Driving Measurable Impact: Digital with Purpose Global Summit 2026 to Take Place in Shenzhen, China

GeSI is pleased to announce that the Digital with Purpose (DWP) Global Summit 2026 will take place in Shenzhen, China, from 26–28 June 2026.

Under the overarching theme “Digital with Purpose: Building the Digital Backbone of a Sustainable Future ”, the Summit will convene global leaders to connect strategic dialogue with real-world implementation.

A Defining Global Moment: Climate Urgency Meets Digital Acceleration

The world stands at a defining convergence of climate urgency and exponential digital acceleration—an inflection point that demands cross-regional dialogues and action-oriented global cooperation to reimagine sustainable development pathways.

The Digital with Purpose (DWP) Global Summit 2026 in Shenzhen, China brings together global leaders from business, finance, government, and academia to steer digital innovation and artificial intelligence toward measurable, scalable positive outcomes—supporting enterprise competitiveness, inclusive societal progress, and the resilience of global systems.

About the DWP Movement: From Technology Adoption to Outcome-Driven Transformation

Led by the Global Enabling Sustainability Initiative (GeSI), the DWP Movement builds a collaborative ecosystem where:

industry drives market-ready innovation,
governments set forward-thinking governance and policy direction,
finance fuels equitable and sustainable growth, and
academia provides evidence-based research and expert insight.

With curated high-impact panelists selected to amplify the relevance and reach of every discussion, the Movement is rooted in GeSI’s landmark report Digital with Purpose: Delivering a SMARTer2030.

DWP advances a shift from technology adoption for its own sake to intentional, outcome-driven digital transformation—one that embeds supply chain resilience and risk management as a foundational pillar of all sustainable digital strategy.

Why Shenzhen: A Living Laboratory for Implementation at Scale

Since 2022, the DWP Global Summit has connected regional innovation ecosystems across Lisbon, Brussels, Taipei, and Bangalore with GeSI’s global network of policymakers, enterprises, investors, and technology pioneers—strengthening cross-regional collaboration across Europe, Asia & GCC, the Americas, and Africa.

The Summit in Shenzhen marks a transformative new phase for the DWP Movement: moving from dialogue to impact and implementation.

Hosted in one of the world’s leading hubs for digital innovation, advanced manufacturing, and AI, the Summit will serve as a living laboratory—where global strategies are translated into real-world, locally relevant solutions for people and planet. Shenzhen’s integrated supply-chain ecosystem and leadership in AI, IoT, and green innovation provide a blueprint for scalable digital transformation worldwide.

An Action-Oriented Summit Structure: Think, Network, Implement

Aligned with COP30’s call for Global Mutirão, the DWP Summit 2026 in Shenzhen adopts a project-based, solution-focused, and impact-oriented approach structured around thematic and sequential day groupings—each day building on the last to move from global consensus to deep-dive problem-solving, and finally to formalized collaboration and sustained action.

Leveraging the DWP framework of:

Think & Deep Dive
Dialogue & Network
Action & Implementation

the Summit integrates cross-sector stakeholders and cross-regional dialogues to generate actionable insights, design deployable solutions, and launch structured partnerships.

A dedicated final-day collaboration announcement session—guided by GeSI-provided frameworks and standard templates—will help codify commitments into tangible, post-Summit action.

Expected Outcomes: Deliverables That Travel Beyond the Event

By mobilizing a global action network and aligning innovation with implementation, the DWP Global Summit 2026 aims to accelerate a more inclusive, resilient, and impactful shared future—powered by purposeful digital innovation that embeds supply chain risk management, advances cross-regional cooperation, and delivers measurable value for business, society, and the planet.

This approach is designed to deliver implementation-oriented outcomes, including:

Cross-sector innovation initiatives linking global and regional ecosystems
An institutionalized platform for ongoing collaboration beyond the Summit
Replicable cooperation models adaptable across regions and industries
Operational policy guidance supporting responsible digital transformation

Looking Ahead

The Digital with Purpose Global Summit 2026 commits to advancing purposeful digital innovation through cross-regional dialogues, implementation-focused cooperation, and outcomes that can be replicated at scale.

Further details regarding the programme and participation will be shared in the coming months.

GeSI looks forward to welcoming members, partners, and stakeholders from around the world to Shenzhen in June 2026—where global collaboration meets real-world implementation.