<incom> Global Information Society Watch 2007 Report

[Geert Lovink]

Global Information Society Watch 2007 Report
http://www.socialniprava.info/article1830.html

Thursday 17 May 2007  by  Christina Haralanova

A new watchdog report monitoring promises made by governments and the 
United Nations to ensure that information technology is used to benefit 
millions of people, will be launched in Geneva on May 22.

The Global Information Society Watch 2007 report - the first in a 
series of annual reports- looks at state of the field of information 
and communication technology (ICT) policy at local and global levels 
and particularly how policy impacts on the lives of people living in 
developing countries.

Studies of the ICT policy situation in twenty-two countries from four 
regions are featured: Africa (Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, 
Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and Uganda); Asia (Bangladesh, 
India, Pakistan and the Philippines); Latin America (Argentina, Brazil, 
Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico and Peru); and Eastern Europe (Bosnia and 
Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania), with one report from a 
Western European country (Spain).

The report concludes that when it comes to ICTs for development, there 
are some conspicuous similarities between the countries. Excluding 
Spain, the other twenty-one countries each show obvious evidence of the 
“digital divide” which impacts on the majority of people negatively. 
According to Brazilian authors RITS, the absence of a people-orientated 
policy framework in Brazil runs the risk of condemning the vast 
majority of people to “eternal disconnection.” The report also includes 
provocative, analytical essays on five international institutions 
(including ICANN and the World Intellectual Property Organisation) 
questioning the extent to which they allow all stake-holders to 
participate in their processes. There is a special section on how to 
measure progress.

The Global Information Society Watch 2007report will be launched on 22 
May 2007, at the United Nations’ Palais des Nations in Geneva, 
Switzerland, during the cluster of WSIS-related events.
More citizen involvement in policy-making is key

“Increase in access to ICTs will not reduce poverty,” state APC and 
ITeM in their introduction to the 2007 report. “But there is a real 
danger that lack of access to ICTs can deepen existing social exclusion 
and create new forms of exclusion. In this context we believe it is 
essential for civil society networks to participate in and watch over 
ICT policy processes at the global, regional and national levels.”

More information

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Editors: APC and ITeM