[WSIS CS-Plenary] Slow Info Summit progress frustrates Swiss

[Ralf Bendrath]

Interesting - not only we are frustrated about the state of negotiations.
See also the document the Swiss government had distributed on Friday, and 
my report on http://www.worldsummit2003.de/en/web/732.htm, which also 
reflects on this.
The Siwss document is not on the official WSIS site yet, but I asked Mr 
Furrer and Mr Stauffacher to send it to the ITU web-team. (The Swiss don't 
have an official WSIS site anymore...)

Ralf


<http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/swissinfo.html?siteSect=106&sid=5564907>

Slow Info Summit progress frustrates Swiss

swissinfo
	
February 26, 2005 11:58 AM

Marc Furrer says WSIS delegates should move on to more pressing issues 
(Keystone Archive)
		
Switzerland says too much talk and not enough action are hindering 
preparations for an upcoming Information Summit in Tunisia.

The head of the Swiss delegation, Marc Furrer, told swissinfo that the 
process was being bogged down by unnecessary debate over issues already 
resolved.

Over the past ten days, around 1,700 international experts have been 
meeting in Geneva to prepare for the second phase of the World Summit on 
the Information Society (WSIS), which will take place in Tunis in November.

The first part of the WSIS, held in Geneva in 2003, resulted in an 
ambitious action plan to bridge the digital divide between rich and poor 
nations.

Since then, Furrer says delegates have made slow progress towards 
achieving the summit’s goals.

swissinfo: How satisfied is Switzerland with this latest round of 
preparatory talks in Geneva?

Marc Furrer: We are not very happy. We saw points in the action plan and 
declaration, which were already agreed upon back in 2003, re-opened for 
debate. We shouldn’t be discussing what has already been decided.

We also need to be demonstrating our successes in areas such as e-health, 
e-education and freedom of the media.

The citizens of Switzerland and other countries will begin to ask what we 
achieved. We need to be moving towards implementation of our plans because 
it’s a waste of taxpayers’ money to sit around and talk without taking action.

swissinfo: Has any progress been made at all, especially on the issue of 
financing the development of information and communication technology 
infrastructures in poor countries?

M.F.: Delegates welcomed the creation of a "digital solidarity fund" and 
that’s a concrete example of progress. We agreed that it would be a 
voluntary fund and just one of many financial mechanisms aimed at bridging 
the digital divide. In 2003, this was one of the biggest obstacles we 
faced, so reaching an agreement represents a big step forward.

The downside of the financial discussions is that the wording remains too 
technical and dissenting opinions remain... so delegates need to change 
their attitude and stop being so technocratic.

swissinfo: The World Bank says the technology gap between developing and 
industrialised countries is rapidly closing. Are the summit and the UN’s 
costly campaign to bridge the digital divide still relevant?

M.F.: The World Bank is absolutely right that countries like India, 
Morocco, Egypt, Argentina and Venezuela are catching up fast when it comes 
to telecom access. It’s likely that they’ll even leapfrog and surpass 
Switzerland someday.

So yes, the digital divide is narrowing fast. But when we talk about 
digital solidarity, we’re talking about the world’s 50 poorest countries, 
where there is still a major lack of electricity and access to phones.

How many telephones are there in Madagascar, Nepal or Bhutan compared with 
Switzerland, France or Germany? There is truth in what the World Bank 
says, but the digital divide is very real in many places.

swissinfo: Another lingering issue is internet governance. Was any 
progress made on deciding who should be responsible for policing the World 
Wide Web?

M.F.: I think we’re on the right track... we just can’t expect a 
revolution. The important thing is that the internet works and is 
independent from governments. But if it isn’t broken, we shouldn’t be 
trying to fix it.

swissinfo: At the start of the conference last week, civil society groups 
criticised Tunisia’s human rights record and said it was no place for a 
summit dealing with freedom of expression.

M.F.: I have always expected the Tunisian government to play by the UN’s 
rules and allow all journalists and civil society groups to participate in 
the summit process.

If I listen to the Tunisians, they say they’re open to this. But the proof 
will be in the pudding and we’ll only know the answer in November. If this 
isn’t an open and fair process, Tunis will be a disaster.

swissinfo-interview: Anna Nelson in Geneva
URL of this story
http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/swissinfo.html?siteSect=105&sid=5564907