The 2027 calendar unites WITSA’s flagship platforms — the WITSA General Assembly, WITSA Global Excellence Awards and WITSA International Match Day in Rio de Janeiro in February; the WITSA Global AI Awards, the second WITSA World Cup and the second edition of the WITSA Global AI Index in Sarawak alongside IDECS 2027 in October — giving governments, industry and the global technology community two full-scale convenings of the same global agenda.
The World Innovation, Technology and Services Alliance (WITSA) today announced that its 2027 catalytic-platform calendar will be anchored by two editions of the WITSA Global AI Summit: the first in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from February 13 to 18, 2027, and the second in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia, in October 2027, held in conjunction with IDECS 2027. It will be the first time WITSA holds its Global AI Summit twice in one year, and together the two editions will form the most extensive program of global AI convening in the Alliance’s history.
Each edition is a complete WITSA Global AI Summit, with the full authority, global participation and flagship components that the platform carries. In addition, the Rio de Janeiro edition will host the WITSA General Assembly, the WITSA Global Excellence Awards and WITSA International Match Day. The Sarawak edition will host the WITSA Global AI Awards, the second WITSA World Cup and the unveiling of the second edition of the WITSA Global AI Index. Delegations from WITSA’s member economies, government leaders, investors, researchers and technology companies from every region will take part in both.
The two-Summit calendar follows the joint decision by WITSA and its Bahraini host partners to cancel WCIT 2026, the World Congress on Innovation and Technology, in light of the security situation in the Middle East. Rather than allow that decision to leave a gap in the global technology community’s calendar, the WITSA Board resolved to bring forward and expand its Global AI Summit program so that 2027 delivers more global convening, not less.
“The world’s AI ecosystem development does not pause, and neither will WITSA. In 2027 we will convene the global technology community twice, in full, on two continents. Rio de Janeiro and Sarawak are not regional stops; each is the WITSA Global AI Summit in its entirety, carrying the same global mandate, the same members and the same ambition. Our members asked for more opportunities to shape a shared agenda for AI, and this calendar answers them.”
— Dato’ Dr Sean Seah, Chairman, WITSA
“Two Global AI Summits in one year reflects where the AI agenda now sits: at the top of every government and boardroom priority list. In Rio de Janeiro, the General Assembly and the WITSA Global Excellence Awards will set the direction for the year. In Sarawak, the second WITSA Global AI Index will give the world an updated, evidence-based reading of how national AI ecosystems are developing, and the WITSA World Cup will put the world’s most promising scaleups on the same stage. The two editions are one continuous global program, and every WITSA member economy has a place at both.”
— Dato’ Dan E Khoo, Chief Executive Officer, WITSA
The WITSA Global AI Summit will open the 2027 program at the Marina da Gloria Rio de Janeiro, with the core conference on February 16 and 17, 2027, within a delegate week running from February 13 to 18. The Summit is hosted by Federação RJ Assespro and the Prefeitura do Rio de Janeiro.
The Rio de Janeiro edition will also convene the WITSA General Assembly where WITSA members will elect the Alliance’s Chairman and Board members for the next 2-year term. It will also host the WITSA Global Excellence Awards, recognizing outstanding achievement across the global technology industry, and WITSA International Match Day, a structured business-matching program connecting member delegations, investors and technology companies, culminating in a press conference with the Award winners.
“The Federação RJ Assespro and the Prefeitura do Rio de Janeiro is proud that we will host the WITSA General Assembly, the WITSA Global Excellence Awards and WITSA International Match Day as part of the 2027 WITSA Global AI Summit. This is where our members will elect the Alliance's next leadership, honor a year of achievement across the global technology industry, and put delegations directly into business with one another. Rio de Janeiro is ready to give the world's AI community a stage built for decisions."
— Robert Janssen, WITSA Deputy Chairman and President of Federação RJ Assespro / Prefeitura do Rio de Janeiro
The second edition of 2027 will be held in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia, in October 2027, in conjunction with IDECS 2027, the International Digital Economy Conference & Showcase, hosted by the Sarawak Digital Economy Corporation (SDEC). The Sarawak edition will host the WITSA Global AI Awards, honoring the world’s leading AI achievements, and the second edition of the WITSA World Cup, in which technology scaleups from around the world compete for the Zohari Challenge Trophy. It will also mark the unveiling of the second edition of the WITSA Global AI Index, WITSA’s flagship benchmark of national AI ecosystem development. Building on the inaugural Index launched in Taipei in September 2026, the 2027 edition will deliver an updated, data-driven view of AI ecosystem development progress across WITSA’s member economies, tracking AI infrastructure, talent, entrepreneurship, use cases, data, policy and investment.
"Sarawak is honoured to welcome the global technology community once again, alongside IDECS 2027. The WITSA Global AI Summit will bring the world's leading AI achievements to Kuching through the WITSA Global AI Awards, put the world's most promising scaleups on stage through the WITSA World Cup: Zohari Challenge Trophy, and give governments and industry an updated, evidence-based view of AI ecosystem development worldwide through the second edition of the WITSA Global AI Index. This is the same global agenda we have championed through the Sarawak Digital Economy Blueprint 2030, now shared with the world."
— Tan Sri Datuk Amar Haji Mohamad Morshidi Abdul Ghani — Chairman, Sarawak Digital Economy Corporation (SDEC)
The two editions are designed as a single, continuous global program. Rio de Janeiro opens the year by setting the Alliance’s direction and recognizing global achievement through the WITSA Global Excellence Awards.
Sarawak carries that agenda forward with the evidence base of the Global AI Index, the competitive showcase of the WITSA World Cup: Zohari Challenge Trophy and the Global AI Awards. Together they give members, governments and industry two full opportunities in one year to shape the global AI agenda, form partnerships and take decisions with the world’s technology community in the room.
Registration, delegate program and partnership information for both editions will be published at witsa.org very soon.
