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World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)

  1. WSIS Action Lines

The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) was a series of two United Nations-sponsored conferences on information and communication and their impact and potential in the 21st Century. These conferences took place in Geneva in 2003 and in Tunis in 2005.

One of WSIS’s chief aims was to develop proposals to help bridge the digital divide among and within countries by spreading access to the Internet, particularly within the developing world.

The agreements that came out of the WSIS meetings continue to form the basis for international collaboration and UN projects in relevant fields. UNESCO, along with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the UN Development Programme (UNDP) were chosen to play a leading role in implementing these agreements.

WSIS Action Lines

The main outcomes of the final WSIS conference in Tunis have been outlined in a set of 13 thematic action lines. UNESCO is designated as the lead UN agency for five of these:

Through its Information Society Working Group and its Access to Scientific Information Working Group, the UK National Commission for UNESCO (UKNC) focuses on the following WSIS-related projects:

  • Journal access: assessment of UK learned society participation in international journal access programmes, which provide free or low cost access to scholarly literature to developing country institutions and readers
  • Open Access: contribution to UNESCO’s promotion of Open Access to scientific information and research
  • WSIS follow-up: supports the development of a more joined-up, cross departmental, multi-stakeholder approach to UK input into WSIS-related actions. This includes expanding on the current trade and technology focus of the UK to consider cultural, developmental and societal issues.
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Regional and accessibility