WSIS FORUM 2010


FINAL EXECUTIVE BRIEFING

DRAFT
(VERSION 1.1)

This document serves as a draft version 1.1 of the Final Executive Briefing on WSIS Forum 2010. Additions to this report will be made as and when submissions are received from session organizers and focal points.

Table of Contents

Content will be available soon.

Summary

In the first part of the thematic workshop, Kenneth Deer, from the International Indigenous ICT Taskforce, gave a short overview of the development of Indigenous Peoples' issues in light of the WSIS outcomes and the impact of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples on the WSIS agenda. Kenneth participated in the panel via skype and conference call, which allowed an important Indigenous voice to be heard. Following Kenneth Deer's overview, several panelists shared their experiences in the development of ICT projects for and with Indigenous Peoples. Dev Kumar, Sub-Editor of The Kathmandu Post, provided an indigenous view of struggles and pathways in developing indigenous media in Nepal. Kamal Naim, IT Officer and Head of Electronic Publishing and the IT Unit in the Information Services Section of UN-HABITAT/Nairobi, provided an overview of the use of ICTs for social and economic development. This allowed for further reflection on how such ICTs could possibly target indigenous communities particularly. Teanau Tuiono from the Local and Indigenous Knowledge Section within the Science Sector of UNESCO presented a selection of UNESCO initiated ICT projects that support Indigenous Knowledge (Climate Frontlines, The Canoe is the People). Sasha Rubel from UNESCO's Culture Sector provided an overview of a project carried out by the Culture and Communication and Information Sector of UNESCO in partnership with indigenous filmmakers and media companies entitled ICT4ID (ICTs for Intercultural Dialogue), with a particular focus on the video/film industry as it relates to Indigenous Peoples' self-determined development and self-representation. Roxanne Widmer-Iliescu, ITU's youth programme officer and focal point for assistance to indigenous peoples, provided an overview of the main achievements of the ITU Development Bureau's initiatives dedicated to the specific ICT needs of indigenous peoples based on tradition and preservation of their cultural values.

In the second half of the thematic workshop dedicated to discussion and exchange between the panelists and participants, ideas were shared regarding possible ways of advancing the WSIS commitments as they relate to Indigenous Peoples. Several central points were raised. An emphasis was placed on the need to focus on capacity building between and within indigenous communities based on already existing capacities in the communities. The need to promote a kind of development based on consultation and dialogue with particular reference to ICTs within indigenous communities was also stressed. Questions participants raised included how ICT's could be used specifically for wealth generation and economic development in indigenous communities, what the real outcome of the use of ICT's for development is, and the need to differentiate between the notion of "indigenous peoples" and the need for "local content" in debates regarding the information society. Another question included UNESCO's concrete involvement in C8 and C9 of the WSIS agenda, and possible ways forward regarding the use and innovative development of ICT's within Indigenous communities despite financial constraints.

At the thematic workshop on Gender and ICT, panelists and participants discussed movements towards gender equality, social innovation, multistakeholder networks, statistical evidence on gender specific ICT usages, gender e-learning programmes and entrepreneurship training through serious games.

On behalf of UNESCO's Assistant Director-General for Communication and Information, Mr Cédric Wachholz opened and moderated this session, highlightening UNESCO's particular commitment to promoting women's empowerment and gender equality. Direct links to Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing and to the WSIS outcome documents were established as a guiding framework for the session.

During the session, Ms Eva Fabry Director of the European Centre for Women and Technology, Chair of the Global Women and Technology Network (Drammen, Norway) spoke about "Women and Technology in the Digital Age - global multi-stakeholder collaboration for the future. She was followed by Ms Christine Verschuur, Senior Lecturer, Responsible of the Gender and Development Programme of the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (Geneva, Switzerland), who presented an E-learning programme on gender and development. Ms Doris Olaya, Statistician, Market Information and Statistics Division, International Telecommunication Union, (Geneva, Switzerland) shared findings from gender disaggregated ICT statistics. Ms Jelena Godjevac, President and CEO of the Micro-Enterprise Acceleration Institute (Meyrin, Switzerland), opened with the provocative statement: "If you want to change the world, become an entrepreneur" and closed by inviting participants to explore the freely accessible, serious games her company developed.

Participants engaged in lively discussions and continued to raise questions on the findings presented. Some participants also presented their own, ongoing gender and ICT projects.

In the concluding remarks, UNESCO stressed that achieving gender equality in our everyday life should no longer be an objective but a commitment. Women and men need to pull forces together to break the ancient barriers of belief that they, through their different roles, have an unequal stand in society. If women and men can work closer as allies, we should be optimistic that gender equality will one day be achieved in all areas of life, including in the ICTs. With the help of sessions like this one, more attention will be drawn to the important work undertaken by those who are engaged in women's rights, women's empowerment and gender equality in ICTs.

Content will be available soon.

Content will be available soon.

Content will be available soon.

Content will be available soon.

Content will be available soon.

Moderator: Ms Gitanjali Sah
Speakers: Prof. R Weber; Ms. N Primo; Mr. S Buckley; Mr. R Kharji.

The session focused on two aspects

1. The use of ICTs to achieve Human Rights for All

2. Protection of Human Rights while using ICTs

We are currently experiencing a revolution in ICT infrastructure, with a movement towards fixed infrastructure in the form of Broadband, and a proliferation of mobile e-services. The advancement of ICT technology is creating a knowledge based society, and with it comes certain rights and responsibilities which have to be upheld. Traditional theories on the protection of human rights demand that states adopt a very neutral role in this process, although more modern approaches now emphasize the multi-faceted nature of global human rights protection, and the potential (even need) for state participation.

Current internet rights charters are predominantly based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), although the changing nature of ICT development means that any such charters are simply works in progress, which must be adjusted to accommodate technology advancements. In general, rights pertaining to internet use tend to concentrate on the following principals:

1. Access for all.
2. Freedom of expression and association.
3. Access to knowledge.
4. Shared learning and creation.
5. Privacy and protection.
6. Internet governance.
7. Awareness, protection and realization of rights.

As already mentioned, these principals are derived mainly from the UNHR, and are accounted for in the APC charter for internet rights. There is however no universal declaration imposing the protection of these (or other) internet rights, and new charters are constantly being formulated. Furthermore, contradictions between different rights can sometimes become an issue, when for example, the need to block certain sites (such as those eliciting child pornography) breaches other rights (such as the right to freedom of expression). Such contradictions make the enforcement of internet rights all the more difficult. Despite these difficulties, there are several initiatives underway to ensure the enforcement of internet rights. 'Kubatan.net' is currently active in Zimbabwe and is tasked with securing web users privacy from the repressive government institutions which control the country. Other initiatives include 'EroTICs', which filters online content in order to protect young users, and 'Take Back the Tech', which is reviews the roles that ICT's can play in combating violence against women.

The right to access the internet is also closely related to the right to communicate, which is a fundamental human need. The intrinsic value to this right is clearly apparent (humans crave contact with others), but communication also plays a major role in society building. Protection (in the form of early warning systems for example), providing access to information, knowledge sharing, development and value formation are all enhanced by increased and uncensored communication. Protecting this right is therefore of instrumental importance in ensuring the evolution of a humane, considerate society free from war and other undesirables.

On 12-13 May, the concept and prototypes of the Matrix of ICT Solutions for Advancing the MDGs and of the Computer-aided Strategic Planner were presented to the participants of the WSIS Forum which is the principal annual gathering of key stakeholders involved in the follow-up to the World Summit on Information Society. The archived webcast of the sessions can be accessed at the following web address: https://www.itu.int/ibs/WSIS/201005forum/index.html.

Both sessions were well attended by representatives of governments, UN agencies, private sector and civil society and the outcome was both positive and constructive. The overall reaction of the attendees was unequivocally positive. No one questioned the utility and value of the proposed set of ICT4MDGs tools. Representatives of several developing country governments were very encouraged by a presentation and endorsement from the Minister of ICT of Macedonia who shared his positive experience with the current prototype of the Strategic Planner. Government representatives expressed their urgent interest in testing the Planner and contributing to its further development.

The comments and suggestions of the participants could be grouped as follows:

• Institutional concerns: it was stressed by two participants, in particular by ITU, that the proposed tool should complement rather than duplicate existing knowledge repositories and tools, and should contain data and statistics consistent with agreed standards.

• Quality assurance: several participants highlighted the need to develop effective vetting mechanisms for ensuring the credibility, consistency and comprehensiveness of knowledge presented in the Matrix and used as primary data for the Planner. The need to ensure multilingualism of the Portal and vendor neutrality as regards presentation of commercially available tools was also mentioned.

• Substantive areas to be covered: several participants proposed that in addition to functionalities present in the current prototypes of the Matrix and the Planner, the Portal should also address such needs as: providing a tutorial on strategic ICT planning; presenting methodologies and tools for development of strategies for ICT in sectors (education, health, etc.) to assist ICT ministries in their interaction with sectoral partners; monitoring progress in introducing ICT in development activities; and assessing the development impact of ICT. The latter was thought to be especially necessary for ensuring cooperation of government entities (such as finance ministries, for example) which currently quite often remain skeptical about ICT4D.

These and other very constructive and useful comments and suggestions are currently being analyzed by the teams developing the Portal with a view to fully incorporate them in the forthcoming updated versions of the Portal.

While this iterative process of consultations, feedback and updating will continue enabling the further development of the Portal, the enthusiastic response to this initiative, particularly from developing countries and the private sector representatives participating in the open consultations at the WSIS Forum, have clearly demonstrated both the value-added of and the urgent need for such a powerful web-based tool with a potential global and game-changing impact on the advancement of MDGs in the next five years.