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Yoshio
Utsumi
Secretary-General
ITU
The first phase of WSIS was held two years ago in
Geneva, where a Plan of Action and Declaration of Principles were
agreed. Now, the world’s leaders are meeting again in Tunis, for the
second phase of the Summit. |
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Robert
Shaw
Internet Strategy & Policy Advisor
ITU
The governance of the Internet is proving to be a
contentious issue, but what are the real issues behind the
headlines? And what’s wrong with the system as it stands? |
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Peter
Bladin
Vice President
Grameen Foundation USA
The Grameen
Foundation is making the lessons it learned in rolling out
communications and micro-payment network in Bangladesh available to
other countries, free of charge. |
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Eduard
Dayan
Director General
Universal Postal Union
In this
electronic age of email and SMS, what role can the world’s
postal services play in supporting the information society? |
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Alexander
Ntoko
Chief of E-Strategies
ITU
ICT can enhance
social and economic development. For instance, by giving farmers
access to up-to-date market information, they can judge what
crops to grow and at what price to sell them. |
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John
Gage
Vice President
Sun Microsystems
And
Larry Nelson
Acting Executive Director
GELC
Education is an
important element of the information society, hence the
involvement of ICT vendor Sun with the Global Education and
Learning Council. |
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Chief
Willi Littlechild
Member of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues
United Nations
WSIS calls for
inclusive universal access for all people, no matter what their
circumstances. A worthy aim, but is it possible? |
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Lara
Srivastava
Telecom Policy Analyst
ITU
The ITU has
published its latest report, called “The Internet of Things”,
which suggests that the Internet still has a long way to
develop, as it becomes a platform for communications between
devices and machines. |
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Oisin
Walton
Communications Director
Telecoms Sans Frontieres
Disaster relief agency Telecoms Sans Frontieres has first-hand
experience of both sides of the digital divide, and is all too
aware of the lack of ICT infrastructure. |
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Nitin
Desai
Advisor to the Secretary-General
United Nations
Amidst the
recent controversy over Internet governance, one important point
was largely overlooked: does it actually need changing? And if
so, how soon can it be accomplished? |
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Dr
Tarek Kamel
Minister for CIT
Egypt
Funding ICT
developments can be difficult, but the Egyptian government
recommends its approach of public-private partnerships. |
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Prof.
M.S. Swaminathan
Mission 2007
India
The aim of
Mission 2007 is to make each village in India into a knowledge
centre, extending the reach of ICTs into the heart of the
country. |
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Shashi
Tharoor
Under Secretary-General
United Nations
Now that two
phases of the WSIS have been concluded, is the process actually
making a difference in bridging the digital divide? |
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Fred
Opare-Ansah
Member of Parliament
Ghana
There are still
many issues that need to be addressed before we can say that we
have successfully bridged the digital divide. |
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Ahmed
Toumi
Director General and CEO
International Telecommunications Satellite Organisation
With the rapid
deployment of cellular networks around the world, there is still
an important role for satellites in bringing telecoms services
to parts of the world, especially those not served by fixed-line
broadband. |
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Prof
Hans van Ginkel
Under-Secretary General and Rector
United Nations University
Thirty years
old this year, the United Nations University hosted a parallel
event at WSIS to focus on the impact of IT and communications
technology on economic development. |
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Judy
Chen
President and CEO
AsiaTotal.Net
Despite the
arrival of the $100 laptop, there is an alternative approach to
spreading the use of computers and the Internet throughout the
world. |
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Dr
Ahmed Darwish
Minister of State for Administrative Development
Egypt
Egypt has
initiated an e-government programme to assist in all aspects of
the country’s administration and governance. |
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Amir
Dossal
Executive Director
United Nations Office for International Partnerships
The United
Nations is working to encourage the adoption of public and
private partnerships in order to further to development of ICTs
around the world. |
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Alan
Rossi
CEO
Development Gateway Foundation
The use of the
Internet, especially through dedicated portals, is helping
developing nations achieve better economic and social
development. |
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Janet
Longmore
President
Digital Opportunity Trust
From talking
about the digital divide to actually helping to bridge it; a
novel approach from a Canadian-based development trust. |
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Manar Al-Hashash
Member of the Grand Jury
WSIS Awards
An overview of the WSIS Awards programme,
with a focus on one of the winning entries from Kuwait. |
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Vanessa
Gray
Telecoms and ICT Analyst
ITU
The regular
statistics and the ICT Opportunity Index produced by the ITU
clearly indicate market trends and can highlight technology gaps
that exist between countries. |
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