--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
SPECIAL EDITION
WORLD SUMMIT ON THE INFORMATION SOCIETY (WSIS)
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
*APCNews, the monthly newsletter of the
Association for Progressive Communications (APC)*
- December 2003 No. 38 -
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
-- ON THE ISSUES --
-- APC AT WSIS --
-- THE UNEXPECTED AT WSIS -
-- APC MEMBERS AT WSIS HIGHLIGHT POLICY WORK AT HOME -
-- ESSENTIAL READING --
-- USEFUL SITES ON THE WSIS --
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
Policy decisions being made today will impact on the peoples of the
world's ability and potential to use ICTs as tools in their work
tomorrow. At the United Nations' World Summit on the Information Society
(WSIS) -held December 10-12 in Geneva- governments signed a declaration
that will enhance or hinder access to ICTs for the vast majority of the
world's population. APC has been actively participating in the WSIS
process and helping others get involved by producing resources, websites
and guides. As the dust begins to settle, APCNews brings you a
collection of some of the significant events and issues at WSIS.
Welcome to those of you at the summit who are receiving APCNews for the
first time and a happy 2004 to all our readers!
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
-- ON THE ISSUES --
Frustrated by UN summit, civil society presents its own declaration
GENEVA, December 11 2003 -- At a conference this afternoon, civil
society representatives presented an 'alternative' declaration to the
official Declaration expected to be approved by the world's governments
tomorrow at the final day of the World Summit on the Information Society
in Geneva.
The civil society declaration -called "Shaping information societies for
human needs"- was needed because the process has constantly been
disillusioning and frustrating said representatives at the
heavily-attended conference. They recognised that some impact was made
on the official WSIS Declaration especially involving the vision and the
principles, which were previously technocratic and have become more
human-centred. However, the civil society declaration goes further,
calling for information societIES that are free from discrimination,
violence and hatred, and based on a framework of social, political and
economic justice and a more equitable distribution of resources. - APCNews
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=15946
The first phase of the controversial World Summit on the Information
Society has come to a close. Firm decisions on various important issues
(including future governance of the Internet) have largely been left for
the next WSIS phase, which is scheduled to take place in Tunisia on
November 16-18 2005.
UN summit pledges net for all
Delegates at UN's digital divide summit agree on principles of web
equality, but fail to commit on who pays for them. - BBC Online
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/1/hi/technology/3314921.stm
Another online world is possible but only if governments and civil
society work hand-in-hand
GENEVA, December 12 2003 -- Carlos Afonso, Director of Planning at APC
member in Brazil, RITS (Rede de Informações para o Terceiro Setor -
Information Network for the Third Sector) left government delegates
clear during his speech on behalf of civil society at the Plenary
Session of the World Summit on the Information Society that "digital
inclusion [..] will only be possible with the decisive support of a
national public policy, in partnership with civil society." Carlos's
powerful speech was delivered spontaneously and without notes.
Fortunately it was captured on tape and translated into English by APC.
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=16182
Digital Fund: Digital Dilemma
GENEVA, December 9 2003 -- The squabbling over whether industrialised
countries should help pay for technology infrastructure in the South
continues to deflect attention from the potential of ICTs in
development. --IPS
http://www.ipsnews.net/focus/tv_society/viewstory.asp?idn=76
Digital Fund: Back to the future
GENEVA, December 10 2003 -- After postponing the decision on management
of the internet, WSIS negotiators have put the digital fund on hold.
Will the idea for a digital fund end its life gathering dust on a
bureaucrat's shelf? That's the question many delegates must be asking
themselves after Tuesday's press conference detailing the outcome of
talks on the matter. - IPS
http://www.ipsnews.net/focus/tv_society/viewstory.asp?idn=109
Telecentres to Narrow Digital Divide
GENEVA, December 9 2003 -- Several Latin American governments are
setting up telecentres where people can surf the Internet, often free of
charge, in an attempt to narrow the digital divide within their
societies, which is perhaps larger than the gap that separates them from
the industrialised world. -- IPS
http://www.ipsnews.net/focus/tv_society/viewstory.asp?idn=74
ESPAÑOL: COMUNICACIONES: Infocentros para reducir brecha digital
http://www.ipsnews.net/focus/tv_society/viewstory.asp?idn=73
Internet Reform: Who Should Master the Domains?
GENEVA, December 9 2003 -- As the WSIS opens, the international
community finds it self drawn into the debate over whether the
Internet's core infrastructure the domains should remain managed by
industry or be taken over by governments, via the United Nations.
http://www.ipsnews.net/focus/tv_society/viewstory.asp?idn=75
Gender and ICTs: How ICTs could benefit women
GENEVA, December 9 2003 -- New technologies can only become relevant for
African women if they are interfaced with what already exists. -- IPS
http://www.ipsnews.net/focus/tv_society/viewstory.asp?idn=83
Gender and ICTs: Champion of Women's ICT Rights
Dafne Plou interviews Chat Garcia Ramilo, from the Philippines, a member
of the APC Women's Networking Support Programme (APC WNSP) and a
well-known researcher and activist on gender and ICT issues. -- ENAWA
http://www.enawa.org/scripts/wwwopac.exe?database=brief&%250=100476&GEZOCHT
OP=Chat%20Garcia%20Ramilo&titel=Champion%20of%20Women's%20ICT%20Rights
Communication at War, Communication for Peace: A session at the World
Forum on Communication Rights
GENEVA, December 12 2003 -- The first victim of war is the truth, so
goes the old proverb. At a conference yesterday in the World Forum on
Communication Rights -a parallel forum to the official Summit- speakers
from the United States, Colombia, and a Kenyan technologist working in
Rwanda took up the theme of how war situations deny communities the
right to communicate and how citizens can and are responding to break
the silence. - APCNews
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=15972
The Summit Begins
GENEVA, December 10 2003 -- Today, December 10th at 14:00, the World
Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) officially began - after a
preparatory process that was longer that foreseen, due to difficulty in
reaching a consensus on the Declaration of Principles and the Action
Plan, the final documents to be discussed and sanctioned by the heads of
government present in Geneva. - RITS
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=15999
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
-- APC AT WSIS --
APC Women's Networking Support Programme (APC WSNP) celebrates a decade
of empowering women through information and communications technologies
GENEVA, 11 December 2003 -- The APC Women's Networking Support Programme
(APC WNSP) celebrated ten remarkable years of working to make ICTs
accessible to women yesterday at the World Summit on the Information
Society in Geneva.
In honour, they hosted a day-long series of panels, workshops and
presentations which included a Gender and ICT award winners panel, a
presentation on the WNSP's innovative gender evaluation methodology for
ICTs which included the experiences of GEM testers from several
continents, a session on free and open source software for African women
from APC-Africa-Women, and the WENT Asia fifth anniversary awards. -
APCNews
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=15932
Winners of the APC WNSP/GKP Gender and ICT Awards announced in Geneva
GENEVA, December 11 2003 -- The Global Knowledge Partnership (GKP) held
the Awards Ceremony for the winners of the awards for gender, youth,
media and poverty reduction. During the Awards Ceremony, APC executive
director, Anriette Esterhuysen, and Women's Programme coordinator, Chat
Garcia Ramilo, announced the winners of the Gender and ICT Awards on
behalf of APC. - APC WNSP
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=15959
APC introduced our new book - "ICT Policy: A Beginner's Handbook"
APC's new book lays out the issues and dispenses with the jargon to
encourage more people to get involved in ICT policy processes. It's a
book for people who feel that ICT policy is important but don't know
much about it, e.g. a government official worried about a gap in her
technical knowledge of how the internet works, a human-rights worker
concerned that his need to send secure email is being challenged by
national government policy, a citizen fed up with paying exorbitant
rates for dial-up internet access and ready to organise... It's not a
map but it is a compass.
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=15959
An interview with the editor of "ICT Policy: A Beginner's Handbook"
APCNews asked the editor of APC's new book "ICT Policy: A Beginner's
Handbook" Chris Nicol to comment briefly on motivation behind the
handbook which was published in December. - APCNews
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=16109
APC at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)
MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay, December 5 2003 - A run-down of the main APC
activities at WSIS. APC was at stand 842 in the Human Capacity &
Empowerment street at the ICT4D Platform in the Palexpo, Geneva.
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=15645
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
-- THE UNEXPECTED AT WSIS -
A privacy threat to WSIS participants is exposed
An international group of independent researchers attending the Word
Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) has revealed important
technical and legal flaws, relating to data protection and privacy, in
the security system used to control access to the UN Summit. The system
not only fails to guarantee the promised high levels of security but
also introduces the ery real possibility of constant surveillance of the
representatives of the civil society. - Alberto Escudero-Pascual
http://www.contra.info/wsis
Thousands of newspapers critical of next WSIS host are removed from
'information society' summit
GENEVA, December 18 2003 -- APC's partner IPS (InterPress Service) sent
a letter of complaint to the Secretary General of the ITU (organisers of
last week's World Summit on the Information Society) following the
removal of many hundreds of their independent newspapers, Terra Viva, by
Tunisians trying to suppress criticism of their government. The same
people were disrupting meetings critical of the Tunisian human rights
record, including the World Forum on Communication Rights which also
took place last week in Geneva. - APCNews
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=16083
Goodbye Geneva, hello Tunis!
GENEVA, December 12 2003 -- Representatives at the Tunisian stand were
wreathed in smiles yesterday, as they prepared to welcome the world at
WSIS 2005. But while negotiators have managed to sweep tough issues
under the carpet this time around, it may not be as easy during the
second phase of the summit. -- IPS
http://www.ipsnews.net/focus/tv_society/viewstory.asp?idn=186
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
-- APC MEMBERS AT WSIS HIGHLIGHT POLICY WORK AT HOME -
Philippine ICT policy framework checked against WSIS yardstick
Several issues which civil society has been advocating in WSIS
negotiations are not adequately addressed in the current ICT policy
framework of the Philippine government. This was the general observation
that surfaced in a workshop which the Foundation for Media Alternatives
organized to open up discussions on WSIS and its impact on local
policies here. - FMA
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=15966
South Korea ICT activists launch online guide to human rights in the
information society
APC member in South Korea, Korean Progressive Network Jinbonet' launched
an online guide to human rights in the Information society on December
10th, 2003, the 55th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights. - JinboNet
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=15929
Launch of Brazil's first Observatory of Public Policies on Infoinclusion
APC's member in Brazil, RITS, has set up the OPPI site as a web-based
tool for monitoring, analyzing and undertaking projects and policies
which contribute to infoinclusion, as well as covering other issues
related to democratization of ICTs in Brazil. - RITS
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=15624
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
-- ESSENTIAL READING --
Declaration and action plan in five languages:
http://www.itu.int/wsis/documents/doc_multi-en-1161|1160.asp
Civil society representatives presented an 'alternative' declaration to
the official Declaration. The document, "Shaping information societies
for human needs", was based on the "Essential Benchmarks" which outlined
what civil society representatives wanted to see in the official WSIS
documents and was presented to government delegates in the resumed third
preparatory committee meeting in November 2003. Civil society
representatives will use the benchmarks to measure the actual impact of
the official Declaration and Action Plan.
The civil society declaration:
http://www.alainet.org/active/show_news.phtml?news_id=5118
Essential benchmarks:
http://www.worldsummit2003.de/download_en/CS-Essential-Benchmarks-for-WSIS-
14-11-03-final.rtf
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
-- USEFUL SITES ON THE WSIS --
Official WSIS site: http://www.worldsummit2003.org/
The World Summit on the Information Society Civil Society Meeting Point:
http://www.wsis-cs.org/
Communication Rights in the Information Society - CRIS Campaign:
http://www.crisinfo.org/live/index.php
WSIS Civil Society News Centre: http://www.wsis-online.net/csnews/news/
The Daily Summit - daily news coverage of the WSIS:
http://www.dailysummit.net/
Terraviva: The independent daily at the WSIS
Onsite coverage included stories in English and French from the IPS news
agency in partnership with InfoSud and with African Woman and Child
Feature Service. You can read the stories and also download pdf files of
the newspaper as it appeared at the summit in Geneva.
http://www.ipsnews.net/focus/tv_society/
Coverage on WSIS in Spanish from Choike:
http://www.choike.org/nuevo/about/cmsi.htm#choike
Coverage in Portuguese from RITS is featured in Cidadania:
http://www.cidadania.org.br/
APC coverage of WSIS: http://www.apc.org/english/wsis and in Spanish
http://lac.derechos.apc.org/wsis
APC WNSP (Women's Networking Support Programme) at the WSIS:
http://www.apcwomen.org/summit/
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
APCNews, in English, and APCNoticias, in Spanish, are
distributed monthly by APC, the Association for Progressive
Communications (APC), the international Internet community
for peace, human rights, development and the environment.
APCNews Archive: http://www.apc.org/english/news/apcnews/
CopyLeft. 2003 Association for Progressive Communications
(APC). Permission is granted to use this document for personal
use, for training and educational publications, and activities
by peace, environmental, human rights or development
organizations. Please provide an acknowledgment to APC.
_______________________________________________
APCNews mailing list
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://lists.apc.org/mailman/listinfo/apcnews
------------
***GKD is solely supported by EDC, a Non-Profit Organization***
To post a message, send it to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To subscribe or unsubscribe, send a message to:
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. In the 1st line of the message type:
subscribe gkd OR type: unsubscribe gkd
Archives of previous GKD messages can be found at:
<http://www.edc.org/GLG/gkd/>
