IEEE @ the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Forum 2016

By Justin Caso, J.D., Technology Policy Advisorr

The IEEE team just arrived in Geneva, Switzerland for the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Forum 2016. All of us are looking forward to a great week at the WSIS Forum 2016, which takes place from 2 to 6 May.

The annual World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Forum brings together the largest gathering of the Information and Communications Technologies community that focuses on making the information society accessible to all. The WSIS Forum is a multistakeholder event that provides an opportunity for multistakeholder cooperation in development. Importantly, the WSIS Forum 2016 incorporates the recently adopted United Nations Sustainable Development Goals as an important factor in the discussions. IEEE, the world's largest professional organization dedicated to advancing technology for humanity, will be joining more than 1,800 global leaders from government, civil society, industry, academia and the technical community to discuss and help advance solutions so that all citizens of the world have meaningful access to the information society. IEEE’s engagement at WSIS complements its existing open, global and collaborative work in Internet Governance, security and privacy, including: IEEE Internet Initiative, IEEE Big Data Initiative, IEEE Computer Society, IEEE Cybersecurity Initiative, IEEE Internet of Things Initiative, IEEE Smart Cities, and the IEEE Standards Association Industry Connections program for Ethical Considerations in the Design of Autonomous Systems, which helps provide recommendations for the ethical implementation of standardized intelligent technologies.

WSIS participants both in situ and online can connect with IEEE at the following sessions:

The IEEE Internet Initiative World Café workshop will explore WSIS action lines and SDGs as they relate to e-Health data policy. The session will include a technical demonstration and discussion on personal healthcare device interoperability, and encourage participation and discourse on identifying and addressing major policy issues, as well as brainstorming telemedicine application development based on policy requirements. This session will take place on 5 May 2016 from 12:30-15:00 CEST.

The IEEE thematic workshop “Internet Governance, Security, Privacy and the Ethical Dimension of ICTs in 2030” will discuss obstacles in addressing security, privacy and the ethical dimension of ICTs in today’s Internet and ICT-centric world, identify critical issues, and discuss possible opportunities to create more positive outcomes in the future. The panelists are Oleg Logvinov President and CEO, IoTecha Corporation, Dr. M.G. Michael, Ph.D., Honorary Associate Professor, School of Computing and Information Technology at the University of Wollongon, Christine Runnegar, Director, Security and Privacy Policy, Internet Society, and Dr. Greg Shannon, Ph.D., Chief Scientist for the CERT Division, Software Engineering Institute at Carnegie Mellon University. This workshop will be held on 5 May from 16:45-18:15 CEST.

In addition, Oleg Logvinov, chair of the IEEE Internet Initiative, will deliver IEEE’s intervention at the High Level Policy segment of the meeting on 3 May from 10:15-10:45 CEST.

We look forward to seeing you there.