The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) process and its outcome documents are

considered cornerstones of international norms and discourse on internet policy and governance.
This year, as WSIS marks its 10th anniversary, the UN General Assembly is set to evaluate its
progress and decide its future.

What is WSIS?

The two-stage WSIS took place in 2003 (the Geneva phase) and 2005 (the Tunis phase). It was
convened upon the recognition that there was “an urgent need to harness the potential of
knowledge and technology for promoting the goals of the United Nations Millennium
Declaration.” [1] The WSIS started out as a primarily development-focused process and the first
phase concluded by setting out a Plan of Action to put the “potential of knowledge and ICTs at
the service of development.” [2] However, governance issues became the central focus of the
Tunis phase and this was reflected in its outcome document, the Tunis Agenda, which set out a
definition of internet governance, outlined the roles of different stakeholders, mandated the
establishment of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF), and initiated the process towards
enhanced cooperation. [3]

Since the original WSIS phases, different UN bodies and agencies, including the International
Telecommunication Union (ITU) and UNESCO, have been facilitating the implementation of
aspects of the Geneva and Tunis outcomes of WSIS. The system-wide follow-up of the WSIS
outcomes was left to the Commission on Science and Technology for Development (CSTD). [4]

What is the WSIS+10 overall review?

The Tunis Agenda called upon the UN General Assembly (UNGA) to conduct an overall review
of the implementation of WSIS outcomes in 2015. [5] In July 2014, the UNGA adopted a
resolution (68/302) outlining the modalities for the overall review. It was decided that the overall
WSIS review would be conducted as a two-day high-level meeting of the General Assembly to
“take stock of the progress made in the implementation of the outcomes of the [WSIS] and
address potential information and communications technology gaps and areas for continued
focus, as well as addressing challenges, including bridging the digital divide, and harnessing
information and communications technologies for development.” [6] According to the resolution,
the high-level meeting will be “preceded by an intergovernmental preparatory process, which
also takes into account inputs from all relevant WSIS stakeholders.” The process will result “in
an intergovernmentally agreed outcome document” for adoption by the UNGA. The process is
meant to formally commence in June 2015, when the president of the UNGA (from the Republic
of Uganda) appoints two UN governments to co-facilitate the process.

Why is WSIS+10 important?

The WSIS+10 overall review will provide the opportunity to revisit the outcomes of WSIS,
assess progress made, and look ahead at challenges to be focused on in the coming years. Just as
WSIS sought to address pressing internet issues of the day, WSIS+10 will address challenges
facing today’s global community. As a high-level event at the UN’s primary body, the outcome
of WSIS+10 has the potential to bear significant political weight and could direct further UN
action. Alternatively, it could also result in a largely symbolic event.

What are the key issues on the agenda?

The scope of the review is so broad that at this stage it is possible for governments to bring a
range of issues to the table, from cyber security to human rights to public access to ICTs.
However, the key issues we can anticipate to be discussed in the context of WSIS+10 are those
that are regarded as unresolved within the current WSIS framework. For example, much work
remains to achieve the people-centred, inclusive and development-oriented information society
envisaged in WSIS, with new divides emerging, both within and between countries. Critics
suggest that the WSIS framework has done little to help address these issues. The 10-year review
could be an opportunity to refocus attention back to the development dimension of WSIS.

From a governance perspective, the review process will most likely focus on the IGF and
enhanced cooperation – two significant internet governance processes that were established by
the Tunis Agenda. The IGF’s mandate expires in 2015 and the decision to renew it will be made
in the context of WSIS+10. [7] Likewise, the overall review will likely address whether/how the
enhanced cooperation process will continue. The issue of roles and responsibilities of different
stakeholders in internet governance will also likely resurface during the review.

How does WSIS+10 connect to other important events and processes?

The WSIS+10 overall review is likely to have an impact on and be impacted by other major
internet governance and UN processes. For example, the transition of IANA function from the
US government to the global multistakeholder community should be decided on by September
2015. However, if the deadline is not met, there is a potential to bring some of the political
debates surrounding how to solve the IANA transition to the UNGA through WSIS+10.
Furthermore, the UN process on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will also conclude
in September 2015. The degree to which ICT-related goals are contained in the SDGs will likely
impact how much WSIS+10 is focused on bringing forward the development-focused WSIS
action lines or on the internet governance aspects of WSIS.

What has happened in the WSIS+10 review so far?

Leading up to the overall review, relevant UN agencies such as the CSTD, ITU and UNESCO
have begun aspects of the review, starting in 2013.

UNESCO: In February 2013, as one of the WSIS action line facilitators, UNESCO organised a
multistakeholder conference entitled Towards Knowledge Societies for Peace and Sustainable
Development in an effort to give the agency’s views on progress in the implementation of the
WSIS outcomes and its vision for the future. [8]

ITU: As one of the WSIS facilitators, the ITU similarly decided to review progress made in the
implementation of the WSIS outcomes and take stock of achievements, with a view to develop
proposals on a new vision beyond 2015. In June 2013, the ITU initiated an open consultation
process, the Multistakeholder Preparatory Platform (MPP), which culminated in a high-level
event in Geneva in June 2014 with the adoption of the Statement on the Implementation of WSIS
Outcomes and the Vision for WSIS beyond 2015. [9]

CSTD: As the body within ECOSOC responsible for the system-wide follow-up of the WSIS
outcomes, [10] the CSTD was requested to collect inputs from all facilitators and stakeholders on
the progress made in the implementation of WSIS outcomes. [11] As a result, the CSTD adopted
the Ten-year Review of Progress Made in the Implementation of the Outcomes of the World
Summit on the Information Society in November 2014, [12] which was developed through an
open consultation process. The CSTD has also been asked to submit through ECOSOC the
results of its 10-year review to the UNGA as it makes its overall review of WSIS.

At the moment, it is unclear to what extent the UNGA will take the UNESCO and ITU-
facilitated review efforts into account for the overall review. However, the modalities instruct
governments to consider the final report of the CSTD in the overall review. [13]

What is coming up for the WSIS+10 review in 2015?

UNGA resolution 68/302 sets out the framework, timeline and basic modalities for the review.

 June – Appointment of governmental co-facilitators by president of UNGA

 June to December – Intergovernmental preparatory process

 December 2015 – WSIS Event UN General Assembly, New York.

It is expected that a draft outcome text will become available in September.

Who will participate and how?

The primary participants in the WSIS+10 overall review will be governments. According to
resolution 68/302, the review will be “an intergovernmental negotiation process, which will
include preparatory meetings, resulting in an intergovernmentally agreed outcome document, for
adoption at the high-level meeting of the General Assembly.”

But the modalities do also allow for the possibility of engagement of other stakeholders, mostly
at the discretion of the president of the General Assembly, who is meant to “organise informal
interactive consultations with all relevant stakeholders of the [WSIS] in order to collect their
input for the intergovernmental negotiation process.” The president of the General Assembly, in
consultation with governments, is expected to invite representatives of all relevant WSIS
stakeholders to speak during the high-level meeting.
It remains unclear how the president of the General Assembly will approach the consultation
process with WSIS stakeholders.

—-

[1] UNGA, 21 December 2001. World Summit on the Information Society (A/RES/56/183)
(online: https://www.itu.int/wsis/docs/background/resolutions/56_183_unga_2002.pdf, accessed:
11.12.14).
[2] WSIS, 2003. Plan of Action (WSIS-03/GENEVA/DOC/5-E)
(http://www.itu.int/wsis/docs/geneva/official/poa.html, accessed: 11.12.14)
[3] WSIS, 2005. Tunis Agenda for the Information Society (WSIS-05/TUNIS/DOC/6(Rev. 1)-E)
(http://www.itu.int/wsis/docs2/tunis/off/6rev1.html, accessed: 11.12.14)
[4] The Tunis Agenda requested that the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) oversee the
system-wide follow-up of the Geneva and Tunis outcomes of WSIS, and that it review at its
2006 substantive session the mandate, agenda and composition of the Commission on Science
and Technology for Development (CSTD). ECOSOC requested that the CSTD submit
information annually on the progress made in the implementation of and follow-up to WSIS
outcomes at the regional and international levels, which it would submit in its annual report to
the UNGA. Source: ECOSOC, 28 July 2006. E/RES/2006/46
(http://www.un.org/en/ecosoc/docs/2006/resolution%202006-46.pdf, accessed: 26.01.15)
[5] Tunis Agenda, paragraph 111
[6] UNGA, 31 July 2014. Modalities for the overview by the General Assembly of the
implementation of the outcomes of the World Summit on the Information Society
(A/RES/68/302) (http://www.un.org/en/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/68/302,
accessed: 11.12.14)
[7] UNGA, 20 December 2010. Information and communications technologies for development
(A/RES/65/141) (http://www.un.org/en/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/65/141,
accessed: 26.1.15)
[8] The outcome was captured in the Final Statement entitled Information and Knowledge for
All: An expanded vision and renewed commitment. Online:
http://www.unesco.org/new/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/HQ/CI/CI/pdf/wsis/WSIS_10...,
accessed: 12.12.14
[9] Both documents are online at:
http://www.itu.int/wsis/implementation/2014/forum/inc/doc/outcome/362828..., accessed:
11.12.14.
[10] See paragraphs 19 and 20 of E/RES/2006/46.
[11] ECOSOC, 22 July 2013. E/RES/2013/9
(http://unctad.org/Sections/un_cstd/docs/ecosoc_res_WSIS2013_9_en.pdf) accessed 26.1.15
[12] Online: http://unctad.org/meetings/en/SessionalDocuments/CSTD_2014_wsis10review_...
accessed 26.1.15
[13] See paragraph 5 of A/RES/68/302.