CONSULTATIONS ON IMPLEMENTING WORLD SUMMIT ON INFORMATION SOCIETY TO BE HELD IN GENEVA, 15 – 16 MAY

CONSULTATIONS ON IMPLEMENTING WORLD SUMMIT ON INFORMATION SOCIETY

TO BE HELD IN GENEVA , 15 – 16 MAY

NEW YORK, 12 May -- Consultation meetings to be held at the United Nations Office at Geneva on 15 and 16 May will focus on electronic governance, international and regional cooperation and the role of public authorities in promoting information and communication technologies (ICT) for development.

The meetings, organized by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, are part of the round of consultations that began in Geneva on 9 May and will continue until 18 May on implementing the Tunis Agenda adopted last November at the World Summit on the Information Society in Tunis (see www.itu.int/wsis/implementation).

The consultations, led by various United Nations bodies -- including the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the United Nations Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (UNESCO), and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) -- cover the 11 action lines adopted in Tunis.  They include such themes as the role of public authorities in promoting ICT, infrastructure development, access issues, cultural diversity, sectoral ICT applications and ethical dimensions of ICT.

The Department of Economic and Social Affairs, in its capacity of provisional focal point, is in charge of three action lines outlined in paragraph 108 of the Tunis Agenda:  the role of public governance authorities and all stakeholders in  promoting ICT for development (Action Line C1), ICT applications:  e-government (Action Line C7eGov), and international and regional cooperation (Action Line 11).

The consultation meeting on international and regional cooperation will be held on Monday, 15 May, at 3 p.m.  The consultation meeting on the role of public governance authorities and all stakeholders in the promotion of ICT for development will be held on Tuesday, 16 May, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.  This will be followed, from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., by the consultation meeting on ICT applications:  e-government.

The meetings, open to all Summit stakeholders, will discuss ways to exchange information and enhance collaboration to ensure implementation at the international level of the Tunis Agenda.  Patrizio Civili, Assistant Secretary-General, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, will make introductory remarks.

For further information please visit www.un.org/esa/devagenda/information.html, or contact Barbara Ubaldi at the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, tel: (1 917) 367 3349, e-mail: ubaldi@un.org, or Edoardo Bellando at the Department of Public Information, tel. (1 212) 963 8275, e-mail: bellando@un.org.

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For information media • not an official record