[WSIS CS-Plenary] New APC book on WSIS: Time for lessons learned

[Rik Panganiban]

This an excellent, but sobering assessment of the larger impact of  
the WSIS process.  David Souter's conclusion -- that much of the  
"progress" achieved by the WSIS might quite likely have been achieved  
through other processes, and at much less cost and trouble -- is  
difficult to read but quite possibly accurate.

It does make me feel a bit like I wasted the years 2003-5.  But I am  
glad for the colleagues, friendships, and useful experiences that I  
gained from the process.

Kudos to APC for initiating this and seeing it through, and to David  
Souter for his hard work synthesizing an enormous amount of material,  
reports, and conversations over the past couple of years.  An  
impressive accomplishment.

Rik Panganiban

On Sep 13, 2007, at 7:54 AM, BNNRC wrote:

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> _______________________________________
>
>>
>>
>> APC launches new book on WSIS, developing countries and civil  
>> society: Time for lessons learned
>>
>> http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=5202187
>>
>> The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) has been  
>> roundly criticised in the past and this new study from APC  
>> concludes that the summit “is not the best starting point for new  
>> action.” So, what is the point of looking at how developing  
>> country delegations and civil society fared at the summit?  
>> Because, says the author “it is always important to learn from  
>> experience  particularly where it did not deliver up to  
>> expectations.”
>> The book “Whose Summit? Whose Information Society? Developing  
>> countries and civil society at the World Summit on the Information  
>> Society”, commissioned by APC and written by David Souter draws on  
>> participants’ observations, detailed interviews with forty key  
>> actors and case studies of experiences rooted in five developing  
>> countries.
>>
>> WSIS holds many lessons for developing countries and civil society  
>> organisations aiming to exert greater influence in international  
>> ICT decision-making fora. Some lessons demonstrate what worked  
>> well  such as the highly successful, multi-stakeholder Internet  
>> Governance Forum (IGF). The majority illustrate what did not work  
>> so well  not least, holding a four-year long meeting on such a  
>> fast-changing topic.
>> Read a one-page introduction:
>> http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=5202193
>>
>> Interview with “Whose Summit? Whose Information Society?” author  
>> David Souter to discuss the study’s findings, as well as what  
>> lessons can be gathered from the WSIS experience  for developing  
>> countries, civil society, and in general by APCNews:
>> http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=5202194
>>
>> Download the full book here [in English; pdf format]:
>> http://rights.apc.org/documents/whose_summit_EN.pdf
>>
>> Download the abridged versions (part of APC's Issue Papers series)  
>> in English, Spanish and French:
>>
>> In English
>> http://rights.apc.org/documents/wsis_EN.pdf
>> In Spanish
>> http://rights.apc.org/documents/whose_summit_ES.pdf
>> In French
>> http://rights.apc.org/documents/whose_summit_FR.pdf
>>
>> Five case studies of experience in five developing countries were  
>> commissioned for the main report:
>>
>> Bangladesh case study
>> http://rights.apc.org/documents/wsis_bangladesh.pdf
>> Ecuador case study
>> http://rights.apc.org/documents/wsis_ecuador.pdf
>> Ethiopia case study
>> http://rights.apc.org/documents/wsis_ethiopia.pdf
>> India case study
>> http://rights.apc.org/documents/wsis_india.pdf
>> Kenya case study
>> http://rights.apc.org/documents/wsis_kenya.pdf
> ______________________________________________

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