The World Summit Awards are a unique awards system, selecting and promoting local digital innovation with a high impact on improving society. The World Summit Awards is a non-monetary award system with a focus on sustainable knowledge transfer through a worldwide network. Winners benefit not from a one-time financial reward, but a lifelong partnership and integration.

The World Summit Awards are also a nomination-based award system. To participate you need to be nominated by a WSA National Expert as the best national digital application in one of the 8 categories. The nominations to WSA are possible through national contests and national expert panel selection. Each country can only nominate one project/solution per category.

Through this high-level selection system, please be aware that every country has its own deadlines for the call. The generally communicated WSA deadline is the timeframe of the global call and communicates the last possible date of a nomination by the national expert panel.

WSA Young Innovators

The World Summit Awards promotes and awards also young innovators, who developed a digital application tackling the UN SDGs. The WSA Young Innovators is a special recognition for young social entrepreneurs under 26 years of age, using ICTs to take action on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs).

Together with the WSA winners of each year, they are honored as outstanding digital innovation with social impact.

The WSA Young Innovators Award is an open call. Participation in the WSA Young Innovators is open to any entrepreneur, company, student group, or project team – at least one of the founding members and the majority of the team must be under the age of 26 (born on or after January 1, 1994).

CATEGORIES

WSA categories reflect the UN WSIS action lines and are updated regularly to meet the development of the markets. For the edition of the World Summit Awards 2021 the categories are:

• GOVERNMENT & CITIZEN ENGAGEMENT
  services | open data | democratic participation
• HEALTH & WELLBEING
  medical care | sport | lifestyle
• LEARNING & EDUCATION
  knowledge | science | skills
• ENVIRONMENT & GREEN ENERGY
  climate | sustainable resources | agriculture
• CULTURE & TOURISM
  heritage | entertainment | subcultures
• SMART SETTLEMENTS & URBANIZATION
  mobility |productive work | sustainable living
• BUSINESS & COMMERCE 
  innovative services | security | finance | marketing
• INCLUSION & EMPOWERMENT 
  diversity | gender | justice | human rights

TIMELINE

BENEFITS

Combining an ongoing series of international events and activities with a global network of start-ups, social entrepreneurs, mentors, jurors, speakers, experts, government leaders, academia, and civil society, WSA is an international platform for cutting edge examples of how ICTs can have an impact on society.

Running 15 years by now, WSA has become a quality seal for digital content with societal impact in over 180 participating countries.

Read more about the benefits of participating in WSA here.