Towards the World Summit on the Information Society Forum 2019

The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Forum is a global United Nations (UN) multistakeholder platform facilitating the implementation of the WSIS Action Lines for advancing Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It is co-organized by ITU, UNESCO, UNDP and UNCTAD, in close collaboration with all WSIS Action Line co/facilitators and other UN organizations, including regional commissions.

It represents the world’s largest annual gathering of the ICT for development community. It provides an opportunity for information exchange, knowledge creation and sharing of best practices, while identifying emerging trends and fostering partnerships, taking into account the evolving Information and Knowledge Societies.

This year, WSIS is celebrating its 10th anniversary of the establishment of WSIS Forum from April 8 to 12 at ITU in Geneva, under the theme “Information and Communication Technologies for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals”. The WSIS Forum will serve as a key forum for discussing the role of ICTs as a means of implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals and targets.

The ESCAP secretariat is mandated to coordinate the WSIS action line implementation at the regional level through ESCAP resolution 72/10. The Asia-Pacific Information Superhighway (AP-IS) supports the WSIS action line implementation in the areas of ICT infrastructure, capacity development and policy development among others. For more information on the WSIS Forum, please visit https://www.itu.int/net4/wsis/forum/2019/. Please visit https://www.unescap.org/our-work/ict-disaster-risk-reduction/asia-pacific-information-superhighway for information on AP-IS.