High-Level Forum Calls for Measures to Increase ICT Use
14 Mar 2007Joint Press Statement of the German Ministry of Economics and Technology and the ICC International Chamber of Commerce.
On the sidelines of the CeBIT Fair, government ministers and the CEOs of some of the world's largest companies that are active in the information and communication technologies (ICT) ,met together to call on governments, industry, and civil society to collaborate more intensively and promote the worldwide dissemination of ICT.
"We call on leading policymakers, persons who are responsible in business and industry, and other parties involved at the highest levels to make more intensive use of the information and communication technologies," said Federal Minister of Economics and Technology Michael Glos. Together with the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the ICC Germany, and the CeBIT, the Ministry invited business representatives and government policymakers to the high-level round table.
The purpose of the discussion round was to strengthen awareness of the urgent need for greater everyday use of ICT through out the world and for increasing ICT's potential as an engine for economic growth and innovation. Among the challenges of the future is the creation of a favorable environment that encourages business to invest in ICT infrastructures.
The participants at the round table discussed the following challenges: the future trend and the integration of ICT, training and further education, the acquisition of top talents, forward-looking policies and legal frameworks, and joint initiatives by the business and political communities to accelerate the proliferation and development of ICT.
Among the 20 participants from 10 countries were:
· German Minister of Economics and Technology Michael Glos
· Marcus Wallenberg, Chairman of ICC, Chairman of Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken, and Deputy Chairman of Ericsson
· René Obermann, CEO of Deutsche Telekom
· Bill Nuti, CEO of NCR
· Henning Kagerman, CEO of SAP
· Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, Chairman of Talal Abu-Ghazaleh International (TAGI)
· Kan'ichiro Aritomi, Deputy Minister for Policy Coordination of the Ministry for Internal Affairs and Communications of Japan
· Tarek Kamel, Minister for Communication and Information Technologies of Egypt.
"We committed ourselves to discuss with our colleagues in government, business, and civil society these important aspects to make sure that they have available the best possible information in the development of measures and legal framework conditions," said Marcus Wallenberg, who chaired the Round Table.
The High-Level Round Table is part of an ongoing global dialogue on the creation of a positive environment for the development of ICT. This includes the search for ways to implement the Action Plan adopted during the UN World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in Tunis (2005) and Geneva (2006). The WSIS issued assurances that access by all individuals worldwide to ICT would be facilitated by 2015. The WSIS and its results, such as the Internet Governance Forum, have reiterated their view that the dialogue between business, policymakers, and civil society at national, regional, and international levels is decisive for achieving that goal.
BASIS: Business Action to Support the Information Society
BASIS was established last year by the ICC in order to take account of the experience and represent the interests of business worldwide in the ICT area and the administration of the Internet.
CeBIT: The Most Important Business Event for the Digital World
CeBIT is the world's largest fair at which digital IT and telecommunication solutions are displayed for private use and for the workplace. The main target groups are users from business, retail/wholesale trades, crafts, banks, services, government agencies, science, and all other persons who are technology enthusiasts.
CeBIT offers an international platform for the exchange of views on current trends in the branch, for making and nurturing contacts, and for the presentation of products. Deutsche Messe AG conducts CeBIT in Hanover in the spring, as it has done every year since 1989.
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