The Intergovernmental process co-facilitated by Costa Rica and Spain, overseeing the AI Scientific Panel and Global Dialogue on AI Governance, included in the GDC, have published their Zero Draft report.
It can be found here:
Focusing on the Global Dialogue on AI Governance, here are some observations:
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It seems the direction so far is to establish a new forum, not coinciding with the IGF. In particular, the first annual meeting expected to take place in New York in September 2025, which
will be after IGF’25 in Norway in June 2025.
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For the operationalization of the Dialogue, three UN entities are to collaborate: ODET, ITU and UNESCO.
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The form of the output of the Dialogue is not clarified. The Elements Paper summarizing the consultations performed by the co-conveners, published on Feb. 28th, 2025, specified the output
to be non-binding .
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As expected, creating a new forum for the Dialogue will require dedicated (new) funding. In the current difficult environment it is not clear how this new funding will be secured.
Here is a recap of the relevant sections from the Zero Draft:
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14. Decides that the Dialogue shall facilitate international cooperation on AI governance including through sharing of best practices, lessons learned and capacity-building programs; identify ways on how AI can contribute to the implementation of the Sustainable
Development Goals, the respect, protection and promotion of human rights, support linguistic and cultural diversity; encourage dialogue between Member States and stakeholders; and foster interoperability;
15. Further decides that the Dialogue shall be open to all Member States, observers and relevant stakeholders; and will hold a plenary meeting, with a high-level segment with participation at the level of Heads of State and Government, and thematic discussions;
16. Decides that the Dialogue shall be convened once annually in the margins of existing relevant United Nations conferences and meetings;
17. Also decides that the first Dialogue will be held in New York in September 2025 and that the second Dialogue will be held in Geneva in 2026;
21. Requests the Secretary-General to operationalize a Secretariat to provide the necessary support for the Panel and the Dialogue by leveraging system-wide capacities including in the Office for Digital and Emerging Technologies, the International Telecommunications
Union and United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization;
22. Encourages States and international donors as well as the private sector, financial institutions, foundations and other donors in a position to do so, to support the effective functioning of the Panel and Dialogue, including by facilitating the participation
of representatives of developing countries, through voluntary contributions; "
Thank you and kind regards,
Hosein Badran