special coverage: information society & WSIS

28.12.2004 As Tunisia prepares itself to host the second phase of WSIS on November 16-18, 2005, President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali expressed his hope in the Summit saying that it will help in "reducing the digital divide between the industrialized nations and the developing countries.”

28.12.2004 Internet governance and financing of ICT for development initiatives will be discussed in the upcoming South and South-West Asian regional consultation to be held in Kathmandu, Nepal from 12 to 14 January, 2005. The sub-regional meeting to be hosted by the United Nations will propose region specific plan of action towards information society.

27.12.2004 Building trust and confidence in ICT is one of the necessary steps to build an inclusive information society, emerged in the Second Regional Conference for WSIS in Western Asia held in Damascus, Syria recently. The Arab Regional Plan of Action resulting from this meeting will form part of further WSIS meetings.

06.12.2004 A Unesco-supported three-day conference in Marrakech has concluded that freedom of expression and press freedom are vital to creating a knowledge society under the WSIS framework. The conference was attended by more than 270 representatives of international and regional media groups, NGOs and academic institutions.

01.12.2004 As the first meeting of the Working Group on Internet Governance (WGIG) concludes recently, stakeholders have set out the issues required to formulate the agenda to resolve the internet governance debate. The Group is aiming to develop a common understanding of the roles and responsibilities of the stakeholders in internet governance.