Internet Governance still burning issue @ WSIS-05

FOLLOWING the failure to reach a consensus at the third Preparatory Committee meeting (PrepCom-3) held in Geneva, last month, Internet Governance would still be a burning issue at the second phase of World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), just few weeks away.

The second phase is scheduled to hold in northern African country of Tunisia, between November 16 and 18 at the Kram PalExpo, Tunis.

This indication was given by the Communication Officer at the WSIS Executive Secretariat, Mr. Sanjay Acharya, saying that the summit would serve as the stage for key decisions on the future of Internet governance.

He stressed that negotiations are anticipated to resume prior to the opening of WSIS and are expected to be lively, “as pressure to finalise the summit output documents would bring the remaining contentious issues to a solution.

Conceived as a “Summit of Solutions” he said, the Declaration of Principles and 15-point Action Plan developed at the first phase would be translated into tangible strategies during the event.

These strategies, Mr. Acharya said, would be aimed at building a more equitable and inclusive Information Society (IS).

He also informed that the second phase is billed to host about 12,000 participants from the United Nations agencies, Organised Private Sector (OPS), Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) as well as leading media entities globally.

Mr. Acharya further said that some eminent personalities have confirmed attendance including the UN Secretary General, Mr. Kofi Annan.

“Final preparations are now underway for arrival of an expected 50 heads of state and government,” he said.

In addition, the Communication Officer said that the summit would feature about 250 parallel events at the three-day plenary sessions.

This, he said, would be focused on presentations and debates of relevant topics to the future development of Information Society.