[WSIS CS-Plenary] PrepCom-2 Side Event: ICT4Peace Consultation, 12.00 - 13.00, 22 February 2005

[William Drake]

WSIS PrepCom-2 Side Event: ICT4Peace Consultation

12.00 – 13.00, 22 February 2005, Room XI, Palais des Nations, Geneva

 

Information and Communication Technologies for Peace (ICT4Peace) is a project established by the Swiss Government to examine and promote the use of ICT in humanitarian and peace operations in war torn societies around the world.  The project has three overarching objectives:  

 

1)      Identify best practices and develop a clear understanding of the importance and challenges of using ICT to support international conflict prevention and management, humanitarian relief, and peace building operations; 

 

2)      Help foster the development of a global community of expertise and practice linking ICT specialists, humanitarian and peace workers, governments, international organizations, the private sector, civil society organizations, and the research community; and

 

3)      Raise the profile of ICT4peace activities on the global policy agenda.  The United Nations’ Millenium Declaration calls for “a fully coordinated approach to the problems of peace and development,” and  the Declaration of Principles agreed at December 2003 World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) states that particular attention should be paid to “countries and territories under occupation, [and to] countries recovering from conflict.”

 

The project seeks to advance these objectives by promoting information sharing and dialogue.  Multistakeholder consultations were organized in Montreux, St. Paul de Vence, and Geneva during 2004, and at least five more are planned for 2005.  A core network of organizational participants is developing, with key support from individuals such as President Marti Ahtisaari of the Crisis Management Initiative, Juan Rada of Oracle, and Maurice Strong of the United Nations.  A website has just been launched, www.ict4peace.org, to serve as a platform for the nascent global community of analysts, practitioners, and supporters.  A research report will be prepared to assess the ICT4peace landscape and present initial recommendations for action.  And a high-level panel is planned for the November 2005 WSIS in Tunis, at which time the research report will be released.

 

As the next step in this process, a consultation will be held during the upcoming WSIS Phase II PrepCom-2 meeting in Geneva.  The consultation will be 22 February 2005, from 12.00 – 13.00 hours, in Room XI of the Palais des Nations.  Ambassador Daniel Stauffacher, Delegate of the Swiss Federal Council, and Dr. William J. Drake, President of Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility and the project’s research consultant, will provide an overview of the initiative.  This will be followed by questions and input from attendees, and a discussion of how to bring ICT4peace concerns into the Tunis agenda.  All interested parties are encouraged to attend.


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William J. Drake  wdrake at ictsd.ch
President, Computer Professionals for 
   Social Responsibility www.cpsr.org 
Senior Associate, International Centre for Trade
   and Sustainable Development www.ictsd.org 
   Geneva, Switzerland 
http://mitpress.mit.edu/IRGP-series
http://www.cpsr.org/board/drake 
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