Geneva Phase of WSIS (10-12 Dec 2003)

1. Outcomes of Asia-Pacific Regional Conference to WSIS and Tunis Phase of WSISNinth Meeting of the Regional Interagency Working Group on ICT, UNCC, Bangkok (19 Dec 2005)Ram Sharma Tiwaree, DrEngEconomic Affairs OfficerInformation, Communication and Space Technology DivisionEmail: tiwaree@un.org

2. Geneva Phase of WSIS (10-12 Dec 2003) • objectives of developing and fostering a clear statement of political will and taking concrete steps to establish the foundations for an information society for all, reflecting the different interests at stake • adopted a Declaration of Principles and a Plan of Action • Declaration of Principles presents a vision of information and communication technologies (ICTs) as an essential foundation for an inclusive information society. • Plan of Action outlines 10 targets, and 11 action lines providing stakeholders with guidance on how to implement the goals of the Summit.

3. Geneva Phase of WSIS • The objectives of thePlan of Action were to build an inclusive Information Society; • to put the potential of knowledge and ICTs at the service of development; • to promote the use of information and knowledge for the achievement of internationally agreed development goals, including those contained in the Millennium Declaration; and • to address new challenges of the Information Society, at the national, regional and international levels.

4. Geneva Phase of WSIS Targets of WSIS Plan of Action in line with MDGs (by 2015): • to connect villages with ICTs and establish community access points; • to connect universities, colleges, secondary schools and primary schools with ICTs; • to connect scientific and research centres with ICTs; • to connect public libraries, cultural centres, museums, post offices and archives with ICTs; • to connect health centres and hospitals with ICTs; • to connect all local and central government departments and establish websites and email addresses; • to adapt all primary and secondary school curricula to meet the challenges of the Information Society, taking into account national circumstances;

5. Geneva Phase of WSIS Targets of WSIS Plan of Action in line with MDGs (by 2015): • to ensure that all of the world's population have access to television and radio services; • to encourage the development of content and to put in place technical conditions in order to facilitate the presence and use of all world languages on the Internet; • to ensure that more than half the world’s inhabitants have access to ICTs within their reach. • The above targets may be taken into account in the establishment of the national targets, considering the different national circumstances.

6. Geneva Phase of WSIS Plan of Action: Action Lines • The role of governments and all stakeholders in the promotion of ICTs for development • Information and communication infrastructure: an essential foundation for the Information Society • Access to information and knowledge • Capacity building • Building confidence and security in the use of ICTs • Enabling environment • ICT applications: benefits in all aspects of life • Cultural diversity and identity, linguistic diversity and local content • Media • Ethical dimensions of the Information Society • International and regional cooperation

7. Regional Preparations for Tunis Phase of WSIS Action Line 11: International and regional cooperation • International and regional cooperation to promote universal access and bridge the digital divide by provision of means of implementation • Public-private partnerships focusing on the use of ICTs for development • Invite International and regional organizations to mainstream ICTs in their work programmes and to assist developing countries in achieving the WSIS targets

8. Regional Preparations for Tunis Phase of WSIS • 60th Commission session of UNESCAP – expressed support for the recommendation of the first session of the Committee on Managing Globalization that • A Regional Action Plan be formulated to lead an information society in Asia and the Pacific • Play active role in the implementation of the follow-up to first phase and coordinate preparations for second phase • PrepCom-1 of the WSIS Tunis phase held at Hammamet, Tunisia (24-26 Jun 04) decided the focus of that phase: (a) follow-up and implementation of Geneva phase; (b) Financial Mechanisms for ICT for development; (c) Internet governance

9. Regional Preparations for Tunis Phase of WSIS • As part of the regional initiatives for the second phase of WSIS: • UNESCAP in cooperation with its partners organized 4 sub-regional Conferences (Bishkek: Nov 2004; Suva: Dec 2004; Bali: Feb 2005; Kathmandu: March 2005) and; • two regional Conferences (first regional Conference in Bangkok in October 2004; and High level Asia-Pacific Conference in Tehran in May-June 2005) • These Conferences gathered sub-regional views on Internet governance and Financial Mechanisms for ICT for Development • ICT for Knowledge-based Disaster Management – in Bali and Kathmandu

10. Regional Preparations for Tunis Phase of WSIS • Suva, Bali and Kathmandu: sub-region specific survey to explore participants’ views on the possibility of achieving all WSIS Plan of Action targets by 2015; • Questionnaires: already achieved, easy to achieve, may be achieved with extensive efforts, impossible to achieve • developed Regional Action Plan • Collected some cases of financing ICT for development

11. High Level Asia-Pacific Conference for WSIS • Organized by UNESCAP and the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran in cooperation with ITU and UNDP-APDIP in Tehran (31 May-2 June 2005) • Objectives: to define regional course of action towards building people-centred, inclusive and development-oriented Information society in Asia and the Pacific • The Conference was attended by representatives of 31 countries (11 ministers; 6 vice/deputy Ministers and 6 Secretaries plus international organizations, NGOs, private sector, etc.- around 150 participants • The Conference adopted the Tehran Declaration and the Regional Action Plan–Programmes/Projects and Methodology part of the Regional Action Plan towards the Information Society for Asia and the Pacific document.

12. Regional Action Plan and Tehran Declaration • The Action Plan is structured following top-down approach for macro-planning along regionally and globally agreed action lines as contained in the MDGs and WSIS outcomes and other regional and global initiatives. • The Action Plan considers ICTs as driving force in cross-sectoral programmes for the promotion of dynamic information society, includes framework for ICST enabled-disaster management. • Tehran Declaration requested UNESCAP to coordinate the implementation of Regional Action Plan and to accord priority to the activities proposed in RAP with special attention to LDCs, LLDCs, SIDS and economies in transition. • The Outcomes of the Conference –reported to Tunis phase of WSIS PrepCom3 in Geneva.

13. Tunis Phase of WSIS – 16 to 18 Nov 2005 • Attendance: over 19,400 including46 Heads of States, Governments and 197 Ministers/Deputy ministers • Focus: (1) Implementation of Geneva phase outcomes; (2) Financial Mechanisms for ICT for Development; and (3) Internet governance. • The Worlds leaders/representative gathered in Tunis • recognised that it is now time to move from principles to action, considering the work already being done in implementing the Geneva Plan of Action and identifying those areas where progress has been made, is being made, or has not taken place.

14. Tunis Phase of WSIS – 16 to 18 Nov 2005 • The Summit adopted two documents: (a) Tunis Commitment (b) Tunis Agenda for the Information Society • reaffirms the commitments made in Geneva and build on them in Tunis by focusing on Financial Mechanisms for bridging the digital divide, on Internet Governance and related issues, as well as on Implementation and Follow-up of the Geneva and Tunis decisions. • Tunis Agenda: 3 parts (i) Financial Mechanisms for Meeting Challenges of ICT for Development: places financing ICT for development in the context of growing importance of the role of ICTs and welcomes establishment of DSF – as innovative financial mechanisms of a voluntary nature

15. Tunis Phase of WSIS: Tunis Agenda (ii) “Internet governance”: the document reaffirmed the principles enunciated in the Geneva phase, identified important public policy issues relevant to Internet governance, recognized that this existing arrangements for Internet governance had worked effectively and invited the UN Secretary-General to convene a new forum for multi-stakeholder policy dialogue by the second quarter of 2006 called the Internet Governance Forum (IGF).

16. Tunis Phase of WSIS : Tunis Agenda (iii) “Implementation and follow-up” requested ECOSOC to oversees the system-wide follow-up of the Geneva and Tunis outcomes of WSIS and to review the mandate, agenda and compositions of the Commission on Science and Technology for Development (CSTD). It stressed in several parts the importance of the regional dimension in building the Innovative Society. Of particular importance to the regional commissions in para 101b which states “UN Regional Commissions, based on request of Member States and within approved budgetary resources, may organize regional WSIS follow-up activities in collaboration with regional and sub-regional organizations, with appropriate frequency, as well as assisting members states with technical and relevant information for the development of regional strategies and the implementation of the outcomes of regional conferences”.

18. UNESCAP: Post WSIS Follow-up and Implementation • Coordinating role in the region in the implementation of WSIS outcomes and Regional Action Plan towards the Information Society • Assist in creating an enabling (ICST) policy framework; • Develop human resources in ICST; • Promote ICST applications; • Apply ICST in knowledge-based disaster management; • Use ICST to promote green growth. • Focus: LDCs, LLDCs, SIDS and Economies in Transition

20. THANK YOU For more, please visit:www.unescap.org/icstd ; www.itu.int/wsis