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2. Open Consultation Process

The WSIS Forum is the only event of its kind where the programme is completely crowdsourced. Therefore, as organizers, ITU, UNESCO, UNCTAD and UNDP, are pleased to announce the Open Consultation Process on thematic aspects and innovations on the format of the WSIS Forum 2017.

The process aims at ensuring a participatory and inclusive spirit of the Forum, scheduled to be held from 12-16 June 2017 at ITU in Geneva. This process actively engages governments, civil society, the private sector, academia, the technical community and intergovernmental organizations in the preparatory process to ensure broad ownership and further improvements of the Forum.The Open Consultation Process will include a collection of inputs from regional and national WSIS related events. The physical meetings of the Open Consultation Process will benefit from remote participation.

Former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon We will strengthen the WSIS Forum as a key platform for discussing the role of ICTs as a means of implementation of the SDGs and targets.

ITU Secretary-General Houlin Zhao Beyond 2015, following the multi-stakeholder approach, the WSIS Forum, will build upon the outcomes of the WSIS+10 Review and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. In this regard the WSIS-SDG Matrix developed by UN WSIS Action line Facilitators will serve as the mechanism to map, analyse and coordinate the implementation of ICTs as enablers and accelerators of the SDGs.

Open Consultation Phases

The Open Consultation Process for the WSIS Forum 2017 is structured in six phases as follows:

Phase I: Opening of the open consultations

The Open Consultation process was launched on 01 September 2017.

Phase II: First physical meeting

The first physical meeting of the Open Consultation Process was held on 12 October 2016 at the ITU Headquarters, Geneva, Switzerland.

Phase III: Second physical meeting

The second physical meeting of the Open Consultation Process was held on Tuesday 14 February 2017 at the ITU Headquarters, Geneva, Switzerland.

Phase V: Final review meeting

The final review meeting of the Open Consultation Process was held on Tuesday 14 March 2017, 15:00–18:00 in Room A at the ITU Headquarters, Geneva, Switzerland. Remote participation facilities were available for this meeting.

Phase VI: Final brief meeting

The final brief meeting of the Open Consultation Process was held on Wednesday 10 May 2017, 15:00–18:00 in Room A at the ITU Headquarters, Geneva, Switzerland. Remote participation facilities were available for this meeting.

Outcomes and Analysis of OCP

All stakeholders were invited to contribute their formal inputs towards shaping the themes and format of the WSIS Forum 2017 through the online official submission form and physical meetings. The ITU-WSIS Secretariat received more than 250 submissions containing proposals on the thematic aspects and innovations on the format of the WSIS Forum 2017, including binding requests for partnerships, workshops, exhibition spaces and so on.

Submissions by Stakeholder Type

Submissions by Region