The 10-year overall review of the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) was conducted by the General Assembly of the United Nations (UNGA) at the end of 2015. The results of intense negotiations are reflected in the WSIS+10 Outcome Document. Member States of the UN during the high level meeting of the General Assembly approved the document (Resolution A70/125) with consensus and reaffirmed their commitment to the outcomes of the two phases of WSIS, and the value and principles of multi-stakeholder cooperation outlined in the Tunis Agenda.

The UN GA resolution extended the mandate of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) until 2025 recognizing that the IGF was implementing the recommendations of the UN CSTD Working Group on the Improvements to the IGF (CSTD WGIG). The resolution also recognized the work of the UN CSTD Working Group on Enhanced Cooperation (CSTD WGEG)^[1]. The UN GA resolution invited the Chair of the CSTD to establish another Working Group on EC to give recommendations as how to implement enhanced cooperation taking into account the results already achieved in the previous working group^[2].

During subsequent negotiations of the second CSTD WGEG we could not achieve consensus because some delegates stated that some proposed recommendations could lead to changing the Tunis Agenda.

It has become evident that the WSIS+10 Document does not reflect adequately the evolution in technology, changes in societies, transformation of economies and modifications in political approaches in the UN system since 2005. Emerging new technologies have significant social and economic impacts that go beyond the scope outlined in the WSIS+10 Document. Job security and transformation of the job market, educational system to mention a few are of major concerns. Multilateral (let alone multi-stakeholder) approach is being questioned by some.

The UN 2030 Agenda of the Sustainable Development Goals does not show explicitly the crosscutting aspect and the significant role of ICTs in achieving the Goals. The UN and Specialized Agencies of the UN of the system, however, reacting to the benefits and challenges of new technologies, created, within their mandates, working groups, expert groups and other forms of discussions to deal with specific issues impacted by emerging technologies.

The UN SG’s High-level Panel on Digital Cooperation in its report “The Age of Digital Interdependence” calls for identifying functions and mechanisms of digital cooperation, establishing linkages and identifying gaps. The Report in one of its recommendations proposes a new version of the Internet Governance Forum, IGF+, as a platform to continue discussions on Digital Cooperation with eventual recommendations.

In order that IGF+ to be truly inclusive retaining its original bottom-up and open character confidence-building measures are needed to bring on-board more governments, big technical companies to be part of the discussions. Strengthening the multi-stakeholder model may result in strengthening the multilateral discussions as well. There are however some concerns about IGF+:

- How to change IGF without going outside its mandate to include discussion on digital cooperation and how to resolve the problem of “two distinct processes” (IGF and enhanced cooperation)^[3]?

- How to reconcile the bottom-up approach of the IGF with the top-down political discussions and intergovernmental processes?

- What is the role of UN and the specialized agencies?

- How to avoid creating a new process?

- How to bring all stakeholders on board, including governments, GAFA, Chinese tech companies?

- How to align digital cooperation to WSIS?

- How to streamline results of existing processes/working groups involved in WSIS in the UN system to help digital cooperation?

- How to go from discussions to principles, norms, recommendations and resolutions?

The impact of rapid technological change on sustainable development requires new approaches in the implementation of WSIS to ensure that the divides are closed and all groups of societies benefit from digital innovation. I believe that CSTD having its mandate on WSIS^[4]as should play a central role in the implementation WSIS including Digital Cooperation.

I propose the following process:

• Results related to Digital Cooperation produced by working groups of the UN and its specialized agencies should be made available as input to IGF+ discussions,

• IGF+ is to include these inputs in its discussions and outcomes are to be reported to CSTD through Action Line facilitators

• CSTD should discuss and include results in its report on WSIS implementation to UN GA and in its draft ECOSOC resolution on WSIS Follow-up including recommendations , as appropriate,

• Alternatively a multi-stakeholder WG in the UN CSTD on Digital Cooperation may be established with the mandate to give recommendation as how to implement Digital Cooperation

• Further discussions on policy questions related to Digital Cooperation may be held at the annual UN High Level Political Forum

• Results achieved and the way forward are to be included in the WSIS + 20 review

The success of the process is based on trust and confidence and CSTD is considered by most stakeholders where tangible results may be achieved in Digital Cooperation.

^[1] Note that CSTD WGIG and CSTD WGEC were constituted to include all stakeholders in the discussions on equal footing.

^[2] The major result of the CSTD WGEG was the gap analysis: functions related to enhanced cooperation were determined; mechanisms to deal with the functions or the absence of them were identified. In the first CSTD WGEC some members of the group prevented consensus on recommendations because they would have liked to shift the stewardship of the enhanced cooperation process from the UN to one of its specialized agencies.

^[3] IGF and enhanced cooperation are two distinct processes and this distinction is formulated in ECOSOC and UNGA resolutions related to WSIS.

^[4] Reviews and assesses progress at the international and regional levels in the implementation of action lines, recommendations and commitments contained in the outcome documents of the Summit.