World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Prizes 2018
Dear Sir/Madam,
I am pleased to announce the launch of the 7
th edition of the contest of the WSIS Prizes and call for
submissions through the website (www.wsis.org/prizes) by 2
nd January 2018. WSIS Prizes 2018 are the
exceptional international recognition of WSIS Stakeholders as Winners and Champions for their excellence
in supporting the implementation of WSIS outcomes, in particular WSIS Action Lines supporting
achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The WSIS Prizes contest was developed in response to requests from the WSIS stakeholders to create an
effective mechanism to evaluate projects and activities that leverage the power of information and
communication technologies (ICTs) to advance sustainable development. Since inception, the contest of
WSIS Prizes has attracted more than 300.000 stakeholders.
Following the outcomes of the United Nations General Assembly Overall Review on WSIS (Res. A/70/125)
that called for a close alignment between the WSIS Process and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable
Development (Res. A/70/1), the WSIS Prizes is the unique global platform to identify and showcase success
stories in the implementation of the WSIS Action Lines and SDGs.
The 2016 ECOSOC Resolution on Assessment of the progress made in the implementation of and follow-up
to the outcomes of the World Summit on the Information Society reiterates the importance of sharing best
practices at the global level, and, while recognizing excellence in the implementation of the projects and
initiatives that further the goals of the World Summit, encourages all stakeholders to nominate their
projects for the annual World Summit project prizes as an integral part of the World Summit stocktaking
process (www.wsis.org/stocktaking), while taking note of the report on the World Summit success stories.
Therefore, I invite all WSIS Stakeholders to participate in the contest of WSIS Prizes 2018 that is organized
in five phases(see Annex One). The eighteen Winners and Champions will be recognized at the WSIS Forum
2018, to be held from 19 to 23 March 2018 in Geneva, Switzerland. The winning projects will be showcased
in the Success Stories 2018 publication, while all submitted descriptions of projects and activities will be
reflected in the WSIS Stocktaking Report 2018.
Yours faithfully,
FIVE PHASES OF THE CONTEST
1. The first phase: Submission phase
11 September 2017 – 2 January 2018 (Deadline for last submission: 23:00 Geneva time)
2. The second phase: Nomination Phase. Revision of submitted projects by Expert Group that will
result with a list of nominated projects
3 January 2018 – 12 January 2018
3. The third phase: Public Online Voting (identification of three projects per category with the
highest number of votes)
12 January 2018 – 4 February 2018 (Deadline for casting last vote: 23:00 Geneva time)
4. The fourth phase: Selection of winning projects by the Expert Group that will result with a list
of winning projects
5 February 2018 – 9 February 2018
5. The fifth phase: Announcement of winners to the public during WSIS Prize 2018 Ceremony at
WSIS Forum 2018, and the release of publication “WSIS Stocktaking: Success Stories 2018”,
which is a compilation of extended descriptions of the 18 projects and 72 champion projects.
THE FIRST PHASE: Submission phase
Phase one will open the call for submissions to the contest of the WSIS Prize 2018 at
www.wsis.org/prizes. During the period from 11 September 2017 until 2 January 2018, all stakeholders
are invited to submit WSIS related projects to the WSIS Prize 2018 contest. In order to process the
submission, stakeholders are requested to complete the submission form for WSIS Prize 2018 online
that contains two parts:
Part one: executive summary (100 words) and
Part two: project information (1500-2000 words and 1 photo)
The submission form is available at www.wsis.org/prizes.
The contest is open to all stakeholders, entities representing governments, private sector, international
and regional institutions, civil society and academia. Each entity is allowed to submit one project per
category. Stakeholders are invited to consult the rules for project submission and nomination criteria at
www.wsis.org/prizes.
THE SECOND PHASE: Nomination phase. Review of Submitted Projects by the Expert Group
During phase two, the Expert Group revises the projects referring to the rules for project submission
and nomination criteria. The outcome of the Expert Group’s work will be a list of nominated projects
that will be announced to the public on 12 January 2018. The Expert Group will consist of professionals
working on the implementation of WSIS outcomes. The decisions of the Expert Group are final and
without appeal.
All nominated projects will also be part of the WSIS Stocktaking Report 2018. Please see the WSIS
Stocktaking Report series at ITU Bookshop.
THE THIRD PHASE: Public Online Voting
Phase three will provide an online mechanism for all WSIS stakeholders to participate in the contest of
WSIS Prize 2018. The list of nominated projects will be publicly announced on 12 January 2018 and WSIS
multi-stakeholder community will be invited to participate and cast its vote for one project in each of 18
categories at www.wsis.org/prizes.
The deadline for voting is 4 February 2018 (Deadline for casting last vote: 23:00 CEST). Voting process
will result in identifying five projects with the highest number of appreciations/votes given for project
descriptions by WSIS stakeholders. The rules for voting should be strictly respected. They are available
online at www.wsis.org/prizes.
THE FOURTH PHASE: Selection of Winning Projects
During phase four (5-9 February 2018), the Expert Group will make in-depth analyses of three most
voted projects per category and will select one winning project per category, taking into account scale
and impact of the project on the implementation of the WSIS outcomes and its contribution to the
sustainable development. The outcome of the Expert Group’s work will be the list of winning projects
that will be publicly announced during the WSIS Forum 2018 only. Decisions of the Expert Group are
final and without appeal. Focal points of the winning projects will be contacted by 9 February 2018 at
the latest.
THE FIFTH PHASE: Public Announcement of the Winners during WSIS Prize 2018 Ceremony at WSIS
Forum 2018
During the phase five the winning projects will be announced officially during the Prize Ceremony, which
will be held at the WSIS Forum 2018 (19-23 March 2018). Extended descriptions of the winning projects
will constitute the basis for the ITU e-publication entitled “WSIS Stocktaking: Success Stories 2018”
(please see the WSIS Stocktaking: Success Stories series at ITU Bookshop).
THE 18 WSIS PRIZES CATEGORIES
The contest comprises 18 categories which are linked to the 11 WSIS Action Lines outlined in the
Geneva Plan of Action, supporting the achievement of SDGs.
1) WSIS AL C1: The role of governments and all stakeholders in the promotion of ICTs for
development
2) WSIS AL C2: Information and communication infrastructure
3) WSIS AL C3: Access to knowledge and information
4) WSIS AL C4: Capacity building
5) WSIS AL C5: Building confidence and security in the use of ICTs
6) WSIS AL C6: Enabling environment
7) WSIS AL C7: E-government
8) WSIS AL C7: E-business
9) WSIS AL C7: E-learning
10) WSIS AL C7: E-health
11) WSIS AL C7: E-employment
12) WSIS AL C7: E-environment
13) WSIS AL C7: E-agriculture
14) WSIS AL C7: E-science
15) WSIS AL C8: Cultural diversity and identity, linguistic diversity and local content
16) WSIS AL C9: Media
17) WSIS AL C10: Ethical dimension of the information society
18) WSIS AL C11: International and regional cooperation
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
Goal 1. End poverty in all its forms everywhere
Goal 2. End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable
agriculture
Goal 3. Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
Goal 4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning
opportunities for all
Goal 5. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
Goal 6. Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
Goal 7. Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
Goal 8. Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive
employment and decent work for all
Goal 9. Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster
innovation
Goal 10.Reduce inequality within and among countries
Goal 11.Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
Goal 12.Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
Goal 13.Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts
Goal 14. Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable
development
Goal 15.Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably
manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt
biodiversity loss
Goal 16.Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to
justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
Goal 17.Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for
sustainable development
For more information regarding previous contests of WSIS Prizes, you are kindly invited to visit
www.wsis.org/prizes portal. Please, contact the WSIS Team at wsis-prizes@itu.int for any further
questions or need for assistance.
