Given the global COVID-19 outbreak, the International Telecommunication Union, ITU, and its partners have decided to postpone the dates for the upcoming World Summit on the Information Society, WSIS, Forum (originally in April and now from 31st August to 4th September, 2020), as well as the AI for Good Global Summit (originally in May and now from 21st to 25th September, 2020).
GENEVA, (Pakistan Point News - 10th Mar, 2020) Given the global COVID-19 outbreak, the International Telecommunication Union, ITU, and its partners have decided to postpone the dates for the upcoming World Summit on the Information Society, WSIS, Forum (originally in April and now from 31st August to 4th September, 2020), as well as the AI for Good Global Summit (originally in May and now from 21st to 25th September, 2020).
Both events will take place at the same venue – the ITU Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, according to the organisers.
Open only to representatives of the member States, sector members and to chairmen and vice-chairmen of study groups, the Telecommunication Development Advisory Group meeting, originally scheduled to be held from 24th to 27th March, will be postponed to 2nd to 5th June, 2020. Likewise, the 17th World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Symposium, originally planned for 15th to 17th April 2020, will also be postponed and the new dates will be communicated shortly.
The dates and venue for the Global Symposium for Regulators (1st to 3rd September, 2020) remain unchanged.
On Friday, 28th February, 2020, the Government of the Swiss Confederation announced and put into effect a ban on large-scale events which involve more than 1,000 people. The ban is slated to last until 15th March at the earliest and the upcoming weeks are uncertain at best. In response, the ITU and its partners are proactively shifting the dates of events.
The WSIS Forum is the world's largest annual gathering of the "ICT for development" community and aims to foster digital transformation and global partnerships to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
Action-oriented, global and inclusive, the AI for Good Global Summit is the leading United Nations platform on AI and its goal is to identify practical applications of AI and scale those solutions for global impact.
Along with its co-organisers and partners, the ITU will continue preparations and remain fully committed to the success of both events. The registration for the AI for Good Global Summit remains open and all registrations received remain valid for the new date. All open calls are extended until 30th June. As for the WSIS, participants who have already registered do not need to register again. Registration will re-open on 22nd June.
