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WSIS Forum focuses on post-2015 development agenda
Emerging trends and innovation in ICT addressed
Geneva, 13 May 2013 – The annual meeting to review and
measure progress towards targets set in Tunis in 2005 at the UN World Summit on
the Information Society (WSIS) opened this morning. This meeting of the WSIS
Forum also marks ten years since the first phase of the Summit was held in
Geneva in 2003.
In the coming week, the WSIS Forum will focus on the future of information
and communication technologies (ICT), particularly as an engine of growth in a
post-2015 development environment. Participants will engage in discussions on a
number of diverse topics, such as ICT infrastructure, cybersecurity, enabling
environment, e-learning, e-health, e-agriculture, media, accessibility, and
ethics. High level dialogues with government ministers and representatives from
business and civil society will examine:
- Women's empowerment in the information Society: systematic,
scalable strategies
- Smart climate change monitoring: Expanding access to
information on weather, climate and water
- ICT innovations and standards: Creating technology for the
next three billion
- Securing cyberspace in a borderless world: Vision 2015 and
beyond
- ICTs and post 2015 goals
- Youth and ICTs
ITU Secretary-General Hamadoun I. Touré said, “This year’s WSIS Forum is a
unique opportunity to develop multi-stakeholder consensus on what is needed for
the WSIS process in the future, to ensure that the bottom-up approach of the
WSIS process is preserved and that the decisions concerning modalities also
respect the real requirements of the use of ICTs for socio-economic development,
while ensuring growth in the ICT ecosystem itself.”
More than 1500 participants from government, private sector, civil society
and international organizations are expected to attend the WSIS Forum during the
week.
Former UN Secretary General Mr Kofi Annan will address the WSIS Process
beyond 2015 as well as his engagement with young people in a webinar to inspire
them to contribute to the post-2015 development frameworks currently under
negotiation.
Approaching ten years since the Summit in 2005, the WSIS+10 Visioning Track
will bring all emerging challenges related to the information society into
perspective, ensuring that the new vision for WSIS beyond 2015 builds upon real
needs of people at the bottom of the pyramid.
The United Nations Group on the Information Society (UNGIS), consisting of 30
members, will issue a joint statement on the Post-2015 Development Agenda to
harness inter-agency expertise and experience in addressing development
challenges of the 21st century.
Following the opening ceremony, a high-level session kicked off on Emerging
Trends and Innovation in the Ecosystem, attended by over fifty government
ministers from around the world as well as industry executives.
An exhibition will showcase global initiatives for a more efficient
Information Society.
WSIS Forum 2013 Partners
This year’s WSIS Forum programme has been greatly enhanced through the
strategic partnership and contribution of the Sultanate of Oman (government) and
Intel Corporation (private sector). Contributions for specific activities have
also come in from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Mexico, Poland, Rwanda, Saudi
Arabia and Tanzania as well as from Hewlett-Packard. The United Arab Emirates is
the WSIS+10 Visioning Partner.
For more information, please see
www.itu.int/wsis/implementation/2013/forum/ or contact:
Sanjay Acharya
Chief, Media Relations and Public Information, ITU
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Jaroslaw Ponder
Strategy & Policy Advisor, ITU
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