D UNIVERSAL
0.. POSTAL
% D UNION
UPU International Bureau To:
Weltpoststrasse 4
SWIrZERLAND — The designated operators of Union
member countries
T+41 313503111
F +41 31 3503110 — POST Group members
w.upu.int
— Supervisory ministries
Contact Mr Paul Donohoe — Consuitative Committee members
T +41 31 350 34 50
— Restricted unions
[email protected]
Berne, 17 October 2022
Reference: 4465(DPRM.DPT.D1N)1104
Subject: World Summit on the Information Society Prizes 2023 — caIl for submissions by 7 December
Dear Sir/Madam,
We are pieased to announce the iaunch of the l2th edition of the Worid Summit on the information Society
(WS1S) Prizes and the associated cali for submissions (see www.wsis.org/prizes). The deadiine for submis
sions is 7 December 2022. The WSIS Prizes 2023 wili provide high-profiie international recognition of organi
zations’ exceiience in supporting the impiementation of the WSIS outcomes, the WSIS action ines, and the
achievement of the UN’s Sustainabie Development Goais (SDGs).
The UPU has been supportive of the postal sector’s contribution to the deveiopment of the information society
ever since the first WSIS Summit in 2003, and it continues to highiight postal digital innovations as a key for
sustainability and relevance in the digital economy.
Each year, the WSIS Secretariat cails for submissions for WSIS Prizes to recognize outstanding initiatives by
governments and the private sector in the use of 1CTs to benefit society. The WSIS Prizes aim to highiight
examples of sustainabie information and communication technology (1CT) appiications and use cases that
communities anywhere in the worid can repiicate.
Ali projects nominated for WSIS Prizes wilI be pubiished in the WSIS Stocktaking: Success Stories 2023 report.
Ali winners will be officiaily announced during the prize ceremony at the WSIS Forum in March 2023, and
promoted throughout the year. As such, this represents a great opportunity for postai innovations to gain
international recognition.
Showcasing the postal sector’s use of 1CTs to progress the SDGs is an important objective of the UPU. in
recent years, Posts from around the worid have been WSIS Prize champions for their innovative ICT projects
in digital financiai services, digital identity, e-government, e-commerce, paperless trade and addressing ser
vices.
Ali UPU members and their designated operators are invited to submit their ICT projects for international
recognition through the WSIS website (www.wsis.org/prizes) by 7 December 2022. The rules and guidelines
for the submissions can be found in the annexes to this letter or on the WSIS website. MJ0JA1DUSJA
KOMMUNIKATSIOONIM1MSTEERHJM
25. 10 2022
2
Please do not hesitate 10 contact Paul Donohoe, Digital Policies and Trade Coordinator (
[email protected]),
if you need any additional information.
Many thanks in advance for your efforts to promote the impact of postal digital innovation in achieving the
SDGs.
Yours faithfully,
Siva Somasundram
Director of Policy, Regulation and Markets
Di UNIVERSAL Annex 1 to ietter4465(DPRM.DPTD1N)1104
0.. POSTAL of 17 October 2022
WSIS Prizes contest 2023
(www.wsis.org/prizes)
Five phases of the contest
1 The first phase: Submission phase
7 September 2022—7 December 2022 (Deadiine for iast submission: 23:00 Geneva time)
2 The second phase: Nomination Phase. Revision of submitted projects that wili resuit with a iist of
360 nominated projects, twenty (20) projects per Action Line Category (18)
13—23 December 2022 (twenty projects per each category wiiI be nominated)
3 The third phase: Public onhine voting (identification of five projects per category with the highest number
of votes)
25 December 2022—25 January 2023 (Deadiine for casting iast vote: 23:00 Geneva time)
4 The fourth phase: Selection of winning projects by the ITU Expert Group that wiIi resuit with a iist of
winning projects
25 January—lO February 2023
5 The fifth phase: Announcement of winners to the pubiic during WS1S Prize 2023 Ceremony at WSIS
Forum 2023 (13—17 March), and the release of publication ‘WSIS Stocktaking: Success Stories 2023”,
which is a compilation of extended descriptions of the awarded projects.
The first phase: Submission Phase
Phase one will open the caii for submissions to the contest of the WSIS Prize 2023 at www.wsis.org/prizes.
During the period from 7 September untii 7 December 2022, ali stakehoiders are invited to submit WS1S reiated
projects to the WS1S Prize 2023 contest. in order to process the submission, stakehoiders are requested to
compiete the submission form oniine at www.wsis.org/prizes.
The contest is open to ali stakeholders, entities representing governments, private sector, international and
regional institutions, civii society, and academia. No more than one project from the same entity is allowed to
be submitted per category. Stakehoiders are invited to consult the rules for project submission and nomination
criteria at the WSIS Prizes website. Ali WSIS Stakehoiders are encouraged to submit ICT projects for which
they beiieve shouid be recognized and promoted, and for which they do not necessary hoid ownership of.
The second phase: Nomination Phase. Review of Submitted Projects by the Expert Group
During phase two, the projects are being reviewed based on the ruies for project submission and nomination
criteria. The outcome of this phase wiii be a hist of nominated projects (twenty projects per category) that wiII
be announced to the public on 25 December 2022. The Expert Group consists of professionals working on the
impiementation of WS1S outcomes. The decisions of the Expert Group are finai and without appeai.
The third phase: Public Online Voting
Phase three wiii provide an oniine mechanism for ali WSIS stakehoiders to participate in the contest of WS1S
Prize 2023. The iist of nominated projects wiii be publiciy announced on 25 December 2022 and the WSIS
muiti-stakehoider community wiii be invited to participate and cast its votes at www.wsis.org/prizes.
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The deadiine for voting is 25 January 2023 (Deadiine for casting Iast vote: 23:00 CEST). Voting process wiII
resuit in identifying five projects with the highest number of appreciations/votes given for project descriptions
by WSIS stakeholders. Voters are encouraged to read through the descriptions of projects carefully and cast
votes considering social, economic, and environmental impact. The rules for voting should be strictly
respected. They are available online at www.wsis.org/prizes.
The fourth phase: Selection of Winning Projects
During phase four (25 January—1 0 February 2023), the Expert Group wiII make in-depth analyses of five most
voted projects per category and wiII select one winning project per category, taking into account scale and
impact of the project on the impiementation of the WSIS outcomes and its contribution to the sustainable
development. The outcome of this phase wiII be the Iist of eighteen winning projects that wiII be publicly
announced during the WSIS Forum 2023 only. Decisions of the Expert Group are final and without appeal.
Focal points of the winning projects wiII be contacted immediately after their selection. Please note that while
the entities of the winning projects wiII be entitled as “Winners’, the four runners-up in each of the WSIS Action
Line category wiII be entitled as Champions”. Both Winners and Champions wiII be announced and promoted
as Champions until the Winners announcement during the WSIS Prizes 2023 Ceremony.
The fifth phase: Public Announcement of the Winners during WSIS Prize 2023 Ceremony at WSIS
Forum 2023
During the phase five the winning projects wiII be announced officially during the Prize Ceremony, which wiII
be held at the WSIS Forum 2023. Extended descriptions of the winning projects wiII constitute the basis for
the ITU e-publication entitled “WSIS Stocktaking: Success Stories 2023”
For more information regarding previous contests of WSIS Prizes, you are kindly invited to visit
www.wsis.org/prizes portal. Please, contact the WSIS Team at
[email protected] for any further questions or
need for assistance.
D UNIVERSAL Annex2to ietter4465(DPRM.DPT.DIN)1104
0. POSTAL of 17 October 2022
WSIS Prizes contest 2023
(www.wsis.org/prizes)
Submission phase criteria
1 Ali projects must be submitted through the online questionnaire.
2 For each project submission, oniy one category (out of 18) should be selected.
3 One project per entity may be submitted for each category.
4 The same project may not be submitted twice.
5 AlI details requested in the questionnaire shouid be compieted in strict observance of the type of
stakeholder and the structure of the submission tempiate. incompiete submissions wiil not be accepted.
The minimum number of words requested in the questionnaire should be respected.
6 Ali projects submitted to this competition shouid cover work that is completed or at the end of a major
phase, and evidence should be provided of the results and the sociai, economic and environmental
impact of the work.
7 The short description of the project shouid comprise a minimum of 150 words and a maximum of
200 words, which wiiI constitute crucial information for presentation via the public online voting. The
short description shouid contain informatiori that is relevant, clear and attractive to voters, highiighting
ICTs and their impact.
8 In addition to the short description of the project, the foiiowing information wili aiso be requested in the
submission form (in separate boxes):
— Provide examples of linkages between the WSIS Action Line and the project with each of the
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) it heips advance;
— Describe the qualitative and quantitative economic, sociai and environmental impact of the
project;
— Highlight the project’s partnership activities;
— List the main chaiienges and future perspectives of the project.
9 The project submission deadiine should be strictly observed. Late submissions wiiI not be accepted.
10 Projects should be submitted in English only.
11 Winning projects of previous WSIS prize contests are not eligible for participation in this contest.
Nomination phase criteria
1 The submission shouid be in compliance with the ruies for the submission of projects. The information
provided should respond to alI the questions and contain detaiis of the goais, time frame, added value,
importance, resuits and chalienges of the project. The minimum number of words requested shouid be
respected, as requested in the questionnaire.
2 The submission shouid highiight the relevance of the project to the respective WSIS Action Line, as
referenced in the Geneva Pian ofAction.
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3 The project description should ciearly demonstrate the following:
— the results achieved and the mpact thereof;
— community empowerment;
— relevance to the SDGs;
— ability of the modei to be replicated;
— sustainability of the project;
— deveiopment of partnerships;
— promotion ofWSIS values in the Information Society.
Voting phase criteria
1 The five top projects wili be selected based on the evaiuation of and number of votes received for pro
jects by WSIS stakeholders representing the WSIS oniine network. Stakeholders are invited to evaluate
and vote for projects in ali 18 categories.
2 Oniy registered members of the WSIS Stocktaking Piatform providing the compiete information
requested may evaluate and vote for a project. The information provided shoutd inciude the following:
name, type, country, and user detalis (username and e-mail).
3 The votes of ali registered stakehoiders are weighted equally.
4 Each registered stakehoider may vote for only one project within each category.
5 Voters are encouraged but not required to cast votes for one project in each category.
6 The focal points of submitted projects wili be notified of the progress ot the voting at the end of each
voting week.
7 WSIS Stocktaking reserves the right to use the entity (organization) detaiis submitted by stakeholders.