Robert Guerra of CPSR asked on the WSIS plenary email list whether or not the plenary list should continue to exist or not. I will re-state what I said at the close CS plenary in Tunis. All the structures and modalities that were developed over the course of the last four years in the WSIS…
WSIS Civil Society Statement released… 4 weeks after Tunis
A couple of days ago, civil society groups finally finished drafting of a huge omnibus statement on the WSIS. Full text of the statement can be found here. In principle I have no problem with the idea of civil society groups coming out with a statement in response to the World Summit on the Information…
WSIS adds the Internet to UN’s agenda
Lots of folks have been asking me what was the main result of the World Summit on the Information Society. My answer is that the WSIS affirmed emphatically that the Internet and other information communications technologies fall firmly within the domain of the United Nations as a policy-making forum. Different actors wanted different outcomes from…
GA President asks for reforms for Christmas
We’ll see which governments were naughty and nice pretty soon. Jan Elliason, the current President of the General Assembly, is cracking the whip on government delegations to get them to finish their work on several UN reform issues before the end of the year. In a December 5 letter to all UN Missions, Elliason urged…
Jerk at Intel calls MIT’s $100 laptop a “gadget”
Those guys need to get a clue about what the developing world needs. Hint: it ain’t a biege windows box with a 19″ monitor in every hut. News.com reports that Intel chief Craig Barrett made disparaging remarks about MIT’s $100 laptop project recently, calling the hand-cranked computer a “gadget.” They quote him as saying: Mr….
ICTs for Peace forgotten by the WSIS
I just finished reading the report “Information and Communication Technology for Peace” released by the UN ICT Task Force at the WSIS in Tunis will relatively little fanfare. The report argues convincingly that “ICT4Peace” is a relatively unexplored international policy area that deserves closer attention. The full title of the report is “The Role of…
Habitat JAM post-script
The Habitat JAM finished yesterday afternoon. I still don’t know if it was worth it, but it was certainly an interesting experiment. On an email discussion group I’m in with a bunch of e-democracy folks, there was some feedback on the Habitat JAM forum this weekend. A few of us served as volunteer facilitators, so…
Habitat JAM starts today
“Habitat JAM,” The Canadian-sponsored online forum on urban sustainability starts today and runs through Saturday, December 3. I’m signed up to help with some of the facilitating / moderating duties. I hear that 28,000 folks have signed up for the three-day virtual conference. Habitat JAM is a preparatory event to the third session of the…
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly at the Tunis WSIS
In December 2003, Ralf Bendrath and I put together a listing of the high and low points from the Geneva World Summit on the Information Society, which we called "How Was the Summit?" In that same spirit, we submit to you our very personal take on the best and worst of the Tunis WSIS. The…
Mousers – Cat versus Tech
So living in New York, you have the typical rude inhabitants — the guy who take up three seats on the subway, bike messengers zooming down sideways, the surly waitroid at the corner diner. And that’s just the humans. Everyone living in the city, whether on Central Park West or Avenue D, has to deal…