Tunisia to host world summit on information society<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Tunisia -- a small Northern African country -- will host the
\nsecond phase of the World Summit on the Information Society
\n(WSIS) from Nov. 16 to Nov. 18, which endeavors to bridge the
\n\"digital divide\" and consolidate the information society through
\npublic-private partnerships.<\/p>\n
The Embassy of Tunisia in Jakarta said in a statement that the
\nsummit, whose process was launched in Geneva in December 2003
\nunder the auspices of the UN, would be a boon for Tunisia.<\/p>\n
In 1998, Tunisia called for this type of summit during the
\nInternational Telecommunication Union (ITU) conference in
\nMinneapolis in the USA.<\/p>\n
The summit will coincide with the 18th anniversary of an
\nimportant event -- the Change of 7th November, 1987 -- when then
\nPrime Minister Zine El Abidine BEN ALI took charge as President
\nof Tunisia.<\/p>\n
The ITU said about 50 heads of state and government have so
\nfar confirmed participation in the Tunis meeting, to be held at
\nKram PalExpo.<\/p>\n
The private sector will be present in force, with more CEOs
\nconfirmed to participate than at the Summit's Geneva phase in
\n2003. Corporate partners of the Tunisian Organizing Committee,
\nWSIS Tunis 2005, include Alcatel, Ericsson, Huawei, Microsoft,
\nNokia, Samsung and ZTE.<\/p>\n
With regard to the WSIS summit, Tunisia will also organize a
\nseries of events including meetings, debates, workshops and
\nexhibitions on information society from Nov. 14 to Nov. 19.<\/p>\n
The Tunis WSIS, to be attended by an Indonesian delegation, is
\nto follow up the implementation of the ambitious agenda agreed to
\nat the first phase of WSIS.<\/p>\n
In Geneva, 175 countries adopted a Declaration of Principles
\noutlining a common vision for the information society and a Plan
\nof Action that set targets to improve connectivity and access in
\ninformation and use of communication technology (ICT).<\/p>\n
The targets, to be achieved by 2015, include connecting
\nvillages, community access points, schools and universities,
\nresearch centers, libraries, health centers and hospitals, and
\nlocal and central government departments.<\/p>\n
Governments will also seek agreement on issues such as
\neffective financial strategies to promote the deployment of ICTs
\nin the developing world and possible options for the governance
\nof the Internet.<\/p>\n
According to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU),
\nthe 942-million people living in the world's developed economies
\nenjoy five times better access to fixed and mobile phone
\nservices, nine times better access to Internet services, and own
\n13 times more personal computers than the 85% of the world's
\npopulation living in low and lower-middle income countries.<\/p>\n
ITU also estimates that 800,000 villages still lack connection
\nby telephone line, the Internet or any other modern ICT.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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