Follow-up to the World Summit on the Information Society

The regional follow-up activities organized by UNESCAP focuses on the regional and national implementation of the outcomes of the World Summit on the Information Society, the Tehran Declaration on Building the Information Society in Asia and the Pacific and the Regional Action Plan towards the Information Society in Asia and the Pacific.

UNESCAP, through ICSTD, has been mandated by Action Line 11: International and regional cooperation of the WSIS implementation mechanism to coordinate the regional follow-up. As stated in paragraph 110 of the Tunis Agenda : the coordination of multi-stakeholder implementation activities would help to avoid duplication of activities. This should ionclude, inter alia, information exchange, creation of knowledge, sharing of best practices, and assistance in developing multi-stakeholder and policy/private partnerships..

Activities

UNESCAP has commenced implementation of the Summit outcomes and the Regional Action Plan by initiating activities in the fields of ICT applications; creating an enabling policy environment for ICT for development

• During the Cluster of WSIS-related events, held in Geneva from 14 to 25 May 2007, Geneva, Switzerland, ICSTD made two presentations: Regional cooperation to achieve WSIS targets in Asia and the Pacific"> and Knowledge Economy and ICT4D in Asia and the Pacific
• ICSTD co-organized the Tenth Meeting of the Regional Interagency Working Group on Information and Communication Technology (IWG) in Bangkok on 1 December 2006.
• The Expert Group Meeting on Regional Cooperation on Follow-up to WSIS and ICT4D was held in Bangkok, from 30 November. to 1 December 2006
• The Regional Workshop on Follow-up to WSIS and Integration of ICT Policies and Strategies in the Development Process was held in Bangkok from 29 to 31 May 2006

WSIS Targets to be achieved by 2015

1. to connect villages with ICTs and establish community access points;
2. to connect universities, colleges, secondary schools and primary schools with ICTs;
3. to connect scientific and research centres with ICTs;
4. to connect public libraries, cultural centres, museums, post offices and archives with ICTs;
5. to connect health centres and hospitals with ICTs;
6. to connect all local and central government departments and establish websites and email addresses;
7. to adapt all primary and secondary school curricula to meet the challenges of the Information Society, taking into account national circumstances;
8. to ensure that all of the world's population have access to television and radio services;
9. to encourage the development of content and to put in place technical conditions in order to facilitate the presence and use of all world languages on the Internet;
10. to ensure that more than half the world's inhabitants have access to ICTs within their reach.

Background on the WSIS process

The Geneva Phase in 2003

The First Phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) was held in Geneva from 13 to 15 December 2003. By adopting the Declaration of Principles and the Plan of Action, WSIS has established a common vision and global consensus at the highest political level on the vital role of ICT for sustainable development including the promotion of the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Some key points of the Plan of Action of the Geneva Phase:

• Develop and strengthen regional broadband infrastructure
• Promote regional cooperation in capacity building
• Cultural diversity and identity base on regional and international cooperation
• Regions should develop tools for statistical information on IS
• Invite international and regional organizations to assist all levels of developing countries taking into account the importance of regional initiatives

After the completion of the first phase, UNESCAP, through ICSTD, conducted follow-up activities to the First Phase and to preparation for the Second Phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)

The Tunis Phase in 2005

The Second Phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) was held in Tunis from 16 to 18 November 2005. The Summit focused on three main issues: implementation of the outcomes of the Geneva phase; financial mechanisms for information and communication technology for development (ICT4D) and Internet governance(IG).
It adopted two documents, the Tunis Commitment and the Tunis Agenda for the Information Society, that form the outcomes of the WSIS and painted a common vision and a global consensus for concerted action to bridge the digital divide and create an Information Society.
The importance of having a multi-stakeholder and cross-sectoral approach to promoting the integration of ICT policies and strategies in the development process was strongly emphasized.