The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) (see also the WSIS+10 site) was a unique two-phase United Nations (UN) summit that began with the goal of achieving a common vision, desire and commitment to build a people-centric, inclusive and development-oriented Information Society where everyone can create, access, utilize and share information.

In December 2015, the United Nations General Assembly will review whether sufficient progress has been made to achieving the WSIS goals over the past 10 years and will consider the future of the WSIS process beyond 2015.  This is often called the “WSIS+10 Review” and culminates in a High-level Meeting on 15-16 December at the UN Headquarters in New York.

UNESCO is the United Nations’ lead agency concerned with education, sciences, culture, communication and information. It has played a central role in the WSIS process and the development of Knowledge Societies, supporting the implementation of WSIS outcomes through its own programmes and by facilitating six of the WSIS Action Lines. It has critical responsibilities in the implementation of the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This meeting has been called to focus attention on UNESCO’s priorities and plans to support the development of Knowledge Societies post-2015.

What are UNESCO’s objectives for putting Knowledge Societies at the heart of the 2030 Agenda?

Knowledge Societies are societies in which people have the fundamental right and the capabilities, not just to acquire information, but also to create it and transform it into knowledge and understanding. These are necessary to empower them to enhance their livelihoods and contribute to the social and economic development of their communities and countries.

Knowledge Societies build on the diverse cultures and experiences of different countries and communities. They are evolving rapidly as a result of technological innovation and the growing reach of networks and services throughout the world. They require connectivity and capability, freedom of expression – which includes press freedom and the right to information, content and cultural diversity, inclusive governance and human rights. They represent transformations in the way that economies and societies work, as well as carrying the potential for accelerating progress towards sustainable development.

The Internet is at the heart of Knowledge Societies. UNESCO’s goal of Internet Universality, endorsed at its General Conference in November 2015, points to four fundamental principles that can optimise the Internet in terms of its contribution to knowledge societies. These are the ROAM principles, saying that the Internet should be:

• Rights-based
• Open
• Accessible to all, and
• Multistakeholder in its governance and development

These four principles are essential to ensuring that the Internet supports the emergence of the ‘people-centred, inclusive and development-oriented’ vision of the future, which was set out at WSIS. They constitute a powerful package of the ingredients that are essential to the emergence of Knowledge Societies that work for the benefit of all.

UNESCO’s 38th General Conference agreed 38 options for action built around the ROAM principles, and has forwarded these to the WSIS Review process. The options are focused in particular on access to information and knowledge, freedom of expression, privacy and the ethical dimension of the Information Society. They cover issues such as multilingualism online, media and information literacy, safety of journalists, encryption and anonymity.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development was agreed by the United Nations in September 2015. It sets out overarching universal goals for human development over the next fifteen years, which include goals for Internet access as well as for public access to information and fundamental freedoms. Enormous changes will also take place within that period in the capabilities and reach of ICTs, with transforming effects on the acquisition and sharing of information and its impact on every aspect of human life. Many of those changes will support the achievement of sustainable development and human rights, while others may be threatening to them. Building inclusive Knowledge Societies, including an Internet based on the ROAM principles, will be crucial to UNESCO’s contribution to the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs.

The WSIS+10 outcome document from this week’s General Assembly review will set the framework for UN action that brings together WSIS goals, the SDGs and this year’s other international agreements on financing for development and climate change.