NEWSROOM: E-FLASH: ARCHIVES: E-FLASH
#9 - 17 OCTOBER 2003
Strong Commitment from Leaders to the Summit
About 50 Heads of State and Government have expressed their intention to be present
at the first phase of the Summit to be held in Geneva, 10-12 December 2003. “There
is widespread recognition among leaders that collective action is required to
address the digital divide and its implications for broader social and economic
development”, said Mr Yoshio Utsumi, Secretary-General of the International
Telecommunication Union (ITU).
PrepCom3 to Reconvene
PrepCom3 will reconvene from 10 to 14 November to continue its work. The most
recent versions of the draft Declaration
of Principles and Plan
of Action will serve as the basis for negotiations.
The Summit Breaks New Ground with Multi-Stakeholder Approach
PrepCom3 introduced a format
of the Summit that provides for unprecedented stakeholder participation.
Stakeholders’ leaders will share their vision of the Information Society with
Head of States and Governments at roundtable sessions that will be broadcasted.
Some of the organizers of mayor multi-stakeholder parallel events will have an
opportunity to report directly to the Plenary about their Summit-related
activities.
Events
17 Oct 2003
ITU Telecom World 2003, Special session: The World Summit on the Information
Society, Geneva, Switzerland. This session brings together representatives from governments, inter-governmental organizations, civil society and the private sector to open the debate on the likely outcomes for the first phase of the WSIS.
23 Oct 2003 - 25 Oct 2003
Volunteer Family of the International Civil Society Bureau, International Symposium on Volunteerism and Development of Human capacity in the Information Society, Dakar, Senegal. The conference will analyse projects linked to new ICTs and implemented by volunteers working in the field, as well define the role of volunteers in the information society in view of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)
23 Oct 2003 Developing countries access to scientific
knowledge, Trieste, Italy. This is an open round table among scientists, librarians, decision-makers, journalists, electronic publishers, information and communication technology experts, working on the dissemination of science and the transfer of knowledge and (open source) technology towards developing countries.
24 Oct 2003 – 25 Oct 2003
Ghana National Youth Forum, Accra, Ghana. This national event will bring together ICT stakeholders to discuss the role of youth in the Information society and its relevant to national development.
Youth Launch Campaigns for WSIS
The Youth Caucus of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) has launched a series of innovative
“National Information Society Youth Campaigns” in nineteen countries around the world. The goals of the campaigns are to bring the issues and concerns of youth to national and international decision-makers, and to build local movements where youth work with their peers to create digital opportunities. These campaigns include workshops, prime time interactive radio programs, media outreach, videoconferences and websites.
A WSIS Global Challenge: ITU ‘Helping the World Communicate’
A High-Level Dialogue, organized by ITU within the Geneva Summit framework in December, will debate all aspects of the Information Society and of the digital divide including; regulatory, technology and development issues at the heart of ITU’s mandate. The event will take place on 9 December, room A at Palexpo.
ICT4D – Building Development Partnerships
In addition to the exhibition of ICT development partnerships and projects ICT4D plans for WSIS, it will also host from 9-13 December a conference that will debate trends, perspective and lessons learnt in ICT for development. For complete information of the programme outline, awards celebration, guidelines for participants, floor plan, online ticket booking and scholarships applications, please click
here.
Information Links
The International Conference of Volunteers is recruiting 350 volunteers to participate in the WSIS from the 4 to 13 of December. They will be carrying out a wide range of tasks, including the welcoming and assisting of delegates, overseeing the conference rooms, translation and non-professional interpreting, taking minutes, writing reports, assisting journalists in the press centre, etc. If you would like to participate in this unique opportunity,
please contact info@icvolunteers.org
Online registration for participants for the Geneva phase of WSIS is now available! Access to the on-line registration system is restricted to designated Focal Points. For delegations, organizations and entities wishing to participate, please click here
Media accreditation has begun for WSIS. For the form and for information on the required documentation, click
here
Applications for fellowships for civil society and NGOs, with priority being given to participants from LDCs, are open until the 25 October. For guidelines, please click
here. Deadline for
applications for fellowships to participants from government and business small sector entities from LDCs is 1 November.
