The World Summit on the Information Society

372 Pages·2005·1.64 MB·English

ICT 8 22/8/05 4:39 pm Page 1
This book is a collection of more than fifty short papers, providing readers with first
hand insights from key players who participated in the making of the WSIS
Declaration of Principles and the WSIS Plan of Action, adopted during the first
phase of the WSIS in Geneva, December 2003. The contributors represent a broad
variety of individuals and institutions, from major stakeholder groups, and thus
showcase a diversity of perspectives.
Part I - Politics and Diplomacy describes the relations at the Summit between the
international agencies, national governments, and the private and non-
governmental public sectors.
Part II - Principles and Actions delves into the core issues, from the perspectives of
mainly non-governmental stakeholders.
Part III - Looking Ahead faces the hopes and challenges of the second phase of the
Summit, to be held in Tunis in November 2005.
Ambassador Daniel Stauffacher has been working in development and economic
diplomacy with the United Nations and the Swiss Government since 1982. He played
key planning, communication, management and diplomacy roles as a lead figure of
the host country of the Geneva summit of the World Summit on Social Development
in 2000 and the first phase of the World Summit on the Information Society in
December 2003. He participates in the work of many WSIS-related groups, including
the UN ICT Task Force, the UN Task Force on Financial Mechanisms for ICTD, and the
Strategy Group on Information Society of the Swiss Government. He is currently
advising the United Nations and the Tunisian Government on the second phase of
the WSIS, he is Vice-Chairman of Bureau of the WSIS-Prepcom, Chairman of
www.wsis-online.netand Director of the ICT4Peace project.
Wolfgang Kleinwächteris Professor for International Communication Policy at the
University of Aarhus. He has been involved in the WSIS preparatory process since
2000 in various capacities. He is a member of the Civil Society WSIS Bureau and co-
founded and chaired (until December 2003) the Civil Society Internet Governance
Caucus. In November 2004, he was invited by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to
join the "UN Working Group on Internet Governance" (WGIG). From 1988 to 1998
he was the president of the Law Section of the International Association for Media
and Communication Research(IAMCR), since 1998 he serves in the IAMCR
International Council. Mr. Kleinwächter has published a number of books and
articles on ICTrelated topics. He has previously taught at the University of Leipzig,
University of Tampere, and American University in Washington D.C.
Secretariat of the United Nations ICTTask Force
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ISBN 92-1-104543-6
Sales No.05.II.A.7

Copyright © 2005 United Nations ICT Task Force

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The views expressed in this book are those of their individual authors and do not necessarily reflect
the views or positions of the United Nations ICT Task Force, the United Nations itself, any of its
organs or agencies, nor of any other organizations or institutions mentioned or discussed in this
book, including the organizations to which the authors are affiliated.

Published by
The United Nations Information and Communication Technologies Task Force
One United Nations Plaza
New York, NY 10017
[email protected]
Acknowledgements
We would like to express our sincere appreciation to all those who made this publication
possible. Our special thanks go to the contributors to this book, who took the time to write
thoughtful articles about the WSIS process and outcomes. We express our deep gratitude to
the staff of the United Nations ICT Task Force Secretariat, located in the Department of
Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations, who devoted many hours to
proofreading the text, especially Enrica Murmura, who managed the project and helped
coordinate communication with all the contributors, and to Robert de Jesus, Cheryl Stafford,
Daniela Giacomelli, Anna Gedda, Karl Brown and Christine Wenzel who provided valuable
assistance and technical expertise in copy-editing, design and lay-out. We also want to thank
the Graphical Design Unit of the Outreach Division of the Department of Public
Information for patiently working with us on the cover design. We would especially like to
thank Dr. Julia Steinberger, who helped edit and critically review the final text. Our
recognition also goes to Sarbuland Khan and Sergei Kambalov for their trust and opening
the United Nations ICT Task Force Series to our endeavour.

i
Contents

Opening Statement vii
KOFI ANNAN
Secretary-General, United Nations
Preface xi
YOSHIO UTSUMI
Secretary-General, International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and
Secretary-General, World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)
Introduction 1
WOLFGANG KLEINWÄCHTER
Professor for International Communication Policy, University of Aarhus
DANIEL STAUFFACHER
Ambassador and Delegate of the Swiss Federal Council for the WSIS
PART I: POLITICS and DIPLOMACY 7
Section 1: Intergovernmental Organisations 9
The Millennium Development Goals, WSIS and the United Nations 11
SHASHI THAROOR
Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information, United
Nations
WSIS and UNESCO 18
ABDUL WAHEED KHAN
Assistant Director-General for Communication and Information, UNESCO
The Social Dimension of Technological Development: WSIS and the 23
International Labour Organization
JUAN SOMAVIA
Director-General, International Labour Organization (ILO)
The World Summit on the Information Society and the World Intellectual 27
Property Organization
KAMIL IDRIS
Director-General, World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)
WSIS and the WTO: Trade in the Information Age 30
SUPACHAI PANITCHPAKDI
Director-General, World Trade Organization
ii
Towards an Inclusive and Development-Rich Information Society: 33
Linking Financing Issues and Development Agendas
RADHIKA LAL
Policy Adviser, United Nations Development Programme
WSIS and the United Nations ICT Task Force 41
SARBULAND KHAN
Executive Coordinator, United Nations ICT Task Force
Section 2: Governments 45
Global Diplomacy and Information Society 47
DAVID A. GROSS
Ambassador and Coordinator for International Communications and Information
Policy, Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs, United States Department of
State
Serving Citizens: e-Government for Everybody 53
ERKKI LIIKANEN
Former European Commissioner for Enterprise and Information Society
Strengthening Cooperation, Promoting Development and Moving 55
Towards the Information Society
WANG XUDONG
Minister of Information Industry of the People’s Republic of China
Building Dynamic Partnerships among Stakeholders: From the World 58
Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) to the World Summit of
Solidarity (WSS)
ADAMA SAMASSÉKOU
President of the WSIS Geneva Preparatory Committee, President of the African
Academy of Languages and Former Minister of Education of the Republic of Mali
Searching for Consensus 64
ASKO NUMMINEN
Ambassador, Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland
Last Minute Diplomacy: The WSIS in Geneva 2003 71
MARC FURRER
Secretary of State for the WSIS, Switzerland
A Tribute To Those Who Made It Happen 79
DANIEL STAUFFACHER
Ambassador and Delegate of the Swiss Federal Council for the WSIS
iii
Section 3: Private Sector 89
Politics and Diplomacy: Business Experience with WSIS from Geneva to 91
Tunis
MARIA LIVANOS CATTAUI
Secretary-General, International Chamber of Commerce (ICC)
Information and Communication Technology for Development 93
RAINER HÄNDEL
Director, Standards Coordination and Services, Siemens Communications
Section 4: Civil Society 97
Multi-Stakeholderism and Civil Society 99
RENATE BLOEM
President, Coordinating Committee of Non-Governmental Organisations
Civil Society in the WSIS – A Rite of Passage 104
KAREN BANKS
Director, Association for Progressive Communication (APC)
A New Diplomacy for the 21st Century? Multi-Stakeholder Approach and 110
Bottom-Up Policy Development in the Information Society
WOLFGANG KLEINWÄCHTER
Professor for International Communication Policy, University of Aarhus
PART II: PRINCIPLES and ACTIONS 115
Section 5: History and Theory 117
The Forgotten History of Global Communication Negotiations at the 119
League of Nations
KAARLE NORDENSTRENG
Professor, University of Tampere
WSIS: Can the International Community Learn from History? 125
CEES J. HAMELINK
Professor, University of Amsterdam
Globalization and Information Society 131
MARC RABOY
Professor, University of Montreal
Collective Learning in the World Summit on the Information Society 135
WILLIAM J. DRAKE
President, Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility and
Senior Associate, International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development
iv
WSIS and Multi-Stakeholderism 147
CLAUDIA PADOVANI
Researcher, University of Padua
The WSIS Wars: An Analysis of the Politicization of the Internet 156
KENNETH NEIL CUKIER
Technology Correspondent, The Economist
Section 6: Development, Financing and Capacity-Building 163
Human Capacity-Building: The ICT for Development Platform at WSIS 165
2003
WALTER FUST
Director-General, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC)
The Financing Question at WSIS and the Task Force on Financing 171
Mechanisms for ICTD
SHOJI NISHIMOTO
Co-Chairman, Task Force on Financial Mechanisms (TFFM) and Assistant
Administrator and Director, Bureau for Development Policy, UNDP
Private Sector and Multi-Stakeholderism in the WSIS Process 175
AYESHA HASSAN
Senior Policy Manager, International Chamber of Commerce (ICC)
Innovative Financial Mechanisms, Digital Solidarity and the “Geneva 178
Principle”
ALAIN CLERC
Executive Secretary, Digital Solidarity Fund (DSF)
WSIS: Challenges and Policy Issues in Latin America and the Caribbean 183
CARLOS M. JARQUE
Manager, Sustainable Development Department, Inter-American Development
Bank (IDB)
Cities and Regional Governments in the WSIS: From the Lyon Summit 187
2003 to Bilbao 2005
LOUISE LASSONDE
Senior Policy Advisor, United Nations Institute for Training and Research
(UNITAR)
Volunteers: An Essential Building Block for a Society of Shared 191
Knowledge
VIOLA KREBS
Director, ICVolunteers and Focal Point of the WSIS Volunteer Family
Section 7: Human Rights, Media Freedoms, Cultural Diversity and 199
Intellectual Property
v
Media Freedoms and Article 19 201
RONALD KOVEN
European Representative, World Press Freedom Committee
WSIS, Media and the Right to Freedom of Expression 205
ALAIN MODOUX
President, International Network of UNESCO Chairs in Communication
(ORBICOM)
Media Pluralism and Cultural Diversity 212
ROBIN MANSELL
Professor, Dixon Chair in New Media and the Internet, London School of
Economics and Political Science
Community Media and the Communication Divide 218
STEVE BUCKLEY
President, World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC)
Security and Privacy in Cyberspace 225
RIKKE FRANK JOERGENSEN
Co-Chair, WSIS Civil Society Human Rights Caucus
The Software Challenge 230
GEORG GREVE
President, Free Software Foundation Europe
Teaching the Information Society 235
DIVINA FRAU-MEIGS
Vice-President, International Association for Media and Communication Research
WSIS and Gender 239
HEIKE JENSEN
Chair, WSIS Gender Caucus
Section 8: Internet Governance 243
Agree to Disagree: The Birth of the Working Group on Internet 245
Governance (WGIG)
MARKUS KUMMER
Executive Coordinator, Working Group on Internet Governance (WGIG)
Secretariat
ICANN and “Internet Governance” 249
VINTON G. CERF
Chairman, ICANN