The prestigious WSIS (World Summit on the Information Society) Prizes 2026 were awarded on July 9, 2026, at the WSIS Forum 2026 in Geneva, Switzerland. It recognized 18 global winners and 72 champions.
- At the WSIS Forum 2026 in Geneva, India’s innovative approach to leveraging digital public infrastructure and telecom connectivity for inclusive rural development was recognised.
- The WSIS Forum brings together governments, United Nations agencies, industry, academia, civil society and international organisations to promote people-centric, inclusive and development-oriented digital transformation.
Instituted by:
The WSIS Prize was instituted under the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) process led by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).
- These awards celebrate tech solutions that advance sustainable development and digital inclusion.
- The WSIS Prizes are among the world’s most prestigious recognitions for projects harnessing Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) to advance sustainable development.
Samriddh Gram Wins WSIS Prizes 2026
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT), Government of India has won the prestigious WSIS (World Summit on the Information Society) Prizes 2026 under Action Line C6 – Enabling Environment for its flagship project “Samriddh Gram: Integrated Phygital Service Delivery Model Enabled by BharatNet”.
- The initiative is in line with Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s vision of delivering integrated digital services to remote and rural areas of India.
Samriddh Gram was selected as the Global Winner following a rigorous multi-stage evaluation process comprising project submission, international screening, global online voting, selection among the top five Champion Projects in its category, and final adjudication by the WSIS Expert Committee.
Among the eighteen award categories under the WSIS Prizes 2026, only two projects from India were selected as Champion Projects. Samriddh Gram subsequently emerged as the Global Winner in Action Line C6 – Enabling Environment, reflecting international recognition of India’s scalable and citizen-centric approach to rural digital transformation.
About Samriddh Gram:
Samriddh Gram is an integrated rural digital transformation initiative of the Department of Telecommunications built on the BharatNet backbone.
At the heart of the initiative are Samriddhi Kendras, established as one-stop village-level hubs delivering integrated phygital services by combining reliable telecom connectivity, digital platforms and assisted physical service delivery.
The Samriddh Gram initiative brings together a comprehensive range of citizen-centric services under one roof-
- Spanning healthcare
- Education
- Agriculture
- Financial inclusion
- Skilling
- e-Governance, and
- e-commerce
The Samriddh Gram Centre provides-
- Tele-consultation, diagnostic services through Health ATMs, and medicines through PM Jan Aushadhi Kendras;
- Smart classrooms and AR/VR-based skill development;
- IoT-based soil testing, drone-enabled fertilizer and pesticide spraying, and mobile app-based smart irrigation solutions;
- CSC/e-Governance and Banking Correspondent services;
- e-commerce support for local products;
- FTTH and PM-WANI connectivity;
- CCTV-based village surveillance; and
- Community-level digital facilitation, ensuring seamless access to essential services and promoting inclusive, technology-enabled rural development.
The project demonstrates how BharatNet and last-mile telecom infrastructure can transform beyond connectivity into measurable socio-economic outcomes for rural citizens through an integrated service delivery model supported by local facilitation and community participation.
The recognition underscores India’s success in creating an enabling environment for digital inclusion by combining robust telecom infrastructure with citizen-centric service delivery.
It also highlights the transformative potential of BharatNet, one of the world’s largest rural broadband initiatives, which has made more than 2.17 lakh Gram Panchayats service-ready and online, enabling digital access and opportunities across rural India.
WSIS Prizes 2026 Winners:
Category 1:
AL C1. The role of governments and all stakeholders in the promotion of ICTs for development
‘ASEAN 5G SKILLS FRAMEWORK AND CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT PLATFORM’; Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission, Malaysia
Category 2:
AL C2. Information and communication infrastructure
‘Al for Digital Inclusion’; Algérie Télécom, Algeria
Category 3:
AL C3. Access to information and knowledge
‘Digital Skills training for persons with Disabilities’; Internet Society Zimbabwe Chapter, Zimbabwe
Category 4:
AL C4. Capacity building
‘Building Capabilities in the Asia Pacific’; APNIC Foundation, Australia
Category 5:
AL C5. Building confidence and security in use of ICTs
‘National Cybersecurity Training Program’; National Cyber Security Agency, Qatar
Category 6:
AL C6. Enabling environment
‘Samriddh Gram: Integrated Phygital Service Delivery Model Enabled by BharatNet’; Department of Telecommunications, Government of India, India
Category 7:
AL C7. ICT applications: benefits in all aspects of life — E-government
‘Rumah Pendidikan’; Center for Data and Information Technology for Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, Indonesia
Category 8:
AL C7. ICT applications: benefits in all aspects of life — E-business
‘Cross Border E-Commerce Platform’; Dubai Customs, United Arab Emirates
Category 9:
AL C7. ICT applications: benefits in all aspects of life — E-learning
‘QSpark – The Spark of Intelligent E-Learning’; Qassim University, Saudi Arabia
Category 10:
AL C7. ICT applications: benefits in all aspects of life — E-health
‘MomConnect: A National Mobile Technology Platform to Improve Maternal and Child Health Outcomes in South Africa’; Reach Digital Health, South Africa
Category 11:
AL C7. ICT applications: benefits in all aspects of life — E-employment
‘Enabling 1 million women and girls coders by 2030’; iamtheCODE, United Kingdom
Category 12:
AL C7. ICT applications: benefits in all aspects of life – E-environment
‘Enhancing Environmental Sustainability and Energy Efficiency through Smart Lighting Poles’; Musandam governorate, Oman
Category 13:
AL C7. ICT applications: benefits in all aspects of life — E-agriculture
‘IoT empowering smart agriculture irrigation’; China Unicom, China
Category 14:
AL C7. ICT applications: benefits in all aspects of life — E-science
‘KoboToolbox’; Kobo, United States of America
Category 15:
AL C8. Cultural diversity and identity, linguistic diversity and local content
‘Digital Souls, Native Tongues: The LAKIP Story’; Department of Information and Communications Technology Region X, Philippines
Category 16:
AL C9. Media
‘Vérif’All : The First All-in-One Fact-Checking Application for West Africa’; Vérif’All, Benin
Category 17:
AL C10. Ethical dimensions of the Information Society
‘Foster Family’; Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of Population of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan
Category 18:
AL C11. International and regional cooperation
‘Electronic Government Network of Latin America and the Caribbean’; Electronic Government Network of Latin America and the Caribbean, Uruguay
Source: PIB