IETF at the WSIS+20 High Level Event 2025

On 7-11 July 2025, just two weeks after the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) in Lillestrøm, Norway, the WSIS+20 HLE took place in Geneva, co-hosted by the ITU and the Swiss Confederation, and co-organized by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU); United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO); United Nations Development Programme (UNDP); and United Nations Trade and Development Organizations (UNCTAD). The primary focus of this event was the WSIS Action Lines and the 20-year review of WSIS (WSIS+20) in preparation for the discussion of the WSIS outcomes at the UN General Assembly later in the year.  

Usually, the IGF is later in the year and, together with the WSIS Forum, provides a good opportunity for continuing Internet governance discussion throughout the whole year. This year, because of the WSIS review process, both conferences were right after another. However, this provided us a welcome opportunity to follow up on conversations started at IGF as part of the WSIS+20 review process. In particular, discussion continued around the Elements Paper released by the co-facilitators of the WSIS+20 Review Process to focus input from the broad community.

The IETF delegation met with the WSIS+20 co-facilitators to emphasize the critical need to maintain the multistakeholder model and the role of the technical community in the past and future success of the Internet. Additionally, we held bilateral meetings with the delegations of various governments to reinforce and raise awareness of this message, and to clarify the role of the IETF.

In addition to extended discussion about the model for Internet and digital governance itself, other topics were focused on realizing the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and connecting people, sustainability in general, human rights, and, of course, also AI governance, including concerns about increasing amounts of disinformation and content moderation. On the main meeting program, Roman was part of the panel discussion on Young Professionals—Enhancing Your Career Skills in the Internet Governance Space.

In parallel to the WSIS event, the AI for Good Global Summit took place with an AI Standards day on Friday, where Mirja participated in the From principles to practice: How AI standards enable effective governance session. 

In the meantime, the IAB reported about its activities at IGF and the WSIS HLE at the IAB Open session during IETF 123 and released its written input to the Elements Paper in the same week. The co-facilitators have published all input papers and announced the publication of the Zero Draft in August. The Zero Draft will be the first version of the resolution that will be adopted by the High-level meeting of the UN General Assembly in December in New York, and provides another opportunity to give input. The IAB continues to monitor this process as the WSIS+20 Review shifts from Geneva to New York.