[WSIS CS-Plenary] WSIS press statement on Summit

[fortinp at club-internet.fr]

>This press statement was published on the official WSIS site yesterday.  Take a 
>look at the commercial partnerships that have been offered.  No comment...

Does it mean we might have to reconsider the "PPP concept" ? 

 

PF ;-). 


>
>Sally
>
>------------
>
>Geneva, 12 December 2003 — The World Summit on the Information Society closed 
>on an optimistic note of consensus and commitment, but Yoshio Utsumi, Secretary-
>General of the International Telecommunication Union and Summit cautioned that 
>the meeting was only the start of a long and complex process.
>
>"Telephones will not feed the poor, and computers will not replace textbooks. 
>But ICTs can be used effectively as part of the toolbox for addressing global 
>problems. The Summit’s successes now give us the necessary momentum to achieve 
>this," he said.
>
>"Building the inclusive information society requires a multi-stakeholder 
>approach. The challenges raised — in areas like Internet governance, access, 
>investment, security, the development of applications, intellectual property 
>rights and privacy — require a new commitment to work together if we are to 
>realize the benefits of the information society."
>
>Seeing the fruits of today’s powerful knowledge-based tools in the most 
>impoverished economies will be the true test of an engaged, empowered and 
>egalitarian information society, he added. 
>
>Over 54 Heads of State, Prime Ministers, Presidents, Vice-Presidents and 83 
>ministers and vice-ministers from 176 countries came together in Geneva to 
>endorse a Declaration of Principles — or a common vision of an information 
>society’s values – and a Plan of Action which sets forth a road map to build on 
>that vision and to bring the benefits of ICTs to underserved economies.
>
>The three-day Summit is the first multi-stakeholder global effort to share and 
>shape the use of information and communications technologies (ICTs) for a 
>better world.
>
>But the Summit was groundbreaking in other ways too. It offered a 
>genuine "venue of opportunity" in a unique meeting of leaders, policy-makers, 
>ICT business people, voluntary and non-governmental organizations of every 
>possible kind, and top-level thinkers and speakers. Alongside the three-days of 
>Plenary meetings and high-level roundtables, nearly 300 side-events helped 
>bring the dream of an inclusive information society one-step closer to becoming 
>reality. 
>
>Partnership announcements included a USD 400,000 grant by the US Government for 
>ICT development in low-income countries. Cisco and ITU also signed a Memorandum 
>of Understanding to open 20 more Internet Training Centres in developing 
>countries. As well, Hewlett-Packard will provide low-cost products that will 
>help overcome the illiteracy barrier to ICT. Handwritten texts for example will 
>be recognized for e-mail transmission. Microsoft, working with UNDP, will 
>provide a billion dollar programme over 5 years to bring ICT skills to 
>underserved communities. One innovative initiative announced to bridge the 
>digital divide is the Bhutan E-Post project. For faster, cheaper and more 
>reliable communication to remote, mountainous areas of Bhutan, the Government 
>of India will deliver e-post services to the Bhutanese Postal Service via a USD 
>400,000 a V-satellite network and solar panels power system. The partners 
>include ITU, Bhutan Telecom and Post, Worldspace and Encore India. And at the 
>very close of the Summit, the cities of Geneva and Lyon and the Government of 
>Senegal have announced contributions totaling about 1 million euros to fund 
>information technology in developing countries. The contributions will 
>represent the first three payments towards the Digital Solidarity Fund, the 
>creation of which is to be considered by a UN working group for the Tunis phase.
>
>The second phase of the Summit takes place in Tunis in 2005 and will measure 
>ambitious goals set this week. With WSIS phase I over, the hard work begins and 
>hard work lies ahead in the two years before Tunis, to show that the 
>information society is on the right path. 
>
>The overarching goal of the Summit has been to gain the will and commitment of 
>policy-makers to make ICTs a top priority, and to bring together public and 
>private sector players to forge an inclusive dialogue based on the interests of 
>all. In these two respects, the Summit has been heralded a success.
>
>United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan told delegates "technology has 
>given birth to the information age. Now it is up to all of us to build an 
>information society from trade to telemedicine, from education to environmental 
>protection, we have in our hands, on our desktops and in the skies above, the 
>ability to improve standards of living for millions upon millions of people.
>
>Top Summit targets now remain to be achieved, including connecting all schools, 
>villages, governments and hospitals, and bringing half the world’s population 
>within ICT reach, all by the year 2015.
>
>The Summit has clearly identified national e-strategies as the key vehicle to 
>meet the targets. Connecting public places, revising school curricula, 
>extending the reach of TV and radio broadcasting services and fostering rich 
>multilingual content are all recognized as needing strong national-level 
>governmental commitments. To encourage and assist national and local 
>governments in this work, the Summit also foresees the development of 
>international statistical indicators to provide yardsticks of progress; 
>exchanges of experience to help develop "best practice" models, and the 
>fostering of public-private partnerships internationally in the interests of 
>sustainable ICT development.
>
>Indeed, collaboration across the complex information society chain — from the 
>scientists that create powerful ICT tools, to the governments that foster a 
>culture of investment and rule of law, to the businesses that build 
>infrastructure and supply services, to the media that create and disseminate 
>content and — above all —human society which ultimately employs such tools and 
>shapes their use —lays the foundation for an inclusive knowledge-based world on 
>which the riches of an information society can flourish. 
>
>The Summit’s most notable achievement was across-the-board consensus earned for 
>a Declaration of Principles and Plan of Action wording around several 
>contentious issues, and the spirit of cooperation that permeated the Summit.
>
>Internet governance, and financing ICT investments in underserved economies 
>were two of the issues which called for long negotiations. On the issue of 
>Internet management, the involvement of all stakeholders and intergovernmental 
>organizations to address both technical and public policy issues has been 
>underscored although global Internet governance is set to be the subject of 
>deeper talks up to Tunis in 2005. An open and inclusive working group will be 
>set up on the topic, in order to review and make proposals for action by the 
>2005 Summit.
>
>Similarly on the issue of financing for underserved economies, a task force 
>will be established to undertake a review of existing ICT funding mechanisms 
>and will also study the feasibility of an international voluntary Digital 
>Solidarity Fund.
>
>On the areas of intellectual property rights and the need for enabling 
>environments, universal access policies, and multilingual, diverse and 
>culturally appropriate content to speed ICT adoption and use — particularly in 
>the world’s most underserved economies — government-level commitment to follow 
>a set of common values and principles has been attained.
>
>Although these achievements fuel hope and may stoke further collaboration, Mr. 
>Utsumi, together with many world leaders, appealed to all stakeholders keep the 
>spirit of cooperation alive well beyond the two years to Tunis, and to back up 
>universally agreed principles with concrete actions to spark more peace and 
>prosperity across the planet.
>
>"The realization of the Plan of Action is crucial to the long-term success of 
>the Summit. We need imagination and creativity to develop projects and 
>programmes that can really make a difference. We need commitment — on the part 
>of governments, the private sector and civil society — to realistic targets and 
>concrete actions. We need the mobilization of resources and investment," he 
>said.
>
>"With the unique occasion of a World Summit, we have the chance to scale up our 
>ambitions to the global level, which is equal to the size of the challenge. Let 
>us not miss this opportunity."
>
>To access the Declaration and the Plan of Action go to: 
>http://www.itu.int/wsis/documents/listing-all-en-s|1.asp
>
>
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