ECCR at the Regional Conference in preparation of the WSIS, Bucharest, 7-9 November 2002

Title: ECCR at the Regional Conference in preparation of the WSIS, Bucharest, 7-9 November 2002

The Regional Ministerial Conference, based on the UN/ECE membership, in preparation of the World Summit on the Information Society
Bucharest, 7-9 November 2002

The UN General Assembly adopted in 2001 a resolution endorsing the organization of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), to be convened under the patronage of the United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, with the International Telecommunication Union taking the lead role in its preparation along with interested UN organizations and the host countries.  The first phase will be held in Geneva 10-12 December 2003 and the second phase in Tunis in 2005. The Summit began as an initiative of the 1998 ITU Plenipotentiary Conference when it was recognized that the gap between information "haves" and "have nots" was increasing while at the same time telecommunications were playing an increasingly important role at the political, economic, social and cultural level.
The Summit will offer a unique opportunity for the world community to discuss and give shape to the Information Society by bringing together governments, international organizations, private sector and civil society. In preparation for this Summit regional conferences are organized to develop specific proposals.
The Pan-European Ministerial Conference in Bucharest will focus on concrete issues of relevance for the region, but will keep the balance between regional specificity and the global dimension.
The Conference in Bucharest aims at strengthening the relations of cooperation between the participating states with a view to adopting a common action plan in the field of communications and information technology.
It will be an opportunity for presenting national strategies, achievements and challenges that will help the participants to have an accurate view of the stage in the transition process to Information Society as well as an opportunity to develop a platform for dialogue that includes all major stakeholders at European level ­ Governments, civil society, private sector and international agencies.   
Organized with the support of the International Telecommunication Union and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, the event in Bucharest will comprise a wide range of meetings, plenary sessions, seminars, round tables and presentations that will offer the guests the opportunity to rise pressing questions as regards current and future tendencies in the domain. 

The ECCR will be represented by Prof Wolfgang Kleinwachter, University of Aarhus, Denmark.

For more information:
http://www.wsis-romania.ro/About/about.html