WSIS Action Lines Facilitation Meeting: WSIS towards Summit of the Future and Beyond

WSIS Action Line Facilitators Review Progress and Plan for the Future Ahead of Summit

The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Action Line facilitators convened to review the progress of their respective action lines over the past 20 years and to discuss future plans in light of the upcoming summit of the future and beyond. The session, steered by Gitanjali Sah, was an opportunity for facilitators to share their insights on the evolution, key trends, and challenges within their domains.

Sadhvi Saran, representing Action Line C5 on cybersecurity, highlighted the adaptability of cybersecurity to new technologies, emphasizing resilience and the protection of critical infrastructure. The integration of the WSIS Forum with the AI for Good Summit brought to the forefront the importance of trust in AI, addressing issues such as deepfakes and misinformation.

Deniz Suzar, covering Action Lines C1, C7, and C11, focused on e-government and international cooperation. Suzar mentioned the e-government survey launch and a new collaboration with the ILO on employment and e-government indicators. He also discussed the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) sessions and the relationship between the Global Digital Compact and the WSIS+20 review.

Derrick Muneene from WHO discussed the organization’s dedication to digital health, detailing the resolutions and strategies that have influenced WHO’s contribution to e-health solutions. He introduced the Global Initiative on Digital Health as a facilitation mechanism for implementing digital health solutions.

Sofie Maddens, discussing Action Line C6 on enabling environments, stressed the necessity for a strategic approach to digital policy that goes beyond connectivity to include access, adoption, and value creation. She highlighted the need for innovation and skills development within the digital policy framework.

Laura Nonn, addressing Action Line C8 on cultural diversity, expressed concerns about the digital transformation of cultural and creative industries and its potential threats to cultural diversity, artistic freedom, and cultural rights. She emphasized the need for policies that ensure fair remuneration and working conditions for artists and cultural professionals, as well as addressing the digital divide in cultural industries.

Dejan Jakovljevic from FAO spoke about digital solutions in agriculture and the urgency of addressing the digital divide, which has become a significant barrier to participation in the digital ecosystem.

Davide Storti, covering multiple action lines including C3 on access to information and C7 on education, highlighted the transformative potential of technologies when used responsibly and inclusively. He mentioned the importance of Open Educational Resources and the need for teacher training to enhance digital skills.

The session concluded with preparations for the closing ceremony, marking the end of a successful event. The discussions underscored the WSIS process as a vital multi-stakeholder platform for advancing global digital agendas and contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The facilitators’ commitment to collaboration and innovation was evident throughout the session, as they acknowledged the need to rejuvenate the WSIS Action Lines to keep pace with emerging technologies and global realities.

Gitanjali Sah:
Colleagues, do they need to use their earpiece or they can hear me? Okay. So I can be heard in the room. So good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. We are about to start our session with the WSIS Action Line facilitators. So we’d like to request you to please take your seats. And those of you who don’t have the WSIS T-shirts, you can get them outside. My colleagues are there with the T-shirts outside. So we’ll start in a second. We let you take your seats, please. So good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. We hope that you have enjoyed these days of the WSIS Plus 20 Forum High-Level Event. This session is a very important session because it is about the UN Action Line facilitators reporting on the evolution of their action line over the 20 years, the plans for the future, and basically why their action line is so impactful and necessary towards the summit of the future and beyond. We are working with around 50 UN agencies in the WSIS process who we work with closely. We’ve been designing the process together. And today I have with me some WSIS Action Line facilitators. Some of them had to return yesterday. So we’d like to maybe start with a round of introduction. If you could please state your name, organization, and the action line you moderate very briefly. Maybe we can start with Dayan.

Dejan Jakovljevic:
Hello and thank you very much. Thank you, first of all, to our hosts at ITU here at Nanda Vesis. My name is Dan Yakovlevich. I’m the Director of Digital FAO and Agroinformatics. Thank you. Sorry, Action Line, of course, e-Agriculture.

Sadhvi Saran:
Hello, everyone. My name is Salvi Saran, and I’m the Strategy Advisor for the Emerging Technologies Division at ITU, here representing Action Line C5 on Building Confidence and Security in the U.S. high cities.

Davide Storti:
Hi, everybody. This is Davide Storti, working at UNESCO in the Digital Policies and Digital Transformation section, and I’m here representing Action Line C3, C7 for Education and for Science, C8 on Culture, C9 on Media, and C10 in Ethics.

Gitanjali Sah:
Thank you, Davide. Derek?

Derrick Muneene:
Well, good afternoon, colleagues. I have one Action Line, not as many. I am Derek Munene. I’m Head of Capacity Building and Collaboration at the World Health Organization within the Digital Health and Innovation Department, and as I mentioned at the beginning, I have one Action Line, which is Action Line number C7, and I have my team with me supporting. So, Melissa, who has been supporting our coordination, is also in the floor. She is seated right in the audience. Thank you so much.

Sofie Maddens:
Hello, my name is Sophie Maddens. I’m the Chief of Digital Knowledge Hub Department in the ITU’s Development Bureau. I am a facilitator for Action Line C6, which is the Enabling Environment, also just one.

Gitanjali Sah:
Thank you. So, I also wanted to inform everyone about the updates and the current work that we have been doing together. Together, we have been trying to also demystify WSIS for the new audiences because we do notice that with the alignment with SDGs, 2030 Agenda, a lot of digital governance discussions going on in New York. There were several stakeholders who didn’t have a comprehensive understanding of the WSIS process. So we’ve been demystifying it and I’m just scrolling through the pages of the WSIS website. We’ve put on a timeline. We have described basically what WSIS is, what WSIS plus 20 review was, what WSIS plus 20 plus 10 review was, a WSIS timeline, reminding everybody that basically WSIS started with the ITU Minneapolis plenipotentiary conference in 1998, where there was a proposal to have a process like WSIS. There was a Conga resolution. So it’s very much a UN process. So we’ve put down these comprehensive diagrams and descriptions, what is the WSIS plus 20 review for those who did not understand the process in collaboration with many agencies involved, especially ITU, UNESCO, UNDP, UNCCD colleagues. We are also preparing this timeline, which you can find on the website as well. And the most important part is we have these WSIS action line presentations online, which you will find very interesting. I can open one while Sophie is presenting C6 and show you that it shows the entire evolution of the action line, what are the challenges, what are the key milestones, and so on and so forth. So today we’ll hear a bit more from our action line facilitators, and maybe I can can start with the C5, Sadhvi. So Sadhvi, basically, how has the Action Line C5 on cybersecurity evolved over time, over these 20 years? And what are the key trends, especially, for example, this year we had visits with the AI for Good Summit and the AI Governance Day. What were the key trends and challenges that you are hearing of? Over to you, Sadhvi.

Sadhvi Saran:
Thanks, Gitanjali. So with C5, what we’ve seen is it’s been nearly 20 years now, but the adaptability and flexibility to take into account new technologies and new trends remains extremely relevant. So for example, this year, the focus has mostly been around discussions on resilience. We’ve had them in the past as well, but we’ve seen an expansion in terms of including safeguards for a wide range of physical infrastructures, such as submarine cables, satellites, terrestrial networks, alongside implementing robust cyber resilience protocols throughout communication networks. In specific, perhaps, I’d highlight here the Action Line C5 meeting where ITU, along with some government leaders, cable industry executives, and the International Cable Protection Committee convened to discuss international policies critical to the resilience of submarine cables infrastructure, in particular, in the context of global telecommunications. And if you’ve been following this program and the C5 related sessions, you’ll see several others have also addressed the issue of digital resilience. And secondly, as Gitanjali said, with the convergence of the WSIS Forum and the AI for Good Summit, there’s been a significant focus around the issue of AI and trust in both forums. And topics of concern have included a wide range of themes, including deepfake. misinformation, the need for technical standards such as watermarking to address some of these issues, as well as security concerns regarding the misuse of AI in terms of cyber threats and other cybercrime related matters. Along with a discussion or an explanation of what some of the challenges and the threats are, we’ve also seen many positive examples of how AI can be used to mitigate some of these risks. I think maybe just as a final point, you know while there is a growing concern around cyber threats and the increase, the increasing complexity targets and technologies, I think there is also a recognition, especially when we have everyone here, of the community that is being developed around it and the more organized that all stakeholders have become around some of these issues and around working together. And as I said before, I think the WSIS mechanism has continued to provide a robust and a very flexible foundation to address some of these issues under a multi-stakeholder framework of action lines. And we look forward to doubling down on some of these efforts over the next very important year as well.

Gitanjali Sah:
Thank you, Saadvi. In fact, all the discussions in the leaders talks and the different sessions that we had focused on not only building a connected world but a trusted connected world, the role of cybersecurity in doing so. So I’ll now move on to our online participant, Mr. Deniz Suzar, who could not be here with us physically today. He was here until yesterday. Deniz is moderating and facilitating the action lines from UNDESA, action line C1, C7 governance and C11 on international cooperation. So Deniz, of course, you’ll cover the three together and they’re quite similar as well. What have you… What are the observations you’ve made in the evolution of these action lines and some of the key trends that you noticed this year, Deniz? Over to you.

Deniz Suzar:
Thank you very much, Gitanjali. So let me start with e-government. We had our session on Tuesday, and we mostly covered what happened since last year on the area of e-government. We heard more about e-government survey, application of our methodology in cities, and also GovStack, and also thanks to the contributions from ITU and ILO. We are starting, thanks to this VISIS Forum, a new collaboration with ILO on employment and use of e-government indicators. So that work will continue, and we will launch the e-government survey in September this year during the Summit of Future. In addition to e-government facilitation meeting, we have organized two sessions on IGF. One, these are part of Action Line C1 and C11. One is linkages between GDC, Global Digital Compact, and IGF, and also how we can link it to the VISIS Class 20 overall review in 2025. And as you know, IGF will have its annual meeting this year from 15 to 19 December in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. In the next IGF facilitation meeting, we talk more about Riyadh, and we had representatives from Saudi Arabia in addition to chair of the multi-stakeholder advisory group, advising secretary general in the program of the IGF. We heard the recent developments. So basically, in addition to that, I should also mention Partnership on Measuring ICT for Development, a steering committee by ITU, UNCTAD, and UNDESA had its meeting yesterday. Partnership will celebrate its 20 years of anniversary. and in addition to seven ICT indicators that are part of the SDG indicators framework partnership is trying to come up with new indicators such as use of mobile data, use of big data in measuring progress in SDGs. So I also encourage everyone to follow the work of partnership. Thank you Gitanjali and I’m sorry I couldn’t be there but these are very high level summaries of what was discussed by you and this week and I have to say it was a very good week. Back to you.

Gitanjali Sah:
Thank you Deniz. We know that you also you have a long flight after this so wish you a good journey. We’d now like to move on to WHO. Derek, he not only facilitates the action line but this year we had a great collaboration and in parallel on Tuesday and Wednesday we had a digital health dialogue here in the ITU. So over to you Derek to share

Derrick Muneene:
some of the outcomes. Thank you so much Gitanjali for that kind introduction but I should maybe start off by thanking you for the excellent facilitation and coordination of the overall process as WHO are very committed in terms of making a meaningful contribution and engagement to this particular mechanism. So special thanks to the team that you lead and to the ITU together with others that have been you know contributing to this process. As mentioned I’m Derek Munene, head of capacity building and collaboration and leading from WHO’s perspective on activities on this action line C7 on e-health. And as Gitanjali has mentioned, we’re the specific two-day deep dive expanding this particular action line and I’ll talk more about that in a moment. So just want to take a few steps backwards to stock take on our action line for the past 20 years. We were quite fortunate by the OASIS process, the 2003 meeting and the 2005 meeting were quite instrumental in introducing WHO’s work in using ICTs in health. And so we’ve had three resolutions starting with 2005 on e-health and then continuing to 2013, second resolution on e-health and data standardization and interoperability. And then in 2018, a resolution on digital health. And these resolutions have shaped our contribution towards introducing e-health solutions in the health sector, as well as digital health interventions. And more recently, actually not so recent, in 2020, we were able to have our member states organize this board of work into a global strategy on digital health that includes space for development partners, space for member states and space for WHO. And that particular strategy has been used as a vehicle to engage with our society. Using the global strategy as a lens, we put together an instrument called the Global Initiative on Digital Health, which is what we’ve been using to facilitate implementation of this action line. It’s a WHO network, but it is encompassing and brings all stakeholders working in this space together in one common platform to increase alignment, improve international collaboration, but at the same time, fast-track the implementation of digital health or e-health solutions in countries. And so the two-day meeting that Gitanjali mentioned just now from Tuesday to Wednesday this week, together with the complementary event we had today, we’re really focused around bringing partners together to the best facilitation activity through the Global Initiative on Digital Health as a mechanism. They were interesting conversations. We actually had a very packed agenda. that focused on several topics, including the topic on digital public infrastructure for health. So we worked with the G20 presidency from Brazil, the ITU, WHO and major partners to really unpackage what digital public infrastructure would actually mean for health. And so we had several conversations around use cases, including registries for e-health and so forth. What we’re looking forward to is really getting the digital health or e-health agenda fast-tracked in such a way that it can improve the health of the people in times to come, so much that the intersection between health and digital will be seamless. And that’s a future that we look forward to, and we are happy to be able to present our detailed report in times to come. Thank you very much.

Gitanjali Sah:
Thank you very much, Derrick. In fact, in terms of the overall review on this, we have been discussing many elements regarding e-health together, and we do hope that we’ll be able to make a difference for the year 2025. We have the pleasure of having our deputy secretary general, Mr. Thomas Lavanuskis with us. Thomas, would you like to say a few words and also encourage all of us working towards implementing the WSIS action lines?

Tomas Lamanauskas:
So thank you very much, Gitanjali. It’s great to see you here at the end of the, coming close to the end of this very long week, but very productive, very exciting week, and the week is full of energy, so we don’t feel the lack of sleep and I think the overcloth happening anymore. So really, excellences, dear colleagues from across the WSIS community, it’s really, you know, I want to express my appreciation on behalf of ITU or on behalf of, I hope, WSIS organizers who will definitely join me in that, for your dedication and engagement in today’s meeting and facilitating WSIS action lines. Over the past two decades, our multistakeholder process has- boosted digital inclusion, promoted policy frameworks to meaningfully connect everyone, everywhere. It also advanced digital capacity building, led global awareness-raising advocacy for inclusive digital development, and submitted partnerships among governments, civil society, the private sector, international organizations to leverage tech for their UN Sustainable Development Goals. I appreciate all your engagement as facilitators in translating the WSIS Action Alliance into tangible progress. Indeed, your tireless dedication that has helped build on decades of work and keep advancing technologies for a better global future. So we are now celebrating achievements at WSIS, but we’re also looking forward into your insights on how to align our process with the summit of the future and global digital compact as well. We must acknowledge the emergence of new challenges that demand our collective attention and collaboration. We must redouble our efforts to ensure the equitable distribution of the benefits of digital technologies, leaving no one behind. The WSIS Action Alliance continue to serve as a key reference point for global digital discussions. Yet, the age of artificial intelligence and other rapidly evolving innovations calls for updates into our cooperation mechanisms. On the dedicated WSIS Action Alliance webpage, each facilitator has provided valuable insights on key achievements, emerging trends, daunting challenges, and untapped opportunities. As we approach the WSIS Plus Center review, we must take stock of progress in the inception of WSIS, identify areas needing further action. So today’s discussions, and actually this whole WSIS Plus 20 forum that we have had in Geneva this whole week, have prompted thinking about ways to reinvigorate the WSIS Action Alliance so we can keep the pace with emerging technologies and changing global realities. Let us keep working together to rejuvenate the WSIS Action Alliance, a driving force in the years to come. And our collective endeavor is fundamental in change, though, to foster an inclusive and equitable information. societies that benefit all individuals. So let’s achieve that together. Thank you very much and back to you back to you Geethanjali.

Gitanjali Sah:
Thank you so much Thomas. You can see all through the year, all through the year in fact and this week had the dedicated efforts of our Action Line facilitators. Around 50 UN agencies joined us and we also had sessions on the different Action Lines all through the week. So this has been a very interesting week for the Action Lines implementation as well and brainstorming towards the review process. I do welcome James from ITC as well representing e-business. James maybe we can go to you just highlighting you know the evolution of e-business over the years and what are the key challenges and trends that you have noticed together and just to note that this Action Line is facilitated by ITC, OCAD and UPU. Over to you James.

ITU:
Hi, well I was enjoying the view from the audience and you’re that much more beautiful from down there. So sorry for my confusion. I arrived here on stage at the last moment. So but let me just answer your question Geethanjali. For the focus of this year’s discussion in the Action Line C7 e-business, what we thought would be particularly useful for us is to solicit the opinions of contributors to our Action Line on the overlap and areas in which the global digital compacts may cover similar areas to our Action Line, maybe complementary or indeed may have some residual gaps. So this was the debate that we opened up. up earlier on this week, and we noticed that in terms of e-business, which is our particular prism on the world of digital, the global digital compact covers many areas of relevance and interest to us. Of course, some of the private sector participants are particularly motivated about issues of the governance of data and the implications of that on the digital economy, and of course, the importance of AI and the input on the future and the future governments of AI. And we noticed that a lot of the values of the global digital compact are fully aligned with the debates that we’ve been having over the years in the action line. That’s to say, inclusivity, a development agenda, gender equality, and questions of environmental sustainability, equity, and innovation friendliness are all in there. And we also note that the GDC sees the importance of WSIS-related entities, such as the IGF and the action lines itself, and the Commission on Science and Technology. And we noted the role of the Special Envoy of Technology. But nevertheless, we allowed ourselves to discuss some areas in which it may need reinforcing. We believe that there isn’t sufficient focus on e-business within that. That would probably be no surprise, because it’s our particular point of view. So we think that this becomes an important issue, the inclusivity of trade, as trade online and digital becomes more or less the only way of doing trade in many areas. We think there’s an issue of inclusivity onto small platforms, and that the benefits of the digital economy should be shared in an equitable manner. And therefore, we but we believe that we have an important input as a group having consulted to provide this input on how the text could address matters of digital governmental policies that are not that may not be purely digital in relation but may help aspects of equity such as digital governments or policies that cover things like competition and taxation to frame the digital economy. We recognize also that the micro, small and medium-sized enterprises need to have a stronger presence in the dialogue and we note the intention for strong human rights focus of the GDC and we signal that it may become an important right to be able to conduct one’s business online and that suitable mechanisms should be put in place to protect those rights of the micro enterprise, the small and medium-sized enterprise. So with this we exchanged experiences between the various partners in the debate and we covered small island developed states which have their own debate this week in Antigua and Barbuda. We also talked to Zambia from the head of the ICT agency there and heard, maybe had some clues in the facilitation which is going on between the two governments of Zambia and Sweden and heard how important this kind of thinking about micro businesses is. We also heard from an entrepreneur, a lady who was looking at the power of data to open opportunities for micro businesses, the importance of that data being accessible and something as a passport to unlock the ability to take part in the digital economy in this case for women but for other excluded groups as well. So I stopped there as an insight into the kind of work that we’ve been doing together with UNCTAD, with UPU and myself and the agency ITC. Thank you very much for giving us this time to share this and thank you to ITU for its continued work in supporting these initiatives. Thank you.

Gitanjali Sah:
Thank you very much James. I am also quite mindful of time because we have to finish at three so that we can have our closing from three to four and the AI for good closing will happen from four to five so we have to keep track of time. I’m going to pass over to Davide. You heard he’s implementing many action lines but some of his colleagues are online as well so Davide could probably start with the introduction and cover some of them and then we pass on to the rest of us. Over to you Davide.

Davide Storti:
Thank you. Yes, it’s a pleasure of course of not implementing myself and all these action lines. It’s a pleasure we have colleagues with me here, Laura for the C8 on culture and Albertina for the media action line online. So let me start maybe with C3 access to information action line and I know it’s difficult to describe the incredible evolution that went on in 20 years since the business plan of action in terms of access information and how the traditional information system evolved in both analog still but also of course a digital form and how the different public agencies information agencies have used the new technologies and namely now artificial intelligence, big data analysis, cloud operation efficiency and answer their response to citizens to enterprise and to the needs of partners. as well. So this also brought up a major concerns in putting a disproportionate increase in incomplete, false, misleading information as well. An overload of unverifiable information that is presented sometimes in a culture even linguistically inappropriate manner. And there doesn’t appear yet to be a commensurable increase in the availability, and prominence, and visibility, and engagement to verification of sources of the information itself. So the multiplication of this source of information, which sometimes we may call that noise, let’s say, and the emergence of new technologies intensify the consequences of this information. So this is one aspect. However, as the custodian of public domain information, governments have a crucial role in making accessible information to everyone. And policymakers should recognize the importance of providing access to information, which has a significant implication for good governance, social capital development, economic welfare. The connection is not matter of policy only, but it’s a responsibility that governments must uphold to ensure transparent participatory society. The right to access public information is not a privilege, but a necessity for transparency, accountability, and citizen participation in policymaking. So in the recent decades, we have seen public administration recognizing public services to deliver and actively contributing to this endeavor.

Gitanjali Sah:
And

Davide Storti:
right, the right to access to information has gained recognition worldwide as a key instrument for transparency, but participatory democracy and governance. So in the beginning of 2024, in comparison to 20, in the 90s, in 1990 actually, where only 14 countries had access to access to information laws or instruments, beginning of 2024, 140 UN member states have adopted constitutional statutory or policy guarantees for public access to information. This is a global trend which underscores the growing recognition of access to public information importance in promoting transparency and governance accountability. I would like to mention also that in the, in this, not to be too long, in the major keystones, milestones of this 20 years have been instruments like the Windhoek Declaration, Windhoek Declaration, which is set out the recommendation for secure information as a public good, addressing media viability, promoting internet company transparency, and also tackling the issues of enhancing citizen media and information literacy competencies. We have also, I mentioned already the access to information registration increase, which is a good news. Other instruments like the Tashkent Declaration, and also would like to mention the Oxford Statement, which was done in 2023 at the International Day for access, universal access to information, which in celebrating this International Day reaffirmed the importance of digital connectivity. It makes also a link to connectivity and access to information, because to exercise this right nowadays, of course, we have to to have access to internet, which is still a problem which we’ll discuss at length during the week as well. Yeah, I would like to also just to mention the last point maybe that we, during the discussion this week in the C3 Action Line group, we also emphasize the need to renew the role of traditional players like libraries in the new landscapes and the role that they can play and they play already in ensuring that every citizen is equipped to be the necessary competencies and to participate fully in the digital society. Thank you.

Gitanjali Sah:
Thank you very much, Davide, we’ll move on to…

Davide Storti:
Sorry, one last point, it is very important actually just to mention that the HLPF going to review SDG 16 now, very soon in July. So that’s also something to be…

Gitanjali Sah:
Exactly, also works. Yes, thank you. Diane, could we please invite you to give us a brief about e-agriculture?

Dejan Jakovljevic:
Thank you so much. I’m from the Food and Agriculture Organization. We are leading e-agriculture space or today we say digital agriculture space for more than 20 years, very, very strongly. And I have to admit as a forward-looking organization, it was, we took us a moment to actually reflect and look back what we achieved. So I’m not gonna spend too much time on looking back but I did find some interesting moments that maybe we can hear. One is that more than 20 years ago, we actually had the birth of e-agriculture portfolio in FAO. So even 20 years ago and more, we had a portfolio of digital solutions that we can put forward to our… members and the farmers. And I was very pleased to see, and I’m not sure if our ITU colleagues also recall, but in more than 10 years ago, we had the FAO won the WSIS prize for re-agriculture community of practices. So thank you for that. And connecting to event yesterday, we had, and we also received the award for a digital service portfolio, which is the set of tools we offer to farmers. If we look at what does it actually take to accomplish digital agriculture, we see technology as enabler and accelerator of not only digitalization, but more importantly, enabling agri-food systems transformation. We feel an enormous sense of urgency to proceed very quickly. And this is what brings us to WSIS also. We see WSIS as a process for progress. And I think this is a good name, process for progress for WSIS. We have been working through WSIS mechanism for a long, long time. And some of the issues we see now is that the digital does not, simply does not recognize any borders across the ministries or across UN or across the industry. It happens horizontally and vertically and diagonally. So it is very relevant to have a place where we can convene and discuss these issues and bring us together. So we see a very strong role for WSIS in this space. One of the areas where we need help is the digital divide. And I want to mention it now, because also I think WSIS and ITU in general can help here. We see that being left behind now means really being left behind. It is no longer optional to be outside of the digital ecosystem. So thank you again for this brief moment to present FAO and I would like to say that we are looking forward at the occasion of WSIS plus 20 to continue our very close collaboration on the action line and many others. Thank you.

Gitanjali Sah:
Thank you, Dan. We look forward to your close collaboration and thank you for all this work that you’re doing together. I also see Mr. Hani Eskandar in the room who has been working on e-agriculture issues and e-environment issues with Denise. Denise, if you’re online, you can hear us as well. So thank you so much. I’ll now move on to Laura who is implementing the action line on C8, a very important one, cultural diversity. We had done a series of sessions together on indigenous languages aligned with the decade of indigenous languages. We had a hackathon which culminated with very interesting solutions and a track dedicated to indigenous languages a couple of, I think, last year. So over to you, Laura, to update us and to about your plans and what you would do.

Laura Nonn:
Thank you very much. So with regards to action line C8, there are numbers of ways of plans that we aim to engage in which are really around digital transformation of the cultural and creative industries and what it means as well for artists, cultural professionals and cultural practitioners. A crucial issue today is that the speed at which the digital ecosystem is developed in far out spaces, the amount of time policymakers need to respond to such challenges in terms of cultural policies. threat to cultural diversity, artistic freedom, and cultural rights. And with the rise of AI in cultural and creative industries, there is now a sense of urgency, as it could potentially threaten the very nature of human creativity and may encourage job displacement across the cultural value chain. Generative AI raises multiple questions regarding the sustainability of this cultural value chain, in particular in light of the market concentration of large tech companies. The issue of transparency is central, notably on transparency of cultural sources to train model AI and transparency on how content is used. The entire digital ecosystem currently surrounding the cultural and creative industries impact not only the diversity of cultural content and the availability of this content, but also poses significant challenges for fair remuneration of artists and cultural professionals and practitioners, questions about decent and safe working conditions online, as well as the competitivity of the cultural and creative industries in terms of digital literacy, digital divide globally, but also considering the dominant position of large competitive companies in the global market for copyright protected technological content and of countries with large domestic markets who have become major exporters of cultural creative products. Many challenges have arisen as well in terms of linguistic diversity and discoverability, and we see as well in terms of AI generated cultural content. And there’s still a marked imbalance with regards to the presence of linguistic diversity in indigenous languages, minority languages of cultural content in the digital ecosystem. This is just to say that this is what we are facing right now as a rapid turn. And the adverse effect of all of this is also that it has the potential to actually prevent the cultural and creative industries from benefiting from the many full opportunities those technologies and AI hold. For instance, to enhance creativity by offering new terms for inspiration and collaboration and democratizing access to creative tools and platforms and potentially reducing barriers for underrepresented groups. And I’ll just finish on two milestones that were achieved, which were in the UNESCO 2021 recommendation on the ethics of artificial intelligence. Culture is specifically mentioned in that recommendation. And the AI is mentioned as a potential threat to the diversity of cultural expressions. And I’d like to recall as well the Mondial Gold Conference in 2022, which gathered 150 ministers of culture that adopted unanimously the declaration which affirms culture as a global public good and calls for a standalone goal of culture in the next sustainable development agenda and reaffirms the structural impact of the digital transformation of culture as a whole. So we very much thank you very much and very much welcome this opportunity to bring cultural advices and have this multi-stakeholder approach. Thank you very much.

Gitanjali Sah:
Thank you very much. We have Albertina from UNESCO Paris online. Albertina, can you hear us? Albertina is the lead facilitator for Action 9C9 media. Could our participation colleagues connect her? The other day, she’s not online, do you like to briefly cover the Action Line? Sure, please go ahead.

Davide Storti:
Thank you. In the meantime, maybe give a few words on the Action Line C7 e-learning. We had this year the High-Level Dialogue on the Empowering Educators and Learners through the Enhanced Teacher Training and Learning for Digital Inclusion. I think that, of course, in this time, it’s important to everybody the critical importance of addressing digital divide because it continues to perpetuate social, cultural, and economic inequalities. So there are good examples also that we have been able to show through the WITS forum to initiatives that to bridge these gaps and impactful projects to enhance teacher training and digital inclusion, highlighting the transformative potential of these technologies when are used responsibly and inclusively. In the last 20 years, a lot happened in terms of education from the recognition of the terminology of Open Educational Resources coined in UNESCO in 2002. So the very middle of this process and going along with the different kind of tools that are available. like the UNESCO ICT Competency Framework for Teachers that was published first in 2011, providing a framework to support the teachers in the use of technologies in the classroom in the professional practice. Then another important milestone is the OER, the Open Educational Resources Declaration in Paris in 2012, which advanced the principles of the practice of open access to public funded resources in terms of education, helping the possibility to everyone to access, reuse and adapt learning material in their own context. Then we have other key milestones like the Kindau Declaration on ICT Education in 2015, the revision of the Competency Framework in 2017. And then the Ljubljana OER Action Plan adopted in the Second World Congress in 2017 as well, based on the, which gave also birth to the 2019 UNESCO Recommendation on Open Educational Resources, the first normative instrument in the area of technology and education. Then the key milestones of course is the Transforming Education Summit in 2022, emerging UNGA, which was prepared by the preparatory conferences at UNESCO, outlining the digital transformation of education system, narrowing the digital divide, and the role of platforms for learning and open content can play in transforming education. So then we have, of course, to adapt to the… the generative AI. And so we have the guidelines for generative AI in educational research published in 2023. And then of course, we will have the UN future, summit of the future, and the third World Congress in November 2024. So it’s a really an evolving field. And I think with this process is demonstrating that all together, we can all contribute to that transformation.

Gitanjali Sah:
Thank you, Davide. Thank you for this great collaboration. It is really a display of how the UN agencies are working together as one. I can even acknowledge the presence of Ms. Anna Neff, the vice chair of CSTD with us in this room. So we are all working in close collaboration to implement the WSIS Action Lines in a multi-stakeholder format, as you saw during the WSIS plus 24 event, stakeholders from all over the world were here with us who are implementing these Action Lines in hand and in hand with all of us to ensure that the Action Lines are playing a crucial role to accelerate the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. So thank you very much. And we are now preparing for the closing ceremony. Oh, I’m so sorry. I think I have forgotten the most, one of the most important action facilitators, Sophie. Apologize, colleagues. So e-environment, Action Line environment. Sophie, enabling environment. As we gather here today, we stand at the intersection of regulation and innovation, recognizing the pivotal role that collaboration plays. So what have you been doing in. in this area and what are your plans or do you?

Sofie Maddens:
Thank you very much. And I don’t want to stand in the way of the closing ceremony. First of all, I’d like to thank my colleagues who have been really supporting and helping on this. Carmen Brado de Wagner, Nancy Sundberg, Ionia Lozanova, and Ashwaq Alotaibi. So transition really over the time of the action line, transition has characterized the development of communications technologies. We’ve seen from voice to data, fixed to mobile, monopoly to competition. So transition has been the name of the game. But what has changed today, in my opinion, is the context. As our Secretary General has said on numerous occasions, digital is not just on the agenda, digital is the agenda today. And telecoms, ICTs, digital is present in virtually all the sectors of our economy and society. And so that has really made the change. So the challenge is not just one of infrastructure development, not just one of connectivity, but expanding connectivity is not enough. We need to look at access, but also at adoption and value creation. We need to look at the innovation opportunities and the skills and the infrastructure. So that affects the enabling environment. And that means that we have convergence in business of different industries, but also convergence in the regulatory environment. It also means that we need to have a more strategic, systemic, and concerted approach to digital policy. If we really want to enhance the public services and build a long-term economic resilience, we have that innovation and social entrepreneurship over the mid to long-term. So some of the regulatory basics still apply, and we heard that in our session this year, but it also requires new approaches, new skills, new tools, and new thinking in that enabling environment. So what have we contributed to C6? Let me conclude with three points. So we have our convening platform. including the Global Symposium for Regulators that looks at cutting edge policy and regulatory issues. Our GSR this year is from the 1st to the 4th of July in Kampala, Uganda, and we look forward to all of you joining us. Obviously, there’s also data research and analysis. If you don’t know where the problem is, you cannot fix it. So evidence-based decision-making is key, and we have very, very important tools to contribute that. And that brings me to the policy and regulatory tools and processes and training, which we as ITU contribute to Action Line C6 and to our memberships. I’ll stop with that, but I see the clock is ticking, but we look forward to the next few years of contributing to Action Line C6. Thank you.

Gitanjali Sah:
Thank you very much, Sophie, and I’m so sorry. Thank you so much. And we now will proceed to the closing ceremony.