Report of Talal Abu-Ghazaleh at the WSIS
12 Dec 2003Geneva, 12 December – At the closing plenary of the World Summit on the Information Society, Mr. Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, Vice-Chairman of the United Nations ICT Task Force provided input to Summit participants on the Swiss – World Economic Forum Executive Roundtable, “Taking Responsibility in the Information Age”, held on Tuesday morning.
Standing in for the chair of the Task Force, Mr. Jose Maria Figueres, Mr. Abu-Ghazaleh reported the following:
“It is my privilege to stand in for UN ICT Task Force chair, Jose Maria Figueres to report on the Private Roundtable meeting held on Tuesday, 9 December under the able chairmanship of Pascal Couchepin, President of the Swiss Federal Council and Professor Klaus Schwab, Executive Chairman and Founder, World Economic Forum.
The meeting was graciously opened by United Naitons Secretary-General, Kofi Annan.
The roundtables were held under the themes:
· Internet Governance: Beyond the Impasse
· Finding the Appropriate Technology Mix
· Extracting Value from Globalization through ICT-enabled services
· Connectivity for the Next Five Billion: Human Capacity Building and Public Access Points
That morning, a debate among 37 leaders from government, business, civil society and the UN system resulted in consensus on the need for:
· Multi-stakeholder partnership
· Action-oriented plans with resources
· Transparency and accountability
· Converting challenges to opportunities
President Couchepin emphasized the need to address the “what”, “how” and “why” of development.
Secretary-General, Kofi Annan emphasized the need to focus on who will take responsibility.
Professor Schwab put forward the need to reinvent development through multi-stakeholder partnerships.
James Rubin, the moderator, lead the discussion with a view of coming out with “Take-aways”.
As a participant in the roundtable on Internet Governance, I report that little consensus was achieved except on supporting the leadership of the United Nations Secretary-General for the Working Group called for by the action plans. President Couchepin recommended that the group should be less than 15 members.
As a Task Force member myself, I believe that the UN ICT Task Force, as the only multi-stakeholder entity on ICT in the UN system, provides an excellent place to host the debate on this subject.
Thank you.
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