UN Member States Review Progress on Development-Oriented Information Society Member States convene to discuss implementation of outcomes of the World Summit on Information Society. New York, 1 July – UN Member States will meet at UN Headquarters in New York today for the first preparatory meeting on the implementation of the outcomes of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS). The World Summit on the Information Society, held in Geneva in 2003 and in Tunis in 2005, was the first major UN event devoted to harnessing the potential of information communication technologies (ICTs) for development. Major changes have occurred since the Summit. The number of mobile phone subscriptions worldwide is now almost equal to the number of people. Four out of ten people use internet. Innovations such as mobile money, environmental monitoring and the use of information technology in health and education have helped improve the lives of people, contributing towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals. However, challenges remain, such as difference in levels of access to ICTs and broadband internet between developed and developing countries, also referred to as digital divide. The December high-level meeting will take stock of the progress made in the implementation of WSIS outcomes and to address potential ICT gaps and areas for continued focus, as well as challenges, including bridging the digital divide and harnessing ICTs for development. This meeting will follow the September Summit to adopt the Post-2015 Development Agenda. In the first preparatory meeting, organized by the Co-Facilitators of the overall WSIS review process, H.E. Jānis Mažeiks, Permanent Representative of Latvia and H.E. Lana Zaki Nusseibeh, Permanent Representative of the United Arab Emirates, Member States will facilitate a discussion on progress in the implementation of WSIS outcomes, challenges and areas for continued focus. Following the first preparatory meeting, on 2 July, the President of the UN General Assembly will organize at UN Headquarters informal interactive consultations with relevant WSIS stakeholders. They will contribute their views to the preparatory process for the review of implementation of WSIS outcomes. The President of the UN General Assembly will convene this consultation as part of the preparatory process for the 15-16 December 2015 UN General Assembly high-level meeting on WSIS+10.
More information: http://unpan3.un.org/wsis10/ |
UN Member States Review Progress on Development-Oriented Information Society
