Workshop on Advancing Responsible AI: Open Source for Inclusive Development and Collaborative Governance held in Switzerland

On July 8, the World Internet Conference (WIC) host the workshop "Advancing Responsible AI: Open Source for Inclusive Development and Collaborative Governance" on the sidelines of the ITU AI for Good Global Summit in Switzerland.

Members of the WIC Specialized Committee on AI (SC on AI), leading AI experts, and representatives from governments, international organizations, universities and think tanks attended the workshop. 

Francis Gurry, vice-chairman of the WIC and former director general of the World Intellectual Property Organization, and Seizo Onoe, director of the Telecommunication Standardization Bureau (TSB), International Telecommunication Union (ITU), delivered opening remarks. The workshop was chaired by a representative of the WIC. 

Focusing on the two themes of “Open Source for Inclusive Development” and “Collaborative Governance and Rule Coordination,” participants exchanged views on the core principles, frontier practices, standards development and governance pathways for responsible AI.

Under the topic of Open Source for Inclusive Development, remarks were delivered by John Higgins CBE, co-lead of the Standard Promotion Program of the WIC SC on AI and chair of the International AI Governance Association (IAGA); Wang Jianbing, deputy secretary-general of the CyberSecurity Association of China; Luis Seco, director of the Master’s Program in Mathematical Finance at the University of Toronto and director of the Centre for Sustainable Development at the Fields Institute; Wei Kai, vice-chair of SC on AI, co-lead of the Standard Promotion Program of the WIC SC on AI, director of AI Institute of the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT); and Meng Wei, vice-chair of the ITU Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T) Focus Group on Artificial Intelligence Native for Telecommunication Networks (FG-AINN) and head of Open Source Strategy at ZTE.

Under Topic 2: Collaborative Governance and Rule Coordination, Dame Wendy Hall, co-chair of SC on AI, fellow of the Royal Society, fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering; and Regius Professor of Computer Science, University of Southampton; Zeng Yi, co-chair of SC on AI, co-lead of the AI Safety and Governance Program of the WIC SC on AI and Wu Yuzhang Chair Professor at GaoLing School of AI, Renmin University of China; Maxime Stauffer, founder and CEO of the Simon Institute for Longterm Governance (SI); Moises Maldonado, data scientist and innovation officer at UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency; and other experts delivered remarks and shared their insights.

Participants agreed that open source and collaboration are the two key pathways for advancing responsible AI. Open-source technologies can broaden access to AI, lower barriers to innovation, and create fair opportunities for developing countries and small and medium-sized enterprises to participate. Meanwhile, closer coordination on rules, standards and practices help establish a global shared understanding to ensure AI development remains secure, trustworthy and compliant. Together, these two dimensions provide the essential foundation for translating responsible AI from a shared vision into practical action.

Participants also emphasized the need to deepen international dialogue and build practical consensus around open-source innovation, trusted governance, standards alignment and the sharing of best practices. Three priorities were highlighted. 

First, open-source innovation and trusted development should advance in tandem. Open-source innovation practices, including open models, open tools and open AI agents, should be encouraged, while quality assessment, transparency and industry self-regulation should be strengthened to enable AI capabilities to serve regional development in a more open, trustworthy and sustainable manner. 

Second, governance frameworks should be more adaptive and practical. Dynamic evaluation, risk identification and continuous improvement mechanisms should be developed across key stages, from model development to deployment and agent applications, so that governance can keep pace with innovation without undermining its vitality through overly rigid rules. 

Third, international standards coordination and mutual learning should be further strengthened. Countries and stakeholders should deepen exchanges on responsible AI principles, governance approaches and real-world applications, with a particular focus on supporting the meaningful participation of developing countries and ensuring that the benefits of AI are shared more broadly.

Looking ahead, the WIC will continue to serve as an platform for international exchanges and mutual learning. Leveraging the SC on AI and its standard, industry, and safety and governance programs, the WIC will organize workshops, conduct joint research and carry out other activities to deepen international exchanges, build broader consensus, and work together with all parties to advance the healthy, orderly and sustainable development of AI worldwide.