World Summit on the Information Society

The Association for Progressive Communications (APC), the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), the Internet Democracy Project, and the Internet Society are co-organising a side event for non-governmental stakeholders to share and exchange their views and priorities with governments on WSIS+10 in a dynamic, interactive setting.    

This report focuses on the provision of free internet access to communities in public libraries in South Africa. It has been prepared in response to a United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) review of the 2003 World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Plan of Action commitments, with the aim of gauging the extent to which South Africa has met those commitments ten years after...

What are the world’s governments thinking in the lead-up to the 10-year review of the World Summit on the Information Society? This report aims to inform stakeholder engagement by providing insight into 15 key government perspectives. The country chapter on South Africa was contributed by APC.

APC has participated extensively in the internet governance process at the World Summit on Information Society. Out of this participation and in collaboration with other partners, including members of the WSIS civil society internet governance caucus, APC has crystallized a set of recommendations with regard to internet governance ahead of the final Summit in Tunis in November 2005.

This document was originally produced in Spanish February 2004 for the publication The World Summit on the Information Society: A subject for all, produced by the Third Sector Information Network (RITS) and the Heinrich Böll Foundation. The present version offers an update related to the second phase of the WSIS.

On 15-16 December 2015, the UN General Assembly held the 10-year review to “take stock of the progress made in the implementation of the outcomes of the WSIS and address potential information and communications technology gaps.” Just as WSIS sought to address pressing internet issues of the day, WSIS+10 addressed the challenges facing today’s global community.

The 2005 UN World Summit on the Information Society set the tone for global discussions on internet and society that continue to dominate the sector. At the end of 2015, the UN General Assembly is holding a high-level meeting to review the WSIS, which again will profoundly shape the debate in the short and long term.

The goal of people-centred information societies can only be achieved through constant adherence to the principle of inclusive participation. This is why meaningful participation of all stakeholders is so important in the ten-year review and in furthering the WSIS vision beyond 2015.