Global Network Initiative at WSIS+20 in Geneva, Switzerland

July 7, 2025  |  Events, News

The Global Network Initiative (GNI) will be attending the World Summit for the Information Society (WSIS)+20 High-Level Event, taking place in Geneva, Switzerland, from July 7 to 11, 2025. This special milestone event marks 20 years since the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), providing a critical opportunity to reflect on progress, address current digital challenges, and shape a people-centered, inclusive, and development-oriented information society.

As part of WSIS+20, GNI is organizing and speaking at several sessions that spotlight our commitment to advancing human rights and multistakeholder governance in technology policy:

July 8, 2025, 16:00–18:00 CEST:

• GNI, in partnership with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), is organizing a hybrid interactive workshop and roundtable discussion on Private Sector Leadership in Human Rights-Aligned Standard-Setting: Advancing Multi-Stakeholder Engagement and Human Rights Commitments in Standard-Setting Processes. The event will explore how private sector actors can take the lead in embedding human rights and multistakeholder values in standard-setting initiatives.

July 10, 2025, 15:00–15:45 CEST:

• GNI, in partnership with Global Partners Digital (GPD), will organize a hybrid session From Principles to Practice: Operationalizing Multistakeholder Governance that will bring together experts from different sectors to share concrete approaches and lessons learned in translating multistakeholder principles into actionable governance practices.

• GNI’s Managing Director Elonnai Hickok will also speak at the session on Bridging Gender Gaps with AI: Empowering Girls and Women in STEM through Inclusive Digital Innovation. 

These sessions reflect GNI’s ongoing efforts to advance freedom of expression, privacy, and accountability within the digital ecosystem as well as our ongoing participation in the WSIS+20 review process. We look forward to engaging with participants from across sectors and geographies at this important global gathering.

If you are attending WSIS+20 and would like to connect with the GNI team, please contact us at info[at]globalnetworkinitiative.org.

About GNI

The Global Network Initiative (GNI) is the leading multistakeholder forum for accountability, shared learning, and collective advocacy on government and company policies and practices related to technology and human rights. GNI is a membership organization comprising over 100 academics, civil society organizations, investors, and technology companies. We have members on every populated continent, with nearly one-third based in the majority world.