 | Issue: | Global-ICT 2005 |
| Article no.: | 1 | |
| Topic: | Building a global Information Society: vision and fact | |
| Author: | Yoshio Utsumi | |
| Title: | Secretary-General | |
| Organisation: | ITU and WSIS | |
| PDF size: | 184KB |
About author
Yoshio Utsumi, the Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the Secretary-General of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) began his long career in telecommunications and public service in Japan’s Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (MPT). Over the years, he served as a professor at the MPT Postal College, led Japan’s largest investment fund, the Postal Life Insurance Bureau, and was Head of the General Affairs Division of MPT’s Broadcasting Bureau. Mr Utsumi helped shape Japan’s domestic policies at the Communications Policy Bureau. He served in Geneva as First Secretary of the Permanent Mission of Japan in charge of ITU affairs and as Director-General of International Affairs of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications. In 1994, he was elected Chairman of the ITU plenipotentiary conference. He also served as MPT Director-General, Assistant Vice-Minister and Deputy Minister until his election as Secretary-General of ITU in 1998. He was re-elected for a second term as Secretary-General in 2002. Mr Utsumi introduced the competition and liberalisation policy that led to Japan’s first reform of its telecommunication market. He was a driving force in Japan’s development of multimedia industries, and successfully undertook a major restructuring of Japan’s postal services. Mr Utsumi has played an active role in many international negotiations, including those leading to the historic WTO agreement on basic telecommunications. Yoshio Utsumi earned a Bachelor degree of Law from the University of Tokyo and a Master’s degree of Arts in Political Science from the University of Chicago.
Article abstract
Access to ICT, to the Information Society, has been uneven. City dwellers, the educated, the rich inhabitants of developed countries all have greater participation in the information driven world economy than the poor, rural inhabitants and uneducated from developing countries. To address these inequalities, the United Nations General Assembly resolved to organise a World Summit on the Information Society aimed at, ‘enabling individuals, communities and peoples to achieve their full potential in promoting sustainable development and improving their quality of life’.
Full Article
The digital revolution in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) has made a profound impact on how the world functions and interacts, and will continue to play a major role in shaping our global future. Unfortunately, access to the benefits of ICT has not been even, among and within countries, between urban and rural areas, between the rich and the poor, between the educated and the illiterate, between men and women. The need to avoid perpetuating the inequities of the past has now taken on a real urgency, which is why many of the world’s key players in ICT are now taking active steps to bridge this information and knowledge divide and bring the benefits of ICT to all. In addressing these challenges of our times, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), which has coordinated global telecommunications for the past 140 years, is once again pioneering a new path by laying the foundations for a global Information Society that seeks to provide universal and equitable access to information and knowledge through widespread use of Information and Communication Technologies. At the initiative of ITU, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a landmark resolution at the end of 2001 to organise a World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS). In 2002, ITU took the lead role in organising the event. The first phase of this top-level Summit concluded in Geneva in December 2003, with global leaders from over 175 countries, including some 50 heads of State/Government and vice-presidents, agreeing on a shared vision of the Information Society and setting out an action plan for its realisation. Specifically, WSIS is committed to ‘building a people-centred, inclusive and development-oriented Information Society, where everyone can create, access, utilise and share information and knowledge, enabling individuals, communities and peoples to achieve their full potential in promoting sustainable development and improving their quality of life’. Most recently, these goals of WSIS have been endorsed by the gathering of world leaders at the UN Summit in September 2005. Preparations are now underway for the second phase of WSIS, which will be held in Tunis from 16th to 18th November 2005. Unique in the history of global summits, the two-phase format of WSIS has created a built-in follow-up mechanism to keep the momentum and to ensure that the goals and principles adopted at the first phase would be achieved. The Tunis Summit will chart the future course of the Information Society, helping ensure that ICT are made globally accessible and devising strategies to use ICT for achieving the development goals enshrined in the UN Millennium Declaration. Information has the power to dispel ignorance and empower people to reach their personal aspirations. It has the power to bind communities on a global scale and to spread the common ideals of peace and tolerance, growth and development. While ICT alone cannot solve the world’s problems, they will be increasingly important tools in accelerating the pace of social and economic development. Because of this, we need to cultivate and involve innovative minds from industry, with their creativity, enthusiasm and wealth of technical experience. These private sector players will be a vital part of efforts to develop new technologies and systems, or adapt existing ones, to meet the pressing needs and challenges of all communities. In keeping with the Millennium Development Goals, ITU is actively forging partnerships to connect the world and bridge the digital divide by bringing the benefits of ICT to all. Flowing on from the Declaration of Principles and the Plan of Action agreed to by world leaders at Phase 1 of WSIS in Geneva, in 2003, ICT targets for the year 2015 include connecting all villages around the world and bringing ICT to all universities, colleges, secondary and primary schools, scientific and research centres, public libraries, cultural centres, museums, post offices and archives, health centres and hospitals. Local and central government departments should also be connected, and have their own websites and e-mail addresses. By the same date, all primary and secondary school curricula should have been adapted to incorporate ICT in the study programme, to equip young people around the world to meet the future challenges of the Information Society. The next phase of the Summit in Tunis will specifically address a number of key areas, including Internet governance, financial mechanisms, monitoring and measurement of progress in fulfilling the action lines and achieving the WSIS goals and global engagement. At the Summit, participants in the ICT4All events will also look at the scope for ICT applications and e-strategies in areas of universal concern, such as poverty eradication, health, environment, disaster reduction, business, trade and agriculture. The Summit’s successes have provided the necessary momentum to effectively address many pressing global issues, particularly in the area of improved ICT for development. Because building an inclusive Information Society requires a multi-stakeholder approach, WSIS has been designed to engage effectively, with not just governments, but with the business sector and civil society as well as other organisations within the United Nations system. ITU, with its long experience in developing the technical and regulatory frameworks and standards that allow the world to communicate, is committed to providing the necessary expertise and tools needed to implement the WSIS Plan of Action in partnership and coordination with all players. In view of the many constraints presented by these somewhat difficult times, paving the road ahead will be an arduous task, so it will be crucial to make the most efficient use of existing resources and avoid wasteful duplication of effort. In keeping with this goal, ITU launched the Connect the World initiative, a partnership that brings together the most innovative minds and resources and includes experts from governments, business, civil society and international organisations. They have brought to the table their commitment to use technology and resources to help people communicate, foster the flow of information and knowledge and accelerate the pace of development. This initiative will spearhead ITU’s commitment to transform vision into reality, to transform the digital divide into digital opportunities to promote peace, sustainable development, democracy, transparency and good governance. The challenges faced are multifaceted. They include how to improve the current Internet international coordination arrangements without undermining the stability and reliability of the Internet, how to provide affordable access to all without jeopardizing existing financial mechanisms that prove effective, how to ensure network and information security without affecting people’s human rights and their right to privacy, and more. Clearly, these challenges will require a new commitment to work together if we are all to realise the full benefits of the Information Society. Looking ahead to Tunis and beyond, we must remember that ensuring the fruits of today’s powerful knowledge-based tools are within reach of people living in even the most impoverished economies will be the true test of an engaged, empowered and egalitarian Information Society. Communication and information must be freely and readily available to all humanity, not just the privileged few.
