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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)