Shaping the Future Mobile Information Society
New Initiatives Workshop in the Republic of Korea Attracts Telecommunication Stakeholders

Geneva, 16 March 2004 — An explosion in the use of mobile telephony has taken place within the last two decades. It has cut across geographic and socio-demographic criteria, with developing and developed countries alike witnessing staggering growth rates. Mobile lines overtook fixed lines on a global scale at the end of 2002. At the end of 2003, there were over 1.35 billion mobile subscribers worldwide, compared with only 1.2 billion fixed-line users.

The growing importance of mobile communications has a number of implications. Although ITU has been working on technical specifications for Internet and mobile networks, such as 3G’s IMT-2000, for over a decade, this is the first time that it has convened a global meeting to examine the social and human considerations relating to the rapid development of this technology.

"Mobile phones are everywhere. The typical user carries one with them wherever they go, and would be hard-pressed to part with it. In this respect, the mobile phone has moved beyond being a mere technological object to become a key "social object", present in every aspect of our daily lives," noted Mr Roberto Blois, Deputy Secretary-General of ITU, who opened the workshop. "The question that is raised is how well equipped we are as a society, and as individuals, to live in a world of technological ubiquity? As we move towards a future in which the mobile phone may become the personal ICT device of choice, are the appropriate safeguards in place?"

The ITU Workshop entitled "Shaping the Future Mobile Information Society" was held in Seoul, Republic of Korea from 4 to 5 March 2004, and was hosted by the Ministry of Information and Communication. Some 50 experts participated in the workshop, representing a range of regulatory and policy-making agencies, mobile operators, service providers, academic institutions, futurologists, private firms, and others. Mr. Svend Kraemer, Head of Sector within the European Commission’s Information Society Directorate, chaired the meeting.

Two background papers were prepared for discussion at the workshop: "Broadband mobile communications towards a converged world" and "Social and human considerations for a more mobile world". In addition, a number of case studies were prepared covering country experiences in Japan, the Republic of Korea, Morocco and Norway. All meeting documents including case studies and presentations are available here. The experiences of a number of other economies was also presented, including Canada, Hong Kong (China), India, the Philippines, the United Kingdom and the United States.

The main highlights of the workshop can be found here

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