[WSIS CS-Plenary] FYI: Microsoft partenaire du COSMSI

[mclauglm at po.muohio.edu]

Robert, Francis, and all:

It's interesting that nearly all of the 
"partners"/sponsors are also partners in the 
"Connect the World" initiative announced by 
Utsumi in June 2005 (see below and 
http://www.itu.int/newsroom/press_releases/2005/07.html). 
The one exception seems to be ZTE, which does not 
appear to be in the "Connect the World" loop. But 
then, just speculating, ZTE might have cut a deal 
to partner with Huawei as a way of going up 
against Cisco Systems, their more powerful 
competitor in the Global South. And, notably, 
Cisco is not a part of the "Connect the World" 
partnerships, which is comprised of several of 
its competitors. Another possibility: Cisco 
Systems may not want to be so prominent at the 
Tunis summit because the corporation has been 
receiving a great deal of criticism recently 
about its selling surveillance equipment that 
aids the Chinese government in censorship and 
identification of dissidents (i.e., human rights 
violations). Why exacerbate criticism by having 
one's corporate name/logo all over the place at 
the WSIS in Tunis?

In any event, I wouldn't be surprised if there is 
a press conference held in Tunis in November 
during which it is announced that Tunisia has 
joined Senegal, Egypt, France, etc. as a new 
government partner in the "Connect the World" 
partnership. One thing that surely must be clear 
by now is that partnering with the UN has its 
sponsorship privileges.

Best,

Lisa


ITU Launches New Development Initiative to Bridge the Digital Divide
Partnership will be the key to connecting communities

Geneva, 16 June 2005 - The International 
Telecommunication Union today launched a major 
new development drive designed to bring access to 
information and communication technologies (ICTs) 
to the estimated one billion people worldwide for 
whom making a simple telephone call remains out 
of reach.

Called Connect the World, the initiative is a 
global multi-stakeholder effort established 
within the context of the World Summit on the 
Information Society (WSIS) to encourage new 
projects and partnerships to bridge the digital 
divide. By showcasing development efforts now 
underway and by identifying areas where needs are 
the most pressing, Connect the World will create 
a critical mass that will generate the momentum 
needed to connect all communities by 2015. At 
present, ITU estimates that around 800'000 
villages - or 30% of all villages worldwide - are 
still without any kind of connection.

Connect the World places strong emphasis on the 
importance of partnerships between the public and 
private sectors, UN agencies and civil society. 
It has 22 founding partners, including leading 
corporate players such as Alcatel, Huawei, Intel, 
Microsoft, KDDI, Telefónica, Infosys and 
WorldSpace, whose CEOs have all embraced the 
goals of the initiative.

Partners also include governments and government 
agencies including Egypt, France, Senegal and the 
Korea Agency for Digital Opportunity and 
Promotion (KADO), regional and international 
organizations including UNESCO, the Universal 
Postal Union (UPU), the European Commission, the 
International Telecommunication Satellite 
Organization, RASCOM and the United Nations Fund 
for International Partnerships (UNFIP), as well 
as a range of organizations from civil society 
including Télécoms Sans Frontières, the 
M S Swaminathan Research Foundation and Child 
Helpline International.

The initiative comprises three key Building 
Blocks - Enabling Environment, Infrastructure & 
Readiness, and Applications & Services - which 
together constitute the primary areas that need 
to be addressed when developing concrete measures 
to accelerate ICT development. All Connect the 
World founding partners have current development 
projects in one or more of these areas. They will 
be encouraged to develop new partnerships and 
initiatives, while additional partners will be 
actively sought in areas not adequately covered 
to ensure underserved communities get what they 
need where it's needed most.

Speaking at a press conference to launch the 
initiative at UN headquarters in Geneva, ITU 
Secretary-General Mr Yoshio Utsumi spoke of the 
urgent need to connect those still deprived of 
ready access to ICTs.

"It is time to stop regarding access to ICTs as a 
privilege available to the rich few within a 
country, and the rich few countries in the 
world," said Utsumi. "ICTs now underpin just 
about every aspect of modern life. They are basic 
infrastructure, as necessary to economic and 
social development as postal services, banks, 
medical centres and schools."

At present, the 942 million people living in the 
world's developed economies enjoy five times 
better access to fixed and mobile phone services, 
nine times better access to Internet services, 
and own 13 times more PCs than the 85% of the 
world's population living in low and lower-middle 
income countries. But while figures do show a 
clear improvement over the last ten years in 
bridging the gap between information "haves" and 
"have-nots", they nonetheless fail to paint a 
true picture for many rural dwellers, whose 
communities are still often unserved by any form 
of ICT.

"It is not ICTs that will solve the problem of 
the digital divide, it is people and especially 
people working in partnership. So while Connect 
the World is about harnessing the power of ICTs, 
it's also about harnessing the power of people 
working together to connect the unconnected," 
said ITU's Utsumi.

By providing an international platform to 
showcase the many innovative and successful 
development initiatives already underway, ITU 
hopes Connect the World will spur organizations 
at every level to get actively involved in 
development. "Every Connect the World partner is 
currently working to make a real difference. I 
applaud their efforts, and hope the projects they 
are showcasing within this initiative will serve 
to stimulate new partnerships and inspire others 
to join us and to launch their own development 
activities," said Utsumi.

For more information on the Connect the World 
initiative, including the Connect the World 
Factsheet, full details of Connect the World 
partner projects, and a selection of photos of 
projects and leaders of participating 
organizations, click here.


>>
>>
>>http://www.algerie-dz.com/article3193.html
>>
>>SMSI Tunisie : Microsoft partenaire du COSMSI
>>
>>L'organisateur du SMSI en Tunisie, le COSMSI 
>>(Comité d'Orgnisation du  Sommet mondial sur la 
>>Société de l'Information), a signé une 
>>convention de partenariat avec le géant mondial 
>>de l'informatique,  Microsoft.
>>dimanche 7 août 2005.
>>