APC at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Forum 2026
The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Forum 2026 will take place 6 – 9 July 2026, bringing together stakeholders from diverse backgrounds with a view to advancing the implementation of the WSIS Action Lines and supporting global digital cooperation. Participants from across sectors will convene in Geneva, Switzerland, and also participate remotely in this hybrid event hosted by ITU and Switzerland.
APC staff, members and partners will once again use this important event to amplify the voices of our network, exploring emerging issues and digital priorities. The full WSIS Forum agenda can be accessed online and participants can register online for physical and virtual participation in the event. This year, the WSIS Forum is running alongside the Global Dialogue on AI Governance (6 and 7 July) and the AI for Good Global Summit (7–10 July).
Below we have prepared a custom schedule of session where the APC network will be participating in various capacities, and encourage participants to use the opportunity to connect and engage in this important forum.
As part of the Global Digital Justice Forum and the Global Digital Rights Coalition, APC will help to promote civil society priorities in a coordinated and joint manner in the post WSIS+20 review context. APC will also continue advocating for human and digital rights in key areas, such as:
- Address digital equality by acknowledging that market-led approaches are not sufficient. We need to diversify access markets through enabling regulation and financing for community-centred connectivity initiatives and we need more public investment in human and institutional capacity to build infrastructure, skills, content and services.
- Continue to explore and propose innovative and suitable financing mechanisms, building on the recommendations of UN’s 2025 Financing for Development Conference and the 20-year review of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS+20). This responds to the urgent need to advance the establishment of financing mechanisms in key global processes, especially to expand access to connectivity and contribute to digital inclusion and meaningful access.
- Reclaim the public interest in digital development by increasing corporate accountability through public interest and human rights-oriented regulation, as well as reviving the notion of the digital information commons.
- Explore ways to bring to practice the recognition made by the WSIS+20 review outcome of the centrality of human rights for WSIS.
- Mainstream environmental sustainability by mandating impact assessments of tech innovation and integrating green practices as standard ones for technology development and implementation, while looking at the social-environmental implications of digitalisation.
Transversal to our global governance advocacy is the need to push for mainstreaming gender in policy and governance spaces and processes (setting specific global goals, targets and indicators) that has to be done in tandem with work on the ground (with operators, communities and groups) to break down persistent prejudices about women's relationship with technology.
In relation to the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) in particular, this is an opportunity to work towards strengthening multi-stakeholder participation. APC will also continue facilitating the Best Practice Forum on securing access to the internet and core infrastructure in the context of crisis and conflict, and work to support the revitalisation of the Gender Dynamic Coalition.
EVENTS AND SESSIONS WHERE YOU WILL FIND APC STAFF, MEMBERS AND PARTNERS
Sunday, 5 July 2026
Feminist AI Innovation from the Global South: From Community to Global Governance Commitments
14:00 - 18:00 local time (UTC+02:00) | Physical only
Monday, 6 July 2026
13:00-13:45 local time (UTC+02:00) | Room H1, ITU Montbrillant Building | Physical and virtual
Digital inclusion in an unequal world
16:00–16:45 local time (UTC+02:00) | Room L1, ITU Montbrillant Building | Physical and virtual
APC member Bangladesh NGOs Network for Radio and Communication (BNNRC) speaking
Tuesday, 7 July 2026
Digital justice and cultural integrity
16:00–16:45 local time (UTC+02:00) | Room G3, ITU Varembé Building | Physical and virtual
APC member Redes AC speaking
Wednesday, 8 July 2026
Putting data justice at the heart of AI governance
11:00–11:45 local time (UTC+02:00) | Room K, Palexpo | Physical and virtual
APC moderating, APC partner IT for Change hosting
Leaders TalkX 1 - From access to impact: Leading ICT infrastructure development
14:00–14:30 local time (UTC+02:00) | Room C, Palexpo | Physical and virtual
Leaders TalkX 3 - Artificial intelligence: Policy, ethics and global cooperation
15:00–15:30 local time (UTC+02:00) | Room C, Palexpo | Physical and virtual
APC partner IT for Change moderating
Thursday, 9 July 2026
15:00 – 15:45 local time (UTC+02:00) | Room G, Palexpo | Physical and virtual
Leaders TalkX 9 - Cyber confidence: Enhancing security in the digital age
15:00–15:30 local time (UTC+02:00) | Room C, Palexpo | Physical and virtual
APC member Bangladesh NGOs Network for Radio and Communication (BNNRC) speaking
16:00–16:45 (UTC+02:00) | Room E, Palexpo | Physical and virtual
Global Digital Justice Forum hosting, APC speaking
From dialogue to practice: NRI-driven multistakeholder labs for WSIS implementation
17:00–17:45 local time (UTC+02:00) | Room L, Palexpo | Physical and virtual
APC and APC member Colnodo speaking
Digital inclusion as a driver of community empowerment
17:00–17:45 local time (UTC+02:00) | Room K, Palexpo | Physical and virtual
APC member Rhizomatica co-hosting, APC speaking
Beyond the sessions, Valeria Betancourt, APC’s Programmes manager: Internet governance lead, was appointed as one of the facilitators for the High Level Tracks, and will be chairing one of the high-level panels and summarising the discussion at the forum’s closing session.
APC will have abooth available on 8 June, where you will be able to find a diversity of materials that provide insights into our priorities in the context of the forum, as well as information on the groundbreaking work carried out by APC’s members and partners, and APC’s work as part of the Global Digital Justice Forum.
This list will continue to be updated as we get updates from APC's community, so keep an eye on it for more details!