STATEMENT FROM LITHUANIA
Tunis, 17 November 2005
Dear Mr. President, Secretary-General, Your Royal Highnesses and
Excellencies,
Dear colleagues heads of the delegations,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Let me join the previous speakers in extending our
delegation's warmest congratulations on your appointment to preside over
this meeting. We are confident that under your skillful leadership the World
Summit on Information Society in Tunis will reach fruitful results. Our
congratulations go also to other office bearers. Our special gratitude is
addressed to the Government and people of Tunisia for their hospitality and
friendly welcome.
Lithuania recognizes the importance of development and
quick and wide adoption of information and communication technologies which
open new prospects for the world community and create well-grounded
preconditions for sustainable peace, economic welfare for all and
preservation of cultural diversity. We fully comprehend the importance of
reaching the Millennium Development Goals in cooperation with the private
sector to make available the benefits of new technologies, especially ICTs
at its fullest extent.
Today we speak about an emerging new society, based on
knowledge and competences. Such a society, modern knowledge society
–equipped with ICTs- can easily adapt to the dynamically changing
environment. That can be achieved only if we continue to focus on the
fundamental freedoms of opinion and expression and to guarantee the right of
access to information for all.
It is through joint efforts, that we can and must develop
the modern knowledge society which relies on a vast complex of effectively
operating organizations, which on their turn are based on information
infrastructure and human capacities.
Lithuania has been consistently demonstrating to the
international community its commitment and strives to achieve this task. The
newly adopted Information Society Development Strategy of Lithuania clearly
sets forth the following four priorities in performing the goal:
- competence development and promotion of
social inclusion;
- modernization of public administration
through ICT;
- development of knowledge economy; and
- promotion of Lithuania's culture and
language.
Being fully committed to develop the Information Society
we see other important tasks in performing this goal:
- to ensure universal access to studies
and subsequent qualification acquisition;
- to build-up experience of ICTs
application;
- to develop competence of population,
through equal access to information sources, making best use
of ICT.
To this end, public-private partnership is encouraged by
the Government. An exclusive example of such a partnership -"Window to the
future"-, which is under implementation already for four years, demonstrates
how public private partnership can bridge the digital divide through
mobilization of joint financial, human and technological resources and offer
equal opportunities for everybody. This initiative resulted in a
wide-covering network of publicly available internet access points,
providing people with free access to the Internet. This and other similar
public-private initiatives have had significant impact on the growth of
internet penetration which in the last 18 months has grown four times and
now is close to the level of the average of the European Union.
In our opinion, one of the most important priorities in
bridging the digital divide is further developing the network of information
access points, putting to practice new comprehensive and effective national
information society development strategies as well as promoting the
development of electronic e-content to uphold the diversity of culture and
heritage.
Application of the achievements of ICTs in public
administration opens new prospects for wider participation in decision
making, transparency, constructive and smooth functioning of public
institutions and civil society. By implementing e-government package, our
government aims at to create a favourable legal and institutional
environment for investment and innovation.
We recognize the Internet as one of the most influential
medium. The sustainable stability and strength is of crucial importance. A
new model of enhanced co-operation taking into account all stakeholders, we
are convinced, will contribute to this by properly addressed public policy
issues. Lithuania is extremely content that the participants of the Summit
recognize unanimously information insecurity, growing number of unsolicited
commercial e-mail messages and cyber crime, the price of internet services
as urgent problems. These problems must be addressed internationally and in
multi-stakeholder approach.
Today we face the emerging of global information society,
approach the threshold of a qualitatively new world.
Information and knowledge society is a challenge to be
effectively addressed by pooling our intellectual efforts and showing strong
political will as well as employing the invaluable tool of constructive
multi-stakeholder partnership to fully utilize the potential of ICTs.
The government of Lithuania on its turn commits to
promote and implement the results achieved in Geneva and Tunis on the way of
implementation of the Lisbon strategy for wealth and prosperity of people. |