Issue papers

Whose information society? Developing country and civil society voices in the World Summit on the Information Society
Whose information society? Developing country and civil society voices in the World Summit on the Information Society 05 November 2007 David Souter

This paper summarises a study of developing country and civil society participation and influence in WSIS that was commissioned by the Association for Progressive Communications (APC). As well as analysing participation, the study looked at the impact of WSIS on international ICT decision-making in general and makes recommendations to all main actors about how future decision-making might become more inclusive of developing countries, nongovernmental actors and their concerns.

The World Summit on the Information Society: An overview of follow-up
The World Summit on the Information Society: An overview of follow-up 05 November 2007 Karen Banks, Willie Currie and Anriette Esterhuysen

Civil society, in its final statement on WSIS, expressed its commitment to continue “its involvement in the future mechanisms for policy debate, implementation and follow-up on Information Society issues” by building on the processes and structures that developed during the WSIS process. But what does that mean in practice? What are the post-WSIS implementation processes, what actors are involved, when and where are they taking place and how can you get involved?

The importance of convergence in the ICT policy environment
The importance of convergence in the ICT policy environment 22 August 2007 Kate Wild

This paper looks at the meaning and importance of convergence and considers some of the challenges to implementing it, along with strategies for overcoming them. It also provides a global perspective on regulating convergence and broadband from ITU and then it looks at experiences in North America and Europe as well as regional and country approaches in Africa.

Open Access: Lowering the costs of international bandwidth in Africa
Open Access: Lowering the costs of international bandwidth in Africa 22 August 2007 Mike Jensen

This paper was commissioned by the APC as part of the Catalysing Access to ICTs in Africa initiative and to contribute to APC’s efforts to promote open access to ICT infrastructure in Africa. According to the author, a variety of factors are responsible for the lack of acess to bandwith in Africa, but the biggest cause is the high cost of international connections to the global telecommun...

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