On 3 June 2025, Sorina Teleanu, Diplo’s Director of Knowledge, participated in an online discussion titled ‘Introducing the WSIS+20 for the Asia Pacific Internet Community’.
This was the first in a series of webinars on WSIS+20 for the Asia-Pacific Regional IGF (APrIGF) community. It featured an overview of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) and the 20-year review process, as well as a discussion on key concerns and issues for the technical community and civil society in the context of WSIS+20.
The webinar also saw contributions from William Lee – Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development & Communications, Australia; Anita Gurumurthy – ITforChange, and Jennifer Chung – DotAsia Organisation.
Diplo’s contribution
In her intervention, Sorina provided a comprehensive overview of the history of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), focusing on key WSIS documents and outcomes, including action lines, internet governance, the Internet Governance Forum (IGF), and enhanced cooperation. She outlined the agenda for the WSIS+20 review, which includes: reflections on progress made in the implementation of WSIS outcomes and areas requiring improvements and strengthened efforts; reflections and decisions on key processes and mechanisms emanating from WSIS and their future post 2025 (e.g. the IGF); issues related to the interplay between WSIS outcomes and GDC implementation and review; issues related to the interplay between WSIS and Agenda 2030 process.
Sorina emphasized the significance of WSIS+20 by highlighting several key points:
- An inclusive information/digital society: WSIS Action Lines present an opportunity to critically assess achievements, shortcomings, and strategies for accelerating progress and addressing gaps.
- Efficient global digital governance and cooperation architecture: This is an opportunity to emphasise the interplay between multistakeholder and multilateral governance approaches, extend the IGF’s mandate, clarify the roles and responsibilities of various UN entities, and streamline the global digital governance and cooperation framework.
She also underscored the necessity of focusing on capacity building at the local and community levels, empowering communities to advance their own priorities and objectives in the digital space.
During the webinar, discussions highlighted the priorities and engagement strategies for the Asia-Pacific community. Key points included:
- Identifying specific priorities and being concrete about desired outcomes from the WSIS+20 review.
- Engaging directly in stakeholder consultations and contributing input to governments as they shape their official positions for negotiations.
