Kobo selected as 2025 WSIS Prizes Champion for AI innovation

Our team at Kobo is thrilled to be selected as a 2025 WSIS Prizes Champion in the E-Science category for our AI-powered transcription and translation features. The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Prizes celebrate outstanding projects that use information and communication technology to accelerate the Sustainable Development Goals. Out of over 900 applicants, just 360 advanced to the community voting phase. Thanks to the support of our incredible global community, Kobo’s project ranked among the most voted and was recognized as one of the top five Champions in E-Science ICT applications: Benefits in all aspects of life.

Led by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the WSIS Prizes are awarded to innovative projects that demonstrate real impact in key areas of technology for sustainable development, such as e-government, e-health, and e-science. The competition receives hundreds of submissions from around the world each year, with projects advancing based on expert review and global community voting to be recognized as champions and winners at the annual high-level event.

Leveraging responsible AI for digital equity and social impact

Our award-winning project, “Empowering humanitarian organizations with data-driven insights using KoboToolbox’s AI-powered transcription and translation,” is designed to support nonprofits and humanitarian responders to capture detailed, accurate data directly from communities in their own languages.

Currently supporting transcription in 80 languages and translation in 106, our AI-powered tools make data collection more accessible and equitable, enabling organizations to gather vital information from communities that are often under-represented due to language barriers. A crucial step to more responsive and targeted development initiatives, these features are also helping to advance ethical AI for the nonprofit sector and reduce the growing digital divide.

“Being named a WSIS 2025 Champion for E-Science is a powerful recognition of KoboToolbox as a platform that brings effective data tools to those working in the most complex environments. This recognition is significant, but it also highlights how uneven progress still is in terms of access, trust, and digital participation. AI-enabled systems are not a silver bullet, but when designed responsibly, they can meaningfully reduce burdens on field teams, strengthen data quality, and expand access to timely insights.” - Patrick Vinck, Kobo’s Co-Founder and President

Human-centered AI technology for sustainable development

The WSIS Prizes celebrate projects that are using the power of technology for good and making a meaningful contribution to sustainable development. This recognition affirms our belief that technology can help nonprofits overcome barriers, amplify their impact, and drive sustainable change. As we celebrate this accomplishment, we also look ahead towards the future of KoboToolbox.

The WSIS event highlighted the importance of human-centered technology, ethics, and digital equity in the context of rapidly expanding artificial intelligence. While the potential for AI to accelerate sustainable development is significant, safeguards and structures to protect vulnerable communities are vital to managing risks and ensuring data equity. With this recognition from WSIS and the support of our global user community, Kobo will continue to drive these conversations forward, creating mechanisms to mitigate risks and integrate responsible AI into our data innovations—from design to deployment. Empowering nonprofits globally with AI-powered tools that accelerate qualitative insights is a crucial first step in this journey.

Learn more about how Kobo is improving qualitative data collection with AI-powered tools.