With less than a month to kick-off for the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS), there is still a lot to be done by governments, business and civil society organisations to ensure its success.
The overriding objective of the summit, which will take place from 10 to 12 December in Geneva, Switzerland, is to find ways to bridge the digital divide, but it seems little progress has been made in the preparatory talks between government delegations on how to go about it.
This means documents that should be finalised during the WSIS will probably not be. The summit is being organised by the International Telecommunications Union, an agency of the United Nations.
A presentation by minister of communications Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri to the Presidential International Advisory Committee over the weekend outlined the summit`s declaration of principles, the 10 objectives for 2015, and the progress on negotiations.
The WSIS`s declaration of principles is divided into three parts: a common vision of building an inclusive information society, the challenge of building the information society that includes promoting the goals of the millennium declaration, and the key principles that have corresponding action lines in the plan of action.
The 11 key issues of the declaration of principles include the role of all stakeholders in the promotion of ICT for development, access to information and knowledge, capacity building and building an enabling environment. The 10 objectives for 2015 include universal access to ICT, to connect research and scientific institutions, to connect villages and establish community access points, to connect health centres, content development and to connect local and central government departments.
According to the minister`s presentation, the six key issues that have to be negotiated include those of human rights, intellectual property rights, Internet governance, Internet security, the media and the establishment of a Digital Solidarity Fund. All six issues have become intense matters of discord between delegations for one reason or another.
News reports from Geneva indicate the policy divide is as great, if not greater, than the digital divide. For instance, the WSIS civil society media group has already issued statements saying it regrets the reaffirmation of freedoms of expression and that the press had not been included in the drafts of the declaration of action plan.
According to the International Press Service News Agency, delegates on the preparatory committee did not agree on including mention of the communications media as acknowledged actors of the information society. The drafts of the proposals referring to the media included a call to promote pluralism of information and diversity in ownership.
China is not happy with the civil rights clauses as it feels they go beyond the UN Charter on Human Rights, which many countries don`t want included in the plan of action at all.
The Senegalese proposal to set up an international fund to promote the development of ICT infrastructure in poorer nations has been challenged by the US, Japan, Canada and Europe.
SA seems to be making no headway on the size and composition of the three planned delegations that it hopes to send to WSIS, despite the hourglass running out of sand. There has still been no official word on who will head the government delegation that is supposed to be the largest and most inclusive, with participation from most departments and representatives from business and civil society. There is also no news on the other two delegations that will compose of separate business and civil society interests.
A high-level meeting of government delegates is scheduled to be chaired by Switzerland on 3 and 4 December to discuss these issues, and there is a possibility that there will be another meeting on 7 to 9 December should the first round be inconclusive.
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