The Summit began to wind down this afternoon, though elements of it continue tomorrow.
The concluding Summit plenary included: Report from multi-stakeholder events (I think I went to one of those), Adoption of the Declaration of Principles, Adoption of the Plan of Action, Arrangements for the Tunis phase of the Summit, and Adoption of the report of the Geneva phase of the Summit.
In strict planning and bureaucratic terms this all makes complete sense. But I couldn't help feeling that the participants were trying to give shape to a blancmange. The multi-stakeholder events I had attended -- the World Electronic Media Forum -- reported back, but as I have noted its recommendations were drafted somewhat haphazardly. Shockingly, my recommendations hadn't made it into the top five, which were:
- There is no conflict between hardware and software: pipelines and content
- Radio is the key new media of information society in the developing world
- The Web is worldwide, but its success is in organising people at the local level (hence the importance of WiFi for using the Web in people's language)
- The Web allows for the promotion of local cultures globally
- Editorial independence and training of journalists is important
The other reports I followed were of the platitudinous kind I have previously described. It is quite therapautic to listen to them, but there is nothing to snap you out of your trance, nothing that makes you see things differently. However, the business statement did make me sit up and listen. Business was 'represented' at WSIS by the Coordinating Committee of Business Interlocutors (CCBI) and its spokesperson sounded like a hard-nosed business type. But at least he had some definite requirements. He began by noting that an information society requires investment, creativity and innovation (hadn't heard the last two concepts for a few days) as well as:
- Intellectual property rights protection
- Stable and predictable legal systems
- Trade liberalisation
- Technology neutrality, and
- A regulatory framework which promotes competition and fosters entrepreneurship
The CCBI also stated that the idea of Internet governance was a misnomer, and argued that the current decentralised model, in which there is no central locus, is one of the best features of the Internet.
I didn't follow the whole of the final plenary, and from what I did I wonder how clear we will be about the Summit's conclusions when the fog clears. Instead I visited the ICT4D exhibition, which was somewhat more tangible than the Summit presentations. Although it was focused on development the exhibition included a stand showcasing some interesting technology and design innovations from NTT DoCoMo and Panasonic. The HP stand was well-considered, and showed its products and services in the context of government and development work. HP's research lab in Bangalore is also working on interface design concepts for non- and partially-literate people. The geeky highlight of the exhibition was the NeXT computer Tim Berners-Lee used at CERN, which became the first Web server. (It was filched from the Science Museum in London, where it is on permanent display in the Digitopolis section of the Wellcome Wing.)
In the evening I took the train to Lausanne to see some friends for dinner. The 50 minute journey was so pleasant it seemed to take much less time. The carriages were well-apppointed, clean and comfortable, the ride was smooth, departure and arrival were punctual, and the staff professional. I was reminded that when we set our minds to a project and devote our energies for the benefit of our fellow men we can create wonderful and ambitious things that work well and are pleasurable to experience. That is how we should approach the development of information and communication technologies.
Look out for articles on the Summit in spiked-online and possibly Guardian Online.
Next conference reporting will be from Pixel Raiders at Sheffield Hallam University April 6-8, 2004 and CHI2004 in Vienna, April 24-29, 2004.
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