In June 2025, ICANN participated in the 20th anniversary of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) held in Norway. Convened by the United Nations Secretary-General, the IGF serves as a global platform where stakeholders from all sectors come together to discuss digital policy issues. This year's forum came at a critical juncture for global Internet governance (IG), as the international community prepares for the World Summit on the Information Society: 20-year review (WSIS+20) at the U.N. General Assembly.
This broader conversation, part of which will be about IG, raises questions about the future of technical coordination, the growing risk of Internet fragmentation, and the role of the multistakeholder model (MSM). The IGF remains a vital platform for the global Internet community. It convenes governments, intergovernmental organizations (IGOs), civil society, business, and the technical community as peers, and embodies the very model that has helped the Internet grow, scale, and remain globally interoperable through multistakeholder coordination since the late 1990s.
For ICANN, the convergence of the twentieth IGF and the WSIS+20 High-Level Event represented a pivotal moment in the ongoing WSIS process, an opportunity to reaffirm what works, why it must be protected, and how it could be improved.
Meaningful Engagement, Global Dialogue
Led by ICANN's President and CEO Kurtis Lindqvist, and joined by staff and Board members including the Board Chair, Tripti Sinha, ICANN's delegation was actively engaged at the forum. Over the course of the week, ICANN organized sessions on WSIS+20, interoperability, and the future of multistakeholder governance; participated in high-level roundtables; and held more than 30 bilateral meetings with governments, IGOs, businesses, ICANN community members, and other stakeholders. These conversations were part of a broader effort to ensure that the technical coordination underpinning the Domain Name System remains protected, that the IGF is renewed and resourced, and that IG decisions continue to be shaped through collaboration, not control.
Across these conversations, a unifying message emerged: the future of IG must be globally representative, well-coordinated, and technically grounded.
From IGF to the WSIS+20 High-Level Event
As governments and stakeholders prepare for the WSIS+20 Review at the U.N. General Assembly in December, the WSIS+20 High-Level Event held in Geneva from 7–11 July 2025 served as a critical waypoint. ICANN participated as a contributing partner, joining ministers, international organizations, and members of the technical community to reflect on the achievements and limitations of the WSIS process and to consider its relevance in today's contested digital environment.
With close to three decades of experience in IG, ICANN brought a strong voice to the discussions on global digital cooperation. We highlighted the successes of the MSM, particularly in enabling linguistic representation and cultural diversity online, which, 20 years later, has supported a more globally representative digital footprint. These efforts align closely with several WSIS action lines focused on multilingualism, linguistic access, and user diversity.
We also emphasized the continued relevance of the WSIS framework. As global digital cooperation becomes increasingly critical for managing borderless technologies, it is essential to preserve the Internet's distributed governance and ensure that coordination remains aligned and effective. In a session with intergovernmental and technical partners, ICANN shared best practices to help ensure that emerging governance structures support, rather than undermine, this approach.
We also reinforced the importance of strengthening multilingual participation across multistakeholder processes. This can only be viable when systems are designed to support it, through efforts such as Universal Acceptance and Internationalized Domain Names.
Participants at the WSIS+20 High-Level Event sent a clear signal that countries and organizations remain committed to the WSIS process and its multistakeholder foundation. The process has supported digital transformation that is both people-centered and globally representative. It remains relevant today, especially as global digital cooperation becomes more critical for closing digital divides, maintaining interoperability, and addressing emerging risks.
Looking Ahead
The decisions made in the lead-up to WSIS+20 will shape the Internet's next chapter. The core challenge is not building something new but protecting what already works. We must safeguard the multistakeholder approach that has kept the Internet stable and open, and resist shifts toward fragmentation or exclusion. ICANN will continue to participate in WSIS-related events including its recent intervention at the second WSIS+20 informal consultation with stakeholders on 29 July 2025 and the upcoming in-person stakeholder review in December.
ICANN remains committed to working with partners across stakeholder groups and regions to protect the technical foundation of the Internet and ensure that governance structures remain globally representative and rooted in shared responsibility.
WSIS+20 is a critical opportunity to reinforce what has kept the Internet stable and interoperable. Whether that legacy holds will depend on our choices in the months ahead.