Global
WSIS, Tunis could not attract many ICT celebraties. I am sure, it would not have attracted, many common men and women, who are doing silent, but exemplary work in ICT, as they just cannot afford to travel at their own cost. So WSIS creates a new digital divide, those who could afford to participate either on public money or private money and those who cannot afford to participate.
But I’ve many interesting experiences at WSIS. For example, one evening in Tunis I was travelling back to my hotel by bus and the lady who was sitting next to me was talking to me in French. When I’ve problems explaining things in French, she started speaking to me in English and informed me that she used to work with a writer group in USA.
This crazy summit, which will be remembered as WSIS, is finally over… but the official summit frankly, ended with agreements on further meetings and conferences… and watch out folks… don’t rise your expectations anymore, as nothing will happen. I infact, saw two official delegates, at the closing ceremony with good bye handshakes, saying "see you in Greece".
On the afternoon of Friday, November 18, 2005, one of three stakeholders taking part in the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) drew a line in the sand. Civil society representatives from all continents lined up to deliver a stark closing statement. There were civil society thumbs up for the new multistakeholder Internet Governance Forum; the awareness built that people from all wa...
With the focus at Tunis largely on who controls the Net, and the far-from-sophisticated control mechanisms of Tunisian society, the issue of what the Net can — and is — doing for the excluded in the planet might have taken a back seat. Disparity in accessing the levers of communication is markedly sharp. But interesting stories are coming in about what’s possible from various...
Here are some other voices about how civil society responded to the Tunis mega-meet over the past week. IPS/TerraViva has done an interesting job in highlighting diverse issues. Including reporting on how the non-profit world saw the results of the global meet (a “consolation prize”), how the NGO world sees the deal on internet governance (“disappointed”), the treatment ...
Only 11% of African people have a fixed line telephone, 12% of African people questioned have a mobile telephone, less than 3% have an email address…So says a new study conducted by RIA. Although one of the WSIS’s main objectives is to decrease the digital divide, 80% of African people today do not have access to any form of communication service. A shocking statistic is that 15% of...
I was quite impressed by the many side events women participated in, on Wednesday and Thursday. I’m particulary impressed by the Tanzanian women forum held in the afternoon with a highly led delegation of women in leading ICT and government position in the country. Of particular importance are the women-led event at the APC stand and APC-related talks. Keep it up!
WSIS: "good discussion, people were given a chance to speak out from all kinds of minority positions and it showed well what a powerful tool the internet is, from the perspective of independent journalism."
With this excellent title Havis, an international NGO promoting the freedom of expression organised a whole two-day event, gathering a collection of rather interesting people from all over the globe. All discussions and presentations focused on the “most extreme cases”, the exercise of the freedom of communication under hostile regimes – hence the title. The Tunisian governmen...
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