Summary: Workshop on the World Summit on the Information Society

Discussing and implementing the proposals

The workshop consisted of questions and answers. Mr. Thomas Ruddy of the Federal Swiss Labs (EMPA) introduced the discussion by providing a summary of the discussions held in the last days at the Forum. He explained that the World Summit on Information Society was going to be held in Geneva (2003) and Tunis (2005). 

Ms. Milda Hedblom of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) briefly presented some important points with respect to the WSIS. There will be three main groups of Presenters/ Participants: 

1. Governments;
2. The private sector -private sector companies and multinationals including small and medium sized enterprises;
3. Civil society organizations -including media, the academic sector, trade unions, youth organizations, etc.

According to Ms. Hedblom, the collaboration between these various actors needs to be reinforced. Further, UN agencies are not listed as a separate actor, but contribute in a more indirect way, contributing their expertise. 

It is important for communities from developing countries to be duly represented. There will be scholarships available to help NGOs from developing countries who wish to attend the Summit. Further, Ms. Hedblom talked about the different levels of discussions:

• International level (dealing with global issues);
• National level (countries: e.g. Canada and Cameroon have a national commission); 
• Regional level (African region, European region, Latin American region, Arabic region).

Somebody from Africa asked a question about the typology of the representative people at the next Geneva 2003 Forum. Mr. Ruddy pointed out that civil society participation should be characterized by transparency and an inclusive process.

Some of the key issues of the Summit will include issues linked to: 

• The access to knowledge;
• E-governance: How can new technologies improve the bureaucracy within Government, how to modernize Governments;
• Digital divide: E-inclusion (how can we help each other?);
• Access and control, network security and confidentiality: to what extend should the Internet be controlled (e.g. restriction on access to porno sites? How to limit the impact of terrorist groups who use the net?).

How security of privacy could be assured?
The problem today is that many people could use the Internet to send e-mails, but do not know how to make sure that their messages are secure. Even states do today not have enough power to protect people against Internet theft (e-piracy). Hence, some of these issues are of concern not just to the technical community, but rather society at large.To role of ITU is to come forward with possible answers to those challenges. Some countries, such as the USA and China are particularly interested in the security issue. 

Specificities of WSIS
The UN Summits held in the past are quite different from that which is planned for the 2003 conference, as new technologies will make it more "virtual". Also, the role of the private sector might be more significant than for example at the Geneva 2000 Summit on Sustainable Development.

World Civil Society working group
Ms. Rosa Delgado presented the plan of the WCSF working group and suggested that a committee should continue the work in this field. After some discussions, the following consultative group was designated: 

• Chair: Rosa Delgado, ISOC, Geneva
• Co-chair: Thomas Ruddy
• Members:
  Hendrok Bussiek, Global TV initiative
  Eiji Hayashi, Pacific Telecommunication Union
  Jose Aguilar, The North South Institute
  Jonathan Robin, IPv6 Task Force, ISOC ECC
  Pio Pata, Swiss development
  Michel Loots, World Information Transfer

Synthesis and Recommendations WG on Information Society
Ms. Delgado further presented the "Synthesis and Recommendations WG on Information Society", including: Civil Society Fundamentals; CS Representation; Participation; Co-operation; Human resource development; Development; Communication privacy; New technologies.

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