The Daily Summit - December 07, 2003 - December 13, 2003 Archives

[NEWS AND VIEWS]

December 12, 2003

"Citizens media meets bulldog journalism; finds the future of news," writes Jeff Jarvis

"I'm witnessing the future of journalism unfold over at www.DailySummit.net.

"There, a bunch of webloggers sent there by the British Council (can someone explain them to me?) are covering the U.N. World Summit on Information Society with a vibrancy, immediacy, passion, imagination, doggedness, and openness you simply won't find in big media...

"This is what journalism is meant to be.

"This isn't some new form of journalism. This is the result of a few centuries of the evolution of journalism.
We, the readers, get to ask the questions we want to ask of those in power and we get answers. That's what it's all about, isn't it?

"Now, it helps immensely that the people in Geneva for Daily Summit know their stuff and also ask the right questions at every opportunity.

"Give the chance to interview the man in charge of the Iranian Internet, they got to confront him and ask about the arrest of weblogger Sina Motallebi (the frightening event that first introduced me and many of us to the Iranian weblog revolution). The mullahs' bureacrat lied and shuffled away from the point. But the confrontation tells them: The whole world is watching, boys.

"You can call that advocacy journalism or bulldog journalism or just good reporting. It's all that."

Thanks. It's been fun. We'll keep you updated with all the post-WSIS reaction.

But first, a drink...

David Steven | 09:33 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Last word. It's a success, Jim, but not as we know it. Despite failing to discuss the most important issue (who governs the internet) and making limited progress on how change should be funded in the developing world (contributions are voluntary) the Summit's heads were cheerier than a lioness in heat.

Pascal Couchepin, the Swiss President, said that he was pleased that there was any agreement at all.

"Some feared that we were holding a shallow and empty shell of a meeting," said Moritz Leuenberger, the Swiss minister of communications. The fact that he thinks otherwise tells you more about the nature of United Nations summits than it does about the achievements at Geneva.

M Couchepin believes that despite an impasse so insurmountable that the subject could not even appear on the agenda, negotiations over who governs the internet had come along in leaps and bounds. "To begin with, [private companies] were not prepared to accept that they had any control over the internet at all," he said. "We did not reach an agreement but we were able to agree on the process. This is something positive that was not manageable two months ago."

As for the Global Solidarity Fund (the means through which non-Western countries envisioned that Western countries would help them to build their digital infrastructure) Summit leaders believed that they had not been compromised by their compromise. "Not all member governments are satisfied with the plan of actionâ€¦ but I believe that they are more or less satisfied," said Yoshio Utsumi, Secretary General of the International Telecommunications Union.

Scepticism aside, however, it was unrealistic to expect concrete results from this World Summit. Just because the digital world operates at such a rapid pace, one should not expect UN summits to keep up. Perhaps Nitin Desai, special assistant to Kofi Annan, got it right when he said: "I've been doing this for 10 years now. No UN conference is a pledging conference."

On a final note, Mr Utsimi revealed that he had once had a language test with the British Council as a foreign student. Did he pass? "No," he replied. From the closing press conference you would hardly have known.

Jack Malvern | 09:17 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Business as usual. Business knows to behave itself at UN conferences. Don't come in strength. Smile a lot. And use the word 'partnership' whenever things get dicey.

Its final statement came in the form of a speech from Richard McCormick, honorary chair of the ICC. In most part, it was another a plea for the status quo and also for patience.

Business will deliver ICTs, if government keeps out of the way. ICTs will change lives for the better, if people receive sufficient education and training.

Oh - and hands off the internet. "Do we want to blunt this remarkable tool at the precise moment it is poised to bring about the most positive change in people's lives?"

In the end, though, one should remember that few of the business leaders who really matter to ICT were here. No Larry Ellison. No Carly Fiorina. No Bill Gates (who, of course, is a huge donor, as well a business giant).

They're probably coming to Switzerland - but for the World Economic Forum in Davos early next year. Perhaps Daily Summit missed something, but WSIS seems to have passed well-below their radar.

David Steven | 08:57 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

A quiet summit. Civil society has had a quiet summit. It has delivered few of the press conferences, eye-catching stunts and noisy demonstrations that normally keep the media entertained.

Its representatives adopted a counter-declaration, condemned the Swiss authories and summit organisers, but failed to provide a definitive assessment of the summit's outcome.

Instead, the human rights caucus delivered a somewhat lacklustre final press conference, expressing relief that "a major setback in the international consensus on human rights has been avoided in the final declaration."

After the conference, Diana Bronson said that WSIS had not been a waste of time, despite the brick wall activists had met on a number of issues.

"There is a sense of real frustration that there has been a lack of advance but it is never a waste of time for governments to sit down and talk," she said. "I am pleased that they understand that the information society is not just about laying a cable around the world."

Civil society's uncertainty has two causes. Invited into the WSIS process, it's now reluctant to stamp its feet when it doesn't get its own way. Also, it knows this is a summit of two halves. NGOs may well arrive in Tunis in much less compliant mood.

Written with Claire Regan.

David Steven | 08:41 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

A parting shot. Civil Society wound up summit proceedings with a strongly worded statement condemning both the Swiss authorities and the summit organisers - a statement that caused Kofi Annan's special advisor, Nitin Desai, to erupt in fury when it was put to him by Daily Summit at WSIS's closing press conference.

Civil society activists, however, ducked questions over whether they would boycott the second part of the summit in Tunis, if Tunisia did not improve its human rights record. An indication, we suspect, of deep divisions within the lobby.

"We unanimously condemn the undemocratic actions of the Swiss authorities and the summit organisers in suppressing dissenting and alternative voices," the statement said.

It highlighted the eviction of Polymedia (previously reported as more cock-up than conspiracy), the alleged confiscation of newspapers, and the treatment of 50 protestors who were surrounded by 40 police officers, before being searched and taken to the police station if they refused to identify themselves.

“These events continue the pattern of political repression that has been a constant feature of public life in Geneva since the G-8 meeting early in 2003. We strongly condemn these violations of the right to assemble and freedom of expression that have cast a shadow of hypocrisy over the summit."

"I have a feeling that these people were at a different conference," Nitin Desai responded when we read extracts from the statement to him. "I would like to see who these people are, who they are speaking for, and what level of consensus there have behind them."

Civil society's troubles over Tunisia continue. Rights and democracy activist Diana Bronson said she was unable to speak on behalf of civil society, when asked whether NGOs would be prepared to go to Tunis. After the press conference, however, she told Daily Summit there was a boycott was on the cards.

“Speaking personally, I would say that there is possibility that civil society will not be going if there aren't improvements in Tunisia. But I would add that the chances of a boycott are not strong," she said.

President of Switzerland, Pascal Couchepin commented: "The decision [to go to Tunis] is absolutely clear. It was taken at international level by the United Nations. We know there are problems in Tunisia. We know progress is needed in human rights. But we don't think it is right for a single country to say anything against a decision taken by the international community."

Claire Regan | 07:27 PM | Comments (7) | TrackBack

Good news travels fast. Digital Solidarity Day, invented by the President of Senegal little more than an hour ago, has already made it into a leading online encyclopedia...

David Steven | 06:15 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Mugabe tightens net. New Zimbawe has more on rumours that President Mugabe is planning to exert a stranglehold over the internet.

Daily Summit has just heard direct from an ISP in Zimbabwe. We are told that the government doesn't yet have the capacity to censor internet traffic, but that may change soon.

All Zimbabwean ISPs are forced to use bandwidth provided by TelOne, a government monopoly, for their outgoing traffic (although they use satellite links for incoming traffic, as Zimbabwean bandwidth is so limited).

Our source confirms strong rumours that Chinese equipment is now in place, which "would be capable of full monitoring of all Internet communications if all ISPs were forced to drop the use of the satellite downlinks that they currently use, and partial monitoring if the downlinks were left in place."

The equipment is not yet in use, however, because the government is not sure whether it is competent enough to run it. " A single point of failure for the whole Zimbabwe internet could result in catastrophic loss of communications, so they are reluctant to actually commission the equipment."

David Steven | 05:55 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

Club sandwich. Rumour has it that when the Earl of Sandwich first ordered that his lunch be placed between two pieces of bread so his cards wouldn't get greasy, he added: "I'll wager that these 'sandwiches' will be so popular that, at UN conferences, they'll be eating 22,000 of them."

How could he have known? Read on for more astonishing facts to amaze your friends...

As the World Summit draws to a close, the dour citizens of Geneva are winding down their shutters in anticipation of the world's largest and most multicultural burp.

Over the last three days participants at the World Summit have drunk an estimated 38,000 cans and bottles of carbonated drinks. The spontaneous release of carbon dioxide threatens to put Switzerland in breach of its Kyoto commitments. Summit organisers who promised to make the event carbon dioxide neutral will be spending the rest of their careers planting saplings.

Government delegates feasted on 360 meals, while everyone else drank 26,000 cans of Coke. If the conference has achieved little else, [atrocious joke warning] it has at least reinforced the adage that Coca Cola is IT.

(Written with Erin Dean)

Jack Malvern | 05:34 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Get set for 12/12/2004. The President of Senegal has just declared that, from now on, December 12 every year will be celebrated as 'Digital Solidarity Day'.

We're not sure what that means, in practice, and he's not taking questions. A source tells us that, essentially, it's a fundraising exercise.

Update 1923 CET - In the closing press conferenece, ITU Secretary-General Yoshio Utsumi has confirmed that this is a "voluntary" celebration... phew.

The news has come as a shock to the people of Guadaloupe, however, who will now be torn between celebrating digital solidarity and the Feast of Our Lady of Guadeloupe. (It was on this day in 1531 that the Virgin Mary appeared before a Roman Catholic convert and told him, in his native Nahuatl language, to build a church.)

It is also tough luck for gardening fans in America who declared December 12 National Poinsettia Day (a poinsettia is a type of flower). Kenyans might also be too busy celebrating their independence day.

Honor Blackman, who will be celebrating her 77th birthday on December 12 2004, was not available for comment.

Aaron Scullion | 05:29 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

Reporters excluded. Eight reporters were barred from the summit on Friday following a peaceful protest against Israel.

The correspondants from I'Lam - the media centre for Arabs48 (the Palestinians who stayed in their homes when Israel was created) - arranged their demonstration in advance with WSIS security.

They were granted permission to silently hold placards for 10 minutes saying "Free Israel", "Free Iraq" and "Stop the Wall" - the giant barrier currently being built by the Israeli government.

But when they passed through security barriers following the event they were refused re-entry. "The chief of security said that we were told there would be consequences to what we did and that it was illegal," Salma Khashiboum said.

"But we arranged it with them before the demonstration and they said we could come back in. They say that all our names have been sent to New York and we will never be allowed to another summit."

"We shouldn't be punished and treated as trouble makers or terrorists. This is a summit about information and the freedom of expression."

A spokesperson from the summit organisers told us that "the cancellation of the badges was a regrettable incident which was not intended and is the result of a misunderstanding in the agreement reached between the various parties".

Journalistic freedom has already been a controversial issue at the summit after Reporters Sans Frontiers were banned before the event even began.

Erin Dean | 04:49 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

We'll tell you why. Ahmad Motamedi, Iran's Minister of ICT, has been in the summit media centre, talking informally to Iranian journalists and bloggers.

Farshad, editor of Gooya and Gooya news, challenged the Minister directly to explain why one of his websites is blocked (and is only available to Iranians via a proxy server sponsored by the US government).

"We want to know what the limits are," he told the Minister. "You should tell us what causes a website to be blocked and how you make that decision."

Apparently, the Minister accepted this argument and took the name of Farshad's website away with a promise to email him telling him why they had been blocked. He has said he will also provide explanations to other bloggers.

Farshad, who lives in Belgium, described this as a positive step - a step closer to an informed dialogue about Iran's future.

"We're on the verge of something big," he told Daily Summit. " Weblogs are drawing on the huge energy of a new generation. This generation has changed already. In response, the regime has changed a little. If we keep changing, maybe they will keep changing too."

Farshad described President Khatami's press conference as typical of an Iranian politician. "The Iranian government has a very bad habit. They deny everything in public. But after the official press conference, in personal talks like the one we had today, they are more critical than you are of the situation in Iran!

He believes the President has limited room for manoeuvre in Iran, but he at least understands the challenges. "One of his closest advisors blogs, writing about serious issues, but also putting funny photos on his site."

A response to this story from our Arabic site - plus reaction from Iran (one, two).

David Steven | 04:47 PM | Comments (9) | TrackBack

UN believable (2) - JM (Jack Malvern) has been updating his list of UN acronyms..

Aaron Scullion | 04:42 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

The Academy Award goes to... anyone but the US media. Coverage of the Iraq war, and embedded reporters in particular, came under the spotlight at a workshop hosted by the International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

The event began with the screening of four nominees, all European, in the news coverage category at the Academy's prestigious Emmy awards earlier this year. Channel Four/ITN carried off the title but the content of the final four selections provided interesting fodder for the workshop discussion.

Co-incidentally all four entries emerged from the Gulf conflict. Channel 4's programme began from Baghdad on the day Saddam fell and covered events and atmosphere in the following days. It was joined on the short list by Germany's ARD for a report on the radioactive DU ammunition, France 2 Television for a powerful piece on looting at Baghdad Museum and footage from the UK's Associated Press Television News.

The workshop was chaired by International Academy executive director Georges Le Clere and president Fred Cohen. They explained that the awards were not open to American broadcasters but that didn't stop the audience having a go at the US media and the concept of embedded journalists. Many of the comments were aimed at war coverage in general with the consensus being that the truth had been the first casualty in Iraq. The most acerbic remarks were on US journalists 'sense of theatre' and even American speakers themselves offered no defence on the discussion.

Claire Regan | 04:03 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

On the web, WSIS pictures from Caravita, more moonlighting at BBC online, and loads of detailed reports from Andy Carvin.

Also: Wizzy Digital Courier (and Community Networking's take), powerful forces ranged against free software, and Paul Boutin and Nico MacDonald weigh in...

David Steven | 03:50 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Geneva v. Jo'burg. Daily Summit asked Mark Malloch Brown of the UNDP, on the third and closing day of WSIS, to compare it with last year's Earth Summit in Johannesburg - which his organisation was instrumental in running.

Earth Summit issues were "middle-aged", said Malloch Brown referring to the fact that climate change, health, education and environment had been discussed at the Stockholm (1972) and Rio (1992) Summits.

By comparison WSIS issues are "in the kindergarten stage". In Geneva we've been working on the ground floor, structuring and formulating issues: in Tunis we'll be one floor higher.

ICT introduces a whole set of new pressures, business interests, technical factors and civil society concerns.

Working out which projects add value is the name of the game.

A proper policy framework often delivers more than pouring in money. But, of course, money is needed too - "Policy should not be a fig leaf behind which we give the donors any easy ride".

Andrew Taussig | 03:19 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Just say no. In April 1986 a very fat Briton and his fellow actors from the BBC children's programme Grange Hill shot to the top of the pop music charts with the song Just Say No.

This afternoon Nick Thorne, the plump British Ambassador to the United Nations, sang a similar tune when he took to the podium at the World Summit, giving the British verdict on whether his government would be contributing to a Global Solidarity Fund (a UN body designed to build digital infrastructure in poorer countries).

Mr Thorne was frank about the British stance. "We do not believe that a new international fund could tackle the real underlying problems," he said. "It might even divert funds away [from existing aid channels]. A fund is not the answer."

The UK was happy to provide "technical assistance" to poorer countries, but will provide cash only though existing channels.

More worrying for countries seeking change is that Britain seems to be playing down the significance of the World Summit's sequel, Tunis 2005. The UK will hold the presidency of the EU in the latter half of 2005, and wants to avoid the preparatory committees (PREPCOMS for all you acronym lovers) that proved so contentious in the run up to Geneva. "The UK believes that a light preparatory process will create the right conditions for a conference," Mr Thorne said.

This will be a punch in the teeth for non-Western countries, who need all the discussion time they can get to lobby for a change in the status quo on two issues. First, they want to get a better deal on the Digital Solidarity Fund, or something very like it. Second, they want to break the Western grip on the internet and its development - an issue known as internet governance. Tunis is the only chance non-Western countries will get to debate internet governance, a topic so controversial that it was dropped from the Geneva summit's agenda.

If the UK succeeds in limiting the debate over these two issues then the Western governments can put up the bunting and gather round the piano. They want to keep the UN out of both issues and have done a reasonable job so far.

Jack Malvern | 02:43 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

A vision of a future. Daily Summit has been hearing from a blind Ethiopian man who plans to help others overcome their loss of sight by helping them get access to screen readers and text-to-speech software.

Despite losing his sight when he was seven, Getu Mulatu from Ethiopia finished school and went to Univeristy where he gained two degrees.

Now he has co-founded the Adaptive Technology Centre for the Blind to make it easier for other people to follow in admirable footsteps.

Mr Getu told us about his scheme which gives blind people the "liberty" to work and learn. There are estimated to be at least 500,000 blind people in Ethiopia, not including people with partial sight problems. Their future is generally bleak with most either dependent on their families or begging on the streets, Mr Getu said.

Like many he lost his sight to an illness that could have been easily treated.
"With speaking screen reader and text-to-speech software I no longer have to rely on volunteers to read to me and attend my secretarial needs," Mr Getu said.
"I can send e-mails, write reports and invitations for the centre on my own."

They have already trained more than 70 people ranging from school children to doctors. The next stage is to reach more people, particularly in the remote areas of the country, and to introduce braille equipment. But, as ever, they need second hand computers, volunteers and funds...

Erin Dean | 02:33 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

"Excellent, witty, well-informed" That's how Bill Thomson describes Daily Summit, while hitting the nail on the head with his WSIS review on BBC News.

Aaron Scullion | 02:24 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack

The Arabic take. Arabic speakers (that's all of you, right?) shouldn't miss Ahmed Reda's coverage of yesterday's press conference with Iran's President Khatami.

Read Reda's take on Iran, Al Qaeda and Egypt, EU-Iran relations and the EU's role in defusing the recent nuclear crisis, Iranian censorship of the internet, and the heavy security cordon thrown around the press conference itself.

David Steven | 02:21 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

EU leaders begin crunch summit. But in Brussels. Not Geneva.

David Steven | 01:52 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Future, Bright. Wear Shades. The Tunisian Foreign Minister Mr Habib Ben Yahia told the Daily Summit that he is "fully optimistic" about the second phase of WSIS to be held in his country in November 2005.

It would, he promised, be the "crowning of this process".

But is Tunisia an appropriate to hold a summit which should have freedom of expression?

"We have a lot at stake," the Foreign Minister told us. "We want to come out of 2005 with a consensus and a vision of what is the of Information Technology for our society."

Critics of Tunisia are not just interested in human rights, but have a hidden agenda, he suggested. However, he admitted that Tunisia still has problems it needs to address.

As a relatively new democracy, human rights pose formidable task and challenge for Tunisia, he explained. "We are not perfect, nobody's perfect in this world."

Journalists should come to Tunisia to see for themselves, he said. They would discover many websites and magazines, offering a variety of opinions. But also some of the best hotels in the world - and more sunshine than here in Geneva.

Cara Swift | 01:51 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Zimbabwe clamps down? News reaches Daily Summit that Zimbabwe has ambitious plans to route all email through a government-owned hub, allowing the Mugabe regime to tighten its grip on the internet.

Apparently, the necessary equipment has been purchased. However, technicians are nervous about installing it, afraid it will break down, Without money for spares, Zimbabwe could then be cut off from the web.

We were speaking to SW Radio Africa, "the independent voice of Zimbabwe", which broadcasts to southern Africa on short wave from its base in London. Their interview with Daily Summit is now online - it starts at around 6.40 on the Thursday 11 Nov, newsreel tape.

Developing...

David Steven | 01:45 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Don't need the sunshine. Apparently, the deaths of 150,000 people in 2000 was indirectly caused by global warming - which is also responsible for 2.4% of all cases of diarrhoea and 2% of cases of malaria. So says a major WHO report...

"The 1990s were the hottest decade on record and the upward trend in the world's temperature continues," the WHO said. "In Europe this past summer for example, an estimated 20,000 people died due to extremely hot temperatures."

"Rain can also have a major impact on health. When rainfall rises above normal levels, it can collect and stagnate, and the still water provides additional breeding grounds for mosquitoes and. other vectors which transmit diseases such as malaria and dengue fever."

The report was launched at 9th Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Milan, Italy.

Erin Dean | 01:36 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack

Swedish massage. The Swedish delegation summed up the Western world's attitude towards funding poorer countries' digital infrastructure this morning.

When asked whether she was in favour of the Global Solidarity Fund, Astrid Dufborg said: "Perhaps we can divide this into two questions. We are in favour of solidarity: but we have another position when it comes to the fund."

She continued: "We don't believe there is one kind of global fund that is appropriate for dealing with the whole issue [of the disparity in technology between rich and poor countries]. Creating a single fund would not deal with the issue. It would be more appropriate to have bilateral relations between the countries."

This is the Western world's argument in a nutshell. While poorer countries bandy the name "Digital Solidarity Fund" about the World Summit, the richer countries they have in mind for bankrolling the project are uniformly sceptical. The message coming out of Western countries is clear: we will look at the digital divide, but only through our existing aid channels. We don't rule out acting multilaterally, but with a small number of partners who will be of our choosing.

In Ms Dufborg's case, her country has joined with Ireland and Canada to fund the Global eSchools and Communities Initiative, an $80 million programme to provide hi-tech education in Namibia, Ghana, Bolivia and Andhra Pradesh in India.

The advantages of this scheme over contributing to a Digital Solidarity Fund are twofold. First, Sweden can keep a close eye on where its money is going and expand or downgrade the project at will. Second, eSchools is politically more valuable than a Global Solidarity Fund because it enables both technology and education ministers to answer their critics with one scheme.

Jack Malvern | 01:11 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Thanks for the links today goes to SWRadio Africa, The Guardian, Arash Arya, Sociopranos, National Institute for Technology & Liberal Education, Heinrich-Boll Foundation, Boing Boing, Notes from the Metaverse, Bob Stepno's Other Journalism Weblog, Emergent Report, Fumacas, E-business Weblog, NetWMD, Iranian Truth, International e-government, David Fletcher, mymarkup.net, nodo.org and the many British Council sites that have linked to us also

Australia, Bahrain, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Colombia, Croatia, Denmark, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, Lithuania, Mexico, Morocco, Nepal, Norway, Pakistan, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Serbia & Montenegro, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Tunisia, Uganda, Ukraine, UAE and Venezuela

Jane Frewer | 12:59 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Nigeria in space. Nigeria launched black Africa's first satellite (Nigersat 1) into orbit a few months ago.

Talking exclusively to Daily Summit in his Mandarin hotel room, Nigeria's Minister of Science and Technology, Turner Isoun, had some exciting news. Nigeria now plans to launch its first communications satellite.

"Our strategy now is to go into communications satellites," he told us. "We missed the industrial revolution. We can not afford to miss the IT revolution."

"Now that the Federal Executive Council (the highest decision making body in the land) has approved the project, the satellite will be our IT infrastructure backbone.

His aim: "To be able to produce goods and services for the ICT market. To massively encourage training, capacity utilisation and software."

His plan: "Using this good beginning (WSIS) to transform the present environment ensuring that, in the next four years, at least 50 percent of all the children and youths in schools are signed up to the IT world."

The Science Minister spoke with real passion about the Nigerian dream. With a population of over 120 million, an ICT revolution in Nigeria could transform prospects for Africa. And provide a ray of hope for the continent.

Oghogho Obayu | 12:49 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Is Ben bothered? Tunisia's President Ben Ali may be weighing up worries about the way his country treats journalists ahead of WSIS Part Two, set for Tunis in November 2005. He should take note of what Mark Malloch Brown, the top UN man running the organization's Development Programme (UNDP) told Daily Summit earlier today, in response to a question on media freedom: "There is no excuse for any UN official being ambiguous on Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights."

Andrew Taussig | 12:28 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Couch potatos rejoice - for sitting around watching TV is good for your health! So say the World Health Organisation, who told us "Soap operas, community radio programmes and entertainment TV have the power to mobilize people to take control of their health, both in terms of prevention and treatment."

Ary Rogerio Silva from Americas for World Health. added that "in 1985 when a famous actor used a wig on a very popular soap opera - the wig market saw a rise of 70 per cent that year."

Although this sounds frivilous, media, entertainment and ICTs can improve health.Unsurprisingly the AIDS epidemic was also high on the agenda. Advances had been made, said Mr Taiwo Allimi, Director General of Voice of Nigeria because every television and radio station in his country now has a health correspondant.
But he stressed that traditional methods of communication such as village meetings and town criers still needed to be used for an integrated communication approach.

Mr Allimi also said that the language used is very important as many villages don't know the disease as AIDS or HIV, but "blood eater".

Erin Dean | 12:17 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

After a UN/business love-in, Daily Summit asked Microsoft Managing Director for Global Affairs, Pamela Passman what the company hoped to achieve at the summit.

"It's been an incredible opportunity to put together all the stakeholders who are incredibly passionate about IT for development," Passman replied, in fluent NGO-speak. "We all have to do more. We need to engage in broader and deeper dialogue and partnerships. We have a milestone in 2005 in Tunis and we're very focused on ensuring there's some tangible developments for then."

She underlined Microsoft's "expanded relationship" with the UN (a double paranoia attack for those who worry about black helicopters or the evil empire) - especially work developing community technology centres in refugee camps in partnership with UNHCR.

Passman claimed that Microsoft had been working hard to ensure "all voices can be heard" on controversial issues such as internet governance, adding that "the focus on these issues is tremendous." And, with that, she slipped from the room...

David Steven | 10:57 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

In the news, dissenters feel ignored, Africa projects win awards, China will spare no efforts to accelerate the information society, and IT-literate children are "respected like village elders."

Also: a campaign for equal access to scientific knowledge, Zambia wants to build a self-renewing society, Geneva is agog (allegedly), and India's teaching software is revolutionary.

And, finally, no-one knows who uses the internet...

David Steven | 09:19 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Members-only? What is civil society? Do you have to join? Earlier in the week, an activist claimed civil society was 5 billion strong. What did the other 1 billion do wrong?

In Tunisia, it appears, civil society really is run like a club. And it has 8000 members - all of whom enthusiastically support Tunisian plans to host phase 2 of the summit:

"The 8000-member Tunisian civil society has declared it is ready to host the second phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS 2) in 2005," Roseleen Nzioka writes.

"Speaking exclusively to Highway Africa News Agency (HANA), the president of the giant society, Agrebi Saida, said it is because of the sheer political will and determination of the Tunisian government in partnership with the civil society that her country will host WSIS 2.

"Saida said no other country is better placed to host the second phase of the Summit, arguing that it was Tunisia that inspired the United Nations to consider hosting a summit of this nature in the first place."

David Steven | 08:51 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

December 11, 2003

Iran round-up - a long day, dominated by Iran and with lots more posting to come.

In a nutshell, we went to President Khatami's news conference, asked about Iran online, internet censorship, and find out what he knows about blogs (background).

Then we interviewed Iran's information minister.

Also - you can watch the press conference with Iran's President here - where you'll see the Daily Summit put your questions to Mr Khatami, just as we promised. And you can read a series of posts in Arabic too.

Aaron Scullion | 11:09 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

Iran's ICT minister confronted. How does Ahmad Motamedi, Iran's minister for Information and Communication Technology (ICT), explain the huge number of websites censored in his country? "Sometimes mistakes happen," he said.

Some mistake. In a rare interview, Mr Motamedi claimed that officially just 240 sites were banned in Iran and that no-one was punished for writing anti-government messages online.

He had a harder time explaining the arrest of Sina Motallebi, the journalist and blogger held earlier this year.

For other reports of President Khatami's press conference click here, here and here.

We questioned Dr Motamedi over his claim that only 240 websites were blocked - he insisted this was the correct number, and that all political sites were available - saying only that "if they are political and mixing in some contempts against our religions and our prophets, we cut them".

We asked him to officially publish the list of the sites his government admits to banning - the minister said "it has been published for the private sector, and insisted, "all the press know what it is".

We asked him what punishments would be handed out to people who published material the government didn't approve of - Dr Motamedi insisited that his government only blocks the sites within Iran, and that "there is no punishment".

So, obviously, we had to ask about Sina Motallebi - the journalist and blogger arrested in Iran earlier this year.

Mr Motamedi first insisted he knew nothing of the story, and then said, "He has been arrested but not in relation to weblogs." The minister offered an example - "If somebody is a weblog writer, and kills somebody - should they not be arrested?".

We had one final question. Earlier this year, the government said it was a 'technical mistake' when some websites became unavailable - we asked the minister how such a mistake could happen. He pointed out that "technical problems always happen", but that he didn't know why they happened so often. He concluded - "sometimes mistakes happen" - and was ushered away.

Transcript:

Ahmed Reda: Many reports are saying 15,000 sites are blocked.

A: Most of the sites are cut. They have themselves cut it - Most of the sites that are porno and unethical are cut. We have not given any names for that - we have given them the message you cut them yourself. So anti-ethics and pornos, they have themselves cut it.

From these 240 these are sites against religion. They are contempting Prophet Mohammed and other religious principles of the people. What do you call them, political, we do not know what names you have for this, but for us it is anti-religion.

Some of them they have not criticized them in charge and authorities.

Ahmed: But I'm not speaking about the nature of the sites, I'm speaking about the number.

They have themselves cut this. Only we have given the names of these 240. But for the sites by their names it indicates that they are anti-ethical and anti-religious. They have themselves cut it.

Ahmed: How many political sites are you banning?

A: What is your definition of political?

Ahmed: Criticizing the political system and the political organisations, the executive branch?

A: From our point of view all political sites are free. No news agency has reported, for example BBC, CNN - most of them are political and they have criticised the government, but we have not closed them - they are not prohibited. But if they are political and mixing in some contempts against our religions and our prophets, we cut them.

Cara Swift: Will you officially publish the list of the 240 sites that are banned?

A: Actually it has been published for the private sector. Most of them are private, and all the press know what it is.

Aaron Scullion: What punishments can people expect if they publish websites you do not agree with?

A: Only we cut the sites - from only access from Iran. There is no punishment defined for them.

Aaron: There were reports a few months ago that one weblogger was arrested.

A: No one has been arrested. If you have any name we can follow it. We give some loans to them and promote these weblogs and sites when they are good - especially when they are in Persian.

David Steven: I have the name of the weblogger that it was claimed was arrested. Sina Motallebi.

A: Actually, it is just now that I am hearing this from you. This is not substantial and it is not in relation to weblogs. What news agency?

David: The Colombia Journalism Review. Associated Press.

A: She has been arrested but not in relation to weblogs. If somebody is a weblog writer, and kills somebody - should they not be arrested?

Aaron: Previously, some web sites in Iran were taken off line and blocked - when the government was told of this, it said it was a mistake. How could such a mistake happen?

A: Technical problems always happen. But I don't know how this is being increased. Sometimes mistakes happen.

Aaron Scullion | 10:33 PM | Comments (16) | TrackBack

Giving ICT a human face. Civil Society today delivered a counter-declaration to the World Summit, so Daily Summit talked to some leading civil society members about what they are unhappy about and why.

"Yes, WSIS has come up with certain things, but we are suspicious that a plan of action may not be able to match up our expectations," Kay Raseroka told us. "We also fear that at the end of the day market values are going to be imposed on people and this will definitely be a different kind of imperialism of ICT. This we can already see with the cell phone."

Chair of the Civil Society Coalition (CSC), Raseroka doubles as the president of the International Federation of Library Association and Institutions. "Civil society was forced to make its declaration because human issues have been left out at the summit. This is about linking people. It is the people's right to information that now seems to be surpassed by pipes and cables and all the stuff. We strongly feel that what UNESCO is trying to do is not enough."

The problem is money: "Implementation of any plan of action starts with money . Find out how much money is being put into this plan. That's a critical issues we are standing up for now."

In the same vein, USLA secretary-general Ross Shimmon said: "Look, there is too much emphasis on technology and not enough on contacts. We have discovered that some governments are more interested in controlling their population, than democratising it. We want this whole process to be more people-oriented."

Oghogho Obayu | 09:59 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

In the line of fire. Al Jazeera moderator Dr Faisal al-Kasim defended the station's decision to broadcast footage encouraging Muslims to rise up and attack Westerners, saying, "we are in the business of scoops, especially in times of war".

The presenter came under fire during a panel discussion on the role of the media in re-building post-conflict societies and in coping with a clash of cultures. But the focus of much of the discussion fell on how media coverage after some conflicts had incited further violence.

Dr al-Kasim said the US media's attitude towards the Arab world in the wake of September 11 had left tensions between the two cultures at their lowest point. He came under fire from one member of the audience concerned about their broadcasting of messages from terrorists, such as Osama bin Laden, encouraging murder.

Panel chair, BBC News anchor Mishal Husain, asked the guest if he felt responsible for carrying a message asking Muslims to rise up against the US and the West.

The West always brags about freedom of expression and then it starts to muffle others, he argued. The conflict was between Al Qaeda and the US. Why would you want to listen to only one side? Do you want us to forget about Osama bin Laden altogether? If the US had got hold of one tape or another first they would definitely have broadcast it. We are in the business of scoops, especially in times of war."

Claire Regan | 09:40 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Ben's Best Bet. Ben - aka Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, Tunisia's President for the past 16 years - is clearly working on the "publicly done deal" principle over hosting WSIS 2. Aware of mutterings during the WSIS 1 PREPCOMS about his record on journalistic freedom, he is ignoring them and devoting his time to selling his country as host-designate.

His sales pitch includes photo-calls of himself, "Tunis 2005" baseball caps and teashirts available in Tunisia's stand conveniently located in a prestige position and references to WSIS in major speeches, not just this week in Geneva but last week when welcoming French President Jacques Chirac to Tunis.

Full marks though, for for his campaign literature and his polite staff on the stand.

Andrew Taussig | 09:37 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Our space is open. At last, after a long search, Daily Summit tracked down Polymedia, renegade media outfit, evicted from their first home, but now resident in a Genevan cinema/theatre.

Harassed, harangued, haunted, but happy at last! And (there's no better way one can put it) these guys are weird...

First thing you notice: no telephones. But lots of computers, all set up to disseminate what they believe to be real information, the sort that should matter to people.

Polymedia has strong links to Indymedia - a group that has been in the thick of protest against the world order. Seattle, Evian, and now Geneva - the group has a record of reporting from the heart of the action.

Now, they have been forced to relocate to two bases. The Palladium is a brown building, from which thick black and blue smoke belches off the cigarette sticks of our famous journalists. A unused projection screen lies unused, and everywhere there are computers. Close by is the Theatre de la Usine - a larger space.

The Polymedians are busy - but not too busy to speak.

First, Annie, an academic: "We use the Usine for conference talks, discussion, and debates. And in the Palladium, we are experimenting with free software, sharing knowledge and experiences, and updating Polymedia web sites. Ours is a do it yourself movement, which is why I can't tell you my second name: I don't want to sound special. Here at Polymedia, people are simply trying to escape from the rat race. We simply want the freedom to live on our own terms. We are not worried by our problems with the police. We are used to being troubled. Its our sacrifice for a freer world.."

Then American, Sasha Chock: "We do not feel free with 2,000 military and 700 police at the Palexpo. To inform the people, we do not have to go through metal detectors and checkpoints every 200 feet! We do not want to be in a space of controlled information, where they held me up yesterday and divided my papers and leaflets into two piles. The ones I could take in and the ones I couldn't."

Chock's fellow country woman, who identified herself simply as Dee Dee concluded: "The difference between our world and yours is that this space is open. Yours is not."

Oghogho Obayu | 09:34 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

Do you blog? After President Khatami mentions the explosion of weblogging in Iran, Cara Swift asks: do you use weblogs, Mr President?

"I do not use weblogs," the President replied. "But I do not use many good things. My own daughters do not have weblogs but they are very active in using the internet and chat. Our youth and adolescents during high school - and university - are using weblogs very extensively. In universities, there is a lot of access and there are many internet cafes in Iran. Access for youth to the internet is very satisfactory."

David Steven | 07:27 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack

Only 240 sites! Aaron Scullion asked President Khatami : "Will you pledge uncensored access to the internet or publish a list of sites deemed unacceptable?"

The President replied: "The BBC, Voice of America and other American sites will not be censored in Iran. Many things that are contrary to the policies of Iran are available in Iran. Even opposition websites are available. We are exerting greater control over pornographic and immoral websites that are not compatible with Islam. And even some political sites that are very insulting to religion. But we are not censoring criticism. Criticism is OK.

"The numbers are very few - it's only porn sites. (Asks Minister of ICT for a precise number) Altogether 240 sites, the Minister tells me. The majority are porn sites, not political sites. We hope to have a world where morality will prevail and we will not have to censor any sites."

Aaron pushed Mr Khatami to justify the comments he made on Wednesday - telling the summit's plenary session that a key requirement of a knowledge based society was a commitment to "principles of democracy".

"Democracy without free flow of information, and without access to the thoughts of others, is not possible - democracy runs in tandem with freedom of expression. This does not mean that everything goes. I think many Western countries will not allow fascists or nazis or racists to say whatever they think. Stopping such ideas does not mean restriction of freedom - freedom of expression and freedom of thought are the preconditions of a democratic society - but at the same time, freedom does not mean chaos, or the absence of law and order."

David Steven | 07:24 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

President mentions weblogs! Asked by Ahmed Reda of Daily Summit who controls internet censorship in Iran, Mr Khatami replied:

"I think there are hardly any countries in the developing world, or in Islamic countries, where you have such expanded ICT networks and ICT use. Of the weblogs that are created and generated - after those in English and French, we are number three.

"There are a lot of internet connections in Iran. All countries have certain reservations about the internet, but they are not about freedom of expression. They are only porn and immoral websites. Even political websites that are openly opposed to the Iranian government, and all other educational and scientific sites, are available to the Iranian people. But the expansion of digital expression should not harm the culture or identity of nations. We need new conventions, while allowing fair use of the internet.

"Of countries that have been very sensitive to the harm these communications can cause, we can use France, as an example. Its example shows we should not sacrifice the great benefit of these communications, but we should pay attention to the harms they can cause. The internet should not harm the fundamental freedoms of people. Within the framework, of law, we believe in Iran we have imposed the minimum restrictions. In other countries there are broader restrictions."

David Steven | 07:04 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

The Iranian President has just started speaking - "energetic and ready to answer our questions."

We start with a question about co-operation between Iran and Egypt (eh? relevant?). The President says he's had a good meeting with Mubarak.

At length. Eventually he gets onto the new Ministry of ICT, which was approved by Iran's parliament yesterday.

[BTW keep pressing F5 to get updates - this post is being updated as the president speaks!]

A question about Bosnia-Herzogovina (eh? relevant?). The president talks about the war in the Balkans and Iran's role in re-construction.

Another question about Egypt. "Have there been any specific results from the talks with Egypt?" (am I at the wrong summit?).

At last the big one: "who controls Internet censorship in Iran?"

David Steven | 06:41 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Iran's president is going to speak any moment (watch here).

We've gone through an lot of security to get in, but we're in the front row. Metal detectors and sniffer dogs were used - no other news conference at the summit has had anything like this.

Aaron Scullion | 06:34 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Spam ain't cheap. The infuriating adverts that clog e-mail inboxes have cost the US economy $10 billion this year, apparently. "It is no longer just a nuisance but we have reached a tipping point when it could undermine the application of e-mail," US spam expert Scott Dalliard has said in a session.

The general consensus among the international panel was that spam will never be eradicated entirely but could be much controlled if existing and future legislation was used to it's full extent.

Despite the levity of the issue there was a ripple of laughter when the only spam that one of the speakers could find to use as an example emblazoned the giant screen with "Ultimate Colon Cleanser".

Erin Dean | 05:46 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Nothing much to say from the USA. There weren't even any protests as they had their say at the plenary session. Rumours were circulating the corridors of the media centre that John Marburger, George Bush's science and technical adviser, would be interrupted by campaigners. Many here are left disappointed by the lack of incident - even those in the room who continued talking during his speech.

The content was also characterized by lack of incident - by lack of key buzz phrases of this summit "digital divide" nor "digital solidarity fund" - on the lips of so many speakers at this summit. He said that investment in innovation must be a priority. I think others I have met here this week would argue that investment in the developing world should be higher up the list.

Cara Swift | 04:20 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

As Timms goes by... The UK government's top man at the World Summit - Stephen Timms - confirmed this morning what everyone suspected was the British attitude: stand well back and hang onto your purse strings. If Britain is going to hand out any more aid to poorer nations, Mr Timms suggested at a British Council event, it will be on its own terms and not through any of those spendthrift international agencies, thank you very much.

The most telling aspect of his speech, however, was that it appeared to be based entirely on a report written by the Institute of Public Policy Research, an independent think tank. Has the British government done no thinking of its own?

There is no question that Mr Timms understands the debate. He is certainly more informed than he was on December 1, when he took part in the IPPR meeting. The problem is that he appears to have consulted few, if any other sources since. Why else would his patter be so similar to the conclusions reached at that meeting?

There are two good reasons for this:
a) the IPPR meeting provided a very good bluffer's guide to the World Summit, and
b) the British government shares the American government's view that the World Summit is a talking shop for politicians and should not be considered a platform for solving technological issues.

So, Britain is cynical about the World Summit, but just how cynical? Daily Summit has obtained a leaked report of the IPPR meeting, from which Mr Timms seems to have formed the British government's policy.

See if you can spot the difference between the report and the statements Mr Timms made this morning:

IPPR: "While market forces will on the whole drive much of the technology forward it is necessary to clear some regulatory roadblocks."
Mr Timms: "It's absolutely essential we retain market dynamism."

IPPR: "Other concerns were that [a multilateral fund to help poorer countries build their digital infrastructure] was over-simplistic and would reinforce the culture of aid dependency."
Mr Timms: "The Global Solidarity Fund [a multilateral fund to help poorer countries build their digital infrastructure] would continue the aid dependency cycle."

The essence of the IPPR document (and thus probably British government policy) is that multilateral funds should not be trusted because no-one has adequately explained how the money will be spent. Worse still, cash could too easily fall into the hands of governments who would build their infrastructure in such a way as to limit freedom of expression.

However, it is not all doom and gloom. Britain is keen to provide funding on a more limited basis providing it promotes free market activity. There is only one caveat. It must first win the approval of the Department for International Development's notoriously prickly policy makers.

Jack Malvern | 04:10 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Sing-along-summit. How do you make your press conference stand out from all the others?

Head of UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues Ole-Henrik Magga decided to round his off with a song.

Without any backing, brave Mr Magga from the Sami reindeer hunting tribes of Northern Europe, trilled a song about a young reindeer meeting an early end in life.

Erin Dean | 03:45 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Access denied - we have photgraphic evidence of Iranian censorship of the net.

(Other Iran coverage, here, here, here and don't forget to tell us what you want us to ask Iran's President. And we think you'll be able to watch the press conference here).

Cara Swift | 03:42 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Indigenous ICT. The paradox of discussing computer access for people locked in a daily struggle to survive was pointed out by indigenous peoples today.

"People are sick, starving they are fighting day to day to survive. That is the situation in many indigenous communities," said Mr Ole-Henrik Magga,
chairperson of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. "It's not a question of whether we use a computer or not, because there are
no computers. It is not a question of seeing a television, because there isn't one."

"Now we are knocking at the door of the information society and the question is, will we get in?" said Mr Magga, a member of the reindeer herding people of Northern Europe.

His organisation was only invited to WSIS a couple of months ago - severly curtailing any influence they could have in the run-up to the summit. Ms Mililani Trafk, Permanent Forum Member for the Pacific ,said the references to indigenous peoples they had fought to get added to summit documents have been removed for the final versions.

But she said their struggle to access ICTs would continue as they could bring "housing, food, health services and peace."

Erin Dean | 03:36 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Ugandan girl pleads for education. 15 year old Atwiine Cairo, representing the Girls' Education Movement , has confidently told why girls drop out of school in her country.

"Poor parents cannot afford the school materials, and the girls sometimes need to support the family." She added that girls can be sexually harassed at schools.

A brave individual is something of a rarity amongst the plethora of NGOs and government delegations here in Geneva...

"I dream of a country where all girls will be at school in a healthy environment where girls and boys are treated the same", she said.

Her speech was followed by one from a 14 year old boy scout from Pakistan..

Cara Swift | 01:27 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack

Thanks for the link today goes to Pejmanesque, Hootinan, seang.net, The Wireless, l'eta dell'innocenza, Blogs Canada, Tech Guru, Azar & her mirror, dDH, Voxpolitics, Open, eCuaderno, a preponderance of evidence, Iranian or Canadian, Kapingamarangi, Sobhaneh, Khorshid Hanoom, Metafilter and British Council Thailand

Jane Frewer | 01:26 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Girls Girls Girls, need education, education, education. That's the message from Carol Bellamy, UNICEF's executive eirector , launching their "State of the World's Children report 2004". She said the "leadweight holding back the progress of their own nations" is the sad reality is that 120 million children each year never see the inside of a classroom - and the majority of them are girls.

She also pointed out what a lot of people at WSIS seem to ignore - "ICTs cannot change people's lives if they can't read".

Cara Swift | 01:19 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Flying Bertie. Irish premier Bertie Ahern jetted in for a flying visit to address the plenary this morning - one of a few heads of state bothering to do so.

The Taoiseach squeezed the speech into a jam-packed day of engagements, which saw him flying out to Brussels less than two hours after he touched down in Geneva.

"We want to tap into the huge pool of ICT expertise in Irish industry in a new partnership in support of poverty reduction," the premier promised. "We will encourage and facilitate Irish ICT volunteers to use their skills in support of capacity building programmes in our partner countries. We will consult industry and Third Level institutions about new areas of research and ICT development. We will work to development new partnerships between Irish ICT companies and enterprises in developing countries."

He also described the digital divide in access to ICTs "as a symptom of a wider development divide". "Unless we tackle the root causes of global inequality and injustice, we will not bridge the digital divide, " he argued. "Fundamentally as we agreed at Monterrey, we need better governance, sound ecomomic management, more Overseas Development Aid, more debt relief, a fair world trade order and a relentless focus on the fight against HIV/Aids."

Claire Regan | 01:06 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Education on wheels. The rugged and beautiful mountains and of Cambodia are virtually inaccessible to the outside world - Education struggles to travel along the muddy potholed paths that only ox-cart and motorbikes can use.

But an organisation at one of the stalls buried among the hundreds of others at Geneva has penetrated the dense green heart of the Ratanakiri region.

With five little bright red motorbikes, they are taking e-mail and non-real-time internet access to the schools to, project organiser Neou Ty explained. The pilot scheme works through a receiver on the back of the bike, which picks up reception from a satellite dish.

According to Japan Relief for Cambodia: "Despite its charm life in the region is rough. During the rainy season, villages soon become inaccessible. Food and housing are inadequate. Disease is common and child mortality high. Most villagers lack even a basic education.

"No postal system, no telephones. People, goods or information could only be transported via ox-cart or motorcycle. The five motorbikes are a vital first step for these villages in gaining access to a new world of educational, medical and economic opportunity."

The charity has already built 14 schools and equipped them with a solar panel to run their computers. Now, e-mail and internet access provided from the bikes has connected the villages schools to each other and health clinics. But 3,000 villages in Cambodia don't have a school yet, let alone a computer.

Erin Dean | 01:05 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

Don't Dump, is the message from Computer Aid International, which refurbishes unwanted computers and sends them from the UK to the developing world.

Tony Roberts, the charity's CEO, told Daily Summit that, this year, they have sent 12,000 computers to schools, women's groups and non-political organisations, mainly in Africa and Latin America.

The project has provided computers for blind children in the Caribbean and to the Kared-Fod Women's Group in Kenya.

In Zambia, their computers are used to inform the people about HIV/Aids, with a focus on at-risk groups, such as vulnerable children and commercial sex workers.

Next year, the charity hopes to double the number of computers it sends.

Cara Swift | 12:56 PM | Comments (6) | TrackBack

Be afraid. Be very afraid. The world currently has little defence against cyberterrorists, an expert has warned at WSIS.

"Anybody can be a cyberterrorist and hack into your system to find out how good the defences are. It is pretty scary," said Dr Eduardo Gelbstein.

Dr Gelbstein claimed the power cuts that swept the USA, Britain, Denmark and Italy in August and September last year were caused by a domino effect, triggered by the failure of ICT equipment that controls the US power system.

It was, he said, an alarming demonstration of how easily a cyberterrorist could bring life grinding to a halt by hacking into the relevant systems.

The solution? Lots of planning and security systems, apparently.

Erin Dean | 12:37 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

What summit security? Activists have managed to obtain an official pass for the summit using an assumed identiy and a fake plastic identity card - breaching the summit's supposedly tight security.

They are also furious that summit passes, which contain a radio chip, can be used to track the movements of delegates, with information stored in a central database - especially as the database could be transferred to the Tunisian authorities, who host WSIS 2 in 2005.

"The big problem is that system also fails to guarantee the promised high levels of security while introducing the possibility of constant surveillance of the representatives of civil society, many of whom are critical of certain governments and regimes.

"Sharing this data with any third party would be putting civil society participants at risk, but this threat is made concrete in the context of WSIS by considering the potential impact of sharing the data collected with the Tunisian government in charge of organizing the event in 2005."

David Steven | 12:34 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Competition! We've decided to give away our Tunisian goodie bag to one lucky reader. All you have to do is come up with the best alternative acronym for WSIS, and add it to our list of comments - we'll email the winner.

Two suggestions are..
We Suffer in Silence or West Suffocates its Subordinates.

Aaron Scullion | 12:10 PM | Comments (26) | TrackBack

Shashi Shocked. Kofi Annan's man for Communications and Public Information, Shashi Tharoor, got a bolt from the blue on Wednesday from Professor Annabelle Sreberny, visiting professor at SOAS, University of London.

She interrupted Shashi just as he was winding up a session called View from the Bridge and pointed out that none of the grandees on the bridge or the several voices called from the floor was female.

For the record the male grandees were:German philosopher Peter Sloterdijk, the Chilean boss of the International Labour Organisation Juan Somavia and American armed forces consultant John Rendon - plus, on a big screen, BBC boss Greg Dyke detained in London by fog.

Claire Regan | 11:52 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Ask the Iranian Government. Our post about Iranian censorship on the internet has created lots of discussion and comment. Later on Thursday in Geneva, Iran's President Mr Mohammad Khatami is scheduled to give a news conference.

We'll be there on the front row so please, use the comments box and send us the questions YOU would like us to put to him.

Cara Swift | 11:49 AM | Comments (59) | TrackBack

He gets it? "Up-to-down approaches based on concentration have often failed everywhere in the world," says Yahya Tabesh, member of the Supreme Council of Informatics.

"Internet itself has had an endogenous growth. Nobody is the owner. Anyone who has something to contribute, remains in the net, and others without contribution, will be erased...

"Issuing circulars and directions to cope with this phenomenon only increases the bureacracy. No real work...

"I remember that during the first Paqhlavi, there was a law that anyone who wanted to listen to the radio should request permission from the nearby police station. Now we have radios everywhere.

"What has remained now: only history that is laughing at us! Web is the same."

From the newsletter of Iran Civil Society Organisations Trainingn and Research Centre newsletter, which also has an article on Iranian blogs (covered by Daily Summit here).

I am sure our vociferous Iranian readership will have something to say about this...

David Steven | 10:59 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

Thieves at work? Daily Summit receives an email from the people behind Terra Viva newspaper, accusing shadowy, and possibly Tunisian, figures of making off with huge numbers of their newspapers.

"A woman who identified herself as an architect from Tunisia took an estimated 1,000 copies "for her friends" and responded angrily when questioned...

"Two women stuffed plastic bags full of newspapers. They hurried away when questioned... Three people from Tunisia attacked [two of the papers journalists] saying that in the newspaper there were lots of lies about their country. Then tried to steal about three hundreds of copies."

Terra Viva has been quite critical of Tunisia - controversial host of WSIS-the-sequel in 2005. Perhaps this is a ham-fisted attempt to hush up criticism. Of course, it also excellent publicity for Terra Viva...

David Steven | 10:34 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

A new magna carta??? Lucio Stanca, Italian Minister for the Innovation and the Technologies, finally kicked off a delayed EU press conference (Italy holds the EU presidency and thus leads the European delegation).

This is the first world summit where there has been no need for late night and last minute negotiations to reach agreement. The result, he claimed, was "a magna carta for the information society."

Erikki Liikanen, European Commissioner for Enterprise and the Information Society, hailed the summit's commitment to the "enabling environment" - code speak for a light regulatory regime. "If you get the regulations right in a developing country, you have more competition. Price goes down and quality goes up."

David Steven | 09:55 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

We have a message from David Green, Director General of the British Council, who's been taking a look at Daily Summit, at an event where the head of the British delegation, DTI Minister Stephen Timms MP, was in attendence.

"I am delighted that the British Council is enabling people from around the world to participate in the debates emerging from this summit. This innovative bi-lingual English and Arabic weblog is an example of how the global information society works and of the exciting opportunities it offers in the future," Mr Green said.

dailysummit | 09:48 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Firm and unbending. "Studio 7 will die. It faces death. They think we are sleeping; we want to see where they are going," a typically subtle threat to media freedom from Zimbabwe Information Minister, Jonathan Moyo.

But Wilson Johwa reports that cyber cafes are doing well: "Devon, a cyber cafe assistant in Bulawayo, says there has been an upsurge in the number of people, "from school children to old men in their sixties", using the Internet. He says apart from checking mail and searching for jobs, users visit news portals and read online newspapers."

Great context for President Mugabe's speech yesterday.

The President claimed that the information society was built on the same platform and with the same technologies "through which virulent propaganda and misinformation are peddled to de legitimise our just struggles against vestigial colonialism, indeed to weaken national cohesion and efforts at forging a broad Third World front against what patently is a dangerous imperial world order led by warrior states and kingdoms."

In particular, he accused the United Kingdom and United States of "using their ICT superiority to challenge our sovereignty through hostile and malicious broadcasts calculated to foment instability and destroy the state through divisions."

Even the concept of a free-press should not be taken at face value: "The quest for an information society should not be at the expense of our efforts towards building sovereign national societies. Our national society does not exist to serve ICTs or information."

"Both must be instruments that serve our society as it seeks fullness through balanced development and self-determination. Both must express themselves within the parameters of our inviolate sovereignty represented by our democratic national will which expresses itself through our national laws, our national policies and our national institutions."

"On this we are firm and unbending."

David Steven | 09:25 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

On the web, Andy Carvin blogs from the summit, Jeff Jarvis writes about how blogs are making possible the "first free and uncensored Iraqi news service," WIKIs continue to excite, Dana Blankenhorn says that the internet is too big (and encryption too powerful) for governments to control, KnowProSE is waiting for news from the Free Software Foundation,, Andy Oram demands some responsible journalism to untangle the spin about ICANN, and Microsoft's patch-free month lasted... one day.

David Steven | 09:02 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

In the news, Kofi Annan thinks "a lot of web-based information is simply not relevant to the real needs of people;" Protestors, Polymedia have finally found a new home (their old one was repossessed); and the EU describes the summit as "a new adventure" (rumours that Hollywood plans to make the film can probably be discounted, though).

Meanwhile, Egypt's Mubarak has used the summit to discuss Palestine with Iran's Khatami and co-operation with Bangladesh's Zia; regulators have said competitive markets are need to widen telecoms access; and Saudi Arabia has promised a "comprehensive national plan for the development of the sector of communications and information."

Finally, civil society detects backsliding, Sri Lanka wonders what it can gain from the summit, and Pakistan PM Jamali believes "the enormity of the digital opportunity is marred by a vast digital divide."

David Steven | 08:26 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

December 10, 2003

Habeas corpus? Tibetan demonstrators today added their voice to those protesting new and old methods of information control.

The Tibetans are furious that China is inside the summit, lobbying hard to commitments to enforcing freedom of expression - when Tibetans can be punished even for reading the UN declaration on human rights or listening to a radio broadcast in their own language.

"The world has to tell China," Tibetan activist, Nima Changten, told us, "that ifyou want to be a respected member of the international community, you have to live up to international standards."

According to Tibet News, China is in the midst of a new crackdown, "imposing restrictions on the use of internet and jamming Tibetan language foreign radio broadcasts (Voice of America, Radio Free Asia, Voice of Tibet). This new crackdown has created an atmosphere of fear and intimidation among Tibetans wishing to listen to overseas radio broadcasts.

"Electronic mail, news reports and postings from the Voice of America and popular chat rooms, which serve as forums for discussion on current issues, are monitored and filtered out... This summer, a massive internet campaign from inside China started to infect computer systems of Western supporters and Tibetans living in exile."

Changten, meanwhile, highlights the case of the Panchen Lama, arrested in 1995. At six years old, he was then the youngest political prisoner in the world. Since, there has been no news of the whereabouts of him or his family.

Daily Summit wonders how you say habeas corpus in Chinese...

David Steven | 08:25 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

Africa's dicey situation. Africa fears being left behind as the world rushes into a high tech future, with a stunned audience hearing from the secretary-general of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) this evening, that New York has more telephone lines than the whole of Africa!

The Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo puts it bluntly. "We are still struggling to provide the basic necessities of life... While faced with these challenges, we are also confronted with the digital revolution. We are, therefore, placed in a dicey situation."

"Almost everyone in the developed countries has access to ICTs, whereas in sub-Saharan Africa, overall fixed line teledensity is about 1 to 130 inhabitants while internet, computers and television are available to only a handful of elites," he added.

Earlier, Senegalese strongman Abdulaye Wade had raised hopes of the emergence of a new concept of digital solidarity. But the Nigerian president seemed more downbeat, his baritone voice conveying the sad message that there appears to be a lack of political will to tackle a widening digital divide. He called, again, for a Digital Solidarity Fund, as "a practical measure for redressing the digital imbalance."

It was not all bad news. The President enthused about the strides which he says Nigeria has taken in catching up with the rest of the world. An independent telecoms regulatory is in place, which "has led to increased foreign investment as well as the intensification of competition. within the past four years, fixed telephone lines have increased from about 300,000 lines to 720,000 while mobile telephones increased fro m less than 50,000 to about 2,500,000. Direct foreign and domestic investment in the sector amounts to about four billion dollars."

More on this from Andy Carvin...

Oghogho Obayu | 08:12 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

In WSIS news, the gender caucus wants a fund set up to help women use information technologies; the Linux community is showcasing an open source translation system (the Economist explains why this matters); and others are noticing the US's strange defence of Status Quo.

David Steven | 07:46 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

UN believable. No money-guzzling bureaucrat is worth his attache case these days if he doesn't belong to an organisation with an acronym. Before you settle on yours, however, make sure it hasn't already been snaffled by someone else. Here is a handy guide to the 56 acro-fetishists attending the World Summit...

AIBD
full name: Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development
not to be confused with: American Institute of Building Design

APT
full name: Asia-Pacific Telecommunity
not to be confused with: Association for the Prevention of Torture

ASEAN
full name: Association of South-East Asian Nations
not to be confused with: Aslan, the lion from C.S. Lewis's books

ATU
full name: African Telecommunications Union
not to be confused with: Arkansas Technical University

CERN
full name: European Organisation for Nuclear Research
not to be confused with: Age Concern, a charity for the elderly

CTA
full name: Centre Technique de Cooperation Agricole et Rurale
not to be confused with: California Teachers' Association

CTO
full name: Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation
not to be confused with: Cato, Inspector Clouseau's assistant in the Pink Panther films played by Burt Kwouk

CITEL
full name: Inter-American Telecommunication Commission
not to be confused with: Harvey Keitel, an American actor

CEMAC
full name: Communaute Economique et Monetaire de l'Afrique Centrale
not to be confused with: Crisis and Emergency Management Centre, Belgium

ECA
full name: Economic Commission for Africa
not to be confused with: Edinburgh College of Art

ECE
full name: Economic Commission for Europe
not to be confused with: Electrical and Computer Engineering

ECLAC
full name: Comision Economica para America Latina y el Caribe
not to be confused with: with Exlax, the bowel-purging medicine

ESCAP
full name: Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific
not to be confused with: the Great Escape, starring Steve McQueen

ESCWA
full name: Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia
not to be confused with: Executive Service Corps of Washington

FAO
full name: Food and Agriculture Organisation
not to be confused with: Falco, the germanic pop star who came to fame with Rock Me Amadeus

IAEA
full name: International Atomic Energy Agency
not to be confused with: Tarzan's cry

ICRC
full name: International Committee of the Red Cross
not to be confused with: International Cosmic Ray Conference

IEAD
full name: not sure. Most likely the Information And Emergency Aid Department
not to be confused with: Igreja Evangelica Assembleia de Deus

ILO
full name: International Labour Organisation
not to be confused with: ELO, the 1980s band the Electric Light Orchestra

ISESCO
full name: Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
not to be confused with: UNESCO

ITC
full name: International Trade Centre
not to be confused with: Independent Television Commission

ITU
full name: International Telecommunications Union
not to be confused with: International Triathlon Union

ITSO
full name: International Telecommunications Satellite Organisation
not to be confused with: Information Technology Student Organisation

RITLA
full name: Latin American Technological Information Network
not to be confused with: Rizla cigarette papers

UNAIDS
full name: United Nations programme on AIDS
not to be confused with: adenoids

UNCTAD
full name: United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
not to be confused with: what a mathematician says if you punch him while he's doing sums

UNCSTD
full name: United Nations Commission on Science and Technology for Development
not to be confused with: STDs

UNDP
full name: United Nations Development Programme
not to be confused with: underpants

UNEP
full name: United Nations Environment Programme

UNESCO
full name: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation
not to be confused with: Tesco, the British supermarket

UNFIP
full name: United Nations Fund for International Partnerships
not to be confused with: failure to go to the gym

UNFPA
full name: United Nations Population Fund
not to be confused with: a sound made by a Bavarian oompah band

UNHCR
full name: United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
not to be confused with: UNCR, the United Nations Common Room at a hall of residence at Queens University, Ontario

UN-HABITAT
full name: United Nations Human Settlements Programme
not to be confused with: Habitat, the furniture shop founded by Sir Terence Conran

UNICEF
full name: United Nations Children's Fund
not to be confused with: Cif, the detergent

UNIDIR
full name: United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research
not to be confused with: Uni, the annoying unicorn from the children's cartoon Dungeons and Dragons

UNIDO
full name: United Nations Industrial Development Organisation
not to be confused with: a doo-doo

UNIFEM
full name: United Nations Development Fund for Women
not to be confused with: a femidom

UNISDR
full name: United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction

UNITAR
full name: United Nations Institute for Training and Research
not to be confused with: an evil character from the children's cartoon He-Man

UNMIK
full name: United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo
not to be confused with: Mick Hucknall, the ginger-haired singer from Simply Red

UNNGLS
full name: United Nations Non Governmental Liaison Service
not to be confused with: Friedrich Engels

UNOCHA
full name: United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
not to be confused with: Gotcha!, the less than sensitive headline used by the Sun newspaper when the Royal Navy sank the Argentine warship the Belgrano

UNOG
full name: United Nations Office at Geneva
not to be confused with: Noggin the Nog

UNOPS
full name: United Nations Office for Project Services

UNRISD
full name: United Nations Research Institute for Social Development

UNRWA
full name: United Nations Relief and Works Agency
not to be confused with: Niggaz With Attitude (NWA), a rap band formed in Compton, California in 1987

UNU
full name: United Nations University
not to be confused with: a type of Fiat car

UNV
full name: United Nations Volunteers

UPU
full name: Universal Postal Union
not to be confused with: Apu, from the Simpsons

WHO
full name: World Health Organisation
not to be confused with: The Who, the band that included the maniac drummer Keith Moon

WIPO
full name: World Intellectual Property Organisation
not to be confused with: wino, a persistently drunk man

WMO
full name: World Meteorological Organisation
not to be confused with: Worldwide Missionary Outreach

WTO
full name: World Trade Organisation
not to be confused with: World Tourism Organisation

Jack Malvern | 06:18 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

Where's the alcohol? After dutifully attending the signing of the African, Caribbean and Pacific - European Union Joint Position on Information Society for Development as promised, I felt somewhat mislead when not a single cocktail, olive or tiny paper umbrella was to be seen.

The signing was unusual at the summit as the room was full with more people queuing outside. And the outcome of its five pages and the historic moment? A call for more talks...

Erin Dean | 06:09 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

The blind address the world. With hands on the braille and an unsteady voice, Mrs. Kicki Nordstrom, the president of the World Blind Union, sought to draw the sympathy of the world leaders at WSIS today.

Nordstrom praised what she called an "open attitude" among governments to incorporate the disabled into the mainstream of information society.

As the world's leaders delivered their speeches, she received the loudest ovation of all, for these moving lines "I can't take away your printed materials now like everyone will do here today because I cannot read them...matters of the disabled have always been left in the hands of God, charity and superhuman beings...our abiding hope now is that you will do better for us after this summit"

Nordstram is in Geneva to represent to represent five billion civil society members and she minced no words, advocating that "new roles" should now be considered which allows civil society to participate in the formulation of ICT policies for the disabled and the disadvantaged.

"We cannot but have hope," she said. "That is what we live for...and now, the international civil society bureau has started engaging in coherent dialogue with various governments and coordinate interests of civil society movements"

Oghogho Obayu | 06:00 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Mugabe speaks to WSIS. We live in a false and failed information society, where ICT's are used to impose global hegemony and dominance on the part of rich nations of the North, the Zimbabwean President has just told WSIS, in an impassioned speech.

Introduced by the red-haired, female President of Latvia, wearing a striking green suit, Mugabe clearly had his recent battles with the Commonwealth uppermost in his mind.

He didn't waste this opportunity to lambast the British and the colonial past - and those who now, he believes, use their control of the information society to promote "hostile and malicious broadcasts calculated to foment instability" in poor countries.

E-governance and e-education require "a sovereign national state whose preoccupation is its people first and foremost" - not the needs of the white warrior states (eg, the UK, the US, and Australia) who are using their technological superiority to drive through a "dangerous imperial world order."

It was a powerful piece of oratory and a hard act to follow - as the Head of Government of Liechtenstein discovered.

Cara Swift | 05:58 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Countdown to Mugabe. Mugabe will speak in just 15 minutes. And the media is clearly excited. Chairs had emptied as the Presidents of Latvia, Cape Verde, and Gabon gave their speeches. But people are filtering back into the room slowly but surely.

Daily Summit has stayed the course and will bring you news of what Mugabe has to say - as he says it.

Cara Swift | 05:06 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Mugabe attacks autocracy. As we wait for Robert Mugabe to deliver his speech (things are running late here), here are his thoughts on UN reform.

"At a time when citizens everywhere are pressing for a greater say in national governance, it is imperative for us as Heads of State and Government to seek, in turn, a fairer representation through the democratization of multilateral organisations... What is good for the goose must surely be good for the gander.

"The present autocracy in global governance must be challenged stoutly so all nations, big or small, have equal say and equal power in the way we govern world affairs."

David Steven | 05:02 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack

Modern day missionaries? The Irish and Swedes teamed up today to launch the UN's ICT Task Force's Global e-Schools and Communities Initiative. The initiative will be piloted in Bolivia, Ghana, Namibia and India between now and Tunis 2005, but run from Dublin.

"We've always been seen as missionaries with a love of education and knowledge and a willingness to bring it around the world," said Brendan Tuohy, Secretary General of Ireland's Ministry of Communication.

Claire Regan | 04:19 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Al-Jazeeran persecution? The treatment of Al-Jazeera correspondents came under the spotlight today, with Al-Jazeera journalist, Abdul Kaddah, talking live to a side meeting from Baghdad, claiming that he and his colleagues were under constant pressure from coalition forces.

Reporters are arrested, and some are still detained, on a regular basis, he said.

Managing director, Wadah Khanfar, spoke of the criticism Al-Jazeera receives from America.

The station has been accused of being agents for the CIA, Osama Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein, he claimed. But the channel still represent the voice of the Arab world, he said, opening up real debate for the first time.

Erin Dean | 04:10 PM | Comments (1)

Thanks for the link today goes to Earth-Info.net, Globe of Blogs, University of Washington, Computerworld, Official site for Geneva, WSIS? We Seize, Veritas Online, Open Democracy, Human Rights Network, Ol'Man No Sword, Stop Censoring Us, Ad Usum Delphinorum, Pressepapiers.net, Cyberculture, Feetfirst, Bear Droppings, Network Games, Buzz Machine, APC, Ideas Bazaar, Nigeria Net, Blogzine, TVE, Blisspix, One World TV, Indymedia Switzerland, MzOSS and Oregand

Jane Frewer | 04:07 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

And the winner for the most confusing piece of jargon so far goes to:

"Following the adoption by the ACP-EC Council of Ministers of a Joint paper on the World Summit on Information Society (doc ACP-CE 2130/03) on 16 May 2003, which invited the ACP Secretariat and the European Commission to reflect on a possible joint ACP-EU Summit Initiative to be submitted to the Joint institutions for consideration, the Commission presented a draft ACP-EU Declaration on Information Society and Development to the ACP Working Party."

This is the appetising decription of a WSIS meeting today at 5pm. The only understandable bit is that there is a cocktail party at the end. I'll let you know what happens...

Erin Dean | 03:54 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack

Rules of the game. The opening session is over - and so begins the first plenary session, where government representatives have 5 minutes to have their say.

On their screens they have a succession of coloured lights to let them know when their time is up. It was also explained that a different set of lights would work for observers (they only get three minutes.) The rules are spelt out very clearly - as if it matters...

As the first speaker on the stage, the Finnish President Ms Tarja Halonen, a deluge of guests rose from their seats and left the room (despite clear instructions not to leave seats) - including the President of Senegal, Mr Abdoulaye Wade, who left the room conspicuously surrounded by his grand entourage.

Daily Summit is sticking it out though and will bring you more.

Cara Swift | 03:34 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

In philosophical mood, Nitin Desai, Kofi Annan's special adviser to WSIS, commented in a press conference:

"It's all relative. When I was young nobody in my village had used a telephone."

Erin Dean | 03:24 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Scrum down. All is peace and harmony in the world, or so the Swiss president seemed to think as he read out his preposterously tedious speech. (It was one of those "peace is good, war is bad" speeches for which the United Nations is renowned.)

He might have thought differently had he been at the other end of the hall, where technocrat turned against bureaucrat as a scrum formed at the entrance.

Government officials swore in a hundred different languages, with one delegate offering a clearly discernible cry of "stronzo bestiali" as he was trampled underfoot. Now that's what I call freedom of expression.

Jack Malvern | 02:56 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

On the web, Glenn Reynolds accuses the human rights community of doing too little to fight internet censorship, while our own Aaron Scullion is moonlighting for the BBC, writing a summit diary.

David Steven | 02:44 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Let a million speeches bloom - His Excellency Mr. Pascal Couchepin, President of the Swiss Confederation, fresh from re-election, has kicked off a couple of days of speeches. He urged the world to bridge the digital divide - arguing that "if the rich countries do not keep their promises, they will plunge poor countries into despair."

Kofi Annan has now taken the floor, claiming that English-language websites are, at times, crowding out local views...

David Steven | 02:28 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Video diaries. One World TV are publishing a series of WSIS video diaries on their website.

Aaron Scullion | 02:06 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

Are you sitting comfortably? If you get a queasy feeling upon entering the main hall at the World Summit, it might not just be because of the childish drawings projected onto the wobbly screen at the front. The seating plan requires a degree in Kremlinology to negotiate.

To settle most arguments, the seating plan is mainly based on the schoolroom system of alphabetical order (although presumably delegates will not be allowed to move desks to be near their friends in case they distract one another). This is a tremendous boon for states listed between Bahrain and Burkina Faso, who get to sit in the middle of the front row, but not such wonderful news for Singapore and Zimbabwe, who have to sit at the far extremes of the hall in seats that are the equivalent of being sat next to the lavatory in a restaurant.

A worse snub goes to Palestine, which as a troublemaker has to sit in the back row with all the dunces like the British Virgin Islands and the Military Order of Malta (which inexplicably gets its own seat in addition to the Maltese government's place between Mali and the Marshall Islands). It should not feel lonely, however. The row also contains an astonishing 58 supranational agencies, which we'll get to in a little bit...

Daily Summit would like to extend a warm welcome to East Timor's only representative, who asked its reporter to take a photo of him at his seat.

Jack Malvern | 01:54 PM | Comments (1)

Business has been clearing up the ICANN confusion - but bemusing me further.

At an International Chamber of Commerce press conference, ICC boss Maria Livanos Cattaui said "internet governance doesn't exist" - but then implied that she thought it should do.

It's a three step argument. Step one: ICANN doesn't, and shouldn't , govern the internet - "it's a very sophisticated directory." Step two: there are lots of complex "public policy" issues that someone needs to deal with (porn, spam, intellectual property etc). Step three: some mechanism is needed to increase co-operation in this area.

OK. But what mechanism? A "multi-stakeholder forum," a "platform," but something that stops short of an "organisation". I think.

David Steven | 01:52 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

Mugabe is in town and due to speak this afternoon - we'll keep you posted.

David Steven | 01:12 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

The internet fuels child sex tourism but can also combat it, according to international children's organisation Terre des Homme.

"A pornographer can go to Thailand and film pornographic actions, go to a cyber cafe and send the digital images to his own e-mail address," said activist Christa Dammerman. "Then when he goes through customs he has no pornographic pictures on him. Travellers are doing this more and more with mobiles and laptops."

Websites such as Please Disturb can help. It has picked up 103,000 visitors in the two weeks when it launched in 1999 and now receives 300-400 per day.

The speakers offered no tangible evidence, however, on just how effective it has proved in tackling the flourishing worldwide industry.

Claire Regan | 01:08 PM | Comments (0)

Tunisian PR. Further to our earlier post, the defiant Tunisians have firmly set out their 'stall' with a large and colourful stand, just outside the main hall, advertising their 2005 summit.

Erin Dean | 01:02 PM | Comments (0)

Optimism reigns. Well, cautious optimism anyway. An hour before the official opening of the summit, Daily Summit has been mingling with the thousands - who are themselves mingling around the hundreds of civil society stands - asked a handful for their view so far.

"I am relieved that the Declaration and Action Plan have arrived at last on the eve, and that they broadly express concerns about global society", one man said. Another was particularly glad with the recognition of libraries in the information society.

One woman told us that she was pleased to see so many organisations here, and that she believed there is a reasonable focus on using IT for development. But she added that she "would like to see the conference acknowledge that we need to address how people who can't get access to the internet can get connected".

Cara Swift | 12:49 PM | Comments (0)

Free goodies.

The Tunisian government are marketing themselves heavily in Geneva, almost as if they're trying to gather goodwill for the next stage of the Summit. Daily Summit has just been handed a large goodie bag, with a free t-shirt, hat, a badge and a key ring. As well as a CD of photos of Tunisia. Can't see how free stuff is going to make this go away.

Aaron Scullion | 12:40 PM | Comments (0)

US backtracking? At UN meetings, agreement is a relative term. Even though draft summit documents have been agreed by all countries, there's still room for wriggle room - or in UN jargon, "interpretative statements."

An interpretative statement allows a state to express reservations about parts of an agreement it is unhappy about (and does not intend to hold to!). They caused chaos at the end of WSSD, where no-one really knew whether last-minute US attempts to water down the text on corporate social responsibility had been successful. The signs are that they plan something similar here in Geneva...

Tucked away in any other business a few minutes ago, the US delegation checked with the summit chair that provision had been made for entering interprative statements in the record. It has replied, the organisers. But text must be submitted by Thursday 6 o'clock.

Daily Summit wonders which reservations the US wishes to express...

David Steven | 12:04 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

The prickly dispute over the digital fund rumbles on (here, here, and here).

Nitin Desai, Kofi Annan's special adviser to WSIS, has suggested that a voluntary fund will be set up. Daily Summit asked him who had agreed to this. "All 192 countries," he replied.

Erin Dean | 11:54 AM | Comments (0)

Live hands? US journalist, Jeff Jarvis is not here - but we thought we knew what question he'd be asking the US Ambassador (and head of the US delegation to the summit) at today's press conference (and here) . So we asked it for him.

Daily Summit: "Ambassador Gross. There's a lot of anger back in the US about what are seen as predatory attempts by the UN to wrest control of the internet from ICANN. Jeff Jarvis yesterday said the UN would have to prise the internet out of 'dead American hands.' How do you reassure the folks back home that the internet is safe?" (laughter)

Ambassador Gross: "The documents reflect very much where we are on that subject. Under the Secretary-General's good offices, a study will be done to look at a variety of issues - but only a study will be done. That is the only action that is contemplated. There is really nothing other than that that will come out of these documents.

"Of course, the issue of how the internet will evolve is something that many people can play a role in today. I am always a little confused by statements [that suggest the US has exclusive control over the internet]. The way that it works now is that it is multi-stakeholder. There's a direct role for governments through ICANN and other processes. There's a direct role for individuals to play from around the world.

"In addition, it's important to realise that ICANN is a very important organisation, but it is merely one part of a much larger puzzle. It does certain technical things, but there are many things it doesn't do. It is a misperception on the part of many that ICANN is internet governance."

David Steven | 11:44 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

Status quo rocks. America temporarily adopted a new anthem this morning as its ambassador David A. Gross reacted to the new diluted declaration of principles, upon which all negotiations at the World Summit will be based.

He sounded, to the untrained ear, like the chorus of the rock band Status Quo's Rockin' All Over the World. To paraphrase the ambassador: "I like it, I like it, I like it, I like it, I la-la-la like it."

Whether Mr Gross is a fan of Rick Parfitt remains unclear, but he is certainly in favour of the status quo (ie the power to control the future of the internet lies almost exclusively in American hands).

The failure of the new Draft Declaration of Principles, published at the eleventh hour last weekend, to address the issue of who governs the internet has made him very happy indeed.

"These are important documents, although they are not legally binding," Mr Gross noted with some satisfaction at the American press briefing. "They are important expressions of political will."

The ambassador was responding to a question on whether the US would renege on any agreement that was made in Geneva (as it did by withdrawing unilaterally from the Kyoto agreement on climate control, for example).

His answer was deft. While not actually saying the World Summit was a waste of time, he pointed out that the US was not bound to do anything decided by other governments at Geneva. America is listening, but more in the manner that a chiropodist listens to his bunion-afflicted patient than a chairman listens to his shareholders.

"It would be incorrect to see a political summit as a way to decide technological issues," he added with a diplomatic boot in the teeth to those who would like to see states have a say in the future of the internet. "A summit like this is [designed] to draw attention at the highest political level."

In any case, when it comes to the resolutions made at this conference, America has little to fear in terms of regulation of the internet. Thanks to a political stand-off at pre-summit meetings, that topic is off the agenda until the Tunis conference in 2005.

And what of the surprisingly low turnout of the largest, most technologically literate country in the world? What does the fact that America sent the same number of government officials as Gabon, and fewer journalists than Bangladesh, say about America's commitment to the World Summit?

"I don't think it says anything about our commitment," Mr Gross told Daily Summit. "Unlike other conferences where you have to be part of a delegation to participate, that is not the case here. If you walk around the conference centre I expect you'll find as many Americans here as any other nationality."

America is, Mr Gross seemed to be saying, rocking all over the world.

Jack Malvern | 11:40 AM | Comments (1)

Digital arts. UNESCO have been presenting their DigiArts destination, which aims at promoting arts and music through communication technology. Their online tutorials on digital music are quite interesting, but, again, for part of the presentation, the equipment wasn't working. Oh, and, when promoting an AV project like this, it's a good idea to connect the presentation up to some speakers.

Aaron Scullion | 11:11 AM | Comments (0)

US pledges millions at WSIS. The economic development agency of the US government, OPIC, has announced a $400 million finance facility in the telecommunications and IT sectors of 152 countries - this is on top of $5 billion of total support already spent. But this will be a private-public mechanism - NOT part of a digital solidarity fund.

The Daily Summit asked OPIC President Dr Peter Watson if support was dependent on a country's record on human rights. "We always respect international labour standards, environment and human rights as a condition to all of our projects" he said. So, we asked about Iran, which censors the internet. "We are not currently authorised to do business in Iran. Out of 152 countries, Iran is not one of them".

Cara Swift | 10:33 AM | Comments (0)

So what do we know about John Marburger, George Bush's science and technology adviser, and the man the US has just announced will speak for them at the summit (he replaces Mr Who)?

According to this profile, Marburger - an authority on nonlinear optics - is a natural shmoozer, whose influence has grown in the wake of the Sept 11 attacks on the World Trade Center.

Apparently, "he volunteers that he is a lifelong Democrat. He is a supporter of nuclear power. He believes marshalling public support is vital to any civic enterprise. He tells associates he is an "incurable optimist," an outlook that the president shares...."

His strong points should overcome the obstacles [to gaining influence] - especially if Bush believes his new science adviser can strengthen or add new insights to the administration's battle against terrorism. Marburger's public relations skills will be invaluable.

"He's very friendly, very personable, a gentleman," said Connie Kepert, a member of the citizens' advisory council created by Marburger. Kepert told Newsday, a Long Island newspaper, "He really gave people the feeling that he really did care about their concerns." And Charles Shank, director of the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory in California said recently, "His real strength is as a communicator. There's a whole range of people who are great scientists but few who are great scientists and great communicators, too."

David Steven | 09:39 AM | Comments (0)

On the web, Will Wilkinson urges us to "get over stipulating ideal markets and ideal states, and work harder at understanding how even partially functional markets and states get to be partially functional, as opposed to fully non-functional, in the first place" (via Reason).

Meanwhile: Instapundit wants the summit to listen to Daily Summit's growing thread on censorship in Iran, Vox Pop is cross with Microsoft, Lextext is disturbed by African spin on the ICANN fudge, MobileWhack likes Hello World, and there's a worm in the money machine.

David Steven | 08:50 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

More productive? An earlier Daily Summit piece on productivity led reader Chris Stokes to comment: "If we are indeed going to hear a lot about how ICTs are going to boost productivity, I do hope we hear first that the IT productivity paradox has been solved once and for all... the fact remains that over the period when investment in ICTs has shot up (since say the 60s), productivity has refused to follow suit and insisted instead on stagnating."

Maybe this McKinsey Global Institute study, reported in the Harvard Business Review, is relevant. It claims that a "new economy" does exist in the US - but it behaves differently from how many people think.

The authors base their findings on "a large body of statistical and experiental evidence... in-depth case studies of 20 industries, eight in the United States and six apiece in Germany and France... [and] extensive interviews with executives in each sector."

The US has recently enjoyed strong productivity growth in 1990s, the study claims, at a time when "in many industries, technology spending doubled as business wove computer and communication systems more deeply into the fabric of their operations."

But there was little correlation between productivity growth and IT investment. In fact most of the gain (76%) came from just six sectors - retailing, securities brokerage, wholesaling, semi-conductors, computer assembly. Other sectors saw little return for their investment in IT.

So what's going on? According to Diana Farrell, McKinsey Global Institute Director, highly competitive sectors did well, while more regulated ones did poorly. When competition was fierce, managers were forced to innovate, creating new products and services, adopting with new business processes, and introducing new technologies:

"There are many ways to innovate, of course," Farrell writes, "but during the 1990s information technology proved to be a particularly powerful tool. We found three reasons why that was so. First, IT enabled the development of both attractive new products and efficient new business processes. Second, it facilitated the rapid industrywide diffusion of innovations. And third, it exhibited strong scale economies - its benefits multiplied rapidly as its use expanded."

Successful IT investments differ greatly from industry to industry - indeed, Farrell says that "no general-purpose application had much effect on productivity." Customer relationship management (CRM) systems, for example, generally produced disappointing results, while highly-specialised applications peformed much more effectively.

Managerial and technological innovation must also be pursued in tandem. "Walmart, for instance, would have gained little from its investments in innovative information systems if it hadn't also refined its relationship with suppliers and dramatically simplified the logistics practices at its distribution centers."

"A critical dynamic of the new economy - the real new economy - is the virtuous cycle of competition, innovation and productivity growth," she concludes.

Daily Summit doesn't think the issue is settled, it's a data point...

David Steven | 08:26 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

'Domain Keys' the answer? Yahoo announces a new plan to get rid of spam, where emails will have to prove they've come from a real address. (Thanks to Online Blog).

Aaron Scullion | 07:29 AM | Comments (4)

Giant SMS. The Hello World project (which we told you about four weeks ago), is gathering a lot of momentum - and has even made it into Wired. We were in a taxi driving through Geneva Tuesday evening, and saw the sight for ourselves - it's pretty impressive. The giant neon green text messages scroll down the length of the water stream, hundreds of feet up in the air, and can be seen right across the city centre.

Aaron Scullion | 07:12 AM | Comments (0)

WSIS webcasts. If you're not with us in Geneva, there's a number of ways to see what's going on. The General Debate, as well as key press conferences, will be webcast and archived on the WSIS site. The World Electronic Media Forum (running parallel to WSIS) is also broadcasting its main sessions on the web.

If you come across any other good WSIS webcasts, publicise them by adding the link in the comments section below. Thanks.

Aaron Scullion | 06:35 AM | Comments (0)

Ireland - a country transformed by the power of information technologies, has launched a plan to help ensure those technologies are used to fight poverty in the world's poorest countries. Irish minister Tom Kitt said his country will "respond to requests for advice and information on the policies which underpin our move into a knowledge economy", in advance of the Irish PM's WSIS address on Thursday.

Aaron Scullion | 06:25 AM | Comments (0)

In the news, the Financial Times previews the summit, and highlights the Swiss Government's success in getting almost all groups "inside the tent" (although, frankly, the strain within the tent is starting to show). The Guardian promotes the role of the UN in a leader devoted to WSIS - but claims that "in this case it (the UN) starts with a clean sheet and an ocean of goodwill. Really?

Also, Wired News reports that Kofi Annan "reaffirmed media freedoms and the rights of ordinary people" in his address to WEMF. Plus Taiwan berates the UN for kow-towing to China, Open Democracy debates the summit, Botswana an ICT leader, and Switzerland is an honoured host.

Aaron Scullion | 06:03 AM | Comments (0)

December 09, 2003

An intense war between a bunch of girls. If you're tired of all this seriousness - why not take time out for a SISSYFIGHT - "an intense war between a bunch of girls who are all out to ruin each other's popularity and self-esteem."

Grab, scratch, tease, cower, tattle and lick your lollipop until you and your new best friend are the only two left standing. Along the way, pause to wonder how a game so simple - and one now bereft of sponsors or funding (god knows who pays the bandwidth bill) - can support such a vibrant and tight-knit community.

SISSYFIGHT was created by Eric Zimmerman - an academic as well as a game designer. Zimmerman started with a set of abstract principles - "a low technology barrier; a game that was easy to learn and play but deep and complex; gameplay that was intrinsically social; and finally, something that was... smart and ironic" - and built the game from there.

After a prototype played with Post-It notes around a board room table, a beta version was launched online with a tester community who eventually became "the core of the game community, easing new players into the game's social space".

Strikingly, that social space has survived the demise of Word.com - the site that commissioned and paid for the original version. Sissies now chat on over a dozen bulletin boards - the extracurricular board has over 10,000 posts discussing a world outside sissyfight, for example. They enforce an honor code, shun cheats and trolls, and regulate disputes. They also get together in real life - at so called sissy meats and I wouldn't be surprised if there are sissy couples (with sissy offspring) bitching at each other around the world as we speak.

So what's the meaning of this world that's built up round a gaggle of vicious cartoon avatars? If you've never played, you'll have to join in to find out... And if you meet a sissy, do what I do - cower!

David Steven | 10:30 PM | Comments (44)

First day... The summit hasn't even started properly yet, and already we've reported on tough security, Microsoft bloopers, meetings that were cancelled and cut short, technical failures (and again), as well as Robert Mugabe's impending visit , and Kofi Annan's first WSIS address.

We've got three big days ahead - so hit the comments, link, and tell all your friends. Go on - you know you want to!

Aaron Scullion | 08:34 PM | Comments (0)

Not just a UN face. Shashi Tharoor, Under-Secretary General for Communications and Public Information for the UN, joined Daily Summit fresh from his platform session accompanying his boss Kofi Annan.

Over a shared tin of mints he offered his reflections on media and violence - a main topic today (Dec 9) for the World Electronic Media Forum (WEMF).

The Bombay-born writer and biographer of Nehru, who has a life and a website apart from the UN, reflected on the need to balance frank portrayal against the dangers of inciting further violence.

"More information in generally better than less," he said.

Does it serve the public better to be as candid as you can be? "I think it does," said the Under-Secretary General; a final word on the subject that Daily Summit can easily live with.

Claire Regan | 08:32 PM | Comments (0)

On the web, Jeff Jarvis is not a happy man. "Instead of worrying about America and the Internet -- since we made it happen, after all -- maybe the U.N. should worry instead about Iran censoring the Internet. Yes, the U.N. would be a fine organization to run the technology future of the world. No f'ing way! They should pry the Internet out of our dead American hands." (Via Instapundit).

Meanwhile, our post on Iranian censorship has attracted a blizzard of comments. KnowProse wonders who the confusion benefits, and says WSIS technical is on the wrong side of the digital divide (protests from Veni Markovski on this).

David Steven | 08:13 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Right to dignity? Images of the rotting carcasses of murdered Africans left lying in the street were shown at the World Violence World Media panel discussion today.

"The pictures of these bodies were shown without restraint," said Professor Serge Theophile Balima of the University of Burkino Faso. "If they were American, there would have been a code of practice preventing that but not when you are dealing with the corpses of Africans."

His words echoed the debate which raged after the bodies of American soldiers, captured and killed by Iraqis during the war, were shown on Al Jazeera and Abu Dhabi television. Western television channels had no qualms about showing the bodies of Iraqi victims, of course.

Jonah Goldberg brings another perspective, though - furious that US networks were no longer showing pictures of people leaping to death from the World Trade Center: "Well, I want to be disturbed. I say: Let's bring back the horror. Let's remind people what started this whole mess."

Claire Regan | 07:59 PM | Comments (1)

Looking for the good in bad news. Does reporting negative news reflect the world we live in or is it simply lazy journalism?

That was the weighty question debated at the Images and Voices of Hope workshop. Guest speaker, Jacqueline Berg, a freelance journalist from the Netherlands, accused journalists of reinforcing prejudies and fuelling fear - with the public becoming desensitised to human suffering as a result...

"The way people see the world is through our cameras and what we write," Berg told Daily Summit. "The impact of that is enormous and I don't think that the media realises the cause and effect of what it portrays.

"They shape people's beliefs and values but also fuel their fears and reinforce prejudices. If we only focus on the things that separate people, then we encourage animosity.There is so much bad news that people have become immune to it and the suffering of our fellow human beings. Life has become a movie and news is presented as entertainment."

She also called for the media to actively challenge stereotypes. "If prejudices are not denied then they are automatically confirmed," she argued. "If the media does not clear up these misunderstandings, then they are taken for granted."

A powerful corrective? Or a sentimental distraction? You decide...

Claire Regan | 07:48 PM | Comments (3)

Pulp nonfiction. Despite being regarded as a green and eco-friendly country, we are outraged to report that the Swiss have utterly neglected their duties in one respect.

In half a day (before things even start properly) the summit has gone through a fair-sized rain forest in hand-outs, press releases etc, and we've seen just one person collecting paper for recycling in a place big enough for 13,000 participants.

Plus there appear to be no recycling bins for public use and the staff don't have a clue about how you would go about it.

Despite this summit being about the future of cyberspace, the vast majority
of those here seem to prefer hardcopy. Why?

Erin Dean | 07:33 PM | Comments (5)

A classic "yes, but" press release, from the International Trade Union Movement. ICT jobs are good, but not the ones currently being created, they say.

"Millions of workers are being drafted into forms of new economy employment that are clearly unfit for the information age," says Philip Jennings, General Secretary of Union Network International. "But the question of action to ensure that fundamental workers' rights are respected has been side-stepped."

David Steven | 07:15 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Mr Who? The list of speakers in the General Debate is now on the WSIS website. Each country is, in theory, represented by the head of the national delegation.

Except... the US and the UK don't appear to have decided who's going to speak on their behalf. At 1900 CET - both countries are being represented by the same, nameless delegate - 'His Excellency Mr. '.

The only other country in this situation is Honduras.

Aaron Scullion | 07:07 PM | Comments (0)

Amour propre? It's not only journalists who are being treated like chewing gum on the sole of a security guard's jackboot. Lynn St Amour, president of the Internet Society (a body that plays a significant role in deciding the future of the net) was told that she could have 15 minutes of her hour long press conference because the timetable had been reorganised. Half way through her talk she was given throat-slitting signs from the back of the room telling her to stop and make way for the next press conference. Daily Summit spoke to one angry President...

Lynn St Amour is not at all keen on the ITU, who are, of course, the UN agency hosting this summit. "The internet was developed on academic principles of sharing information. The ITU's historical model shows that it doesn't have the same principles," she said. "Governments look towards regulatory methods to overcome problems, but that is not appropriate for the internet."

She is counting her lucky stars that the issue of who governs the internet has been all but dropped from the summit's agenda, although she won't relax until the conference is over.

So much for lofty issues. What can we do about spam? "I receive between 500 and 600 e-mails a day, and 50 per cent of that is spam," she said. "It's something that will always be with us. The forecast is that spam will increase until it comprises 95 per cent of all e-mail. My hope is that filtering agents will continue to get smarter and save us from it, but they will never be able to eradicate spam."

Jack Malvern | 07:07 PM | Comments (0)

Furrer solution or final solution? We reported that the Swiss government's information chief Marc Furrer had hammered out a compromise on the digital solidarity fund - based on Western leaders agreeing to look into the idea.

But the President of Senegal Abdoulaye Wade has just been laying on the line here at WSIS his view - the fund must be more than looked into, it must happen. He's asking for more clarification from sceptical countries who want to emphasise existing mechanisms, and wants a defninition of what these are, and what they are achieving.

Cara Swift | 06:45 PM | Comments (0)

Radio Ga-ga (2). We've talked about the role of radio at WSIS, but now we've discovered that Africa can expect a radio invasion, of sorts.

The radio may not be the top of the range kit, these days - but it is certainly a mighty weapon for rural folks in Africa hungry for information.

The glittering Geneva conference centre, the Palexpo where leaders from across the globe are gathering for WSIS has innumerable stands for ICT stakeholders but anyone who shares the vision of a people oriented communications policy for Africa will not fail to notice the combined back-facing-back stand(s) of the World Association of Community Radio And Broadcasters (AMARC), Catalysing access to ICT,s in Africa (CATIA) and PANOS.

Using the links of Inter world Radio (IWA), this team plan to have more community-based radio stations in Africa and they are serious about this.

Sameer Padania, network development manager with the Inter World Radio told Daily Summit "We believe that radio is the heart of information society". According to her, proliferation of rural radio has been pretty difficult in the past because "English is our medium but surely you know that you need local languages for this".

PANOS is currently building a network of stations in Africa after the Ugandan success. It is also working with two FM stations in Nigeria.

Speaking on the plan for Africa, the vice president of AMARC (north America) Elizabeth Robinson said the company is stepping up its media exchange programme throughout the continent. Its international office is based in Johannesburg, South Africa and is currently maintaining community radio stations in Mali, Senegal and some other countries in southern Africa. "Our plan now is to encourage more African countries to have community media", she added.

For Freda Werden, executive producer of Women International News Gathering Service, CATIA, AMARC, and PANOS working together now represents a positive sign for an African rural revolution.

Oghogho Obayu | 06:34 PM | Comments (0)

Kofi Annan speaks. The Daily Summit has been watching the UN Secretary General address the World Electronic Media Forum. He's been talking about the need to bridge the digital divide, and spoke of the power of the electronic media to educate and arouse the conscience, but stressed that the paradox is that it still doesn't reach millions around the world.

We've got his full address if you click on the following link.

He said the digital divide is not just digital, but reflects wide disparities in freedom, wealth and power, and ultimately in hope for a better future - and added that the delegates "are here together in Geneva to put power and paradox together and come up with a plan as partners".

---

Text of Kofi Annan's speech to the World Economic Forum at WSIS, Tuesday 9th December 2003.

"Ladies and Gentleman, we have just seen the voices and reports from around the world of the power and paradox facing us all. As producers and consumers of electronic media in the information age, the power is clear to educate and entertain, to inspire and inform, to sound the alarm and arouse the conscience, to bring people in places closer together, to shine light on injustice in the world. In the Information Age, electronic media are among the most important vehicles of peace, progress, and solidarity.

And yet there is a paradox. Electronic media may seek to be everywhere but there are many millions of people in the world who it still does not reach. Many do not have electricity let alone electronic media. Others are too poor to buy televisions, radios or satellite dishes. And barriers are not only technical signals, are broadcast in a limited number of languages. In some countries it is not legal to receive signals from around the world. Some programming can make people in rich countries more sensitive to the plight of the less fortunate.

But ownerships provoke envy and resentment on the part of the deprived. Media have also been used in Nazi Germany and in Rwanda, as elsewhere, to disseminate hatred via stereotyping and propaganda. And the consolidation of media ownership has sparked concern about lack of pluralism.

The digital divide is not just digital. It reflects wide disparities in freedom, wealth and in power, and ultimately in hope for a better future. We are here together in Geneva to put power and paradox together and come up with a plan as partners. The goal is not more information in more cases, but an information society open and inclusive in which knowledge can pass all people and serves a cause of improving the human condition.

The media are fellow stakeholders in that work, and freedom of the press is essential if you are to fulfil that vital role. It is one thing for governments to establish regulatory policy and framework, but when they go further down the slope to a censorship and harassment, all of us - and potentially all our rights are imperilled. The summit must reaffirm this fundamental freedom.

Information technologies have brought us into a new age, but also to a threshold, with the explosion of knowledge and capacity, we have more than ever before the ability to reach development goals we have never had before in goals we have sought in many, many years. Like those who witnessed the dawn of the Industrial Age, people around the world are being given their first glimpses of exciting new achievements ahead. All over the developing world, as antennas and satellite dishes sprout across a landscape - some of them placed there in defiance of the authorities - we can see the immense thirst for connection. Let us show that we are listening and we are going to help them fulfil their dream. Thank you very much."

Cara Swift | 06:00 PM | Comments (0)

"Aaaaaarrrrrgggghhhh....." We interrupt this post to bring you the sad news that David Steven, hyperactive blogger and aged resident of this site, has been incarcerated in a Swiss asylum, following a serious - and we fear irreversible - breakdown.

Steven was dragged away by a UN-seconded Swiss soldier, frothing at the mouth and clutching his beloved laptop to his chest. "All I want is an internet connection," he was heard to scream. "We're supposed to be at the heart of the internet revolution but everything's [bleeped] and no one has a [bleeping] idea what's going on."

Steven arrived in Switzerland lunchtime today after a short flight from Southampton in the UK. Witnesses said he appeared "jaunty" as he walked from the airport to Palexpo, the rather ugly conference centre where the summit is being held.

However, this veteran of the World Summit on Sustainable Development, who had survived Joburg's basic (but serviceable) dial-up connections, soon found the following:

Problem#1 - The security cordon is incapable of coping even with the few delegates who have already arrived. There are many many men with guns, but very few x-ray machines. Nor are there even trays in which to place coats/phones/cameras etc. - small cardboard box lids are used instead. Expect to wait 30 minutes or so today (and presumably many hours tomorrow).

Problem#2 - Switzerland's electric sockets are not compatible with the rest of Europe's - the UK's are different again. Adaptors are on sale - outside the security cordon. So there's a queue to buy the adaptor and another to get back into the summit.

Problem#3 - The wi-fi network is free, according to the media centre's information desk - but it isn't working. Try the wired LAN. Which isn't working either. "We don't know anything about computers here," says a lady, politely. "Why don't you phone technical support?"

Problem#4 - Technical support is dealing with overload by picking up the phone and slamming it straight back down. Persistence pays and only 4 (international) calls later, a man answers. "There's only two of us and we have to set up computers for the whole summit. The LAN may not be working, but I don't have time to help you. Why not call back tomorrow?"

Problem#5 - A breakthrough! Wi-fi isn't working, because wi-fi isn't free! It's only 200 swiss francs (170 US dollars or so)! And the cards are sold... outside the summit perimeter. So... there's a queue to buy the card... and another to get back into the summit.

Apparently, the final straw for the poor fellow was when he overheard the woman selling the cards telling the man in front of him that the wireless network wasn't working very well. "But it's not our problem. If you're unhappy, call Swisscom."

Steven is not expected to make a recovery. Please feel free to add any messages of sympathy for him - or his 9 now-destitute children - in the comments below...

David Steven | 05:41 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

The media workshop has been shut down by Geneva police, claims protest group, WSIS? We Seize.

Apparently, the group had been rented a building by a tenant who had no legal right to do so. "Subsequently, ten members of the Geneva police force arrived, outfitted in riot gear, demanding identification papers from all participants. At this time, the approximately fifteen participants inside the location have been informed that they will not be permitted to leave unless they bring all of their equipment with them. The locks of the building are currently being replaced, and no re-entry will be allowed."

David Steven | 05:24 PM | Comments (0)

Big bridge needed - as "the digital divide is massive". So says George Sciadas, a researcher who helped launch The Global Information Technology Report at WSIS. He added the divide "is closing at a hugely slow pace", which will take generations.

ICT's could stretch the gap - rather than breaching it - between the haves and have-nots, according to the report.

The have-nots in this case are Chad, Ethiopia, the Central Africa Republic, Eritrea, Malawi, Myanmar and Bangladesh, who bring up the rear of the list.

The discussion that went with the launch was called 'Who Is Winning and Who Is Losing in the Information Revolution'.

The upbeat chat from the panelists that it was a "win win situation" for every country fell flat in the face of the hard evidence.

Erin Dean | 04:44 PM | Comments (1)

Leopard changing spots? So, we were listening to experts discussing ways of bridging the digital divide... and one says "breaking monopolies" is a way forward.

The speaker was Jean-Philippe Courtois, senior vice president and CEO of Microsoft Europe, Middle East and Africa. You know, Microsoft.

He was cagey when we asked him to explain, and said when "the market was opened up" for telecoms companies in monopoly states, it seemed to be beneficial.

Erin Dean | 04:40 PM | Comments (1)

Mugabe storm - the summit is agog at the news that Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe has travelled to Geneva to attend WSIS - reports say there's confusion over whether he intends to address the summit. He's able to attend because the travel ban that stops him going to EU countries doesn't cover official UN functions. Plus, of course, Switzerland isn't in the EU...

Daily Summit has been reporting Mugabe's astonishing impact on last week's Commonwealth summit - an event he didn't even attend (see also our interview with Peter Tatchell, the man who has twice tried to arrest the Zimbabwean leader).

We also covered Mugabe's appearance at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Joburg, where his speech was greeted by laughter and cheers from members of the world's media.

David Steven | 02:23 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Ironic! The Daily Summit is currently sitting in a World Electronic Media Forum envelope event where we are all waiting with bated breath for Kofi Annan, the Secretary General of the United Nations to address the room of distinguished guests and media.

They have just shown a video featuring Finland and Honduras as extremes of the digital divide, and what difference information technology can make to people's lives. When Christine Ockrent, one of France's most famous presenters, then cued in a live video link discussion from Venezuela - to demonstrate the wonders of technology - the line went down... and with it three disappointed faces in Caracas.

Cara Swift | 01:59 PM | Comments (1)

Aboard the Marie Celeste. Granted, some of the meetings advertised here seem boring, but you would have thought that the speakers would turn up, at least. Not so, according to one exasperated volunteer standing outside the Labour and Information Society meeting. "Speakers haven't been turning up to about 25 per cent of the meetings," she said. "I think it's because they are having trouble getting through registration. Hopefully it will be better tomorrow."

With queues getting longer by the minute, we think this is optimistic.

Speakerless meetings (no speaker turning up within half an hour of the scheduled start) have so far included:
Labour and Information Society
Software Libre para una Sociedad del Conoc Igualitaria y Multicultural

Anyone wanting to name and shame meetings that bear a passing resemblance to the Marie Celeste should comment below....

Jack Malvern | 01:33 PM | Comments (0)

Last minute agreement. Further to our earlier post, Marc Furrer, Swiss Secretary of State for WSIS, has just arrived, with PrepCom President Adama Samassekou - the latter resplendent in a blue turquoise robe. Mr Furrer apologised for his tardiness and for not having a copy of the draft text - so fresh is the ink on the new agreement.,

Key revelation - Mr Furrer said that the developed nations have agreed "at least to look into" the possibility of a global fund. Meanwhile the developing nations will each proceed with their various funds organised on a regional basis.

Cara Swift | 01:26 PM | Comments (0)

ITU Sec-Gen speaks. Mr Yoshio Utsumi, Secretary General of the ITU, has been talking to the media. He's insisted that he wants to turn the Draft Declaration of Principles into a reality, and announced that the final agreement on the last contentious pre-summit issue - the digital solidarity fund - "is to be made very soon - so this summit will not be so disastrous".

Daily Summit asked him if the international fund being discussed would be dependent on their practices of human rights and freedom of expression, or will the money go to them free of charge? "I don't know at all" was his response.

He went on to explain that there are two trains of thought at WSIS. One is that many countries already have existing mechanisms to help bridge the digital divide and those mechanisms should be used to their full extent - and so they believe that if the creation of a new fund is necessary it should only be done after studying all existing mechanisms. Others argue that the creation of the new fund is necessary anyway, and this is a voluntary system - in fact some countries have already pledged money.

Cara Swift | 12:53 PM | Comments (3)

Gun count after 30 minutes at WSIS? Already in the dozens due to the various heavies, soldiers in full camouflage (not sure where they expect to find any trees in the sprawling concrete venue), and armed police.

Even as you approach the building armed guards peer down from the roof. And queues snake back from ranks of full body and bag scanners.

Erin Dean | 11:46 AM | Comments (3)

Arrival! The Daily Summit team has made it to Geneva! Given that the conference doesn't really get going until Wednesday, registration is pretty easy, right now, but give it a couple of hours and I think the queues may get a little out of hand. The Wi-Fi connections are working - more to follow on this - and I confidently predict that 'delegate using WI-FI laptop' will be the most popular snapshot of the summit. Our team has already been snapped twice by Japanese photographers..

Aaron Scullion | 11:19 AM | Comments (0)

Cyber Oscars - A Cambodian project connecting disadvantaged young people to the global market place has won the top award in this year's Cyber Oscars.

Digital Data Divide is a Cambodian-US company providing data entry services to US companies. It has turned over 140,000 US dollars and benefited over 80 Cambodians under the age of 25. We'll link to details of other projects honoured when the details go online...

David Steven | 08:18 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

December 08, 2003

The otherwise unclubbable. The Declaration of Aso Rock was swamped by Zimbabwe: the only live issue of this year's CHOGM (read all posts here). Just the same, Secretary General McKinnon's spokesman was buoyant afterwards, "The Commonwealth has been vindicated. We have stood firm on the Harare Principles."

President Obasanjo warned against talk of winners and losers, then proceeded to blame John Howard, Australian PM and Troika chair, for his role in the Zimbabwe issue...

Howard was in the air heading back to Australia and unlikely to reply. But like British PM Tony Blair, he cannot be said to have lost much in what is a faraway dispute. The real trouble lies for Mugabe's neighbours.

Mozambique's Chissano, a member of the committee of six, broke ranks almost as soon as the decision was announced. Along with Mbeki of South Africa and Mwanawasa of Zambia he's said to be furious. All are members of SADC, and it's here we may see the fallout from today's messy end.

McKinnon keeps his job after a fumbling attempt to unseat him by eleven out of the fifty four nations. Obasanjo gains greater influence as Chair-in-Council, and with some expectation that he may open up channels to Mugabe.

And CHOGM? We came expecting news on development, democracy and the Doha trade talks. Not only us, but the Nigerian press has been full of little else, while the business and people's forum all hosted lively debates.

But the heads of government produced little evidence that they had considered anything other than Zimbabwe, while quartered in the president's villa at Aso Rock. After all, can any of the Aso Rock's stated declarations (pdf) be achieved by what is, in Mugabe's words, little more than 'a mere club'?

The summit has depressed many observers. Is the Commonwealth a serious organization able to make a tangible difference - both locally and globally. Or is it an international society for the otherwise unclubbable?

Mick Fealty | 06:32 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Information? Society. We don't mean to go on, but the key summit documents still haven't been updated on the WSIS website, after the weekend's key negotiations - despite our calls and emails to the press office..

Update 2200 CET: The documents are now available. Thanks to Robert from the ITU for the link.

Aaron Scullion | 04:42 PM | Comments (6)

Daily Summit has written about the sheer number of government, NGO and media delegates attending WSIS - but Forbes has a different complaint. Too few business delegates:

"As of yesterday, the Geneva WSIS registered nearly 13,000 participants from 174 countries. More than 9,000 are from states or non-governmental organizations. Just 636 are from businesses. Business members include such companies as might be expected like Microsoft, IBM and Time Warner, as well as multinationals like Exxon Mobil, Coca-Cola and McDonald's, not particularly known for their roles in the information society."

David Steven | 04:41 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Iranian censorship? Iranian blogger Hossein Derakhshan, now based in Canada, reports that access to Google's cache has been blocked by Iran's biggest ISP - a way of stopping Iranians getting at Google's copy of sites that censors are preventing them from seeing.

Daily Summit asked an Iranian resident to try out the Google cache from a couple of ISPs (though not the one Hossein mentions). They were serving cached pages with no problem - but we'd be interested to know what you are finding if you're surfing from Iran...

Iranian Minister of Communications,Ahmad Motamedi recently said that Iranian ISPs should only block sites on an 'offical' blacklist.

But without access to a definitive blacklist, it is hard to tell which sites are being blocked legally or illegally. Furthermore, Reporters Without Borders says the Minister warned ISPs to install filters.

BBC Persian Service told us that certain sites, mainly news sites or opposition groups based abroad, have been blocked for some time. Radio Farda (also known as Radio Liberty) and the website for Voice of America were blocked at some point, for example.

Cara Swift | 04:30 PM | Comments (295)

AIDS in Nigeria: "Vivian Nyoko wears a low cut white top and tight denims as she perches on a dirty plastic chair outside a bar on a potholed rubbish-strewn dirt road in central Abuja, trying to lure clients...

"Of course I am scared of Aids. But what am I to do?" Nyoko says, sipping from a beer bottle... "Of course I must make sure that men wear condoms when we have sex. Some men don't want to wear a condom, but then I fight them - I am not stupid, I am not going to kill myself."

Read the whole thing.

David Steven | 02:59 PM | Comments (2)

CHOGM news - the summit's communique has been issued...

...but everyone's still talking about Mugabe. ABC news says CHOGM "limped to a close on a sour note of crisis and recrimination," the Age says Zimbabwe's withdrawal from the Commonwealth "stunned weary Commonwealth officials," while Channel News Asia points out that many countries, such as Singapore, have refused to give any opinion at all on the Mugabe issue.

The BBC's Paul Reynolds argues that many small countries have taken an anti-Mugabe stance, though some Africans are infuriated by the summit's outcome:

"The anger in southern Africa will no doubt persist. The memory of Robert Mugabe as the freedom fighter who overthrew the white minority regime of Ian Smith remains strong...

"But the attachment of some of the Commonwealth's smaller countries, especially those in the Caribbean and increasingly in Africa, to democratic values cannot be underestimated either."

There are some non-Mugabe stories... the President of Ghana has been talking about an African single currency; Commonwealth Foundation director, Colin Ball wants visa-free travel between Commonwealth countries; while Zenith Bank CEO, Jim Ovia has tried to focus attention on poverty...

David Steven | 02:44 PM | Comments (0)

In WSIS news, the Register and BBC catch up on progress on negotatiations (but you read that here first).

The excellent SciDev.net, meanwhile, reports efforts to get governments to support "initiatives that offer free access to research results published in the electronic versions of scientific journals."

You can read SciDev's coverage of the summit here - or divert to the BBC where SciDev director, David Dickson explores the digital divide, concluding:

"One of the most significant achievements of the WSIS could be an international commitment to significantly increasing the effort dedicated to research on ICTs for the poor.

This could have the same appeal as calls to shift the emphasis of medical research towards often-neglected tropical diseases.

Finally, more effort is needed in providing high-quality content directly relevant to the needs of the developing world.

The great promise of ICT is that it can deliver such information in a timely and efficient manner.

But that is only helpful if useful information is there to be delivered, and presented in a way that allows potential recipients to find it easily."

David Steven | 01:26 PM | Comments (0)

ICANN's first strike. The Register reports (scroll to the end) that ICANN is gearing up for the battle at WSIS by unveiling a trendy new site.

Erin Dean | 12:55 PM | Comments (0)

Stop the press. So, we know how many people each government is sending to the World Summit, but how many of their citizens know they are going? Daily Summit has compiled a league table of journalists accredited to each country.

Does it say something about the Malaysian government's attitude to free speech that it is sending 137 government officials but not one journalist (according to offical lists)?

Scroll down for table.

Switzerland is unsurprisingly top of the table with an army of 300 journalists (are there any Swiss hacks not going?), but it is the French, British and American results that are some of the most intriguing.

France has got a weasel up its trouser leg over the English language's supremacy on the internet and is clearly planning something.

Meanwhile the UK, a country whose government has so little interest in WSIS that it is only sending a junior minister, has a surprisingly high number of journalists attending. You certainly wouldn't have guessed from the advance coverage WSIS has received in the British press.

And the US? For somewhere that has more journalists than any country on the planet 20 doesn't seem that many...

Perhaps more interesting still is the absence of any journalists from Malaysia, despite having the largest government delegation with 137 officials. The only other country to have such a discrepancy between its government and press delegates is Gabon, where civil servants outnumber journos by 33 to 1.

And on a more quizzical note: who would have thought that Bangladesh had such a strong interest in the information society?

300 Switzerland (compared to 48 government officials)
70 France (108 gov't officials)
40 United Kingdom (34 gov't officials)
33 Bangladesh (61 gov't officials)
27 Tunisia (21 gov't officials)
26 Italy (36 gov't officials)
23 Germany (58 gov't officials)
20 United States (66 gov't officials)
18 Lebanon
17 Azerbaijan
17 Pakistan
16 Romania
16 South Africa
15 Japan
15 Nigeria
13 Iran
11 Cuba
11 Ghana
10 Belgium
9 Kenya
9 Netherlands
7 Cameroon
7 Canada
7 Morocco
7 Sri Lanka
6 Egypt
6 Spain
5 Portugal
4 Austria
4 Botswana
4 Haiti
4 Mozambique
4 Russian Federation
4 Senegal
4 Togo
3 Brazil
3 Costa Rica
3 Croatia
3 Dem. Rep. of the Congo
3 Ethiopia
3 Finland
3 Iraq
3 Nepal
3 Rwanda
3 Turkey
3 Uruguay
3 Zimbabwe
2 Algeria
2 Armenia
2 Colombia
2 Denmark
2 Gabon
2 Philippines
2 Thailand
2 Uganda
1 Argentina
1 Belarus
1 Benin
1 Bosnia and Herzegovina
1 Bulgaria
1 China
1 Czech Rep.
1 Ecuador
1 Georgia
1 Hungary
1 India
1 Kuwait
1 Latvia
1 Mexico
1 Moldova
1 Namibia
1 Serbia and Montenegro
1 Sierra Leone
1 Solomon Islands
1 Sudan
1 Sweden
1 Tanzania
1 Trinidad and Tobago
1 Yemen
1 Zambia

Jack Malvern | 12:27 PM | Comments (3)

US and Israel murdering journalists, claims BBC reporter. The US and Israeli governments are actively targeting journalists, according to a senior BBC reporter. Nik Gowing claims that the media is now seen as "a real time military threat that on some occasions justifies our removal by the application of deadly force."

Journalists are killed as part of a deliberate policy that is carried out without remorse, he believes. Dead reporters are of "barely marginal concern" to the governments, while US and Israeli action "is already encouraging others to believe they can get away with targeting and eliminating journalists."

Writing in the Royal Institute of International Affairs' World Today, Gowing suggests that US targeting of the media is rooted in a "massive overall change in culture and attitude to international law, especially by the US administration" that follows the terrorist attacks of September 11.

There is a sharp clash between "assertive, robust policies and doctrine to guarantee national survival for a country at war by all necessary means" and "the new technological capacity of news organisations to report, question and challenge from any location."

"The presence of a camera or reporter bearing witness, often with politically inconvenient information about dreadful events at a critical moment, can frequently be seen as a direct threat to be swiftly removed... The argument for neutralising any media presence is compelling and uncontestable."

Gowing also discusses a "huge growth" in attacks on the media by the Israeli Defence Force (IDF), quoting the International Press Institute which believes there is a "concerted strategy by the Israeli army to control reports on the recent surge of hostilities in the region." International outrage at Israeli behaviour has not led to restraint. Instead it has "hardened" Israeli policy towards the media.

Gowing highlights the case of Mazen Dana, a Reuters TV cameraman, killed in Baghdad on August 17. He quotes unnamed "journalist colleagues" as confirming that US troops deliberately fired on Dana, knowing he was an unarmed journalist ("they saw us, and they knew about our identities and missions"). Dana had previously been targeted by Israeli forces, he claims. He "had already been hit sixty times by what he and witnesses said was Israeli Defence Force (IDF) targeting in the West Bank."

Gowing discusses two further cases (the death of ITN reporter Terry Lloyd and the bombing of Al-Jazeera's office in Baghdad) where, despite initial reports, "tragic bad luck" appears to be "the ultimate explanation, however sinister the immediate assumptions."

However, he concludes that "the growing overall picture is that some governments believe they can target anyone in the media who bears witness to their operations and reports them. Worse still, they believe they have the right to do so without investigation, apology or charging those military personnel involved with a possible war crime."

David Steven | 11:38 AM | Comments (3)

Thanks for the links today goes to Tim Blair, Instapundit, WSIS Newsfeed, TeleDynamics, i Hoder, E-cademy, Daniel W Drezner, Citizen Smash and more British Council sites.

Austria, Azerbaijan, Bosnia Herzegovina, Italy, Malaysia and Morooco

Jane Frewer | 11:35 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

More bureaucrats, more blaggers. Daily Summit's league of ligging covered nations attending WSIS. Now, the ITU newsroom tell us that almost 13,000 people will be in Geneva for the summit.

Astonishingly, 663 Non-Governmental Organisations will be represented by 4898 people - that's 7 persons per NGO. This compares to 174 countries who are sending 4574 representatives - 26 people per country delegation!

Cara Swift | 11:21 AM | Comments (0)

Mugabe withdrawal. Despite protestations from the New Zealand premier that "the Zimbabwe government's decision to withdraw is not a disaster for the Commonwealth," much of the press pack is obsessing over the issue.

"This is a disaster for Mbeki" said one South African journalist. "He's basically been in there trying to save Mugabe's ass, but he's ended up looking stupid."

Australian PM John Howard was sounding conciliatory, though: "It's always regrettable when a country decides to leave, but nothing is permanent. There is no reason why Zimbabwe won't come back into the Commonwealth".

Mick Fealty | 10:01 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

Bureaucrats or blaggers? How can you tell which countries are taking the World Summit seriously? (Or, at least, which countries will be taking home the most goodie bags?) Daily Summit presents its very own League of (ligging) Nations.

Malaysia comes out on top with a magnificent 137 delegates, while Cameroon, Djibouti, Eritrea, Kazakhstan, Liberia, Palau, Papua New Guinea, San Marino, Seychelles, Sierra Leone and East Timor share the wooden spoon with just one representative apiece.

Special mention should go to Nigeria for including a driver in their delegation, and to Samoa for sending a dancer. Finally, Gabon, for a population of 1,321,560, are sending 66 delegates - one for every 20,000 citizens!

The full delegate list can be found here.

TOP 10
1. Malaysia 137
2. Romania 116
3. France 108
4. Canada 101
5. Cuba 88
6. Japan 85
7. Russia 80
8. Iran 79
9. Nigeria 69
10. Gabon 66

ONE DELEGATE WONDERS
Cameroon 1
Djibouti 1
Eritrea 1
Kazakhstan 1
Liberia 1
Palau 1
Papua New Guinea 1
San Marino 1
Seychelles 1
Sierra Leone 1
East Timor 1

Full league table

137 Malaysia
116 Romania
108 France
101 Canada
88 Cuba
85 Japan
80 Russian Federation
79 Iran
69 Nigeria
66 Gabon
66 United States
61 Bangladesh
60 Thailand
59 Ireland
58 Germany
50 Finland
48 Switzerland
47 Spain
45 Ukraine
44 Ghana
41 Egypt
40 Mozambique
39 Portugal
38 Austria
38 Pakistan
37 Sweden
36 Italy
36 Korea (south)
35 Azerbaijan
35 Kyrgyzstan
34 Norway
34 Sudan
34 United Kingdom
31 Belarus
31 Brazil
31 Greece
31 Mali
31 Zimbabwe
30 Argentina
30 Jordan
29 Bulgaria
29 Indonesia
29 Senegal
28 Bolivia
28 Rwanda
28 Saudi Arabia
25 Botswana
25 Israel
25 Netherlands
24 Kenya
23 Mauritania
23 Samoa
22 Armenia
22 Belgium
22 Congo
22 Cote d'ivoire
22 Czech
22 Slovakia
21 Phillippines
21 Tunisia
20 China
20 Serbia and Montenegro
19 Comoros
19 Croatia
19 Morocco
19 Qatar
18 Macedonia
18 Oman
18 Poland
18 Turkey
17 Iceland
17 Kuwait
17 Lesotho
17 Zambia
16 Angola
16 Benin
16 Denmark
16 Georgia
16 Lithuania
16 Venezuela
15 Brunei
15 Burundi
15 Latvia
15 Nicaragua
14 Australia
14 Chile
14 Singapore
14 Sri Lanka
14 Uganda
13 Bosnia
13 El Salvador
13 Gambia
13 Guatamala
13 Malawi
13 Mexico
13 Mongolia
13 South Africa
12 Ecuador
12 Estonia
12 Peru
12 Slovenia
12 Yemen
11 Mauritius
11 UAE
10 Andorra
10 Barbados
10 Colombia
10 Congo
10 Hungary
10 Iraq
10 Uruguay
10 Viet Nam
9 Algeria
9 Burkina Faso
9 Lebanon
9 Malta
9 Monaco
9 Nepal
9 Swaziland
9 Syrian Arab Republic
8 Cape verde
8 Luxembourg
8 Moldova
8 Namibia
8 New Zealand
8 Palestine
8 Uzbekistan
7 Jamaica
7 Madagascar
7 Niger
7 Togo
6 Bahrain
6 Korea (North)
6 Myanmar
6 Paraguay
6 Tanzania
6 Trinidad and Tobago
6 Vatican
5 Afghan
5 Bhutan
5 Cyprus
5 Guinea
5 Honduras
5 Panama
4 Belize
4 Central African Republic
4 Chad
4 Costa Rica
4 Ethiopia
4 Fiji
4 Haiti
4 Suriname
3 Cambodia
3 Libya
3 Liechtenstein
3 Micronesia
3 Vanuata
2 Albania
2 Laos
2 Maldives
2 Saint Kitts and Nevis
2 Tonga
1 Cameroon
1 Djibouti
1 Eritrea
1 Kazakhstan
1 Liberia
1 Palau
1 Papua New Guinea
1 San Marino
1 Seychelles
1 Sierra Leone
1 Timor-Leste

Additional reporting (counting) by Aaron Scullion.

Disclaimer - figures compiled by the Daily Summit team on Sunday 7th Dec - the list may have been updated since then, so feel free to let is know if your country's figure has changed!

Jack Malvern | 08:45 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack

The Nollywood story - home video has revolutionised the film industry here. It's provided an alternative to the foreign dramas and soaps that still dominate network television. Daily Summit talked to Charles Ozoemena of the Vanguard.

"It started in the early nineties. The film which began the revolution was called Living in Bondage. It's the story of an ordinary man and his family. He does a business deal that results in the death of his wife. Her ghost comes back to haunt him. He has no peace until by the end the Church comes to his rescue.

Ozoemena argues, "it has established a recognisably African cinema with themes ranging through romance, friendship and family. In a country with an estimated population of 120 million the market is large. Nearly every home has a TV and video player. Even if they cannot afford to buy the films there are rental outlets in all of the urban areas".

The films are largely made in Lagos but the commercial city of Onitsha is the nerve centre for the distribution system of this flourishing industry. "Production values remain a long way behind the foreign imports" says Ozoemena, "but they are beginning to catch up and investing in the right technological materials. Some of the actors and actresses can earn up to 1.5 million Naire (6500 pounds) per movie".

While it may not yet have found a comfortable home within the mainstream, the Nigerian Film Board has not been able to ignore it. The films are now examined before general release, and pornographic or violent scenes excised. Classifications are applied. Many hope that within the next fifteen to twenty years it will close the gap with the film industries of the developed world.

Mick Fealty | 07:31 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Zimbabwe out? Last night the BBC reported Robert Mugabe's intention to pull Zimbabwe out of the Commonwealth. Additional reporting from Barnaby Mason.

Mick Fealty | 06:45 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

December 07, 2003

A NZ radio journalist, sitting beside me, took these slightly undignifed photographs of this senior member of the New Zealand delegation. As a veteran of every CHOGM since 1989 he has his own description of the typical debate: full, frank and meaningless.

Mick Fealty | 08:08 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Zimbabwe, a decision at last. A committee (yes, another one), chaired by Jamaica, and with Australia, New Zealand, Mozambique and South Africa as members, has been mandated by the Commonwealth Secretary General "to encourage and facilitate progress and the return of Zimbabwe."

If 'sufficient progress' is made, the Heads of Government will be consulted on whether Zimbabwe should be allowed back into the club. There is no further detail - but it looks like an inelegant fudge to me. I'll try and get some reaction...

Mick Fealty | 07:36 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

In WSIS news, there's little interest in the summit in the Philippines, despite the country's role as an exporter of software professionals, while Israel and Jamaica are gearing up for the summit.

David Steven | 07:35 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

CHOGM news: the Queen apparently cancelled her trip to Kano and the Kano Commissioner of Information believes Kano is being punished for being a 'sharia state'; while the panel considering Zimbabwe's fate may or may not be deadlocked; and Nasir Danbatta has an excellent round-up of Nigerian reaction to the summit.

"With the nation's currency value on an unprecedented downward slide, a missing N300 billion annually from the coffers of Nigeria's economic live-wire (the NNPC), hostile living conditions; a debt profile of more than 30 billion US dollars and the N1.5 trillion owed indigenous contractors, the amount committed to CHOGM may have merely added salt to injury," he writes.

"It is widely-believed that the ongoing CHOGM is just another jamboree," he concludes, "exerting further pressure on the country's economy, while the citizenry pay the price."

David Steven | 07:17 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

On the web, the digital divide is 'little more than a marketing campaign for Internet service providers' and KnowProSE compares Trinidad and Tobago to Nigeria...

David Steven | 06:47 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Amnesty calls for Human Rights commitment Amnesty International pulled off the coup of holding a press conference in the Media Centre - civil society actors are generally keep well away from the press breifing areas. Their spokesman Ced Simpson called for CHOGM to agree that all member countries commit to setting up national Human Rights Commissions to monitor in-country Human Rights violations.

Mick Fealty | 04:09 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Agreement Reached? Reuters have reported that the path has been cleared for an agreement to be reached at WSIS - well almost. The spokesman for Marc Furrer, the senior Swiss government official who chaired the meeting told Daily Summit how they steered the delegates around the stumbling blocks.

Government representatives from almost 200 countries hammered out the sticking points and have come up with a draft text which they will recommend to the heads of each national delegation in Geneva. The Swiss acted as chair for the meeting and divided the meeting into strategic sub-groups in the hope of reaching agreement on the main issues i.e. freedom of speech, internet governance and security, and intellectual property rights.

The use of sub-groups seems to have been crucial, leaving Mr Furrer able to say he was "very gratified by how much progress has been made towards an agreed text". He hopes the one outstanding issue - the idea of a digital "solidarity fund" - will be sorted out at a further set of meetings planned for Tuesday morning.

We're pleased, but sceptical. Has China really agreed to incorporate articles 19 and 29 of the Universal Declaration of the Human Rights in the WSIS Declaration of Principles? There have been so many disagreements up to this point, we wonder how so much has been overcome so quickly.

We look forward to seeing the new draft declaration when it makes it to the ITU
website (later on Sunday, apparently).

Cara Swift | 03:10 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Egyptian Perspectives - President Hosni Mubarak heads the Egyptian delegation to WSIS along with several delegations from the Middle East and North Africa. Cairo has gone a long way in ICT during the past decade but several problems still exist and some are saying it is not about money.

"WSIS comes at a crucial time as the development of international relations depends on abolishing barriers between nations that help communities to better understand each other", says Nabil Ahmed Helmi Dean of the law school, Zagazig University in Egypt.

Helmi stressed to dailysummit that abolishing these barriers resulted in a considerable flow of information despite efforts by certain governments to restrict it. He views WSIS as an "important step towards coordinating the flow of information and finding best ways to use ICT especially in developing countries and Arab ones. "

Helmi argues that the spread of information and communications technologies in the developing countries and the Middle East is closely linked to the question of money.

He explains that larger poor populations can not gain much from ICT unless there are real efforts to enhance the economic conditions in their respective countries. He cites the Egyptian initiative (pc for every student) as an example of governmental procedures designed to spread the use of computers.

Dr. Saad El-Din Ibrahim, founding director of Ibn Khaldun center for social and development studies and the controversial Egyptian human rights activist sees the initiative similarly but says that the Egyptian society is gaining from ICT through 15% of its population.

Ibrahim explains that this percentage owns satellite dishes or have direct contact with the internet and he calls it the "strategic minority". In an interview with dailysummit, Ibrahim acknowledged that the Egyptian society has a long way to go to benefit from ICT.

For him, "85% of the adult Egyptian population is deprived from information". Ibrahim notes that official newspapers in Egypt sell around 5 million copies and claims "that around 10 million adult Egyptians are reading newspapers which means there are large sectors of the society out of the information business altogether".

Accordingly, they do not have an exact opinion on certain issues and do not have a medium to even express their ideas. His words are possibly right but there are certain pages in Egyptian newspapers that are allocated to information and communications technology but it seems that the larger sector of the country is not reading because simply it cant afford or do not have the tools for buying a computer and knowing what it offers.

The Egyptian government has initiated a number of programs to enhance the awareness of young students regarding computers and embarked on an ambitious project to provide PCs to large number of schools.

But Dr. Kamal Mougheeth, a researcher in the Center for Educational Research, says "there should a be a system and a scientific measurable method to assess the accessibility of these students to ICT." He says that computers are installed in a limited number of schools but the major obstacle is that lack of information on everything. Mougheeth stresses the need for numbers on "how many computers are there in schools and homes".

As for the students, he says they are "willing to embrace ICT but they do not have time because of the hardships imposed by the educational system in Egypt." He concludes that even the" Ministry of Education seems to miss the ideology behind the information revolution and tend to view the computer only as a machine not as a world filled with opportunities."

He is right and people will not experience the endless bless of information and communications technology unless they are free to acquire information and taught in schools what is the importance of this information.

Ahmed Reda | 03:07 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Human rights portal "NigeriaNet is a powerful instrument that will give access to ideas and fight the battle for knowledge". Jack Straw, the UK's Foreign Minister launched a new online human rights project at the British Council in Abuja.

It's the result of a two year process. Karinne Sanders of the British Council, "we started from scratch and consulted with about three hundred NGOs. We've developed an online platform for people working in human rights all over Nigeria".

Web manager Toyin Oyenkenu, "it is a learning resource above all else. We have written guides on how to source and apply for agricultural subsidies. It also contains a comprehensive guide to legitimate Human Rights organization".

With original articles being added every fortnight, it is hoped that the site will become an important portal for Human Rights organisations throughout Nigeria.

NigeriaNet is a partner of the One World Human Rights portal.

Mick Fealty | 01:23 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Heard in the press centre - CHOGM = Cheery Holidays on government money.

Mick Fealty | 12:52 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

Indigenous Tribes. Further to Erin's entry, there will also be representatives from the world's indigenous communities at the summit.

One of them, David Laughing Horse Robinson, is Chairman of the Kawaiisu Tribe in Southern California and he recently ran for Governor in the California, USA recall election. During the week he will be talking about the use of modern technologies in reconciliation movements, political lobbying and public education on indigenous issues.

Cara Swift | 12:32 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

Blair speaks right now as the panel of leaders meets to decide the fate of Zimbabwe. One Independent on Sunday journalist reckons he knew the outcome last night.

On Sky TV Tony Blair insists that the impasse is not a black versus white issue and names Kenya, Ghana and The Gambia as being in favour of continued suspension. He could have included most sub-Saharan countries. If anything this is shaping up as a north versus south Africa problem, with a sprinkling of discontent from some of the smaller island states.

Last word on the Blair toilet story to Cathy Buckle.

Mick Fealty | 10:00 AM | Comments (5) | TrackBack

Broadband tribes. A company that has brought the internet to some of the world's most remote communities is coming to WSIS - where they'll outline the impact communications technology has had on the health, education and economic development of remote indigenous Canadian communities.

The 25,000 indigenous Keewaytinook Okimakanak people are scattered in tribal communities across a huge swathe of Northern Canada. Tribes with 400 people were sharing one phone and the inhospitable landscape meant that the area was only accessible by plane.

But K-Net say that broadband technology has bought improvements such as medical services and education without people having to undertake arduous trips to urban areas. Around 25 per cent of medical diagnosis can be made over the Internet and children who used to have to board at school during term time can learn at home.

Find them in the Canadian Pavilion at the summit.

Erin Dean | 09:34 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Understanding CHOGM is not easy. According to one Commonwealth insider "it is increasingly difficult to explain to the outside world precisely what the Commonwealth is, does and can do."

In its final communique, the People's Forum stated that "the Commonwealth could play a powerful leadership role on issues such as development, security, and globalization, but only if its principles were to be most closely matched by practice".

But can it? One Australian delegate suggested, "there is more than a hint of truth in Mugabe's jibe that the Commonwealth is little more than 'a mere club'. The trouble is that now they have to prove to the rest of the world that it is serious".

The communique also hints at the frustration felt by some delegates, "the principles of transparency, participation and accountability must also apply to CHOGM itself. Civil society representatives have less access to these meetings than they have to meetings of the World".

However, the same Australian source suggested that this was a misreading of the nature of the beast, "If members of civil society want to make impacts on the leaders at CHOGM, the lobbying has to be done well in advance in order to get their concerns and agendas onto the programme".

But getting an agenda addressed here is not easy, even for the Heads of Government inside the retreat. The Australian delegation is one of the largest attending the Meeting, and was prepared to push for some breakthrough on trade, particularly in light of the breakdown of the WTO talks in Cancun.

But so far, according to Prime Minster John Howard, trade has not yet been discussed.

Mick Fealty | 09:24 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

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