[WSIS] UN summit pledges net for all

[Irfan Khan <khania2@super.net.pk>]

12 December, 2003

UN summit pledges net for all

By Alfred Hermida
BBC News Online technology editor in Geneva


A UN summit designed to shrink the technology gap between rich and
poor nations has ended with agreement on lofty principles, but no
commitments to practical measures.

Delegates from some 175 governments meeting in Geneva agreed on the
need to take the net to the millions of people currently offline.

But there were no pledges for cash to bankroll technology-related
projects, as some African countries had demanded.

Delegates said the summit did succeed in alerting world leaders to
the importance of new technology as a tool for development.

"The summit has placed a new subject on the international agenda: the
information society," said Swiss President Pascal Couchepin, who hosted
the event.

"An innovatory political process has been set in motion," he said in his
closing address to delegates.

Net expansion

The World Summit on the Information Society was the first UN summit
which looked at the impact of technologies like the internet and
mobile phones.

It brought together more than 10,000 politicians, business
representatives, development workers and technology experts for three days
in Geneva.

Much of the event consisted of bland statements by world leaders
about the great potential of the internet and the need to extend its
benefits to all.

The final declaration of principles enshrined the ideals of the
conference. The associated action plan set the goal of connecting 50% of
the world's population by 2015, without going into the specifics of how to
achieve it.

It is hoped that the agreement and action plan will bring about
greater use of the net and the adoption of technology in education,
health and other projects.

"The Geneva Declaration points the way to an information society
which is accessible to all and based on shared knowledge," President
Couchepin said.

Money troubles

The consensus was only reached because controversial, divisive issues were
put on the backburner, to be resolved when nations meet again in Tunisia
in 2005.

A controversial attempt to place a UN agency in charge of the running of
the internet was also deflected and placed in the hands of a working group
under UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.

And African nations failed in their push for a UN "digital solidarity
fund" to help them pay for hardware and software.

European, Japanese and the US Governments had resisted the idea.

Instead they only agreed to study the creation of a fund to help poor
countries benefit from new technology.

Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade, who had been leading the African
efforts, put a positive spin on the outcome.

"We have succeeded in reaching our goal as the general declaration
has adopted the principle of a digital solidarity fund," he told a
news conference.

World issue

But some delegates were left unimpressed by the outcome.

They said the failure to agree on core issues like funding and
internet governance meant the documents lacked any real bite.

"Technological decisions should meet the needs of people, not enrich
companies or enable control by governments," said a statement by Civil
Society, an alliance representing development groups at the summit.

But for some, the summit had been successful in drawing attention to the
role that technology could play in helping developing nations out of
poverty.

Away from the worthy speeches in the main hall, thousands of
community activists, development workers and business representatives
discussed and shared ideas.

One delegate said the informal meetings between development
organisations and the business sector was of greater importance than the
political rhetoric that had filled the air for the past three days.


source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3314921.stm