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T
HE DIGITAL REVOLUTION
in information and communica-
tion technology (ICT) is having a profound impact on how
the world functions and interacts, and will continue to play
a major role in shaping our global future.
Unfortunately, access to the benefits of ICT has not been even,
among and within countries, between urban and rural areas,
between the rich and the poor, between the educated and the
illiterate, between men and women. The need to avoid perpetu-
ating the inequities of the past has now taken on a real urgency,
with the emergence of the Information Society, which is why many
of the world’s key players in ICT are now taking active steps to
bridge this information and knowledge divide and bring the bene-
fits of ICT to all.
In addressing these challenges of our times, the International
Telecommunication Union (ITU), which has helped governments
and the private sector in coordinating global telecommunications
for the past 140 years, is once again pioneering a new path by
laying the foundations for a global Information Society that seeks
to provide universal and equitable access to information and
knowledge through widespread use of ICT.
Building the Information Society is not just about technology;
it is about what technology can achieve. The Information Society
is about people and their pressing needs. It is about eradicating
the misery of poverty and hunger and the hardships caused by the
destruction of our environment. It is about leaving a healthy
legacy for future generations. It is about increasing the capacity
of our children and about giving a voice to all those who have
been silent too long.
Since 2001, mandated by the UN General Assembly, ITU has
taken the lead role in organizing the World Summit on the
Information Society (WSIS). The first phase of this top-level Summit
concluded in Geneva in December 2003 with global leaders from
over 175 countries, including some 50 Heads of State/Government
and Vice Presidents, agreeing on a shared vision of the Information
Society and setting out a concrete Action Plan for its realization.
Specifically, WSIS is about “building a people-centred, inclusive
and development-oriented Information Society, where everyone
can create, access, utilize and share information and knowledge,
enabling individuals, communities and peoples to achieve their
full potential in promoting sustainable development and improv-
ing their quality of life.” These goals of WSIS were also endorsed
by one of the largest gathering of world leaders at the UN Summit
in September 2005.
Unique in the history of global summits, WSIS was envisaged
from the start as a Summit in two phases with a built-in follow-
up mechanism to continue the momentum and to ensure that
the goals and principles adopted at the first phase would be
achieved. The Tunis Summit, 16-18 November 2005, sets out to
build on the commitments made in Geneva and chart the future
course of the Information Society by looking at operational details.
The focus has been on ensuring that ICT is made globally acces-
sible and devising strategies to use ICT for achieving the
development goals enshrined in the UN Millennium Declaration.
Difficult political issues have been addressed on Internet gover-
nance and financial mechanisms to bridge the digital divide as
well as on implementation and follow-up after the Tunis Summit.
“Summit of Solutions”
Better access to information can help dispel ignorance and
empower people to reach their personal aspirations. It has the
power to bind communities on a global scale and to spread the
common ideals of peace and tolerance, growth and development.
ICT provides increasingly important tools in accelerating the pace
Beyond WSIS: building a
global Information Society
Yoshio Utsumi, Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union,
Secretary-General of the World Summit on the Information Society
Aerial view of the three ITU buildings, Geneva
Photo: International Telecommunication Union (ITU)