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PrepCom-3 of the Tunis phase to take place in Geneva
The third meeting of the Preparatory Committee of the Tunis phase of WSIS (PrepCom-3) will be held from 19 to 30 September
2005 in the Palais des Nations, Geneva. All available information can be found at:
https://www.itu.int/net/wsis/preparatory2/pc3/index.html
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Accreditation for PrepCom-3 and the Tunis Summit
NGOs, Civil Society, and Business entities, which are not yet accredited, that wish to participate in PrepCom-3 and/or the
Tunis Summit, should submit an accreditation request form to the Executive Secretariat by 8 August 2005. After this deadline, it will no longer be possible to obtain accreditation. More information on accreditation is published
on the WSIS
website.
Organizations and entities, which have been accredited during the Geneva phase or at PrepCom-1 or 2 of the Tunis phase,
remain accredited. NGOs in consultative status with ECOSOC and ITU Sector members are, as a rule, considered as accredited.
Please note that only persons from accredited entities can register and receive a WSIS badge, and that only badged
participants will have access to the premises of PrepCom-3 (Palais des Nations, Geneva) and the Tunis Summit (Summit
Perimeter in the Kram Centre, Tunis).
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Preparations for PrepCom-3: Informal consultations on implementation and follow-up of WSIS
On 13 June 2005, an informal consultation meeting open to all WSIS stakeholders was organized under the chairmanship of
Ambassador Janis Karklins, President of PrepCom, to discuss the issues of WSIS implementation and follow-up. Discussions
revealed wide support for the WSIS follow-up mechanism to be part of the broader context of the Millennium Summit follow-up,
and stressed that implementation mechanisms should be based on a multi-stakeholder approach, particularly at the national
level. For the moment, however, the best approach to implementation and follow-up remained unresolved. The results of these
informal consultations will be fed into the work of the Group of Friends of the Chair (GFC), which will continue to review
new proposals on these issues for submission to PrepCom-3.
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Fourth meeting of the Working Group on Internet Governance (WGIG)
The fourth meeting of WGIG was held from 14 to 17 June, with open consultations taking place on 14 June 2005 at the
International Telecommunication Union headquarters in Geneva. The discussions focused on proposals on how to improve current
Internet governance arrangements. In particular, it examined the desirability and feasibility of creating a new space for a
dialogue on public policy issues related to the Internet. The current governance set-up includes many public and private sector arrangements dealing with different aspects of Internet governance, but there is no forum in which the global
community can address broad public policy issues or emerging issues that go beyond governance and affect more than one
institution. WGIG will present the results of its work in a Report to be submitted to PrepCom-3 consideration. The
presentation of this Report to all stakeholders is scheduled for 18 July 2005.
For more information, see the WGIG
website.
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Bureau of PrepCom decided to re-constitute GFC
At his meeting on 13 May 2005, the intergovernmental Bureau of WSIS PrepCom decided to re-constitute the Group of Friends of
the Chair (GFC) in the same composition and with the same modalities as before PrepCom-2. In accordance with the
Decision of PrepCom-2, GFC will continue to draft proposals for
chapters one (Implementation Mechanisms) and four (The Way Ahead) of the Operational Part of the Final Document(s) of the
Tunis phase of WSIS. These proposals will be submitted to PrepCom-3 for consideration. GFC will meet on 27 June 2005, 4 and
11 July 2005, and probably on 20 July 2005. For further information,
please go to the WSIS
website.
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ITU Launches New Development Initiative to Bridge the Digital Divide
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) launched on 16 June 2005 a major new development drive designed to bring
access to information and communication technologies (ICTs) to the estimated 800’000 villages – or 30% of all villages worldwide - that do not have access to even basic telephone service. Called Connect the World, the initiative is a global
multi-stakeholder effort established within the context of the World Summit on the Information Society to connect all
communities by 2015. By providing a clearer picture of what is being done where and by whom, it will help identify areas
where more effort is needed and to broker new projects and partnerships to bridge the digital divide. For more information, see the
ITU website.
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Upcoming events related to the Tunis phase of WSIS:
WSIS
Thematic meeting:
Thematic meeting on Cybersecurity
28 June –1 July 2005, Geneva, Switzerland
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) will organize from 28 June to 1 July 2005 a “WSIS Thematic Meeting on
Cybersecurity”. Held at ITU headquarters in Geneva, this conference will examine the recommendations in the WSIS Plan of
Action that relate to building confidence and security in the use of ICTs and the promotion of a global culture of
cybersecurity. The meeting will specifically consider six broad themes in promoting international cooperation among
governments, the private sector and other stakeholders:
· information sharing of national approaches, good practices and guidelines;
· developing watch, warning and incident response capabilities;
· harmonizing national legal approaches and international legal coordination;
· technical standards;
· privacy, data and consumer protection;
· assistance to developing economies with regards to cybersecurity.
The first day of the meeting will focus on countering Spam as a follow-up to the ITU WSIS Thematic Meeting on Countering Spam
held in July 2004.
The meeting is open to all Member States, international organizations, ITU Sector members, WSIS accredited NGOs, civil
society entities and accredited business entities. For more information, please go to the
ITU website.
WSIS
Regional Thematic meeting:
Regional Thematic meeting on the impact of ICT's on Democracy development
30 June- 1 July 2005, Thessaloniki (Greece)
As part of the South-Eastern Europe Ministerial Conference in Thessaloniki, Greece, the objective of this thematic meeting
organized by the Government of Greece will be to explore the role of ICTs regarding recent political developments in
different countries and the challenges they pose on democratic institutions and to everyday practices of voting, representing
and complying by citizens.
For more information can be found at: http://www.yme.gov.gr/viewpage.php?section=328,I
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