A Private Sector View on the Summit Outcomes The Coordinating Committee of Business Interlocutors (CCBI), which is
facilitating the private sector input to the Summit process, has put forth
what it sees as the necessary outcomes from the Summit. These range from
recognizing the importance of the private sector investment to economic
development, social growth and poverty reduction, the need for a
commitment on ICT investment and national ICT strategies. For the full
text, please click
here
It’s not too late!
A reminder that all inputs from Governments, International Organizations,
ITU sector members, accredited NGOs, civil society and private sector
entities to the
draft declaration and action plan
are welcome until 31 May. These
contributions
are also published on the WSIS website. Comments can be sent to
wsis.ap@itu.int
The Mauritius Conference on “ICT for All” submitted a Declaration
and Action Plan for the Summit
African Ministers of IT and Telecommunications and representatives of
regulatory bodies met in Pointe aux Piments (Mauritius), 3-5 of April to
provide their feedback on the draft Declaration and Action
Plan, to be developed during the first phase of WSIS in Geneva, 10-12
December 2002.This meeting is a follow up to work that began at the
African Regional Conference for WSIS (Bamako, 28-30 May 2002), PrepCom-1
(Geneva, 1-5 July 2002) and PrepCom-2 (Geneva 17-27 February 2003).
Summit parallel events: guidelines to participate
The Swiss executive secretariat for the World Summit on the Information
Society (WSIS) has published guidelines for those persons and/or
organizations planning to host events in parallel to the core Summit
activity. The deadline for submission of projects is 30 June. For details
consult their
website.
Events
05 May – 09 May 2003 Technology development and capacity building for competitiveness in a digital
Society, Palais des Nations, Geneva. The sixth session, organized by The United Nations Conference on Development (UNCTAD), Commission on Science and Technology for Development will focus on ICTs and their growing potential. The outcome will be submitted to the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and will serve as an important contribution to the World Summit on the Information Society.
05 May – 06 May 2003 Preliminary Program of the European Conference: Gender and Information
Society, organized in Athens by the Greek EU Presidency, the European Commission and Greece's General Secretariat for Equality. The program will focus on the promotion of women’s participation in the Information Society and raise the issue of basic obstacles to gender equality in digital Technologies
12 May – 15 May 2003 Information and Governance: Third Meeting of the Committee on Development Information
(CODI), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The meeting, organized by the Development Information Services Division of the Economic Commission for Africa, is expected to adopt an African Action Plan on e-government for Africa's contribution to the World Summit on the Information Society
22 May 2003
The UK Participation event - issues and opportunities, organized by the British Council, will help to shape the United Kingdom input to the Summit, an opportunity to explore mutual concerns and develop ideas. Invitees include stakeholders from academia, the media, NGOs, civil society and business, as well as participants from Government and the British Council itself.
15 July – 18 July
The Intercessional meeting, to be held at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, will be dedicated to refining the working documents for the Draft Declaration of Principles and
Draf Action plan. For more information on who can participate and registration, please click
here.
Information Society Initiatives
UNESCO Open Forum on the preservation of the Digital Heritage This online forum is open for comment until 31 May. The forum is looking at the issue of information resources and creative expression in digital forms. The objective is to help prepare national policies, and inspire responsible action for the preservation of and access to digital ‘heritage’ materials.
For the full Draft Charter on the Preservation of the Digital Heritage,
please click here.
Women raise their voices in the information society Cris Campaign is producing a series of papers for the United Nations Institute for Social Development (UNRISD) on
The Right to Communicate: Women in the Information Society as input to the
WSIS.
Information Links
A publication "Challenges and Partnerships" was introduced at the Second WSIS PrepCom in Geneva
as one of the United Nations ICT Task Force contributions to the Summit. To access the publication on-line, please click
here.
