IAGA at AI for Good Global Summit, Geneva

IAGA were represented at the AI for Good Global Summit 2026, and at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Forum 2026. These events took place in Geneva 6th - 10th July. Rob Wortham, Executive Director of IAGA, together with John Higgins CBE, Chair IAGA, participated in the following sessions:

7th July - High-Level Roundtable on AI Foundation: Digital Trust and AI Infrastructure for All

John Higgins, AIGA chair spoke at a High-Level Roundtable "AI Foundation: Digital Trust and AI Infrastructure for All," moderated by Dr Bilel Jamoussi, Deputy to the Director, Telecommunication Standardization Bureau, ITU. With over 50 attendees, the Roundtable brought together senior decision-makers from industry, government, academia and the international standards community to address two questions driving the global AI conversation: how to establish digital trust in the context of increasingly autonomous systems integrating into critical infrastructure, and how decisions regarding AI infrastructure will influence whether the benefits of AI are widely shared and equitably distributed. Dr Jamoussi thanked all for their attendance and noted that the discussion would inform ongoing international standards and policy dialogue and contribute to the outcomes of the AI for Good Summit 2026.

8th July - Advancing responsible AI: Open source for inclusive development and collaborative governance

Hosted by the World Internet Conference, this workshop brought together senior officials from governments and international organisations, experts from the WIC Specialised Committee on AI, and leading AI researchers to discuss the vision, experience, and best practices for building responsible AI.

IAGA Chair John Higgins presented his talk entitled “The future of beneficial AI: Open or Closed?” at this well-attended workshop. John set out the background to open source, and particularly the rise of open source AI. He outlined the benefits and risks of open versus proprietary AI, some of the different forms that open source AI is taking, and ventured a view of the likely future mix of open and proprietary AI. You can find his presentation here.

8th July - Governing Frontier AI: Safety, Inclusion, and Global Coordination

Organised with The Institute for AI International Governance of Tsinghua University, this closed-door roundtable convened senior experts from government, international organisations, academia, and industry to discuss emerging governance challenges posed by frontier AI systems.

IAGA Chair, John Higgins co-hosted this Closed-Door Roundtable on Frontier AI Governance. He was joined by Stuart Russell, Professor of Computer Science at the University of California, Berkeley; Gong Ke, Former President of the World Federation of Engineering Organizations; Daniele Gerundino, Senior Researcher at the University of Geneva and Former Assistant Secretary-General of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and Cyrus Hodes, Founder of AI Safety Connect and Venture Partner at Lionheart Ventures, among others.

In his closing remarks John stressed the need for stronger international collaboration, differentiated governance for AI developers and deployers, and greater participation by governments, industry, academia, civil society, and international organisations. He noted that front line organisations are delivering value from AI every day. These organisations need safe, inclusive, and globally coordinated AI governance for healthy growth based on trust. This will require sustained dialogue, practical cooperation, and shared responsibility among all stakeholders. See the full news briefing here.

10th July - Safe at Scale: Translating the UN ADS Regulation into Global Action

In June 2026, the UN World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations (WP.29) adopted a landmark United Nations Global Technical Regulation (GTR) on Automated Driving Systems (ADS). This milestone represents a major step toward establishing globally harmonized safety baselines for autonomous vehicles and enabling interoperable deployment across jurisdictions.

This session examined the practical implications of the new UN ADS regulation and explore how governments, industry, academia, and international organisations can jointly support its implementation. Moving beyond general discussions on AI governance, the session focussed on implementation pathways, including regulatory alignment, industry compliance strategies, and infrastructure readiness required for scaling safe autonomous mobility.

Selected photographs from the events are available below.