Winners of the WSIS Prizes, recognizing innovative technological approaches to support sustainable development, were announced on 28 May 2024 at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)+20

Winners of the WSIS Prizes, recognizing innovative technological approaches to support sustainable development, were announced on 28 May 2024 at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)+20 Forum High-Level Event 2024 in Geneva, Switzerland. Overall, projects from 18 countries were presented with WSIS Prizes top honours, showcasing leading efforts to bridge the digital divide, foster digital inclusion, and drive socio-economic progress on a global scale. “This year's WSIS Prizes demonstrate the innovation and energy that exist to find technological solutions to some of the globe's biggest challenges," said ITU Secretary-General Doreen Bogdan-Martin. “These are the creative contributions that the world needs in our effort to advance the UN Sustainable Development Goals." The 'Smart Employee' App revolutionizes staff management by providing an innovative, user-friendly, and efficient solution for a myriad of services. From leave applications to permissions, colleague communication, and notification approvals, it offers a seamless experience accessible anytime, anywhere. Powered by AI (CHATGPT), Smart Employee features a Digital Assistant capable of providing accurate and timely responses to inquiries about employee information, HR laws, and policies in any language. Catering to the diverse needs of managers, employees, and outsourcing requirements, Smart Employee serves 74 Dubai government entities, engaging over 73,000 employees with an impressive 99% usage rate. Developed centrally by Digital Dubai (in-house Development), it not only streamlines operations but also achieves over 95% cost savings by eliminating individual development and operation costs across government entities. Additionally, it plays a pivotal role in advancing Dubai's paperless initiative by digitizing more than 200 requests. Beyond traditional services, Smart Employee offers unique solutions such as the 'Thank You' feature for expressing gratitude, task management tools, an Analytic Hub, official correspondences, a newsroom, health insurance services, and a grievance system. This comprehensive approach fosters a collaborative work environment, aligning with Dubai's commitment to employee development and satisfaction. The benefits of Smart Employee include: Quick Access: Instantly access a wide range of services anytime, anywhere. Paperless Convenience: Effortlessly submit various service requests without the need for paper. Integrated Services: Enjoy a unified platform for HR, Finance, Supply Chain, and more, including Medical Insurance and other services. Social Engagement: Foster a positive work culture through gamification and Thanks Cards for employee appreciation. Time and Effort Savings: Achieve a remarkable 95% time and cost savings, streamlining daily activities for enhanced efficiency Project website https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ae.gov.sdg.smartemployee

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Winners of the WSIS Prizes, recognizing innovative technological approaches to support sustainable development, were announced on 28 May 2024 at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)+20

Winners of the WSIS Prizes, recognizing innovative technological approaches to support sustainable development, were announced on 28 May 2024 at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)+20 Forum High-Level Event 2024 in Geneva, Switzerland. Overall, projects from 18 countries were presented with WSIS Prizes top honours, showcasing leading efforts to bridge the digital divide, foster digital inclusion, and drive socio-economic progress on a global scale. “This year's WSIS Prizes demonstrate the innovation and energy that exist to find technological solutions to some of the globe's biggest challenges," said ITU Secretary-General Doreen Bogdan-Martin. “These are the creative contributions that the world needs in our effort to advance the UN Sustainable Development Goals." Check Me aims to address the pressing issue of breast cancer by developing a comprehensive mobile application. This solution has three objectives: to increase awareness about breast cancer risks, promote early detection through self-checks, and provide affordable access to specialized medical care. The approach is to leverage technology's power to create an accessible and user-friendly platform. The mobile application is a one-stop resource, providing educational content, guidance for self-checks, and connections to breast cancer specialists. By combining these elements, the project empowers women to take charge of their breast health and enables early detection, which is crucial for successful treatment outcomes. The project aims to demystify breast cancer and break down societal barriers preventing women from seeking timely medical assistance by increasing awareness. By guiding self-checks, the application encourages women to regularly monitor their breast health, leading to early detection of abnormalities and potential early intervention. Furthermore, connecting women with breast cancer specialists at affordable prices ensures that all women, regardless of their income, have access to expert advice and personalized guidance. The overall impact is twofold: saving lives and improving quality of life. By facilitating early detection, the project aims to reduce the mortality rate of breast cancer. The timely diagnosis and treatment made possible through the application can increase survival rates and improve treatment outcomes. Additionally, by providing accessible information and support, the project empowers women and contributes to their overall well-being, instilling a sense of control and resilience. Through this innovative solution, we aim to create a lasting social impact by addressing the breast cancer problem in our society. Promoting awareness, early detection, and affordable access to specialized care, we strive to improve breast cancer outcomes and empower women to prioritize their health. Project website https://checkmeapp.io

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Winners of the WSIS Prizes, recognizing innovative technological approaches to support sustainable development, were announced on 28 May 2024 at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)+20

Winners of the WSIS Prizes, recognizing innovative technological approaches to support sustainable development, were announced on 28 May 2024 at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)+20 Forum High-Level Event 2024 in Geneva, Switzerland. Overall, projects from 18 countries were presented with WSIS Prizes top honours, showcasing leading efforts to bridge the digital divide, foster digital inclusion, and drive socio-economic progress on a global scale. “This year's WSIS Prizes demonstrate the innovation and energy that exist to find technological solutions to some of the globe's biggest challenges," said ITU Secretary-General Doreen Bogdan-Martin. “These are the creative contributions that the world needs in our effort to advance the UN Sustainable Development Goals." The E-Waste+ application is an innovative solution developed under the “Thais say no to E-Waste” project by AIS, with a strong commitment to environmental conservation and acting on climate change. The application aims to address the challenges of e-waste management in Thailand by providing a comprehensive platform that encourages responsible e-waste disposal and recycling.The pain points of traditional drop points for e-waste disposal can indeed hinder effective e-waste management. Two significant pain points are: 1. Lack of Track and Trace: In traditional drop points, individuals disposing of their e-waste often have no way to track and trace the journey of their discarded items. This lack of transparency creates a sense of detachment and uncertainty among users, as they remain unaware of whether their e-waste is being handled responsibly and recycled properly. 2. High Cost of Drop Points: Traditional drop points are often made from recycled paper, which can still be costly to produce and maintain. The expenses associated with creating and managing these drop points may limit their availability and outreach to potential users, hindering efforts to promote responsible e-waste disposal. The E-Waste+ application addresses these pain points through its innovative use of blockchain technology and real-time engagement. By leveraging blockchain, users can now track and trace their e-waste items from the moment of disposal at a drop point to the recycling facility. This level of transparency empowers users and creates a sense of ownership and accountability, as they can witness the positive impact of their actions on the environment. Additionally, application's use of blockchain allows for a more cost-effective solution. Unlike traditional drop points made from recycled paper, the digital nature of the E-Waste+ application reduces the need for physical infrastructure and maintenance costs. This cost efficiency enables a wider distribution of drop points and encourages greater participation from users and businesses. Project website https://sustainability.ais.co.th/storage/sustainability-report/2022/20230221-advanc-srd-2022-en.pdf

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Winners of the WSIS Prizes, recognizing innovative technological approaches to support sustainable development, were announced on 28 May 2024 at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)+20

Winners of the WSIS Prizes, recognizing innovative technological approaches to support sustainable development, were announced on 28 May 2024 at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)+20 Forum High-Level Event 2024 in Geneva, Switzerland. Overall, projects from 18 countries were presented with WSIS Prizes top honours, showcasing leading efforts to bridge the digital divide, foster digital inclusion, and drive socio-economic progress on a global scale. “This year's WSIS Prizes demonstrate the innovation and energy that exist to find technological solutions to some of the globe's biggest challenges," said ITU Secretary-General Doreen Bogdan-Martin. “These are the creative contributions that the world needs in our effort to advance the UN Sustainable Development Goals." JaWAra Internet Sehat is a project to encourage young digital activists in the region to become community leaders (local champions) who will initiate and drive digital literacy education programs with a local and bottom-up approach, creating changes from the grassroots. This project was undertaken by ICT Watch and WhatsApp, with the support of the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology (MCIT) of the Republic of Indonesia, Relawan TIK Indonesia (Indonesia ICT Volunteers) and Digital Literacy National Movement "SIBERKREASI". In their activities, the local champions provide digital literacy education to many elements of society, especially to people in villages/rural areas, children, people with disabilities, youth, and women (mothers), through local approaches that are easily accepted, such as wayang (traditional puppets) show, local cultural content, movies, games (cards/snakes and ladders), etc. This project also develops the distance learning system through https://akademi.internetsehat.id and Digital Literacy WhatsApp ChatBot at https://s.id/kakinat, so the communities can carry out self-learning for some topics, such as combating hoaxes, digital security, personal data protection, etc. The chatbot has already followed by 21,345 participants. In 2021, this program recruited 60 local youth champions (JaWAra) who successfully ran 108 digital literacy education programs in their respective areas. This program reached 29,731 people in 73 regencies/cities from 26 provinces. In 2022, we recruited another 100 local youth champions who ran 186 digital literacy programs, reaching 237,784 people. In 2023, we focused on tackling hoaxes toward the General Election of 2024. The JaWAra were involved in the education in 8 cities that covered 3,681 participants. We documented some inspirational stories of this program (2021-2022) in the book "Bunga Rampai (Multiauthor) Jawara Internet Sehat" which can be downloaded at https://jawara.internetsehat.id/buku-bunga-rampai/ Project website https://jawara.internetsehat.id/

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Winners of the WSIS Prizes, recognizing innovative technological approaches to support sustainable development, were announced on 28 May 2024 at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)+20

Winners of the WSIS Prizes, recognizing innovative technological approaches to support sustainable development, were announced on 28 May 2024 at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)+20 Forum High-Level Event 2024 in Geneva, Switzerland. Overall, projects from 18 countries were presented with WSIS Prizes top honours, showcasing leading efforts to bridge the digital divide, foster digital inclusion, and drive socio-economic progress on a global scale. “This year's WSIS Prizes demonstrate the innovation and energy that exist to find technological solutions to some of the globe's biggest challenges," said ITU Secretary-General Doreen Bogdan-Martin. “These are the creative contributions that the world needs in our effort to advance the UN Sustainable Development Goals." Smartpur, Nokia’s flagship CSR initiative, is a digital village ecosystem project aimed at integrating technology into the daily lives of communities living in remote villages across India. Smartpur is executed in partnership with Save the Children India and Digital Empowerment Foundation. The project intends to empower and support local entrepreneurs through digital technology. Entrepreneurs are provided with facilities to make services across the pillars of Livelihood, Health, Education, Financial Inclusion, and Governance accessible at the village level through Smartpur centers. Beneficiaries of the project leverage digital tools to access livelihood opportunities and skill-based training programs, telemedicine services, education in technology and computer literacy, financial services such as banking, and government schemes and services. The project was first implemented in 2017 with 10 Smartpur centers established in the state of Haryana. The number of centers has since grown to 350 in 2023, established in 10 states across India. Between 2017 and 2022, 40 centers have been exited sustainably. These centers continue to provide the intended services to rural communities and generate a livelihood for the entrepreneurs. The project has created large-scale social impact – it reached over million beneficiaries. Between April 2022 and March 2023 alone, the project reached over 835,100 beneficiaries. Approximately 480,000 people were supported with access and awareness on social protection schemes and services; over 26,900 people sought digital literacy training, career counselling camps and academic support; more than 297,500 people accessed financial literacy services such as conducting digital financial transactions, opening and operating banks accounts, and financial literacy; over 17,500 received telemedicine services and attended health awareness camps, and over 9,600 people were linked with livelihood opportunities, received vocational training, and trained on life skills. Project website https://smartpur.in/the-project/

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Winners of the WSIS Prizes, recognizing innovative technological approaches to support sustainable development, were announced on 28 May 2024 at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)+20

Winners of the WSIS Prizes, recognizing innovative technological approaches to support sustainable development, were announced on 28 May 2024 at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)+20 Forum High-Level Event 2024 in Geneva, Switzerland. Overall, projects from 18 countries were presented with WSIS Prizes top honours, showcasing leading efforts to bridge the digital divide, foster digital inclusion, and drive socio-economic progress on a global scale. “This year's WSIS Prizes demonstrate the innovation and energy that exist to find technological solutions to some of the globe's biggest challenges," said ITU Secretary-General Doreen Bogdan-Martin. “These are the creative contributions that the world needs in our effort to advance the UN Sustainable Development Goals." The cultural heritage sector is at a crossroads. The boost of digitalisation and technology are the ultimate solutions for new approaches to engage citizens with cultural heritage. Digital storytelling enables unprecedented forms of engagement and opens up new spaces for educational contexts to explore collaborative forms to understand, preserve and engage with cultural heritage. E-learning tools promote access to cultural content in homes, schools and universities, and allow people to generate, reuse and add value to content, enhancing the value of tangible and intangible cultural heritage. Still, education in cultural heritage is commonly perceived as discipline-bound, unidirectional and academic, not consistent with the Universal Design for Learning Guidelines (CAST 2018), which favors a learner-centric approach catering the needs of all learners. Accessibility and inclusion are crucial concepts in cultural heritage for achieving the CRPD (2006), and the UN Agenda 2030 and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). “Young ArcHers” is an Erasmus+ project that tackles climate change, it helps to achieve the UN's Sustainable Development Goals and boosts research and innovation in educational environments at a local, regional and international level. The project proposes a mindset shift in education advocating the use of cultural heritage, as a valuable tool for educators to create inclusive and accessible digital storytelling content for promoting intercultural dialog and social inclusion. “Young ArcHers” intends to offer efficient and accessible interdisciplinary tools to support teachers in incentivizing students, including children with disabilities, and those originating from socio-culturally diverse backgrounds, to discover the value of their local built heritage, use digital technology to consolidate new knowledge, and engage in the promotion and protection of heritage buildings through local and international awareness campaigns. Project website https://youngarchers.eu/

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Winners of the WSIS Prizes, recognizing innovative technological approaches to support sustainable development, were announced on 28 May 2024 at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)+20

Winners of the WSIS Prizes, recognizing innovative technological approaches to support sustainable development, were announced on 28 May 2024 at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)+20 Forum High-Level Event 2024 in Geneva, Switzerland. Overall, projects from 18 countries were presented with WSIS Prizes top honours, showcasing leading efforts to bridge the digital divide, foster digital inclusion, and drive socio-economic progress on a global scale. “This year's WSIS Prizes demonstrate the innovation and energy that exist to find technological solutions to some of the globe's biggest challenges," said ITU Secretary-General Doreen Bogdan-Martin. “These are the creative contributions that the world needs in our effort to advance the UN Sustainable Development Goals." "Our solution stems the challenge of lack of affordable and meaningful Tanzania as recommended by the UN Secretary General’s report on Digital Cooperation. Although there are 6 telecom companies in Tanzania the competition among them has never been pure. There is what is suspected as collusion in pricing fixing of data bundle. This causes Internet poverty and the victims are the ordinary citizens and more so the marginalized rural and underserved urban populations. The problem of Internet affordability took us to the path that we began to think about digital divide as whole set of divides in Internet access, digital skills, and digital gender gap. The end result of the thinking resulted in the so called “strength in numbers”. That is that is it possible to bring people together to share the cost of a broadband infrastructure and monthly data bundle package to bring the cost of Internet down? Is this possible to use numbers in cooperative arrangement to do this? We tested this hypothesis between 2021 and 2023 by establishing a community driven project called Tanzania Digital Inclusion Project. The project aimed higher- connecting citizens to meaningful Internet, creating community network innovation hubs, providing digital skills, digital adult education, e-learning skills for teachers and STEM trainings for girls to reduce digital gender gap. Ten year(10) Objectives of our solution(TADIP). 1. To provide Meaningful and Affordable broaband Internet to 4 million citizens. 2. To provide digital skills to 1.5 million youth and women 3. To engage 100,000 girls in STEM trainings program 4. To establish 200 Community Network Innovation Hubs Approach Our approach is use of cooperative arrangement, where all community stakeholders share the cost of establishing the Internet infrastructure and monthly cost of data bundle. The aim is not profit but cost-sharing to bring down the cost of making affordable and meaningful Internet available for every subscriber in the community where can have the Internet." Project website https://www.linkedin.com/in/nazar-nicholas-69656ab7/

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Winners of the WSIS Prizes, recognizing innovative technological approaches to support sustainable development, were announced on 28 May 2024 at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)+20

Winners of the WSIS Prizes, recognizing innovative technological approaches to support sustainable development, were announced on 28 May 2024 at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)+20 Forum High-Level Event 2024 in Geneva, Switzerland. Overall, projects from 18 countries were presented with WSIS Prizes top honours, showcasing leading efforts to bridge the digital divide, foster digital inclusion, and drive socio-economic progress on a global scale. “This year's WSIS Prizes demonstrate the innovation and energy that exist to find technological solutions to some of the globe's biggest challenges," said ITU Secretary-General Doreen Bogdan-Martin. “These are the creative contributions that the world needs in our effort to advance the UN Sustainable Development Goals." The "University Diploma on Internet Governance and Regulations" is a project created by the South School on Internet Governance (SSIG) in partnership with the University of Mendoza (from Argentina) and the State University of Paraíba (Brazil). This University diploma focused on Internet Governance and its relgulations is granted at no cost to SSIG fellows. SSIG has established three different academic stages that students must approve: 1- A pre-training course, available online in three languages (english, spanish, portuguese) of eight weeks. 2- An intensive hybrid format training of 40 hs (five complete days) organized in different countries of the Americas. 2023 edition was organized in the city of Campina Grande, Paraíba State, Brazil. 3- A research phase with tutors and guidance from the University of Mendoza (Argentina) and the Universidad State University of Paraíba (Brazil). This stage is done virtually. The whole program is completed in six month, successful students recieve the University Diploma granted by these universities, as part of the SSIG academic project. There are remarkable feautures of this University Diploma: - All activities can be done virtually - All activities and materials are available in : english, spanish and portuguese. - The second hybrid phase of one full week of 40 hs of training allows the face to face interation of fellows that participate in the selected venue. - All activities have NO cost for fellows who attend all classes, complete sucessfully the evaluations and do the final research. This Diploma has been offered since 2022, since then two cohorts have finished the research and recieved the diploma. So far 70 fellows have completed the research and recieved the diploma from: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, México, Kenya., Italy, Panamá, Colombia, Uruguay, Perú, Paraguay and Venezuela. All stages of the capacity building including the research phase to obtain the "University Diploma on Internet Governance and Regulations" can be done virtually. Project website https://gobernanzainternet.org/

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"We need truly innovative, entrepreneurial & science-based approaches to ocean and coastal restoration and protection," says Denmark's UN Ambassador Martin Bille Hermann. The UN Ocean Conference

"We need truly innovative, entrepreneurial & science-based approaches to ocean and coastal restoration and protection," says Denmark's UN Ambassador Martin Bille Hermann. The UN Ocean Conference this June will showcase these solutions! Learn more: www.un.org/oceanconference #SaveOurOcean #SDG14

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Winners of the WSIS Prizes, recognizing innovative technological approaches to support sustainable development, were announced on 28 May 2024 at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)+20

Winners of the WSIS Prizes, recognizing innovative technological approaches to support sustainable development, were announced on 28 May 2024 at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)+20 Forum High-Level Event 2024 in Geneva, Switzerland. Overall, projects from 18 countries were presented with WSIS Prizes top honours, showcasing leading efforts to bridge the digital divide, foster digital inclusion, and drive socio-economic progress on a global scale. “This year's WSIS Prizes demonstrate the innovation and energy that exist to find technological solutions to some of the globe's biggest challenges," said ITU Secretary-General Doreen Bogdan-Martin. “These are the creative contributions that the world needs in our effort to advance the UN Sustainable Development Goals." When disaster strikes, clear communication becomes a lifeline. Recognizing this critical need, Northern Mindanao's Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) established the Regional Disaster Network (RDN) in 2022. RDN leverages an unexpected hero: VHF/HF radio technology. While modern communication tools are valuable, they crumble under disaster's pressure. RDN bypasses this vulnerability with VHF/HF radios, independent of fragile infrastructure like the internet. These robust systems remain operational even when traditional networks fail, ensuring vital communication channels for DICT offices, relay stations, and disaster management units. VHF/HF radios boast another advantage: unparalleled reach. Their waves travel far, bridging communication gaps in remote areas often inaccessible to conventional technologies. This ensures information flows uninterrupted even in the furthest corners of the region. During the Malitbog landslide and Misamis Occidental shearline incidents, the network facilitated rapid information exchange, leading to swift and coordinated rescue efforts. Lives were saved, property protected, and communities empowered to navigate the crisis with improved information and coordination. RDN's influence extends beyond immediate response. Its proactive approach of utilizing VHF/HF technology and redundancy in communication infrastructure, equips communities with the tools and knowledge needed to become active participants in their own safety and preparedness.

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