The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) is being held under the high patronage of the United Nations Secretary-General, Mr Kofi Annan, with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) taking the lead role in its preparation.. The first phase of WSIS took place in Geneva, from 10 to 12 December 2003. The second phase (the Tunis Summit) will be held in Tunis from 16 to 18 November 2005.
Participate in the Tunis Summit using the WSIS webcast service!
The Geneva phase of WSIS culminated in 2003 with a landmark gathering that established the foundations of the Information Society by enunciating a shared vision to meet the global challenges of the new millennium along with a concrete Plan of Action. World leaders clearly expressed the need to harness the tremendous potential of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) to help bridge the digital divide and advance the broad development agenda outlined in the Millennium Declaration.
During the Tunis phase, Preparatory Committee
meetings were held in Hammamet (Tunisia), 24 to 26 June 2004, and
in Geneva, 17 to 25 February 2005, while WSIS regional conferences
took
place in Damascus (Syria), Accra (Ghana), Tehran (Islamic Republic
of Iran) and Rio de Janeiro (Brazil). The preparatory meetings
were successful, providing valuable inputs in the elaboration
of the documents of the Tunis Summit.
The Tunis phase of WSIS will focus on the highly political issues of
Internet governance and financing to bridge the digital divide as well
as on defining the implementation and follow-up process to pave the
way ahead. The challenge is to provide access to communication and
information to all humanity, not just the privileged few, by making
the most efficient use of existing resources while avoiding wasteful
duplication of efforts. Building a people-centred Information Society
that will help accelerate the pace of development requires political
commitment and support from world leaders.
Useful Web WSIS Links
Citizens' Summit on the Information Society
WSIS official site from the ITU
United Nations Multi-Stakeholder Partnerships
IPS on WSIS - the progressive Global News Agency
ITU's ICT success story home page
Unesco WSIS publication series
Gender at Tunis: from GenderIT.org
The World Summit on the Information Society Civil Society Meeting Point
