From 10 to 12 December 2003 the UN held the first World Summit on the Information Society in Geneva, where Heads of States and Governments approved the Geneva Declaration of Principles and the Geneva Plan of Action for the Information Society.
What was WSIS about ?
The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in Geneva represented a first ever global platform to bring together the international community, including Heads of State and Government, Executive Heads of United Nations agencies, national delegates and leaders from non-governmental organizations (NGOs), industry leaders, media representatives and civil society.
During the decade preceding WSIS, the development of new information communication technologies (ICT) has provided a variety of opportunities for people the world over. However, a vast majority of humanity remained untouched by the digital revolution. There were (and still are today) real disparities between countries and socio-economic groups that are benefiting from information technologies, and those that are not. By addressing the major social and economic challenges posed by the use of new technologies, the purpose of the Summit was to develop a common vision and understanding of the information society and the adoption of a declaration of principles and a plan of action for concerted development for implementation by governments, international institutions and all sectors of civil society in order to reduce the digital divide.
The World Summit on the Information Society was prepared under the high patronage of the United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) as the leading organizational agency. The Summit was held in two phases:
The first phase took place between 10-12 December 2003 in Geneva, Switzerland and resulted in the adoption of the Geneva Declaration of Principles and the Geneva Plan of Action
The second phase of the Summit was held on 16 – 18 November 2005 in Tunis which adopted the Tunis Commitment and Tunis Agenda for the Information Society
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The WSIS Summit in Geneva was organised in close cooperation between the International Telecommunication Union ITU and the Government of Switzerland.
Please find here the archived version of the Official Website of Switzerland, Host of the World Summit on the Information Society Geneva, 10 to 12 December 2003.
Kindly see the Operational Report with Review and Recommendations by Amb. (ret.) Daniel Stauffacher, Delegate of the Swiss Federal Council for WSIS Geneva and Head of the Swiss WSIS Executive Secretariat.
List of Side Events during WSIS 2003 Geneva (05.12 au 12.12.2003)
Recommendations (in German) by Daniel Stauffacher for the follow-up to the WSIS Geneva 2003 Summit.
On the results of the Geneva WSIS see a compilation of articles and commentaries of senior leader’s and observers of the WSIS Geneva in the UN ICT Task Force Series No 8: “The World Summit on the Information Society: Moving from the past into the Future” edited by Daniel Stauffacher and Wolfgang Kleinwächter.
A WSIS+10 Review Summit was held in New York in 2015 and ICT4Peace participated in its preparatory process and the Summit: Kindly see the information here. Amb. Paul Meyer, Senior Advisor of ICT4Peace participated in the Summit on behalf of ICT4Peace. See his statement here
The WSIS+ 20 Review will be held in 2025. See the information regarding the preparatory process here: A “WSIS+20 Forum High-Level Event, co-organized by ITU, UNESCO, UNDP and UNCTAD and co-hosted by ITU and the Swiss Confederation, will serve as a platform to review the progress, achievements, challenges, and opportunities of the WSIS follow-up process since the two phases of the Summit – Geneva in 2003 and Tunis in 2005.
The results of the WSIS+20 High-Level Event will also be an input to the forthcoming UN Digital Compact and the UN Summit for the Future in the fall 2024.
The WSIS+20 High-Level Event event will take place from 27 to 31 May 2024 in Geneva, Switzerland. The Consultation Process is an open and inclusive consultation with WSIS stakeholders to prepare for the event, including developing the event programme, identifying gaps in the implementation of the Geneva Plan of Action and the WSIS Action Lines, and contributing to the WSIS+20 review process.
All stakeholders are encouraged to actively engage in the OCP by participating in consultative meetings and submitting input through the official submission form.”