Message from Mr. Yoshio
Utsumi, Secretary General of ITU and Secretary General of the World Summit on the Information Society
As we look back to the Geneva phase of the World Summit on the Information Society attended by 11,000 participants including 44 Heads of state or government and vice-presidents, we can be proud of our collective accomplishments. The Geneva phase clearly placed the issue of ICTs on the agenda of world leaders and produced consensus on the importance of shaping the Information Society in a constructive manner beneficial to all citizens. Leaders also agreed on the importance of ICTs in addressing many of the major social, political and economical problems and the important role that ICTs can play as an essential tool in reaching many of the goals expressed in the Millennium Declaration. The Action Plan sets forth a firm commitment to meet concrete targets to "connect the world' and bring the benefits of ICTs to all nations.
In addition, many multi-stakeholder partnership initiatives were announced during the Summit. Cisco and ITU signed a Memorandum of Understanding to open 20 more Internet Training Centres in developing countries. Microsoft, working with UNDP, will create a billion dollar program to bring ICT skills to underserved communities. The UN ICT Task Force with Ireland, Sweden, Canada and Switzerland announced the global e-school project to connect schools and communities in the developing world. And at the very close of the Summit, the cities of Geneva and Lyon and the Government of Senegal announced contributions totaling about 1 million euros to fund ICT projects in developing countries, representing the first payments towards the Digital Solidarity Fund.
I would like to thank the many participants in the process. In particular, I thank the host country of the Geneva phase, Switzerland, for their substantial efforts and contributions. As well, I am grateful to Mr. Adama Samassekou, the PrepCom President of the Geneva phase, for his energy and commitment to this process. A special thanks also goes to those who made financial or organizational contributions to the Summit.
Together, we are now faced with the challenge of transforming the declaration and the plan of action endorsed in the Geneva phase into concrete action. The Geneva Summit called for a preparatory meeting to be held in the first half of 2004 to establish the structure of the Tunis phase. As preparation for that meeting has been entrusted to the Bureau for the Tunis phase, the establishment of the Bureau for the Tunis phase is one of the most urgent matters requiring attention. The two ex officio members of the Bureau, Tunisia and Switzerland, are expected to play a key role in this process. I sincerely hope that the new Bureau members will meet informally at the beginning of February to commence their task.
The Geneva phase also identified two major issues to be resolved under the auspices of UN Secretary General, namely Internet governance and financing mechanisms. To contribute to the discussion on Internet governance, ITU will organize a workshop on 26 - 27 February in Geneva, which provides a forum for exchanging views on definitions, viewpoints, visions and analytical studies on Internet governance .
I look forward to working with the many stakeholders involved in this exciting and important undertaking. In particular, I am pleased to begin working closely with Tunisia, the host country of the second phase as we prepare for November 2005.
