The conference, organized by the Romanian government with support from the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), was an opportunity to create a common regional position for the upcoming WSIS meetings. The ultimate aim of these summits is to bridge the "digital divide" between developing and developed nations and to pinpoint the priorities for the "information society." Loosely defined, the "information society" is one in which people exercise their right to free expression freely and to "seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media, regardless of frontiers," according to the draft of the Declaration that was submitted at the conferenceís closing plenary session.

Romania's Minister of Communications and Information Technology Dan Nica, who opened and closed the conference, said the conference gave Romania a platform to demonstrate its advances in the area of Information Communications Technology (ICT) in the past decade. "It is a particular pleasure for us because we have had a chance to share our experience in ICT development with the other participants. We were able to show the delegates our best practices in the conference and in our exhibition area," Nica told the Earthtimes in between speeches at the closing plenary session. He also noted that it was equally important to learn from the experiences and initiatives of delegates from the participating countries.

Inside the massive marble halls of the parliament, adorned with grand chandeliers and classical columns, the summit's stakeholders from government, the private sector and civil society participated in a series of workshops, roundtables and plenaries to discuss themes ranging from e-Government to gender sensitivity in the information society. "Inclusion" was among the frequently used buzzwords at the conference and a major priority area identified in the draft of the conference's declaration. The identified goal of the government stakeholders in the "information society" would be to shape policy to integrate as many people as possible into the digital age.

"It is the goal of the summit to bridge the information divide regardless of age, gender and nationality by working on establishing a policy to include as many people as possible," said Peter Zangl, Director General of Information Society, European Community. He added that in order to achieve inclusion, information/training, access to facilities, and the elimination of the language barrier are among the challenges that will be vital.

Private sector stakeholders defined their role in the "information society" as delivering the technology to as many people as possible. Rudi Richter, Hewlett Packard's Director of Government and Public Affairs, Central Eastern Europe and Middle East, said that his company is aiming to promote "global citizenship," that gives back to the communities in which it works. By closing the information gap, Richter said his company would give greater access to economic opportunities and economic sustainability.

A total of 15 plenary sessions, thematic debates, workshops, round tables, workshops and parallel events led to the formation of seven principles:

These principles and four priorities (e-Government, e-Business, e-Society and e-Education) will be presented to the WSIS process in future prepcoms, upcoming regional meetings in Tokyo and Santo Domingo and the world summits in 2003 and 2005. As one rapporteur put it, "The road to Geneva and Tunis runs through Bucharest."