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Fifth WSIS Action
Line Facilitator's meeting
The Fifth WSIS Action
meeting was held on the 14th of May from 9:00- 12:30.
Pursuant to Article 109 of the Tunis Agenda, the fifth
meeting of WSIS Action Line Facilitators took within the
framework of the WSIS Forum 2010. The purpose of the meeting
was in particular to assess the general progress made, as
well as to identify measures to strengthen the overall
Action Line process.
Introduction to the
Fifth WSIS Action Line Facilitator's meeting since the
Tunis meeting was made by Mr Jaroslaw Ponder, Strategy and
Policy Advisor, ITU. He explained that the WSIS Action Line
Facilitators meeting provides an opportunity for all Action
Line facilitators to work together on the implementation
process, to review progress at the executive level and to
draw conclusions for ways forward to work together on the
WSIS process. The opening remarks to the Fifth WSIS Action
Line Facilitators Meeting were provided by Mr. Sami Al-Basheer,
Director of BDT, ITU. He commended all the Action Line
facilitators on the concentrated efforts towards the WSIS
implementation and Follow up, he said that the "positive
commitment of the diverse stakeholders is very visible". He
highlighted the importance of the "WSIS Process". In
addition, he stated that WSIS Forum 2010 has displayed the
perfect example of the true multistakeholder spirit. He
highlighted that the conclusions from the various reports
released during the WSIS Forum 2010 reaffirm that we are on
the right track. Mr Indrajeet Banerjee, Chief of Section,
Section for ICT in education, Science and culture,
Information Society Division UNESCO, added that the Action
Line Facilitator meeting provides a good opportunity to
recognize progress made and to consider new strategies till
2015 to achieve the WSIS Targets. He informed about the WSIS
Online Community Platform initiated by UNESCO, as a tool for
exchange of views and ideas by WSIS Stakeholders.
On an annual basis the
WSIS Action Line Facilitator's meeting provides a platform
for all focal points facilitating Action lines to report
their success stories and challenges. Action line
facilitators provided an update and reports on the
activities carried out by each action line during 2009 -2010
and provided a report on their respective Action Line
Facilitation meetings during the WSIS Forum 2010.
Action Line C1-C7-C11
Focal Point UNDESA
Mr. Gherardo Cassini
from UNDESA reported on Action Line C1 (The role of public
governance authorities and all stakeholders in the promotion
of ICTs for development), C7 (e-Government), C11
(International and regional cooperation). Process in taking
forward the tasks has been facilitated by cooperation of
others; Mr. Gherardo Cassini highlighted that working
through sub groups a good decision. He reported progress in
cooperation from Governments and even Parliaments. Role of
local Authorities still remains a challenge. Another
challenge is to translate the ICT4 Development in the
Development Agenda. Mr Cassini stated that there is a clear
link that has been established between ICTs and the
Development process hence authorities should take note. In
general he reported that considerable progress has been made
in the area of WSIS AL C1, C7, C11.
Action Line C2
Infrastructure- Focal Point ITU
Mr Gregory Linn informed
about a Questionnaire that has been developed to enhance
reporting on AL C2, and invited all present to submit the
Questionnaire for a gap analysis of the Implementation of
C2.. He informed about the new website that was developed
for all information and reporting on Action Line C2, this
website also serves as an active repository for all
information on the Action line C2.
Mr Gregory Linn,
reported on the of Action Line meetings during the WSIS
Forum 2010. For further details on the report please click
here.
Action Line C3:
Access - Focal Point UNESCO
Ms Mika Yamanaka, from
UNESCO reported on the activities carried out by UNESCO on
Action Line C3. She reported that a wide array of activities
to access information and knowledge almost instantly have
been carried out by UNESCO. She informed about the Memory of
the World Programme that highlights the importance of
heritage and memory and the newly launch of the World
Digital Library. Ms Yamanaka reported on the session on ICT
and Disability organized this year during Interactive
facilitation meeting on Action Line C3. The session
highlighted Disability, telecentres and employment.
Telecentres were suggested as a good way to include and
integrate those with disabilities.
Action Line C4:
Capacity Building – Co Facilitator ITU
The WSIS outputs on
capacity building emphasized that "each person should have
the opportunity to acquire the necessary skills and
knowledge in order to understand, participate actively in,
and benefit fully from, the Information Society and the
knowledge economy. ICTs can contribute to achieving
universal education worldwide, through delivery of education
and training of teachers, and offering improved conditions
for lifelong learning, encompassing people that are outside
the formal education process, and improving professional
skills.
Mr Robert Shaw, ITU
reported on Action Line meeting during the WSIS Forum 2010.
The WSIS outputs identified a number of key initiatives that
should be undertaken to promote capacity building vis-ŕ-vis
ICTs. During this session, some of the key trends that have
emerged and how ICTs are being used for eduction, learning
and development will be discussed by the panellists followed
by a plenary debate. He informed about the presentations
during the meeting and provided a summary of the session.
Further details of the session are available at
here
Mr Shaw emphasized that
it was clear from the debate and interest in the topic of
capacity building that the key interest of all participants
reflected the spirit of the related WSIS outputs which
emphasized that all stakeholders should undertake efforts to
make sure that capacity building efforts try to bring the
best of the world's knowledge, education and lifelong
learning to the greatest number of people.
Action Line C5:
Cybersecurity- Building Confidence and Security in the Use
of ICT Organized by ITU
Mr. Alexander Nkoto, ITU
presented the report on AL C5, he emphasized on the
multistakeholder aspect of the Interactive Facilitation
meeting on Action Line C5. In line with the WSIS principle
of multistakeholder participation on an equal footing, and
within the framework of WSIS Action Line C5 - Building
confidence and security in the use of ICTs, sessions were
held during WSIS Forum 2010.
A high-level debate on
Cybersecurity, Thematic Workshops and the traditional WSIS
Action Line Facilitators Meeting (ALFM) brought together
leaders and experts from Government, Industry, International
Organizations and Civil Society.
During these sessions (ALFM,
Thematic Workshop and High-Level Debate), participants
emphasized the following:
International
cooperation must be strengthened as the challenges faced by
the citizens of the information society can only be
adequately addressed through building synergies between
national and regional initiatives within a framework of
international cooperation. The importance of partnerships
between various stakeholders, especially governments,
industry and civil society, was highlighted.
The issue of new
threats, the exponential increase in the number and level of
sophistication of these threats, and the potential dangers
of malicious conduct in disrupting critical services through
Control Systems were emphasized.
Some participants
stressed the importance of an international treaty on
cybercrime under the auspices of the United Nations where
all nations are invited to participate in the elaboration of
this framework. Others considered that a treaty will be a
lengthy negotiation and other measures need to be taken. The
need for a treaty and using other measures in parallel were
not considered mutually exclusive.
As sole facilitator for
WSIS Action Line C.5, the framework launched by ITU for
international cooperation, the Global Cybersecurity Agenda
(GCA) and its Child Online Protection (COP) were strongly
endorsed by the participants. The Guidelines for COP and
report on activities undertaken by COP partners were
considered vital for building a common understanding on the
issue, for exchanging best practices among all stakeholder
groups and for forging partnerships and alliances aimed at
addressing challenges related to the protection of children
online.
Further progress was
made in the Global Cybersecurity Agenda (GCA) with new
agreements for partnership and an increase in the number of
countries interested in participating in the ITU-IMPACT
deployment of solutions for Cybersecurity. At the end of
both events, some 60 countries are now part of what is today
the largest framework for international cooperation bringing
together academia, governments, civil society, international
organizations and industry.
Mr Nkoto highlighted
that the participants of this fifth meeting of the WSIS
Action Line C5, stressed the importance for concrete
actions, an increase in efforts to strengthen international
cooperation and the need for enhanced cooperation between
all stakeholders in working together and building synergies
with the objective of building confidence and security in
the use of ICTs.
Action Line C6:
Enabling Environment: Focal Point - ITU
Mr Fall from ITU
presented the briefing for IFM Action Line C6: Enabling
Environment. The Facilitation Meeting on WSIS Action Line C6
(the Enabling Environment) took place on 10 May and
attracted about 80 participants. As in previous years, the
meeting was organized as an interactive panel discussion,
involving multiple stakeholders. A number of questions were
taken directly from the floor, resulting in an open debate
fully driven by stakeholders. The overall theme of shaping
modern broadband policies stayed in the heart of the debate
and stimulated an insightful exchange of ideas and
experiences among stakeholders.
In his opening remarks,
the Director of BDT, Mr. Sami Al-Basheer set the scene for
the discussion stressing that recent market developments
have shaken up regulatory regimes enormously. Today,
regulators and policy makers face many pressing questions,
such as how to address convergence of the telecom and the
broadcasting sectors, how to democratize access to broadband
services, and ultimately, how to boost investment.
Innovative thinking and new-generation policies are needed
to ensure sustained growth in ICT markets, diverse service
offerings and accessible applications.
In his key note, Dr
Mongi Hamdi, Head of the Science, Technology and ICT Branch/DTL,
UNCTAD echoed that providing access to advanced and
affordable access to ICTs and to broadband in particular
remains a major challenge. With the impressive take up of
fixed and mobile broadband over the last 5 years, the
digital divide has taken a new dimension. Gaps in access to
basic services persist, especially outside main urban areas.
But even more importantly, the growing broadband divide
results in true handicaps for many developing countries,
both for individuals and businesses.
In order to set a sound
framework for making decisive progress in creating an
enabling environment for investment, competition and
innovation, ITU has created a Roadmap for the implementation
of WSIS Action Line C6 (available
here). This roadmap catalogues a wide range of ongoing
ITU activities in the area of policy and regulation. It is
intended to evolve as a living document and will be updated
on a regular basis with new activities and initiatives.
Mr Fall informed that
for the follow up it was decided that a website dedicated to
the facilitation of WSIS AL C6 will be created and will be
developed as a one-stop-shop for best practices in the area
of creating the enabling environment, drawing on ITU's work
(www.itu.int/ITU-D/treg/bestpractices.html) as well as on
the work of other stakeholders, in particular of private
sector.
Action Line C7 : E-
Environment: e Waste: Focal Point - UNEP
Mr Matthias Kern, UNEP
provided a report on the E Environment meeting held during
WSIS Forum 2010, the topic of the meeting was e Waste.
Following an introduction into the objectives and control
mechanisms set up by the Basel Convention on the Control of
Trans-boundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their
Disposal, the e-waste related activities under the
convention were described. A Mobile Phone Partnership
Initiative was launched in 2002, followed by a broader
Partnership for Action on Computing Equipment (PACE) since
2009. Under the PACE, guidelines on refurbishment and reuse
and on recycling are under development as well as pilot
activities in developing countries and countries with
economies in transition.
Under the chairmanship
of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
Secretariat of the Basel Convention, the Interactive
Facilitation Meeting discussed the political background,
programmes and activities on e-waste. Different perspectives
were presented by the International Labour Office (ILO), a
representative of the Ministry of Environment, Nigeria, the
public interest non-governmental organization Basel Action
Network (BAN), and the Bureau of International Recycling (BIR).
Uncontrolled dumping of obsolete e-products and material
recovery processes without adequate protective measures have
resulted in environmental pollution while exposing millions
of people to toxic substances and emissions. The technology
for environmentally sound dismantling and disposal of
e-waste exists, but it has to be linked to the product
life-cycle to become economically viable. Please click
here to access complete report.
Action Line C7: E
-Environment: Energy Resources, Co facilitator- ITU
As the co facilitator of
Action Line C7 ITU organized a session on e Environment. Mr
Jaroslaw Ponder provided a report on the session. The
complete report is available
here.
Action Line C7:
e-Learning ICTs and Education, Focal Point- UNESCO
Dr Indrejeet Banerji,
UNESCO, informed that under the e learning action line
significant progresss has been made. He quoted the examples
of projects like Open and distance learning for teachers
that incorporated training of 3700 teachers in Africa and in
Asia in 10 countries. He informed about the higher eduction
ICT task force set up by UNESCO. In 2009 a new ICT in
Education plan was launched by UNESCO. Led by UNESCO
institute statistics, ICT in Education Indicators were
developed. These are valuable tool that permits any country
to measure the level of use and impact of ICT in Education.
Mr Banerji provided a
report on the e learning Action Line C7 meeting during WSIS
Forum 2010.
Action Line C7:
E-Business and E-Agriculture, Focal Point - UNCTAD
Mr Torbjorn Fredriksson
from UNCTAD provided an update on the activities in e
business and quoted examples of several projects and
conferences organized eg: Conference on e Commerce organized
by UPU in 2009. He informed that UNCTAD has been focusing on
the legal and regulatory frameworks for e commerce and has
been working in particular with developing country statistic
organizations. He highlighted bringing to the fore promotion
of business activities and Agriculture. He concluded by
emphasizing leveraging mobile penetration in e business.
Mr Michael Riggs, FAO
informed that FAO supported the development of a community
of practice called e agriculture, he informed that this
includes more than 150 countries all over the world. He
added that this tool uses new technologies and social media
to reach as many people. He informed about the 2 forums held
online in Spanish and English, including subject experts
from all over the world. FAO partnered with other
organizations to develop e learning modules on e
Agriculture. Mr Riggs informed about a new initiative with
10 other organizations on developing new frameworks to
enhance the impact of ICTs on rural development.
Mr Riggs reported on the
combined session on ICTs and Rural Enterprise. He commended
ITU on the use of remote participation. The session report
is available at the following link
here
Action Line C3:
Access / C7: e-Science Focal Point -UNESCO
Mr Able Caine informed
about the interactive action line facilitation meeting on e
science. He informed that Science and technology are
essential for attaining peace, poverty eradication,
sustainable development and promoting a dialogue among
different cultures and knowledge systems. Equal access to
scientific and technical knowledge and basic services
through appropriate technologies, lead to better living
standards, especially for the excluded segments of
societies.
The interactive meeting
provided updates on contributions to achieving the Action
Lines as well as significant upcoming initiatives and key
global events
Further information is
available
here.
Action Line C8:
Culture : Focal Point- UNESCO
Mr Cedric Wachholz,
UNESCO provided an update on the Interactive action line
facilitation meeting on Culture. The session was moderated
by Mauro Rosi (UNESCO) and enclosed the presentations of
panellists Daniel Prado, Director of the Division of
Terminology and Language Industries, Latin Union, Adama
Samassékou, President of the Maaya Network for Linguistic
Diversity, Daniel Pimienta, founder of Fundredes and Alfredo
Ronchi of The World Summit Award (WSA).
Some 20 persons attended
the meeting, whose agenda included the presentation of
significant contributions in the implementation of the WSIS
C8 during the last 12 months, as well as to the most
important initiatives and challenges for the future.
The contribution of
UNESCO, both at normative (convention on cultural diversity)
and operational level (projects with field and global
outreach), was highlighted, as well as the inputs provide by
multistakeholders networks.
One of the main issues
discussed during the debate was the one of linguistic
indicators. The need was underscored for renewed indicators
underpinning statistics, studies and policies, not only in
the field of endangered languages, but also as concerns
cyberspace.
As concerns the
initiatives and challenges for the future, the possible
organization of a World Summit on Multilingualism and
Linguistic Diversity was wished for, in line with a proposal
formulated during the International Year of Language and on
the occasion of the World Forum on Multilingualism of Bamako
(January 2009).
It was acknowledged that
a new cycle of the WSIS process is probably about to start
and that a new strategy should be envisaged in this context,
to revitalize the process and boost effective
multistakeholders participation.
Action Line C9: Media
– Focal Point-UNESCO
Mr Cedric Wachholz,
UNESCO provided an update on the Interactive action line
facilitation meeting on Mdia. He highlighted the several
media development partnership projects in 2009 aiming to
encourage media as a platform for democratic discourse. For
further information please click
here
He highlighted that the
specific focus this year on Community media for disaster
preparedness.
Action Line C10:
Ethical dimensions of the Information Society, Information
Ethics, Focal Point -UNESCO
Mr Cedric Wachholz,
UNESCO provided an update on the Interactive action line
facilitation meeting on C 10. He gave examples of several
efforts by UNESCO in the area, eg: High level Executive
Seminar in Africa, to enhance transparency and so on.
Report of
Action Line meetings during the WSIS Forum 2010 is available
here
Moving to the
next agenda item Mr Jaroslaw Ponder informed about the WSIS
Stocktaking Process that launched its new platform in 2010
to provide an opportunity to be more visible and to interact
amongst each other. This is a platform for creating
partnerships, to avoid re inventing the wheel, and learn
about the best practices. Draft report for WSIS Stocktaking
was published this year. The report highlighted activities
carried out in the regions and encourages Stakeholders to
enter their project on the database. Mr Ponder highlighted
that Stocktaking had started analytical work, analytical
reporting from information submitted via different
stakeholders. He reported on the National e strategies for
development report for implementation of National e
strategies more than 84% of countries have successfully
implemented e strategies.
A report was
provided by Ms Esperanza, ITU on the session on Partnership
On Measuring ICT For Development: Monitoring The WSIS
Targets held during the WSIS Forum 2010. The WSIS Forum
session on "Measuring the WSIS targets", which was organized
by the Partnership, presented the findings of the ITU's
World Telecommunication/ICT Development Report 2010 and was
attended by more than 80 participants from national,
regional and international organizations and from civil
society. The report represents the first effort to monitor
the WSIS Targets and has been prepared as a collaborative
effort with other UN agencies and WSIS stakeholders. The
report identifies a set of measurable indicators for each
WSIS target and reviews the status of the targets based on
available data.
The available
evidence points to considerable differences between
developed and developing countries in each of the targets,
with developing countries still lagging behind for most of
the indicators identified. Good progress has been made since
WSIS on improving connectivity via mobile technologies, TV
and radio coverage, Internet access in central governments,
research institutions; schools, hospitals, libraries,
museums in major cities of developing countries. Substantial
challenges remain, however. For example, 80% of people in
developing countries are still not using the Internet, let
alone via a broadband connection, and most households,
schools, health centers and other public institutions
outside urban areas are still not connected. Language
diversity on the Internet is also still very limited and the
report highlights not only the persisting broadband divide,
but also a content divide, which policy makers need to
address.
The
presentations made by representatives of the organizations
that collaborated on the report (namely, ITU, UNESCO/UIS,
WHO, UNDESA, and FUNREDES) explained the rationale and
background for each target, listed the proposed indicators
that could be used to monitor countries' progress towards
achieving the targets, and highlighted some conclusions and
policy recommendations. ECLAC's work on monitoring
Information Society goals in Latin America, closely related
to the WSIS targets, was also presented.
The report is
available in detail
here.
Representative
from CoNGO, Mrs Beatriz Schulthess highlighted that CoNGO is
keen to promote ICT activities and the WSIS process through
NGOs. Mrs Schulthess informed all present about the workshop
on ICT for Civil Society organized by CoNGO during the WSIS
Forum 2010. CoNGO highlighted the role of NGOs in the WSIS
Process and the importance of promoting and preserving
identity, human rights and culture using ICTs. Role of NGOs
in contributing better to National, regional and
International decision making. She offered full support in
promotion of good practice of ICTs and NGO participation.
The floor was
opened for discussion for ways to strengthen the WSIS
Implementation process, participants contributed the
following:
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An effort
should be made to popularize WSIS activities amongst
Civil Society representatives and organizations all over
the world. For certain sections of the society in many
countries the WSIS is still considered very technical,
dealing only in technical areas. Information about
WSIS also needs to be part of the national development
agendas, since this is not only a technological
process but also social and political process.
-
There is a
need to integrate the role of ICTs in poverty
reduction programmes. Issues of the poverty
reduction have to be picked up as a follow up to the
2010 report on the National e-Strategies for
Development, developed jointly by ITU and all Regional
Economic Commissions.
-
Private
sector representatives stated that they were pleased to
see good cooperation in 2010 and would like to build on
this in the future WSIS Forums. They commented on the
preparatory process commending the efforts by ITU,
UNESCO and UNCTAD and stressed the importance of
focusing on real and concrete projects and for the
inclusion of a broader range of stakeholder activities.
-
Civil
society stated that the International Organizations
contribute actively to the treaty making processes, and
could ensure appropriate mechanisms for voicing the
position of Civil Society. Digital Solidarity Fund
requires more attention in the future as it was set
up by the civil society during the Tunis Phase of WSIS.
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The
WSIS Forum Brochure was well appreciated as an easy
resource to consult and was suggested to be used in the
future.
-
Private
sector representatives highlighted that change of
venue might add to the success of the WSIS Forum
2010. The idea of having WSIS Forum and IGF's MAG at the
same time was a good idea, it creates synergies and
saves time and resources
-
A
participant representing youth organizations highlighted
the need to work towards including the youth in
future WSIS Forums and other processes.
Participation of young people in the WSIS process to be
programmed in the WSIS Forum 2011 process.
-
Participants noted that the level of impact and
performance of 11 Action Lines differs. Necessity for
sharing of experiences amongst the WSIS Action Line
Facilitators, on what works and what doesn't would
help to improve implementation process. It was suggested
to consider better interaction amongst all Action Line
Facilitators on certain topics like for instance
e-content, capacity building, etc.
-
Participants recognized the improvements in the forum
this year, emphasizing on synergies between WSIS
Implementation and Follow-up. Moreover regarding the
format of the WSIS Forum the challenge of addressing
policy issues and project implementation at the same
time was noted.
-
Taking
into account that the WSIS Action Lines have been
defined 7 years back and the world has been developing
especially in the area of ICTs there is a need to
reflect if any of emerging issues require additional
attention in the future.
-
Though the
forum is positively evolving and shaping up well each
year, there is still a need to think of different ways
to bring all the different stakeholders to interact,
e.g. private sector and civil society.
-
WSIS Forum
this year focused on interactivity and remote
participation in the form of Virtual collaboration.
Highlighting remote participation participants appauled
ITU's efforts and suggested the use of Video as well
with timely representation from the remote participant.
-
Regarding
the future preparatory process for the WSIS Forum a
suggestion was made to create a multi-stakeholder
mechanism to help decide the agenda and panelists.
-
Regarding
the AL facilitation meetings it was suggested to
consider new ways to include more stakeholders,
bringing other organizations to the community and other
view points to the table, e.g. media representatives,
telecommunication companies.
-
Role of
Facilitators should not just be to report on their
own activities but also on behalf of the Stakeholder
groups through initiatives.
-
Action
Line Facilitators have two roles to play: 1)
Implementation and 2) Facilitation. Participants
highlighted that there are no fine lines between the
two. WSIS Stocktaking platform was quoted as an
important platform for connection between facilitation
and implementation.
-
Better
synergies and cooperation between organizations at all
levels, especially regional and the global architecture
was stated as important for strengthening the
facilitation process In order to avoid any
duplications of the efforts within the WSIS process.
-
UN
agencies that are much more quiet in the
implementation process, but still may play an important
role in ensuring effective implementation of the WSIS
outcomes need to be motivated to reinforce their
involvement.
-
Important
role of Regional Commissions for coordination of
WSIS implementation at the regional level was
underlined.
WSIS Forum as
an unique global platform for coordination of the WSIS
Implementation at the international level is not about the
event but the real projects and action. Focal points of the
respective action lines commended the efforts made by each
organization in achieving considerable progress and success
in the implementation of action lines and concluded the
session by showing their dedication and commitment to the
WSIS Implementation process.
Several valuable contributions and different aspects raised
will become the foundation for setting up of the
multi-stakeholder preparatory process for WSIS Forum 2011.
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FINAL EXECUTIVE BRIEFING
