special coverage: information society & WSIS

29.07.2003 The basic need of all knowledge based economies is low cost, broad access to the Internet. This article presents the World Bank's views on expanding Internet access, role of regulatory authorities, infrastructure, pricing, service quality etc.

29.07.2003 With nearly 80% of the world's population still lacking access to basic telecommunication tools, Abdul Wahid Khan, Unesco's Assistant Director-General for Communication and Information, presents his views and opinions in an interview on the establishment of an information society.

29.07.2003 Civil society should shift the discussion at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) away from identifying the digital divide as a technological problem to an understanding that the divide is merely a symptom of some of the bigger socio-economic issues, NGO activists said in a discussion recently organised by the Digital Freedom Network.

29.07.2003 A new discussion list launched for the 'Africa Civil Society Caucus Group' of the World Summit for Information Society aims to discuss and prepare inputs for WSIS. Join the list and help set the agenda for the future of the African information society.

28.07.2003 Maastricht, the Netherlands
This conference aims to analyse the institutions of the information society and welcomes scholars from all social sciences with an interest in understanding the economic significance, broadly conceived, of the information society.

22.07.2003 SANGONeT is hosting a Thetha (discussion group) on the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) on 30 July 2003 in Braamfontein, South Africa. The objectives of this forum is to help South African CSOs develop an understanding of the focus and objectives of the WSIS, and to discuss the position of the South African government and civil society in this regard.

07.07.2003 An African developmental organisation, working in the rural areas of Zimbabwe says that the basic needs of the people have to be met first; only then can ICT implementation be done. It has also highlighted the need to understand the worldview of these populations.