On this important occasion, the first ITU World Information Society Award will be presented to two distinguished and eminent personalities whose outstanding personal contributions have furthered the cause of building a more inclusive and equitable Information Society and helped close the digital divide. The inaugural ITU Award will be given to President Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal and Professor Muhammad Yunus, Managing Director of Grameen Bank, Bangladesh.

The award ceremony will begin at 11h00 on 17 May 2006 at the International Conference Centre Geneva (CICG). There will be an opportunity after the ceremony for the laureates to meet the press.

A cluster of related activities will take place over a 10-day period, 9-19 May. Geneva will be the venue for several significant steps being taken towards implementation and follow-up action on the recently-concluded World Summit on the Information Society. According to the Tunis Agenda, ITU along with UNESCO and UNDP will take the lead to facilitate implementation of the WSIS Plan of Action. As part of the observance of World Information Society Day, moderators and facilitators of action lines, such as UNCTAD, ILO and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs will meet to take the process forward. A second round of informal consultations will also be held on the setting up of the Internet Governance Forum as a follow up to the recommendations of the Summit.

President Wade, recipient of the ITU World Information Society Award, has earned worldwide acclaim for his vision and dedication in promoting the digital solidarity agenda that led to the creation of the Digital Solidarity Fund. Welcomed by the World Summit on the Information Society (Geneva 2003 — Tunis 2005) as an innovative financial mechanism of a voluntary nature, it aims at transforming the digital divide into digital opportunities for the developing world. The Geneva-based Digital Solidarity Fund also aims to close other divides, such as gender, that deny the benefits of development to the less privileged and vulnerable. By harnessing local resources and looking at the difficulties afflicting poor and remote communities, the Fund’s work is complementary to that of major financial institutions and multilateral development agencies, and is especially critical in reaching the last mile in ICT access.

The ITU Award also goes to another legendary figure, Professor Muhammad Yunus, Managing Director of Grameen Bank, who pioneered microcredit for the rural poor and who has successfully addressed the issues of poverty eradication and development. By providing wireless payphone service in the rural areas of Bangladesh he has empowered a new class of women entrepreneurs. Professor Yunus has single-handedly transformed the information and communication landscape in Bangladesh. His exemplary model, now being emulated in other regions and countries of the world, shows that even remote and poor communities can take on the challenge to bridge the digital divide.

On 17 May, ITU will release the results of a worldwide public survey to assess users’ trust of online transactions and awareness of cybersecurity measures. The data collected through this survey will be used to increase global awareness of cybersecurity, particularly in developing countries, and will help decision-makers in assessing the cyberspace "trust" level with a view to reviewing national and corporate strategies and priorities. An analysis of the survey will be posted on a new website. The survey will continue beyond World Information Society Day to elicit further information on these critical issues.

According to ITU Secretary-General Yoshio Utsumi, "Achieving cybersecurity depends on the security practices of each and every networked country, business, and citizen. To guard against the sophisticated skills of cybercriminals, we need to develop a global culture of cybersecurity. This will require not only good policing and legislation but also acute threat awareness and development of tough ICT-based countermeasures."

ITU will also launch a Cybersecurity gateway that will serve as an easy-to-use information resource on national and international cybersecurity-related initiatives and websites worldwide, while promoting, developing and implementing a global culture of cybersecurity.

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