Blog

EuroDIG 2023, to be held in Tampere from 19-21 June, offers a unique opportunity for the EuroDIG multi-stakeholder community to discuss and reflect on the impact that two key UN processes (GDC and WSIS+20) will have on digital transformation:

1) The UN Secretary-General's proposal for a Global Digital Compact will be discussed (and adopted?) at the UN Future Summit in September 2024. The Secretary-General's report on "Our Agenda Common” proposed the adoption of a GDC with shared principles and values for "an open, free and secure digital future for all”. To that end, the GDC includes several thematic areas such as digital connectivity, Internet fragmentation, giving citizens choices about how their data is used, enforcing human rights online, promoting a trustworthy Internet, introducing accountability criteria for discrimination and misleading content, governance of Artificial Intelligence and other emerging technologies, and digital as a global common.

A theme that has gained increasing relevance in this debate has been the "Green Digital Transformation”, i.e., the need to make the transition to a green digital economy by 2030, and the crucial role of the multistakeholder Internet governance community in ensuring that environmental sustainability is at the heart of ICTs throughout their life cycle.

The international community was invited to send their contributions on the GDC until April 30th, and, until June 14th, the co-facilitators of the UN Member States, Rwanda and Sweden, promote a series of "deep-dives” around of the thematic areas mentioned above, one dedicated exclusively to "Internet Governance”.

On May 25, 2023, the UN SG published a "Policy Brief” on the GDC that demonstrates that the process has been initiated and that governance and international digital cooperation have been assumed as unavoidable issues on the international political agenda and within the scope of the "Sustainable Development Goals”.

EuroDIG will reflect on the progress of the GDC consultations to date, anticipating any opportunities to engage in the preparatory process for the "Future Summit” and the subsequent implementation of the GDC commitments. EuroDIG is also an opportunity to share initial reactions and views on the implications for the "Internet Governance Forum” and the national and regional initiatives of this global Forum.

2) a review of the 20-year results of the World Summit on the Information Society. Resolution A/RES/70/125 requested the UN General Assembly to hold a High Level Meeting in 2025 to take stock of progress and results achieved after 20 years. One of the key outcomes of WSIS was the innovative creation of the Internet Governance Forum, as a multistakeholder discussion space to help shape decisions taken by Governments, Industry, Intergovernmental Organizations and Regulators. The discussion will include the renewal of the IGF's mandate for a fourth term, its role in the review of the 2030 Agenda, as well as in the GDC (since its adoption should have taken place in September 2024).

In light of the foregoing, the WSIS+20 review should be a turning point when the public and private sectors, technical and academic communities, intergovernmental organizations, and civil society come together to discuss an updated agenda for digital governance and cooperation that take into account the impacts of technological evolution, as well as political challenges, threats and risks to social well-being. As a body in the UN system, responsible for annually monitoring the implementation of the WSIS, the Commission on Science and Technology for Development (CSTD) is following a roadmap for the WSIS+20 discussion that will involve all UN agencies with a direct interest in digital transformation, including UNESCO and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). It is therefore essential that EuroDIG 2023 contribute to ensuring that the multilateral review process at the UN is based on the success of the multistakeholder governance model.