|
MEETINGS
"The Information Society – From Declaration to Implementation"
United Nations Regional Commissions,
Palais des Nations,
Geneva, 21 May 2007
The five United Nations Regional Commissions for Africa, Europe,
Asia and the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Western
Asia played an active role at the World Summit on the Information
Society (WSIS) held in Geneva 2003 and in Tunis 2005. The Regional
Commissions were promoting national strategies and regional actions
in the development of a global Information Society.
As a follow up to the WSIS Summits, and parallel to the 2007 Annual
Session of the UN Commission on Science and Technology for
Development, the Regional Commissions organized an event entitled:
“The Information Society – From Declaration to Implementation” at
the Palais des Nations, Geneva, on 21 May 2007.
The Keynote speaker at this event was the Executive Director of the
European Environment Agency, Prof. Jacqueline McGlade, who spoke on
the importance of developing a “European Shared Environmental
Information System”.
Participants of the previous meetings agreed that a regional
perspective is indispensable to navigate between national
particularities and global requirements for the Information Society.
The implementation process of the WSIS goals has demonstrated that
the UN Regional Commissions are particularly well positioned to
contribute to this challenge. The multifaceted nature of the UN
Regional Commission’s work agenda contributes to the creation of
networks and cooperation among the countless actors. Further
strengths, such as presence on the ground, close contact to member
countries and a UN-wide perspective, become fundamental to the
implementation of the WSIS Plans of Action. While every country
around the world has initiated some public policy related to the
bridging of the digital divide and the digital opportunity, regional
cooperation is one of the major platforms for exchanging experiences
and introducing an international perspective for development without
straining the developing countries nascent ICT efforts.
Discussions at this event highlighted the role Regional Commissions
play in organizing technical assistance, capacity building and
training. That role also entails facilitating peer dialogue,
exchanging experience, promoting good practices and developing
indicators and benchmarks. Foremost was the need to ensure strong
and continuous regional ICT agendas in developing regions, which are
supported by the UN Regional Commissions, such as the African
Information Society Initiative (AISI); ESCAP Asia-Pacific Knowledge
Economy Initiative; ESCWA Regional Plan of Action for building the
Information Society or the Latin American and Caribbean Action Plan
eLAC2007.
The deployment of breakthrough wireless solutions and the impact of
ICTs on accelerating the development of a knowledge-based economy
have been identified as important issues. Experts have noted that
the UN Regional Commissions are contributing to the creation of
indispensable ICT statistical information, being an active part of
the Global Partnership for Measuring ICT for Development. First
studies show the positive contributions ICT make to economic growth
in developing countries.
Participants from Arab countries stressed that native language on
the Web should be promoted to help increase the usage of the
Internet. Monitoring and periodic profiling of ICT developments and
trends at national and regional levels also play an important role
in accelerating the information society and achieving the Millennium
Development Goals.
In Africa, a two-part e-Trade roadmap captured both the content of
the project and how policy and program development could be
affected.
The ECE secretariat announced the re-launching of the Convention’s
Aarhus Clearinghouse for Environmental Democracy (http://aarhusclearinghouse.unece.org),
a global electronic portal designed to take advantage of the
interactive potential of the Internet. The United Nations Centre for
Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (UN/CEFACT) also gave
details of its major progress towards paperless trade through its UN
electronic trade documents project, UneDocs.
Latin American and Caribbean policymakers are preparing for the
Ministerial Conference on the Information Society in El Salvador,
6-8 November 2007, where the region will evaluate the implementation
of eLAC2007 and discuss a new Action Plan with 2010 in mind. As a
follow-up to the WSIS, ESCAP Member States have established the
Asian and Pacific Training Centre for Information and Communication
Technology for Development (APCICT) in Seoul in 2006. ESCAP also
plans to organize a Third Ministerial Conference on Space
Applications for Sustainable Development in Asia and the Pacific in
Kuala Lumpur in 2007. A new initiative for ESCAP will be the
“Asia-Pacific Knowledge Economy Development”, which aims to assist
member States in harnessing the ICT potential for economic growth
and poverty reduction through regional strategies and action plans.
A good example of regional and international cooperation is the
project on "Knowledge networks through ICT access points for
disadvantaged communities", currently being implemented by the five
Regional Commissions. Continued cooperation by the Regional
Commissions will be instrumental in realizing the WSIS goals and
maintaining the momentum of their implementation.
For more information on the work of the United Nations Regional
Commissions on the Information Society, please consult the following
websites:
Economic Commission for Africa (ECA)
http://www.uneca.org
Economic Commission for Europe (ECE)
http://www.unece.org
Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean(ECLAC)
http://www.eclac.org/SocInfo
Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP)
http://www.unescap.org
Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA)
http://www.escwa.org
|
 |
