Digital Watch Observatory - Digital Governance in 50+ issues, 500+ actors, 5+ processes
In this issue, we highlight digital sovereignty as governments act to secure domestic technology, data, and infrastructure amid rising geopolitical tensions. Also covered: AI & digital forecast for 2026, WSIS+20 outcomes, child safety online, regulatory scrutiny of Grok.
As governments move to treat undersea connectivity as a shared policy responsibility rather than a purely technical issue, the Porto summit signalled a turning point in how submarine cables are governed, protected, and sustained worldwide.
As global demand for data surges, speakers in Porto argued that the future of undersea connectivity in underserved regions will depend less on cables alone and more on creative financing, regional cooperation, and the ability to turn resilience into an investable proposition.
As undersea cables face mounting pressure from human activity, ageing expertise, and shifting geopolitical routes, experts in Porto warned that the weakest links in global connectivity are no longer the breaks themselves, but how the world prepares for and responds to them.
With licence approvals uncertain, Chinese companies are developing alternative plans to secure AI chips beyond Nvidia’s delayed H200 shipments.
As the Geneva Engage Awards return, they shine a spotlight on how International Geneva must adapt its digital voice and credibility as audiences increasingly rely on AI-driven sources for information.
Must read
Analysis
AI in practice across the UN system: UN 2.0 AI Expo
The UN 2.0 Data & Digital AI Expo showcased how UN entities are integrating AI into their work to improve data quality, strengthen governance and enhance decision-making across diverse operational areas.
Analysis
Deepfake pornography, consent, and power in synthetic media
The rise of AI pornography reveals bigger societal risks, where sexual representation becomes detached from lived experience and consent is reduced to a technical obstacle rather than a social principle.
Analysis
ChatGPT and the rising pressure to commercialise AI in 2026
OpenAI’s ChatGPT Go launch highlights growing pressure to monetise AI without ads, as investor expectations reshape sustainable business models.
DW at a glance
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WSIS+20 Process
The year 2025 marks 20 years since the finalisation of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), and a review process looking at 20 years of WSIS outcomes implementation will conclude with a high-level meeting at the UN General Assembly (UNGA), in December. This page keeps track of the process leading to the UNGA meeting in December 2025. It also provides background information about WSIS and related activities and processes since 1998.
Explore the Observatory
Digital Technologies
From internet applications to quantum computing, we focus on advanced and emerging digital technologies which are increasingly reshaping our economies and societies.
Clusters of Policy topics
We unpack digital policy by exploring over 50 topics – from access and sustainable development to network security and the future of work – classified in 7 clusters.
Processes
Follow some of the most important digital policy processes, from the EU's work on the Digital Services Act/Digital Markets Act to the UN Cybercrime Ad Hoc Committee.