Search
AI-powered search, human-powered content.
scroll to top arrow or icon

Global Stage virtual events return this fall

We're back!

On Wednesday, September 15th, Global Stage returns to the UN General Assembly for a series of critical discussions facing governments, societies and economies.


GZERO Media and Microsoft launched the virtual series in 2020, during the peak of the pandemic, to ask tough questions and determine how united countries were in the fight against COVID-19.

12 months on, progress has been fitful. The delta variant has forced many countries back into lockdown; the virus has taken an extreme toll on fragile communities and developing nations; the disparity in access to vaccines between rich and poor countries is extreme; and the IPCC claims that climate catastrophe is on track. The pandemic has exacerbated racial, gender, and socioeconomic inequality and pushed many into unemployment and poverty.

Join us for live virtual events together with world leaders in politics, business, science and technology to debate how to achieve digital equity, whether inclusive recovery is a realistic goal, the growing threat of disinformation, and priorities for COP26.

Stay informed about further Global Stage discussions: sign up for updates and reminders about GZERO Media's events.


Digital Equity: Should Internet Access Be Free for Everyone?
Wednesday, September 15, 11am ET

  • Melissa Fleming, UN Under-Secretary General (moderator)
  • Amaka Anku, Practice Head, Africa, Eurasia Group
  • Jessica Rosenworcel, Acting Chairwoman, Federal Communications Commission
  • Doreen Bogdan-Martin, Director, ITU Telecommunication Development Bureau
  • Vickie Robinson, General Manager, Microsoft Airband Initiative
  • Vuyani Jarana, Chairman, Mobax Group


Unfinished Business: Is the World Really Building Back Better?
Wednesday, September 22, 11am ET

  • Susan Glasser, staff writer and Washington columnist, The New Yorker (moderator)
  • Ian Bremmer, President and Founder, Eurasia Group & GZERO Media
  • Brad Smith, President and Vice Chair, Microsoft
  • Michelle Bachelet, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
  • Dr. Michael Ryan, Executive Director, WHO Health Emergencies Programme
  • David Malpass, President, World Bank Group

Infodemic: Defending Democracy Against Disinformation
Wednesday, October 13, 11am ET

  • Yasmin Green, Director, R&D, Jigsaw
  • Ginny Badanes, Director of Strategic Projects, Cybersecurity & Democracy, Microsoft
  • Matt Masterson, Non-Resident Policy Fellow, Stanford Internet Observatory
  • Nina Jankowicz, Director of External Engagement, Alethea Group & Global Fellow, Wilson Center
  • Kevin Allison, Director, Geo-technology, Eurasia Group
  • Richard Stengel, former Under-Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, Obama Administration

Climate Crisis: is net zero really possible?
Tuesday, November 2, 11am ET

  • Gerald Butts, Vice Chairman, Eurasia Group
  • Katharine Hayhoe, Director, Climate Science Center
  • Naoko Ishii, Director, Center for Global Commons
  • Lucas Joppa, Chief Environmental Officer, Microsoft 
  • Catherine McKenna, Minister of Infrastructure and Communities, Government of Canada

Click below to add all GZERO Media events to your calendar:

For more updates, follow us on LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube.

More from Global Stage

Can we use AI to secure the world's digital future?

How do we ensure AI is safe, available to everyone, and enhancing productivity? It’s a big topic at this year’s UN General Assembly. That’s why GZERO’s Global Stage livestream brought together leading experts at the heart of the action for “Live from the United Nations: Securing our Digital Future,” an event produced in partnership between the Complex Risk Analytics Fund, or CRAF’d, and GZERO Media’s Global Stage series, sponsored by Microsoft.

Is the Europe-US rift leaving us all vulnerable?

As the tense and politically charged 2025 Munich Security Conference draws to a close, GZERO’s Global Stage series presents a conversation about strained relationships between the US and Europe, Ukraine's path ahead, and rising threats in cyberspace.

AI for Good depends on global cooperation, says ITU's Doreen Bogdan-Martin

Doreen Bogdan-Martin, Secretary-General of the ITU, discusses the urgent global challenge of the widening digital divide in AI access and policy at the 2025 AI for Good Summit, in an exclusive Global Stage interview with GZERO's Tony Maciulis.

AI innovations that tackle the global refugee crisis

“Tech is a means to an end, not the end itself,” says Hovig Etyemezian, head of UNHCR’s Innovation Service. Speaking to GZERO's Tony Maciulis at the 2025 AI for Good Summit in Geneva, Etyemezian explains how technology is helping address one of the world’s most urgent challenges: the record number of forcibly displaced people. As conflicts rise and resources shrink, UNHCR is using data, AI, and digital tools to improve services and empower refugee communities, but only when designed with those communities, not for them.

Europe’s AI Act: World’s first guardrails or just a flashy head start?

“We wanted to be first with a flashy AI law,” says Kai Zenner, digital policy advisor in the European Parliament. Speaking with GZERO's Tony Maciulis at the 2025 AI for Good Summit in Geneva, Zenner explains the ambitions and the complications behind Europe’s landmark AI Act. Designed to create horizontal rules for all AI systems, the legislation aims to set global standards for safety, transparency, and oversight.

How AI for Good is tackling the digital divide

Frederic Werner discusses the importance of AI for global impact at the 2025 AI for Good Summit in Geneva, in an exclusive Global Stage interview with GZERO's Tony Maciulis. They discuss the future of AI and its role in solving humanity's challenges, from harnessing quantum computing to closing the digital divide.