THE NEED FOR A WORLD SUMMIT ON THE INFORMATION SOCIETY

1. THE NEED FOR A WORLD SUMMIT ON THE INFORMATION SOCIETY Philippe CAPITAINE Chief External Affairs, ITU The views expressed in this presentation are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the ITU or its membership.

2. Some key Telecom. trends • Fixed-lines • Mobile • The Internet • The Divide • Connectivity • Telecom. divide • Least developed countries • THE WORLD SUMMIT

3. Mobile Revolution Fixed Lines vs. Mobile Users, worldwide, Million 1'400 Mobile 1'200 Fixed Lines 1'000 800 600 400 200 0 1993 1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 Source: ITU World Telecommunication Indicators Database.

4. Telecom service revenue (1998) Other (incl. Internet, leased lines, telex), 10.6% Mobile service Domestic fixed- revenues, line revenues, 21.2% 59.2% International revenues, 8.8% 1998 Telecom service revenue. Total = US$ 724b Source: ITU “World Telecommunication Development Report 1999: Mobile cellular” (forthcoming)

5. Projection of revenue growth (US$bn) 900 800 Other: Data, Internet, Leased lines, telex, etc 700 600 Mobile 500 International Service revenue (US$ bn) 400 300 200 Domestic Telephone/fax 100 0 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 Source: ITU.

6. Number of Internet users Source: ITU.

7. Internet connectivity 0.4 Gbit/s USA / Canada 56 Gbit/s 18 Gbit/s Europe Asia /Pacific 3 Gbit/s 0.5 Gbit/s 0.2 Gbit/s LatinAmerica Africa 0.1 Gbit/s Note: Gbit/s = Gigabits (1’000 Mb) per second. Source: ITU adapted from TeleGeography.

8. Internet users Digital divide = Telecoms divide User distribution, by income group 490 912 280 6 billion million million million 100% 15 % High income 90% 58 % 80% Upper-mid income 70% 69 % Lower-mid income 60% 82 % 50% 40% Low income 30% 20% 10% 0% Mobile users Telephone lines Popul-ation Source: ITU World Telecommunication Indicators Database.

9. LDCs falling further behind:Share of worldwide Internet Users 10% LDCsShare of world population = 10.6%Share of Internet users = 0.1% 8% China 6% Other low 4% & lower- mid 2% income 0% LDCs 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999

10. World Summit on the Information Society

11. WHY ITU/UN?

12. Legal background: ITU/PP-98Resolution 73 Instructs the ITU SG to: • Place the question of holding a world summit on the information society on the agenda of the ACC (April 99) • To report to the ITU Council on the results of this consultation (June 99)

13. ACC 2000, 27-28 October Expressed its satisfaction to the ITU Draft Plan of Action; Stressed the need to have an early ITU decision on the venue (Host country) of the Summit.

14. Direct reference to ITU by G 8

15. Proposed Themes • 1. Building the infrastructure; • 2. Opening the gates: universal and equitable access; • 3. Services and Applications: the implications of the IS for economic, social and cultural development ; • 4. The needs of the users (consumer protection, privacy & security); Content and the freedom to communicate; • 5. Developing a Framework; • 6. ICT and Education.

16. WHEN & WHERE?

17. WSIS:Timing & Venue, Duration, Participation • 1st Phase: Geneva, 10-12 December 2003; • 2nd Phase: Tunis, 2005 • Duration: 3 days • Participation: Head of States Head of UN Agencies, NGO’s, CEO’s Private Sector...

18. ITU Council 2001 – Res. 1179 - endorsed the framework for the Summit in two phases - welcomed invitations from Switzerland and Tunisia - actively solicit funding - create Council Liaison Group

19. The preparatory process States Preparatory Meetings (Prepcom) ECOSOC ICT Task Force States coordination Bureau Regional Meetings World Summit Geneva December 2003 ITU/WTDC ITU/PP-02 High Level Summit Organizing ommittee (HLSOC) Heads of UN Agencies G8 Dot Force Preparatory Meetings (Prepcom) Private sector • Executive Secretariat • Government staff • UN Agencies staff • Private Sector staff • NGO’s & Civil Society • staff ONG & Civil society Host Country Secretariat World Summit Tunis 2005

20. GENEVA December 2003 “…………….The aim of the World Summit is therefore to develop a common vision and understanding of the Information Society and to draw up a strategic plan of action for concerted development, primarily in order to reduce the digital divide. All countries, developing and developed nations, must work together to reach this goal. Switzerland, and in particular Geneva with its international opening, have always been involved, and will stay involved in bringing the benefits of the nformation technologies to everyone, and especially the developing countries. That is why Switzerland sees this Geneva 2003 Summit as an extraordinary opportunity to set up a framework of cooperation between governments, civil society and actors of economy.” President Leuenberger

21. RESULTS?

22. Goals of the world summit: • Establish a framework for a harmonized understanding of the IS • Strategic plan of action covering objectives and resources • Identify the roles of all partners to ensure smooth coordination

23. Outcome • Declaration of principles, in order to express the political will that globalization of telecommunications must take account of harmonious evolution in policies, regulations, networks and services; • Plan of action.

24. http://www.itu.int/wsis/index.htm

25. Thanks for your attention Philippe.capitaine@itu.int