Objectives

The objective of the Thematic Meeting is to provide a forum for the presentation of successful multi-stakeholder partnerships for bridging the digital divide and stimulating debate on the institutional, economic, political and social conditions that contribute to or impede their success. The meeting will also further encourage the development of a composite Digital Opportunity Index (DOI). During the event, an applied methodological proposal for measuring the core list of ICT indicators agreed upon at the WSIS Thematic Meeting in Geneva (7-9 February 2005) will be presented and discussed.

To this end, ITU and KADO will convene a group of policy makers, telecommunication providers, regulators, as well as representatives of the private sector, civil society and international organizations, serving in an individual capacity, who will discuss the best ways to: 

  Plan and  implement  multi-stakeholder      partnerships to promote access and usage of ICTs for development goals

  Develop a composite Digital Opportunity Index to measure the digital divide

Through these discussions, the workshop will attempt to build a guideline of best practices that can be used to promote multi-stakeholder partnerships throughout the world.
 

Developing a Composite Digital Opportunity Index

Potential issues for discussion include:

  Possible structures of a composite index for measuring the digital divide

  Best methods for measuring the digital divide

  Kinds of variables that should be used

• Variables to include

• Ways to cluster variables

• How should variables be combined and weighted

• Robustness checking

  Advantages and disadvantages of a composite index 
 

Issues

Potential discussion topics throughout the thematic meeting are:

Multi-stakeholder Partnerships

Strengths and weaknesses of a multi-stakeholder partnership approach for bridging the digital divide

Key  factors in deciding   whether  a  multi-stakeholder approach is best for bridging the digital divide in target areas

Institutional factors that promote or hinder the establishment of multi-stakeholder partnerships

Ways in which multi-stakeholder partnerships have furthered the achievement of the WSIS Plan of Action and the Millennium Development Goals

Ways to measure success and generate follow-up efforts

Models and strategies used by some of these partnerships that could be replicated under similar circumstances

Participation

Institutional factors that promote or hinder the participation of stakeholders in projects for bridging the digital divide

Development of consensus and conciliation of differences among stakeholders

Strategies that work best to develop trusting relationships among multiple stakeholders

Means of access are necessary and available for the civil society and the private sector to participate in ICTs for development projects

Forums and means that are available for stakeholders to create networks, share experiences and develop best practices

Financing

  Role of national governments, regional and international organizations in assisting the creation and sustainability of multi-stakeholder partnerships for bridging the digital divide

• Financial resources available to support the activities of these  partnerships

• Methods that can be used to test the financial viability of a project