HANNOVER, GERMANY - Ministers and CEOs from some of the world's largest information and communications technology (ICT) firms met on the sidelines of CeBIT, the world’s largest trade fair showcasing digital IT and telecommunications solutions for home and work environments, to encourage governments, business and civil society to work together more closely and set up the diffusion of ICTs worldwide, a press release by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) stated.

"We call on political leaders, business executives and other interested
stakeholders at the very highest levels to make increased ICT use a top
Priority,” said German Federal Minister of Economics and Technology Michael Glos. The Ministry sponsored the high-level roundtable with the ICC, ICC Germany and CeBIT.

The panel was assembled to help raise awareness of the urgent need to integrate ICTs into the fabric of daily life in all parts of the world and to maximize the potential of ICTs as a driver of economic growth and innovation. One of the future challenges will be to create a favorable environment that stimulates investment by business in ICT infrastructure.

The panelists discussed challenges to the further development and
integration of these technologies; training, educating and attracting the
most qualified talent; enlightened policy and legal frameworks; and joint business-government initiatives to accelerate ICT diffusion and development.

The panelists, from 10 countries, include:

-Michael Glos, German Federal Minister of Economics and
Technology
-Marcus Wallenberg, Chairman of ICC, Chairman of Skandinaviska
Enskilda Banken and Vice-Chairman of Ericsson
-Bill Nuti, CEO of NCR
-Henning Kagerman, CEO of SAP
-René Obermann, CEO of Deutsche Telekom
-Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, Chairman of Talal Abu-Ghazaleh
International (TAGI)
-Kan‘ichiro Aritomi, Japanese Vice-Minister for Policy Coordination
of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications
-Tarek Kamel, Egyptian Minister of Communications and Information Technology.

"We committed to return home and discuss these critical issues with our counterparts in government, business and civil society to ensure they are equipped with better information when drafting policies and legal and regulatory frameworks,” said Wallenberg, who moderated the panel discussions.

The high-level panel is part of an ongoing global dialogue on creating an environment where ICTs will thrive. This includes finding ways to implement an action plan adopted at the UN World Summit for the Information Society (WSIS) in Tunis (2005) and Geneva (2003).

WSIS pledged to bring these technologies within the reach of all the world’s citizens by 2015.

WSIS and WSIS outcomes, such as the Internet Governance Forum, recognized that dialogue among business, government and civil  society at national, regional and international levels is critical to make this goal a reality.

The International Chamber of Commerce is the voice of world business championing the global economy as a force for economic growth, job creation and prosperity. The ‘Business Action to Support the Information Society’ (BASIS) was set up last year by ICC to represent the experience and interests of world business on ICTs and Internet governance issues.

CeBIT's key target groups are users from industry, the wholesale/retail sector, skilled trades, banks, the services sector, government agencies, science and all users passionate about technology. CeBIT offers an international platform for comparing notes on current industry trends, networking, and product presentations.