International organizations and ICT
ITU is not alone in recognizing the power and potential of information
and communication technologies (ICT). The Plan of Action decided at the first phase
of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) calls upon international organizations
and financial institutions to develop strategies for the use of ICT to promote sustainable
development, and for achieving the goals expressed in the United Nations Millennium
Declaration. Many of these organizations and their ICT-related activities are listed
in the WSIS Stocktaking Report. Here are some examples.
The United Nations Information and Communication Technologies
Task Force raised awareness about the central role of ICT at its Global Forum
on “Promoting an Enabling Environment for Digital Development,” held in Berlin in
2004. Other United Nations bodies that are taking on the task of promoting ICT include
the World Health Organization (WHO). Its Health
InterNetwork aims to provide access to high quality, timely information online,
for health professionals, researchers and policy-makers in developing countries.
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) undertakes a wide variety of
activities relevant to the WSIS process, especially in relation to e-commerce and
the Internet, while the International Civil Aviation Organization
(ICAO) has developed a Master Plan to ensure that all its applications and
security components are interoperable with each other and with other entities.
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has
over 30 years’ experience in rural radio, with current projects focusing on the
convergence of new and traditional technologies. It has established a worldwide
agricultural information service via radio, including 52 focal points throughout
Africa that are manned by FAO-trained staff. The United Nations
Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) helps developing countries implement
national ICT policies that will promote e-business, exports and competitiveness,
and it is also a partner in the global e-policy resource network (ePol-NET). The
International Trade Centre (ITC), a joint technical
cooperation agency of UNCTAD and the World Trade Organization (WTO), runs the
e-Trade Bridge Programme that covers 30 countries. One of ITC’s projects is
described in the article Internet auctions assist trade
development.
At a time when extreme weather events seem to be regularly causing enormous damage
and loss of life, the World Meteorological Organization
(WMO) is working hard to develop an ICT system as the basis of a single, coordinated
infrastructure for the collection and sharing of weather, water and climate information.
More details of this vital project are given in the article
Watching the weather, climate and water.
As well as United Nations bodies, other international entities are active in
promoting ICT. The World Bank provides support to governments
in the development of a pro-competitive policy and regulatory environment for the
ICT sector. Active in some 80 countries, the bank’s portfolio for these activities
amounts to more than USD 3 billion. The work of the Organisation
for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in the area of government
relations with civil society reviews member countries’ efforts to strengthen access
to information and encourage the active participation of citizens in shaping public
policy. International academic institutions, too, are involved, such as
CERN (the European Organization for Nuclear Research),
whose project using ICT to gather and share scientific data is described in
the
article Building information networks to support
science.
International organizations of every type know that ICT is an essential component
of measures to reduce poverty, prevent disaster, improve health and achieve the
Millennium Development Goals in many other ways.
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