FACT SHEET

The Summit: Content, Themes & Outcome

Proposed Themes
UN General Assembly Resolution 56/183 describes the purpose of the Summit as being the “development of a common vision and understanding of the information society and the adoption of a declaration and plan of action for implementation by Governments, international institutions and all sectors of civil society”.

A series of Preparatory Committees (PrepComs) will define the agenda and themes of the Summit. A substantive input has already been made by the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference (Marrakesh, 2002), which proposes a framework with the following three objectives:

  I)  Providing access to ICTs for all

How can the benefits of ubiquitous and affordable ICTs be extended to all the world’s inhabitants? How can those that have access to ICTs be helped to use them effectively?

  II)  ICTs as a tool for economic and social development - and meeting the Millennium Development Goals

The development of ICTs has implications for economic, social and cultural development. How can ICTs be leveraged to help promote the common goals of humanity, such as those expressed in the UN Millennium Declaration?

III) Confidence and security in the use of ICTs

The benefits of ICTs can only be fully harnessed if there is confidence that these technologies and networks are reliable and secure, and are not misused. What steps should be taken to build confidence and increase security?  

Proposed issues

The preparatory process has identified a number of issues that should be taken into consideration in the fulfillment of these objectives. These include:

1. Information and communication infrastructure: financing and investment, affordability, development and sustainability

2. Access to information and knowledge

3. The role of governments, the business sector and civil society in the promotion of ICTs for development

4. Capacity building: human resources development, education and training

5. Security

6. Enabling environment                                                                                                

7. Promotion of development-oriented ICT applications for all

8. Cultural identity and linguistic diversity, local content and media development

9. Identifying and overcoming barriers to the achievement of the information society with a human perspective  

For the complete working documents of the draft declaration and action plan consult our website at www.itu.int/wsis

The Summit: Outcome
The anticipated outcome of the Summit is to develop and foster a clear statement of political will and a concrete plan of action for achieving the goals of the Information Society, while fully reflecting all the different interests at stake. The scope and nature of this ambitious project will require partnerships with public and private entities, and such partnerships will be actively sought in the coming months.

For examples of concrete and comprehensive actions see
 http://www.itu.int/dms_pub/itu-s/md/03/wsispcip/td/030721/S03-WSISPCIP-030721-TD-GEN-0002!!MSW-E.doc