Building up strenghtened global access to information and knowledge: the Hand-in-Hand Geospatial Platform is nominated at the WSIS Prize Contest 2021

2021 has started as the year of efficiencies and effectivness. Digitalization, modernization and agility are now the core values where organizations and businesses all over the globe are focusing their efforts to better adapt, respond and act to the evolving needs of a world more fast paced than ever. ´Innovation and investment are the key to transformation´ says FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu. 

 FAO´s mandate includes indeed supporting and assisting the countries in their transformation towards more efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable agri-food systems for better production, better nutrition, a better environment, and a better life, leaving no one behind. In this context, FAO is taking part in the World Summit on the Information Society Forum 2021 that represents the world's largest annual gathering of the ‘ICT for development’ community.

The WSIS Forum, co-organized by ITU, UNESCO, UNDP and UNCTAD, has proven to be an efficient mechanism for coordination of multi- stakeholder implementation activities, information exchange, creation of knowledge, sharing of best practices and continues to provide assistance in developing multi-stakeholder and public/private partnerships to advance development goals.  

The whole agenda and activities (virtual sessions, policy sessions, open consultations etc) of the Forum can be found here. 

The 2021 WSIS Forum also aims at providing a unique opportunity to serve as a single platform to track the achievements of WSIS Action Lines in collaboration with the UN Agencies involved and provide information and analyses of the implementation of WSIS Action Lines since 2005. Among its activities, the WSIS Prize 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. 

Following the close alignment between the WSIS Process and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, FAO´s Hand-in-Hand Geospatial platform was nominated among the original 1,270 submissions under the WSIS Action Line C3- "Access to Information and Knowledge" and has entered the voting phase that provides until the 31th March an online mechanism for all WSIS stakeholders to participate in the contest of WSIS Prizes 2021.

The list of nominated projects is available here. Everyone is invited to participate and cast its vote for one project in each of 18 categories. 

Votes can be done after registering a WSIS profile through this link. The voting page will then be displayed and the FAO Hand in Hand Geospatial Platform is listed under the AL C3 ´Access to Information and Knowledge´.

The 18 winning projects will be announced and, together with the 72 champion projects, recognized at the WSIS Prize 2021 Ceremony at WSIS Forum 2021 (17 - 21 May). 

More information about the Hand-in-Hand Geospatial Platform, that is Hand in Hand main enabler technical tool, can be found here. Hand-in-Hand is FAO’s evidence-based, country-led and country-owned initiative to
accelerate agricultural transformation and sustainable rural development to eradicate poverty (SDG 1) and end hunger and all forms of malnutrition (SDG2). In doing so, it contributes to attaining all of the Sustainable Development Goals.

More information about FAO´s Hand- In Hand larger initiative can be found here.   

How to vote

• The polling is done on the WSIS Prizes platform, accessible here 
• The voting period is open till the 31th March
• To vote you need to register first here 
• Once logged, you will be directed to the lists of projects to fill the voting form and you can select the Hand- in- Hand Geospatial Platform project under AL C3 ´Access to Information and Knowledge´. Click on ´vote for this project´ 
• The full list of projects is available here.