[WSIS CS-Plenary] Fwd: World Summit on the Information Society: PrepCom-3 Opens Amid Optimism

[Tracey Naughton]

 	News Release

Telephone:	 +41 22 730 6039
Fax:	 +41 22 730 5201
E-mail:	 wsismedia at itu.int
Website:	 www.itu.int/wsis/newsroom/2/
PrepCom-3 Opens Amid Optimism

Geneva, 19 September 2005 - The final preparatory meeting for the  
forthcoming Tunis Phase of the World Summit on the Information  
Society (WSIS) opened this morning in a spirit of cautious optimism,  
as delegates expressed their willingness to try to work together to  
break deadlocks on key agenda items including Internet governance.

The two-week meeting, which is taking place at Geneva’s Palais de  
Nations from 19-30 September 2005, represents the last chance for  
more than 130 national delegations and over 150 other stakeholders  
comprising international organizations, NGOs and business entities,  
to arrive at an accord ahead of the second phase of WSIS, which  
begins on November 16.

As the UN specialized agency for telecommunications, the  
International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is the lead organizing  
agency for the Summit, which is focused on bridging the so-called  
“digital divide” and using information and communication  
technologies (ICTs) to help achieve social and economic development  
goals.

In his opening address to the 1’350 delegates gathered in the  
Assembly Hall of the Palais des Nations, ITU Secretary-General Mr  
Yoshio Utsumi emphasized the opportunities offered by ICTs in helping  
achieve the UN Millennium Development Goals. He urged all delegates  
to use the next two weeks to create an ICT-based “roadmap to a more  
equitable and just information society”. “Everything is now up to  
you,” he told the assembly. “Will you be trapped by tradition and  
narrow interests, or will you be creative enough to deliver a  
concrete roadmap for the future?”1

Mr Utsumi’s address was followed by a speech by Dr Montasser Ouaili,  
Tunisian Minister of Communications Technology. Mr Ouaili spoke of  
his country’s hope, as the host of the next phase of WSIS, that  
PrepCom-3 would serve as a platform for building international  
solidarity on ICT issues. “The Tunis summit is conceived as a Summit  
of Solutions – a summit that will create a solid foundation on which  
to build the Information Society,” said Mr Ouaili. “We look  
forward to active participation in this process by all stakeholders.”

Swiss Federal Councillor Mr Moritz Leuenberger, head of the  
Department of Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications, then  
took the floor to make a strong plea for open and equitable access to  
ICTs. Acknowledging that governments have a duty to protect their  
citizens from ICT-based threats, such as cyberterrorism or websites  
containing illicit material, he nonetheless stressed that no state  
should manipulate fears about the dangerous uses of ICTs to silence  
free speech or inhibit its citizens from obtaining access to  
information. 2


Spotlight on Internet governance

While key agenda items for PrepCom-3 include financing mechanisms for  
ICT development and implementation mechanisms for the WSIS Action  
Plan, the issue of Internet governance is widely expected to dominate  
discussions.

The transformation of the Internet from an academic research network  
into a mainstream communications platform and a key strategic  
resource in today’s emerging Information Society has prompted a wide  
range of divergent views regarding the mechanisms for future Internet  
governance.

The growing importance of the Internet as a source of information and  
knowledge, along with the advent of a host of new ICT-related issues  
such as spam, online intellectual property protection, cybercrime,  
network security and secure frameworks for e-commerce, has led some  
countries to propose a new management structure that would be  
independent of the oversight of any single government.

If adopted, such a proposal could see some aspects of Internet  
management moved to a new, more global coordination mechanism.  
However, with some key delegations already publicly stating their  
desire to preserve the status quo, the issue remains highly  
contentious and is expected to be the subject of vigorous debate  
during the morning sessions of the conference over the coming fortnight.

Efforts to build global consensus on this complex issue had earlier  
led to the establishment of the Working Group on Internet Governance  
(WGIG), which was set up to examine and make proposals for action on  
the governance of the Internet by the Summit’s second phase. The  
final report of the WGIG, released on 18 July (see www.wgig.org),  
will serve as the catalyst for ongoing debate on this issue at  
PrepCom-3.


Conference structure

The opening session of the Plenary also saw the election of the  
Chairs of the conference’s two principal Sub-Committees.

The Chairman of PrepCom-3 is H.E. Mr Janis Karklins, Ambassador,  
Permanent Mission of the Republic of Latvia to the UN, Geneva. Mr  
Karklins was elected Chairman for the entire PrepCom process for the  
Tunis Phase of the World Summit on the Information Society at the  
first PrepCom meeting in Hammamet, Tunisia, in June 2004.

Sub-Committee A on Internet Governance will be chaired by Ambassador  
Masood Khan of Pakistan, while Sub-Committee B, which will tackle all  
other agenda items, including financial mechanisms and  
implementation, will be chaired by Ms Lyndall Shope-Mafole, Director- 
General of South Africa’s Department of Communications. The Plenary  
also elected Dr George Papadatos of Greece as PrepCom-3 Rapporteur.


Media Accreditation

Official media accreditation is compulsory journalists wishing to  
attend PrepCom-3. Details of the accreditation procedure and an  
online accreditation form can be found here.

Accreditation for PrepCom-3 will also be valid for the World Summit  
on the Information Society in Tunis. For further information about  
PrepCom-3 or the World Summit on the Information Society contact:


Sarah Parkes
Chief, Media Relations
International Telecommunication Union
Telephone:
During PrepCom-3: +41 22 917 6719
After PrepCom-3: +41 22 730 6135
Mobile: +41 79 249 4861
Email: sarah.parkes at itu.int


Sanjay Acharya
Communication Officer
WSIS Executive Secretariat
Tel: +41 22 730 5046
Email: Sanjay.Acharya at itu.int

Important

For information on entering the Palais des Nations, the location of  
the "Salle de l'Assemblée", and the location of the ITU Montbrillant  
building, see here. Note: Entrance to the Palais des Nations will be  
through the Pregny Gate only.


1	For the full text, please see here
2	The full text of the speech is available here (French only)




-------------- next part --------------
Skipped content of type multipart/related