A
World Summit on Information Society is being planned
in Geneva in December 2003 by the United Nations
to develop a shared vision of ways to bridge the
digital divide. The global gathering of business
leaders and Heads of State along with NGOs is considered
by the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to be a
unique opportunity for all key players to come
together to formulate a strategy for harnessing
technology to bridge the gap between the developed
and developing countries.
Daniel
Stauffacher, the Swiss Ambassador to the United Nations,
is also the delegate of the Swiss Federal Council to
the World Summit on Information Society in 2003 in
Geneva.
He will be playing the role of host--everything
from negotiations to logistical and security
details will be under his supervision at the
World Summit. Currently, he is busy planning
the preparatory conference in Spring 2003 to
set up a plan of action by key stakeholders.
Stauffacher
said, "The needs of the users
today are consumer protection, privacy, security,
internet content reflecting cultural diversity,
and ethics of the Information Society."
Yoshio Utsumi, Secretary-General of International
Telecommunication Union, is playing a lead
role at the Summit. The Summit aims to develop
a plan of action so that technology can positively
impact the economic, social and cultural development
of societies.
"It will be a Summit where concrete actions
will be taken such as how to connect rural
areas to telecommunications," said Stauffacher. "What
kind of financial and political commitments
will come forward after the conference will
also be discussed in some specificity."
"As per the UN General Assembly resolution
of December 2001, for the first time all members
of the UN have endorsed the idea a global gathering
on the role of Information Society," said
Stauffacher. "The aim is to develop a
common vision that includes all stakeholders,
especially the private sector." He added, "The
need is to develop information as a public
common good, and this conference will be a
first step towards that goal."
| 
