across all digital, artificial intelligence, and emerging technology governance parallel processes, such as the Global Digital Compact.
Wednesday, 8 July 2026
Session 385. Putting data justice at the heart of AI governance
Organizer: IT for Change
11:00–11:45 (UTC+02:00) | Room K, Palexpo
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Speakers: H.E. Amb. Muhammadou M.O. Kah (Ambassador & Permanent Representative of the Republic of Gambia to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva), Soledad Vogliano (ETC Group), Arturo Sánchez Pineda (Nyon, Vaud), Nandini Chami (IT for Change), Moderator: Anriette Esterhuysen (Association for Progressive Communications).
We are organizing this panel discussion to enable a dialogue between members of the CSTD Working Group on Data Governance and civil society observers on what it means to enshrine data justice at the heart of AI governance. Building on the debates and discussions in the Working Group, it will also explore how this issue can be centred in the design of an effective data governance regime that delivers on equitable development for the Global South.
It will delve into the following questions:
a. What is data justice? How is it related to the vision of a people-centered development paradigm as envisioned in the WSIS?
b. What are the impediments to data justice in the current international politico-economic order?
c. How can the work of the UN CSTD Working Group on Data Governance intersect meaningfully with the Global Dialogue on AI governance? What would it take to place data justice at the heart of the AI governance agenda?
Leaders TalkX 3 - Artificial Intelligence: Policy, Ethics, and Global Cooperation
Organizer: WSIS
15:00–15:30 (UTC+02:00) | Room C, Palexpo
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Speakers: H.E. Dr. Ohoud Ali Shehail (Ajman Digital Department and Telecommunications, United Arab Emirates), H.E. Mr. Alonso Zeledón (Ministry of Science, Innovation, Technology and Telecommunications, Costa Rica), H.E. Mr. Samuel Nartey George (Ministry of Communication, Digital Technology and Innovations, Ghana), H.E. Mr. Gatis Ozols (Deputy State Secretary for Digital Transformation and Minister of Smart Administration and Regional Development of the Republic of Latvia), H.E. Mr. Chaichanok Chidchob (Ministry of Digital Economy and Society, Thailand), H.E. Dr. Ömer Fatih Sayan (Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, Türkiye),H.E. Ms. Tatenda Annastacia Mavetera (Ministry of ICT, Postal and Courier Services, Zimbabwe), Thibaut Kleiner (European Commission), Ingrid-Gabriela Hoven (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH), High-Level Track Facilitator and Moderator: Nandini Chami (IT for Change).
Nandini Chami was nominated and identified by WSIS stakeholders to be the High-Level Track Facilitator and moderate this Leaders TalkX session on Artificial Intelligence: Policy, Ethics, and Global Cooperation. The session will gather high-ranking officials of the WSIS stakeholder community, representing the government, private sector, civil society, academia, technical community, and international organizations. . These high-level exchanges will provide a strategic space for leaders to reflect on the WSIS outcomes review, share national and institutional perspectives, and shape forward-looking policy dialogue.
Thursday, 9 July 2026
Session 116. Sustainable Financing for Digital Development
Organizers: Association for Progressive Communications and the Swiss Federal Office of Communication
15:00–15:45 (UTC+02:00) | Room G, Palexpo
Learn more and register here.
Speakers: Nandini Chami (IT for Change), Dr. Mehdi Snene (UN Office for Digital and Emerging Technologies), Dr. David Souter, Rob Floyd (African Center for Economic Transformation), Anriette Esterhuysen (Association for Progressive Communications), Céliane Pochon (Swiss Federal Office of Communications (OFCOM)), Deniz Susar (UNDESA), Lauren Bieniek (International Telecommunications Union (ITU)), Dr. Carlos Rey-Moreno (Association for Progressive Communications).
Nandini Chami is speaking at this interactive roundtable, which brings together practitioners, researchers and policymakers directly involved in financing digital development — including members of the newly established UNGIS Task Force on Financing Digital Development, mandated by the WSIS+20 outcome document — to examine one of the most pressing and under-resolved questions in the WSIS implementation agenda: how to mobilize domestic public resources and community-led partnerships for people-centred digital development.
Session 237. Common But Differentiated Responsibilities – How can we realize this principle in WSIS implementation?
Organizer: Global Digital Justice Forum
16:00–16:45 (UTC+02:00) | Room E, Palexpo
Speakers: H.E. Amb. Erika Almeida Watanabe Patriota (Permanent Mission of Brazil to the WTO), Dr. Alison Gillwald (Research ICT Africa), Danish (South Centre), Anriette Esterhuysen (Association for Progressive Communications), Moderator: Nandini Chami (IT for Change).
Learn more and register here
About
As part of the Global Digital Justice Forum, of which IT for Change is the secretariat, we are organizing this session on what it means to meaningfully translate the principle of Common But Differentiated Responsibilities (CBDR) in the current conjuncture for a reinvigorated global digital governance paradigm. From this starting point, the session will take up the following questions:
a. What does it mean to apply the CBDR principle to international digital cooperation? What could be some illustrative, core dimensions?
b. Since the application of the CBDR principle in the digital arena may face difficulties in a fragmented geopolitical context, is it possible to take up a few specific issues as starting points for agreement internationally?
c. How can existing forums (multilateral, plurilateral, regional etc.) be used to mobilize consensus for this new discourse?