ME and Ophelia

WORLD SUMMIT ON THE INFORMATION SOCIETY
First Phase: Geneva, 10-12 December 2003

The World Summit on the Information Society will be held in two phases. The first phase of WSIS will take place in Geneva hosted by the Government of Switzerland from 10 to 12 December 2003. It will address the broad range of themes concerning the Information Society and adopt a Declaration of Principles and Plan of Action, addressing the whole range of issues related to the Information Society.

The Preparatory Committee for WSIS (PrepCom-3) met in Geneva, Switzerland, from 15 to 26 September 2003. A resumed session of PrepCom-3 will take place from 10 to 14 November 2003.

The second phase will take place in Tunis hosted by the Government of Tunisia, from 16 to 18 November 2005.

Click here for some of the most frequently asked questions with regard to the World Summit on the Information Society and the associated process.

WSIS related websites.
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WHO CARES ABOUT THE WORLD SUMMIT ON THE INFORMATION SOCIETY?
Disagreement between rich and poor countries could derail the world summit on the information society

Will it matter? Writes Bill Thompson:

"When it comes to bridging the digital divide and trying to make the information society a fairer, more equitable place to live than the industrial society ever was, the grand principles espoused in Geneva seem to matter a lot less than support on the ground for wireless networks in the Punjab, refurbished computers in Peru and internet access for all who can use it, wherever they may live.

As luck would have it, it seems I'll be going along to the event itself as a reporter with the BBC's World Service, so I'll get to see for myself whether I'm right about this. Part of me hopes that I'll be proven wrong, and that WSIS will really be a significant step forward - but I'm not betting on it."

Bill's Links:

BBC covers preparatory meeting: Discord at digital divide talks

The Register on the WSIS

WSIS World Summit on the Information Society
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andfinally.com about:bill

Bill Thompson is a 'controversialist' - at least according to The Guardian - and pioneer of new media in the UK. Founder of The Guardian's New Media Lab in the mid 1990s, he ran the world's first live Webcast from the ICA in 1994, created the first Website for an elected representative within the EU (Anne Campbell, 1995) and ran the first and so far only online debate for the Prime Minister's Office (Nexus, 1997). Now he writes and talks about this stuff and, among other things, is one of the external editors for the Media and the Net section of openDemocracy.

Bill Thompson is British and lives and works in Cambridge, England, UK. He has two children. If you'd like to have some fun online, then why not join Bill's daughter at Welcome to Neopets!