[eccr] Eccr conference - Deconstructing WSIS - Towards a sustainable agenda for the future information society

European Consortium for Communications Research (ECCR)

International conference:

Deconstructing WSIS:
Towards a sustainable agenda for the future information society

European Parliament (Brussels)
March 1, 2004

CONTEXT

In December 2003, the first phase of the World Summit on the Information 
Society (WSIS) was held in Geneva, Switzerland. Heads of states or their 
representatives from over 100 countries agreed on a Declaration of 
principles and a Plan of action. The second phase will take place in Tunis 
in November 2005.

The European Consortium for Communications Research (ECCR) organizes a 
major international conference seeking to deconstruct the process which led 
to WSIS, the achievements and limits of its first phase, the nature and 
extent of its outcome.

OBJECTIVES

One specific point of attention will be the inclusion of civil society and 
business actors in the policy making processes. In one of EU's PrepCom 
documents, the Summit itself is seen as a model for the future role of 
civil society (and commerce): "the preparatory process is almost as 
important as the political outcomes of the Summit itself. The format and 
positioning of the Summit will be key factors for an event which will 
attract attention and activate a decentralised follow up process, not only 
at political level but also in society at large." (EU, PrepCom 1 document 
19/6/02: 12)

This touches directly on the second objective of the ECCR-conference. Since 
the Lisbon summit, official, texts of the European Commission teem with new 
terms coined with reference to the Information Society, the Knowledge 
Society and e-Europe. Similarities between WSIS priorities and that of the 
European Union are striking and share a number of objectives which seem to 
associate development with digital inclusion, thus making the latter a high 
priority. For example, the eEurope 2002 Action Plan encourages member 
states to "draw the attention of citizens to the emerging possibilities of 
digital technologies to help to ensure a truly inclusive information 
society. Only through positive action now can info-exclusion be avoided at 
the European level."

The conference will also discuss recommendations to policy makers at the 
European level in order to meet the challenges raised by the unprecedented 
pace of ICT innovation.

PROGRAMME

This one day international conference will feature speakers from 
universities and high level officials from international institutions 
active in the Information Society.

9.15      Opening
9.30      Panel 1: Information society policies
10.30  Coffee break
11.00  Deconstructing WSIS
13.00  Lunch break
14.30  Panel 2: the new Commission agenda
16.00  Coffee break
16.30  ECCR General Assembly
18.30  End of the conference

VENUE

The conference will be held within the premises of the European Parliament 
in Brussels. For security reasons, access to the conference will not be 
possible for unregistered participants

PARTICIPATION FEE

15 EUR for ECCR members
50 EUR for non-members (including individual ECCR membership fee)

The fee includes access to the conference, coffee breaks and documents. Not 
included in the fee are transportation, hotel and meals.

REGISTRATION

Registration deadline: 15 Feb. 2004

Registration form to be downloaded from the ECCR web site
http://www.eccr.info
and mailed to
(marleen.meyvis /at/ kubrussel.ac.be)

PAYMENT BY BANK TRANSFER

Bank: Dexia Bank - Ag.Beringen - Koolmijnlaan 9 - B-3580 Beringen, Belgium

ECCR account:
IBAN: BE96-0682-2638-6105
SWIFT: GKCCBEBB

Full programme to be published on:

www.eccr.info

Contact and inquiries:

(marleen.meyvis /at/ kubrussel.ac.be)



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Carpentier Nico (Phd)
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Katholieke Universiteit Brussel - Catholic University of Brussels
Vrijheidslaan 17 - B-1081 Brussel - Belgium
T: ++ 32 (0)2-412.42.78
F: ++ 32 (0)2/412.42.00
Office: 4/0/18
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Vrije Universiteit Brussel - Free University of Brussels
Centre for Media Sociology (CeMeSO)
Pleinlaan 2 - B-1050 Brussels - Belgium
T: ++ 32 (0)2-629.18.30
F: ++ 32 (0)2-629.28.61
Office: C0.05
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E-mail: (Nico.Carpentier /at/ kubrussel.ac.be)
Web: http://homepages.vub.ac.be/~ncarpent/
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ECCR - European Consortium for Communications Research
Secretariat: P.O. Box 106, B-1210 Brussels 21, Belgium
Tel.: +32-2-412 42 78/47
Fax.: +32-2-412 42 00
Email: (freenet002 /at/ pi.be) or (Rico.Lie /at/ pi.be)
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