[Peace-discuss] Fwd: World Summit on the Information Society, pt.1

[Alfred Kagan]

FYI, part 2 to follow.

>Date: Mon, 15 Dec 2003 06:52:14 -0600
>To: akagan at uiuc.edu
>Subject: Africa: Digital Solidarity Gap, 1
>From: africafocus at igc.org
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>Africa: Digital Solidarity Gap, 1
>
>AfricaFocus Bulletin
>December 15, 2003 (031215)
>(Reposted from sources cited below)
>
>Editor's Note 
>
>Delegates from 176 countries and as many as 10,000 representatives
>of civil society and the private sector attended the World Summit
>on the Information Society in Geneva last week. They dispersed
>having filled dozens of web sites with documentation of the vast
>digital divide between rich and poor, declarations of good
>intentions, examples of promising initiatives, and decisions to
>postpone controversial decisions on internet governance and a
>proposed Digital Solidarity Fund.
>
>This issue of AfricaFocus Bulletin contains a selection of news
>stories on the Summit from the Highway Africa News Agency. Among
>the many sites with additional coverage are:
>http://www.choike.org/nuevo_eng/about/wsis.htm
>http://www.worldsummit2003.org
>and the official conference website:
>http://www.itu.int/wsis/
>
>Another issue of AfricaFocus Bulletin today contains the new
>Digital Access Index ratings from the International
>Telecommunications Union, and reports on an initiative by Lyon,
>Geneva, and Senegal to move ahead with launching the Digital
>Solidarity Fund themselves.
>
>++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>
>Visit http://www.africafocus.org for news, analysis, advocacy
>Find recent book recommendations at Powell's, a unionized
>on-line bookstore: http://www.solidarityresearch.org/powells
>
>++++++++++++++++++++++end editor's note+++++++++++++++++++++++
>
>All the way to Timbuktu, online
>
>By Haru Mutasa (Highway Africa News Agency)
>
>[This and articles below from http://www.highwayafrica.org.za/hana,
>a joint initiative of the South African Broadcasting Corporation
>(SABC) and Rhodes University]
>
>December 12, 2003
>
>Timbuktu, Mali, has launched its first official website at the
>Geneva World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), thanks to
>two African United Nations volunteers.
>
>"I was concerned about the development of my country and that is
>why I got involved with the United Nations project in Mali," said
>30-year-old IT technician Haidara Fatoumata.
>
>Setting up the site was difficult because of the open source
>software she was using. "There were many technical problems," she
>said, "we were not used to working on the open software programmes
>we were using. We came across problems registering and hosting the
>website in Mali, because no one had this software. The Internet is
>not used a lot in a country like Mali, and we still have to figure
>out ways to fix the many problems we are facing."
>
>Fatoumata said she stumbled into the IT world by accident. "Ever
>since I was a little girl I always liked to open stuff and play
>with connections and points," she said, "At home I was the only one
>in the family who could fix the radio when it was broken." She was
>meant to study architecture at university, but quickly changed to
>IT.
>
>She worked with colleague Merault Ahoijangansi from Benin on
>designing and setting up the website. "I am very happy and excited
>that this project has been accomplished," said Ahoijangansi. "I
>joined the volunteer programme to be able to help other people. I
>did volunteer work in my country for some time before coming to
>Mali."
>
>Timbuktu mayor Mohammed Cisse officially launched the site
>http://www.tombouctou.net on Thursday, saying it will connect the
>people of Timbuktu to the outside world. The mayor also hopes the
>site will provide the town with basic information on how to find
>information on jobs and health issues.
>
>The town is 1000 km from the capital Bamako and takes about two
>days by road. Most of the residents live in poverty and have little
>or no contact with the outside world.
>
>"Already we are in communication with a hospital in Geneva," said
>Cisse, "and our hospital in Timbuktu exchanges ideas and
>information with Geneva regularly. It is a new project, which seems
>to be working."
>
>All this was made possible through the United Nations Volunteers
>Programmme, which is administered by the United Nations Development
>Programme (UNDP). The organisation hopes that volunteer initiatives
>like this one can connect communities quickly and efficiently to
>the rest of the world to exchange knowledge, which will in turn
>contribute to development.
>
>"The site will keep evolving for some time," said Fatoumata.
>"Merault and I will be working on it up until 2005 at least. I keep
>looking at the site and thinking that there is still so much more
>we can still do with it and I hope to get more training soon to
>make a real splash of the site."
>
>**********************************************************
>
>Taskforce to build Digital Solidarity Fund
>
>By Emrakeb Assefa (Highway Africa News Agency)
>
>December 12, 2003
>
>World leaders have agreed to set up a workforce early next year to
>come up with a framework to build the Digital Solidarity Fund
>(DSF), to be created to finance projects to bridge the digital
>divide between South and North.
>
>The group, working under the auspices of the UN Secretary-General,
>is to submit its final study document in December 2004.
>
>President of the WSIS (World Summit on the Information Society)
>Preparatory Committee (PrepCom) Adama Samassekou said today that
>the working group, comprising African nations and other developing
>countries supporting Senegal's proposal, has the mandate now to
>make a report that is "convincing", so that an increasing number of
>countries will start contributing to it. The Swiss and Indian
>governments have already contributed money to the Fund.
>
>"We have been given one year to come up with the review, and it is
>up to us to convince those who don't see the necessity of building
>the fund, mainly the developed countries, so that we can reach
>consensus in Tunis in 2005," Samassekou said.
>
>This task force review will be submitted for consideration to the
>second phase of WSIS in Tunis. Based on the conclusion of the
>review, improvements in the financing mechanisms will be
>considered, including the effectiveness, feasibility and creation
>of a voluntary DSF, as mentioned in the WSIS Declaration of
>Principles.
>
>The creation of the taskforce has been a direct result of the
>efforts of African nations who saw existing financial mechanisms as
>not being sufficient to bridge the digital divide. Hence, even
>though governments in WSIS noted that the mechanisms should be
>fully exploited, they have agreed to review their adequacy in
>meeting the challenges of ICT for development.
>
>Asked if the Summit has been a disappointment in the sense that no
>specific measures are taken to immediately set up the Fund,
>Samassekou said, "When we started the WSIS process, it was even
>difficult to speak about the Fund. Now it is there and it is not
>going anywhere."
>
>"We had very frank and heated discussions that put the emphasis on
>the need of the countries in the South which do not have the ICTs
>opportunity yet."
>
>He said the current debate was not about whether the Fund should
>exist or not, but how it should be built and what mechanisms should
>be used to make it an effective body. He added that because the
>Fund is not for Africa alone but for the whole world, countries
>should reach consensus more easily.
>
>The PrepCom president, who is also the minister of education in
>Mali, saw the main success of the Summit as being the creation of
>"new spirit of co-operation based on solidarity", adding that
>"Africa and its interest has been honoured for first time" in the
>form of an election of an African to lead the WSIS process.
>
>As it currently stands, the plan of action looks at the Fund from
>the perspective of the Digital Solidarity Agenda, which calls on
>developed countries to make concrete efforts to fulfil their
>international commitments to financing development, including the
>Monterrey Consensus.
>
>The Consensus urges rich countries to achieve the target of 0.7 per
>cent of gross national product (GNP) as Official Development
>Assistance (ODA) to developing countries and 0.15 to 0.20 per cent
>of GNP of developed countries to least developed countries.
>
>*********************************************************
>
>African project gets one million Euros at Summit
>
>By Haru Mutasa (Highway Africa News Agency)
>
>December 12, 2003
>
>The African-driven Digital Solidarity Fund (DSF) received a boost
>today after the city of Lyon in France injected 300 000 Euros for
>the development of Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) in
>developing countries.
>
>This brings the total sum raised to one million Euros. The
>contribution will be added to the 500 000 dollars donated by the
>Senegalese government and the 500 000 Swiss francs from the city of
>Geneva. It is hoped the United Nations will put money into the
>fund.
>
>Speaking at a meeting at the World Summit on the Information
>Society (WSIS) in Geneva, Senegalese Minister of Communications
>Mamadou Diop Decroix said: "We wanted to put our money where our
>mouth is. The fund is new and original. We felt the Summit should
>not be allowed to finish with the usual declarations and felt it
>important to come up with concrete plans of action."
>
>The minister said the money will enable billions of men and women
>who are excluded from ICT activities to be included. This will
>create cultural diversity and help them engage actively in a
>globalised world as well as give them access to information.
>
>The fund, proposed by President Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal, relies
>on voluntary contributions of members in the government, business
>and private sector and Diop Decroix called it a fund like no other.
>"No country will be forced to contribute and there will be no
>restrictions placed on countries that benefit from the fund," he
>said.
>
>"It is wonderful that this initiative came from the South and not
>the North," said Diop Decroix. "We cannot wait for state leaders to
>agree on things before action starts happening. This project
>encourages cities and local governments to do more than just talk,
>but to work together and come up with workable solutions."
>
>"This will facilitate a democratic process with all stakeholders
>from all corners of the world playing an active role in decision
>making processes," he said, adding that the management of this
>initiative will be different from anything seen before.
>
>*************************************************************
>
>Summit agrees on critical issues
>
>Wairagala Wakabi (Highway Africa News Agency)
>
>December 12, 2003
>
>World leaders have endorsed a plan under which modern communication
>technologies will be extended to the poor, and other efforts
>undertaken to bridge the digital divide between poor and rich
>countries.
>
>A Plan of Action (POA) and Declaration from the World Summit on the
>Information Society (WSIS) tasks governments and donors with
>injecting more funds in making Information and Communication
>Technologies more accessible and affordable to the poor people
>particularly in developing countries.
>
>The summit, which was hosted by the International
>Telecommunications Union and opened by UN Secretary-General Kofi
>Annan, was called to review the challenges posed by the information
>society and draw up mechanisms to make ICTs aid the development of
>world economies.
>
>Organisers said the summit was the first UN event ever at which
>civil society organisations played an active role in drafting and
>debating the documents which were presented to heads of state for
>endorsement.
>
>Business Interests
>
>Business was also represented at the summit and the preparatory
>events leading up to the WSIS. The International Chamber of
>Commerce (ICC) led the formation of the Coordinating Committee of
>Business Interlocutors (CCBI), which was voice of the business at
>WSIS.
>
>Richard McCormick, the Honorary Chair of ICC, said at the end of
>the summit that business was ready to make investments in
>creativity and innovation to enhance the information society. But
>to do so governments had to create the necessary conditions for
>investment.
>
>"Among those conditions are intellectual property rights
>protection, stable and predictable legal systems, trade
>liberalisation, technology neutrality, and a regulatory framework
>which promotes competition and fosters entrepreneurship," he said.
>
>Business also agreed that cables had to be laid, satellites used
>and computers distributed in order to raise access to ICTs. "As
>technologies spread and become more widely available, we are seeing
>the emergence of a younger generation who have ICTs and the
>Internet in their DNA," said McCormick. "It is our responsibility
>to ensure that this genetic streak becomes common to young people
>no matter where they are born in the world."
>
>Internet Governance
>
>McCormick said they were happy with the way the Internet is loosely
>governed through a loose collaboration of various technical bodies.
>They therefore opposed proposals by civil society organisations
>(CSOs) that its governance be made more democratic by involving
>government bodies, service providers and users around the world.
>
>Opinion remained strongly divided on the issue. In the end the UN
>Secretary General was asked by the summit declaration committee to
>set up a working group on Internet governance, "in an open and
>inclusive process" that ensures a mechanism for the full and active
>participation of governments, the private sector and civil society
>from both developing and developed countries.
>
>The group should include relevant intergovernmental and
>international organisations and forums, to investigate and make
>proposals for action on the governance of Internet by 2005.
>
>The group should develop a working definition of Internet
>governance, identify the public policy issues that are relevant to
>Internet governance, and develop a common understanding of the
>respective roles and responsibilities of governments.
>
>Consensus
>
>The ITU said in a statement that through long and fraught
>negotiations involving governments, civil society and the private
>sector, consensus had been reached on several issues including
>Internet governance, intellectual property rights, the media,
>security, traditional knowledge, labour standards, and political
>issues.
>
>It added that resolution of some issues remained sticky until the
>very end though. Such issues involved Internet governance and
>financing the final Draft Plan of Action. Work on those issues will
>continue next year and it is expected that they will be resolved at
>the second of WSIS in Tunisia in 2005.
>
>Digital Solidarity Fund
>
>Bates Namuyamba, Zambia's Communications Minister, said Africa was
>particularly affected by the digital divide, and called for a
>Digital Solidarity Fund to fund ICT development on the continent.
>Senegalese president Abdoulaye Wade was also an ardent supporter of
>the fund, but developed nations did not endorse it.
>
>Open software
>
>No consensus was reached on the issue of open software as an
>alternative to proprietary software. Civil society had wanted the
>summit to encourage adoption of soft software but business
>representatives strongly rooted for proprietary software. Civil
>society argued that open software is cheap and can boost ICT use in
>developing countries.
>
>Ultimately, the summit said access to information and knowledge can
>be promoted by increasing awareness among all stakeholders of the
>possibilities offered by different software models, including
>proprietary, open-source and free software, in order to increase
>competition, access by users, diversity of choice, and to enable
>all users to develop solutions which best meet their requirements.
>It added that affordable access to software should be considered as
>an important component of a truly inclusive Information Society.
>
>Media
>
>The declaration affirms the leaders' commitment to "the principles
>of freedom of the press and freedom of information, as well as
>those of the independence, pluralism and diversity of media, which
>are essential to the Information Society".
>
>It adds: "Freedom to seek, receive, impart and use information for
>the creation, accumulation and dissemination of knowledge are
>important to the Information Society. We call for the responsible
>use and treatment of information by the media in accordance with
>the highest ethical and professional standards".
>
>The declaration also says, "Nothing in this declaration shall be
>construed as impairing, contradicting, restricting or derogating
>from the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations and the
>Universal Declaration of Human Rights, any other international
>instrument or national laws adopted in furtherance of these
>instruments".
>
>The Plan encourages the media to continue to play an important role
>in the Information Society; and the development of domestic
>legislation that guarantees the independence and plurality of the
>media. It says, however, that appropriate steps consistent with
>freedom of expression should be taken to combat illegal and harmful
>content in the media.
>
>*******************************************************
>
>Ghana calls for collective subscription to digital fund
>
>By Angella Nabwowe (Highway Africa News Agency)
>
>Ghanaian President John A. Kufuor has called on all nations to
>subscribe collectively to the Digital Solidarity Fund (DSF).
>
>December 11, 2003
>
>The DSF, proposed to finance Information Communication Technologies
>(ICTs) in Africa, was put on ice after government, industry and
>civil society leaders participating in the World Summit on the
>Information Society (WSIS) process failed to reach a consensus.
>
>Addressing the second plenary meeting of the WSIS on Thursday
>morning, Kufuor said that the principle underlying such a fund
>should be that countries should contribute each according to its
>ability. He added that an administrative set up to regulate the
>proper functioning of the fund should be established. "I am of the
>view that this will be the indispensable social service for the
>efficient and sustainable evolution of the global village. I
>therefore support the call for a committee to work on the
>feasibility of the fund and its regulation," said Kufuor.
>
>He noted that Ghana endorses the call for the establishment of the
>DSF to assist Least Developed Countries (LDCs) to harness the
>powerful potential of the latest technologies. The principle is
>that when the global village is a reality, this technology will be
>"the indispensable infrastructure for social, economic, security
>and other aspects of proper development", said Kufuor.
>
>Addressing the same plenary session, Senegalese president Abdoulaye
>Wade, who has been championing the DSF idea through the WSIS
>process, said that several European proposals to finance ICT
>projects have already been received.
>
>He said they have made considerable headway with regards to
>financing ICTs in the least developed countries. "Let's make no
>mistake about the operations we are proposing that would make
>Africa a partner to more than 800 million consumers. This can make
>it possible to reinforce the productive capacity of Africa and see
>to it that Africa will play a true role in international trade."
>
>He added that with the advent of the information society, the fight
>against poverty and unemployment will be enormous.
>
>He hailed African ministers responsible for ICTs in their
>respective countries who recently met in Dakar, Senegal, for rising
>up to the challenge of drafting a paper reflecting the African
>position, and for tabling it at the WSIS.
>
>*************************************************************
>AfricaFocus Bulletin is a free independent electronic publication
>providing reposted commentary and analysis on African issues, with
>a particular focus on U.S. and international policies. AfricaFocus
>Bulletin is edited by William Minter.
>
>AfricaFocus Bulletin can be reached at africafocus at igc.org. Please
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>http://www.africafocus.org
>
>************************************************************


-- 


Al Kagan
African Studies Bibliographer and Professor of Library Administration
Africana Unit, Room 328
University of Illinois Library
1408 W. Gregory Drive
Urbana, IL 61801, USA

tel. 217-333-6519
fax. 217-333-2214
e-mail. akagan at uiuc.edu