The Global Network Initiative has submitted recommendations to the WSIS Open Consultation Process, calling for the WSIS Forum 2026 to shift from dialogue to implementation, with a stronger focus on human rights, inclusion, and multistakeholder participation.
The submission draws on insights from the Shaping the WSIS+20 Review for a Unified Internet Multistakeholderism (SWUIM) project, led by GNI in partnership with Global Partners Digital (GPD). Based on research and consultations across eight countries, the project highlights the need to address persistent global inequalities, strengthen the Internet Governance Forum (IGF), and ensure meaningful participation from the Global Majority.
GNI emphasizes five priority areas for WSIS 2026: global governance alignment (including with the Global Digital Compact), meaningful connectivity and capacity building, human rights protections, inclusive and rights-based AI governance, and addressing equity and sustainability in the digital economy. It also calls for more action-oriented formats, including smaller implementation-focused workstreams, stronger integration of regional perspectives, and space for cross-sector collaboration.
With WSIS taking place alongside the AI for Good Global Summit and the UN Global Dialogue on AI Governance, GNI highlights a critical opportunity to align these processes – grounding AI governance in WSIS’s multistakeholder model and ensuring that global frameworks are informed by real-world challenges and inclusive participation.