To ensure gender balance at the WSIS Forum 2020 we encourage all WSIS Stakeholders planning to be present at the Forum to nominate the women speakers for sessions and workshops, in particular the high-level segment.

Photo Contest

Building a collage of ICT for Sustainable Development photographs from around the world demonstrating how ICTs are playing an enabling role in achieving the SDGs. The three winning entries from the WSIS Photo Contest will be awarded and presented at the WSIS Forum 2020.

WSIS Prizes 2020

Over 800 projects from around the world were submitted for the 2020 contest. At the conclusion of the voting phase 90 projects that best leverage the power of ICTs to advance sustainable development were selected as Champions. The Eighteen Winners will be announced during the Forum.

Hackathon

WSIS Forum 2020 Hackathon is collaborating with the Open Seventeen Summer Challenge towards Innovating for a Sustainable Post-Pandemic World. The focus of this online month-long event is on achieving real-world impact while learning about crowdsourced innovation methodologies.

Virtual Reality for SDGs

Pursuing a first partnership in 2016, WSIS and World VR Forum join forces to be at the forefront of Virtual Reality for advancing development. A shiny new Virtual Reality Track will be held at the WSIS Forum 2020 bringing together high-level personalities, world class VR experience and a very special focus on education.

WSIS TalkX

Open Space Talk platform dedicated to share experience and inspirational stories from determined ICT practitioners from around the world. Experiences of both daily podcasts and the evening event of WSIS TalkX will be presented.

ICTs and Sport

Aims to encourage the international community to promote Sport as an Enabler of Sustainable Development, highlighting the aspects of youth empowerment and innovative Technologies. A brand new Gaming and E-sport component will be held at the WSIS Forum 2020 bringing together interactive gaming experience and a highlight on positive social impact of gaming industry.

ICTs and Youth

WSIS aims to include youth perspectives and engage young people in discussions about how technology can provide a platform where youth can offer their insights and understanding of the information society, its challenges and opportunities, and where they can raise questions but also propose solutions to harvesting the power of ICTs towards equally distributed social impact.

ICTs and Older Persons

The ageing of the global population will be the defining demographic trend of the 21st century—yet our societies struggle to see the opportunities that this trend can unfold. The new ICTs and Older Persons track will address the role of technology in achieving healthier ageing, but also how technology can help us build smarter cities, combat age-based discrimination at the workplace, ensure financial inclusion of older persons, and support millions of caregivers across the world. The Global Coalition on Ageing is the leading partner for this track.

ICTs and Accessibility for Persons with Disabilities and Specific Needs

The Accessibility track aims to inform and observe how ICTs can help people living with disabilities whilst focusing on progressing towards the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

ICTs and Gender Mainstreaming

The ICTs and Gender Mainstreaming track aims to integrate and mainstream a gender equality perspective through the use of ICTs as well as to strive for 50/50 gender balance participation at the Virtual WSIS Forum 2020. This track will comprise of interactive sessions with different topics covering gender and ICTs issues.