world summit on the information society 1 WSIS: Building the Information Society: a global challenge in the new Millennium Tim Kelly, Claudia Sarrocco International Telecommunication Union 25 February, 2004

world summit on the information society 2 WSIS: Origins and status  WSIS originally proposed by ITU PP in 1998  Formally endorsed by the UN in 2001  Regional meetings, 2002 – 2003  PrepCom process, started in July 2002  First phase, Geneva December 2003  Second phase, Tunis, November 2005

world summit on the information society 3 WSIS first phase: some numbers  More than 11’000 participants  176 UN member states  About 50 Head of States and Governments and Vice- Presidents  3’300 representatives of from civil society  514 business representatives from 98 organizations  87 international organizations  More than 1’000 media representatives  More than 300 Summit events

world summit on the information society 4 Adoption of a Declaration of Principles and a Plan of Action which:  Create a common vision of the information society  Set out an agenda for building an inclusive development-oriented Information Society  Establish a framework which will involve all stakeholders  Request the UN Secretary General to initiate action in a number of crucially important areas such as the creation of a Digital Solidarity Fund and Internet Governance

world summit on the information society 5 A common vision of the Information society “We […] declare our common desire and commitment to build a people-centred, inclusive and development- oriented Information Society, where everyone can create, access, utilize and share information and knowledge, enabling individuals, communities and peoples to achieve their full potential in promoting their sustainable development and improving their quality of life…” (Declaration, Paragraph 1)

world summit on the information society 6 WSIS Key Principles 1)The role of governments and all stakeholders in the promotion of ICTs for development 2)Information and communication infrastructure: an essential foundation for an inclusive information society 3)Access to information and knowledge 4)Capacity building 5)Building confidence and security in the use of ICTs 6)Enabling environment 7)ICT applications: benefits in all aspects of life 8)Cultural diversity and identity, linguistic diversity and local content 9)Media 10)Ethical dimention of the information society 11)International and regional cooperation

world summit on the information society 7 a) to connect all villages with ICTs b) to connect all educational institutions c) to connect all scientific and research centres; d) to connect all public libraries, museums and archives e) to connect all health centres and hospitals; f) to connect local and central government departments g) to adapt all primary and secondary school curricula to meet the challenges of the Information Society; h) to ensure that all have access to television and radio services; i) to encourage the development of content on the Internet; j) to ensure that more than half the world’s inhabitants have access to ICTs within their reach. Summit Objectives by 2015 Source: Adapted from draft WSIS plan of action.

world summit on the information society 8 Distribution of population and ICTs, % 45% 46% 27% 19% 55% 54% 73% 66% 34% 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% PopulationFixedMobilePCsInternet users Developed Developing

world summit on the information society 9 Tackling the injustices of the digital divide  “We are fully committed to turning this digital divide into a digital opportunity for all…”  Connectivity, access, capacity building, partnership and cooperation among different stakeholders, financing  Financial mechanism: better utilisation of existing financial mechanisms, and possible future creation of a voluntary digital solidarity fund

world summit on the information society 10 Meeting the Millennium Development Goals: promote development and improve the quality of life  “Our challenge is to harness the potential of ICTs to promote the development goals of the Millennium Declaration…”  ICTs applications, content, access, etc.  ICTs are considered as fundamental working tools for development

world summit on the information society 11 Promote access and use  “…everyone can create, access, utilize, share information and knowledge”  Freedom of expression, creating an enabling environment, cultural diversity, local content, and multilingualism  Intellectual Property Rights  Mutual respect for diverse cultures and traditions (UNESCO Declaration on Cultural Diversity).

world summit on the information society 12 Building confidence, trust and security in ICTs  Security of information and communication networks  Privacy and data protection, cybersecurity, protection of children  Combatting spam  Governments, and private citizens have legitimate concerns over the respect of fundamental freedoms, security, loss of privacy and protecting children

world summit on the information society 13 Pending issues: Internet governance  The UN Secretary General is asked to set up a working group on Internet governance, in an open and inclusive process that ensures a mechanism for the full and active participation of governments, the private sector and civil society from both developing and developed countries, involving relevant intergovernmental and international organizations and forums, to investigate and make proposals for action, as appropriate, on the governance of Internet by 2005 (Paragraph C6, 13 b) Plan of Action)

world summit on the information society 14 Pending issues: Digital solidarity fund  A review – to be completed by the end of of the adequacy of current financial mechanisms and the possibility to create a voluntary Digital Solidarity Fund, will be be conducted by a Task Force under the auspices of the Secretary-General of the United Nations and will be submitted for consideration to the second phase of this summit (Paragraph D2 f) Plan of action)

world summit on the information society 15 Next steps:  How to implement the Plan of Action approved during the first phase of the Summit  How to participate in the preparation of the second phase

world summit on the information society 16 From Geneva to Tunis The second phase of the summit will take place in Tunis from November 16 th to 18 th, 2005 Preparatory work:  Re-establish the WSIS bureau  Hold a preparatory meeting in the first part of 2004:  to review those issues of the information society which should form the focus of the Tunis phase  to agree on the structure of the process for the second phase Reference document: “Arrangements for the Tunis Phase of the Summit”

world summit on the information society 17 Role of ITU in WSIS  ITU is lead UN Agency for Summit  Providing financial and human resources  SG chairs HLSOC of Summit  Implementation of the Summit outcome  Possible role of the ITU in providing mechanism for coordination and follow up  Implementation of ITU-related Principles and Actions

world summit on the information society 18 website: contact: Thank you