i4donline: November - December 2003 issue: WSIS vignettets

International platform to showcase ICT applications
Two hundred organisations and businesses from 80 countries will participate in the ICT for Development Platform to be held concurrently with the World Summit on the Information Society in Geneva. Digital Opportunity Channel will also be present at the event, which will show how ICTs – from simple transistor radios to high-tech computer systems – can be used innovatively to reduce poverty and promote development.

Covering an area of 16,000m2, the Platform, which runs from December 9 to 13, consists of an exhibition and a conference. It is jointly organised by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and the Global Knowledge Partnership (GKP).

For five days Hall 4 at Palexpo Geneva will be transformed into the largest multicultural information and communication village in the world. Governments, companies and national and international organisations will gather there for the biggest event ever held on the subject of ICT for development. Entitled “Connecting people for a better life” it will present a broad range of practically oriented projects, products and services from open-source software, to community radio, e-learning, agricultural information systems and Internet-supported networking. Visitors will find the most up-to-date information and the latest offers on almost every conceivable topic.

In conjunction with the exhibition, the ICT4D Forum will offer a top-class conference programme. Around 40 panel discussions, workshops and special events are planned. Government leaders, ministers, captains of industry, ICT practitioners and representatives of NGOs will engage in lively debate about trends, prospects and strategies in the area of ICT for development.

(ICT4D Platform)

Mbeki wants domain names discussed
The issue of administering Internet domain names should be discussed at WSIS in Geneva, “otherwise the world continues to be governed by California law”, says South Africa’s President Thabo Mbeki. Mbeki addressed a media conference after a meeting of the President’s International Advisory Council (PIAC) that deals with IT issues relating to this country’s and Africa’s development.

“We need to discuss the possibility of putting in place a multilateral mechanism for Internet governance and the summit is a good place to do it,” Mbeki said. “It may be the current way it is governed through ICANN is the best way, but this has to be examined.”

The issue of Internet governance has been a major sticking point between government and NGOs in the run-up to the WSIS. Many of the poorer nations such as Brazil, SA, Saudi Arabia and China would like to see the administration of Internet domain name registrations moved from the public private company ICANN, which is incorporated under California law, to a multinational organisation such as the United Nations. However, the US and the European Union staunchly support the ICANN model.

(APC)