WSIS was an excellent opportunity to engage with clients and stakeholders. The World Bank Group and infoDev were involved in numerous ways: PRE-WSIS Preparatory Process Each phase of the Summit marked the culmination of many months of consultations and negotiations prior to each Summit among Member States, U.N. experts, the private sector, and non-governmental representatives. The World Bank participated actively in the WSIS Preparatory Process, especially in the Task Force on Financial Mechanisms, and was an observer at the Working Group on Internet Governance. The World Bank Group also contributed to the stocktaking exercise covering ICT for development projects.
DURING WSIS Plenary The World Bank Group's Vice President for Infrastructure, Kathy Sierry, delivered a speech on "Reaching Across Sectors" at a WSIS Plenary Session. Round Tables Two Round Tables were organized with the overarching theme "From Commitment to Action: Implementation After Tunis", as part of the official Summit program. The World Bank Group was represented in one of the Round Tables by the Infrastructure Vice President, Kathy Sierra. Publications World Bank flagship reports and other publications were shared during the Summit: 1. "E-Development: From Excitement to Effectiveness" discusses strategies for maximizing returns from application of the new technologies. 2. "Financing Information and Communication Infrastructure Needs in the Developing World: Public and Private Roles" outlines trends in ICT financing and discusses the role of the public and private sectors, as well as World Bank Group financing. 3. infoDev made available numerous reports on Mainstreaming ICT, Access for All, and Innovation, Entrepreneurships and Growth. 4. Other publications were also distributed by the World Bank Institute on Knowledge for Development (K4D) and by the South Asia Region on the South Asia Regional ICT Strategy and Implementation Plan. More publications are available from the GICT Publications page. infoDev Forum & Toolkit
At the invitation of the Tunisian government, infoDev organized one of the largest and most well-attended parallel events at the Summit; a one-and-a-half day high-level forum on “Extending the Information Society to All”. This forum attracted strong interest from Summit participants including government officials and international experts. The forum provided an opportunity for infoDev to present the results of its research and work program, and to solicit input and feedback from a broad range of stakeholders, who participated. The discussions were animated and rich in content. 
The Opening Plenary consisted of the World Bank Group's Infrastructure Vice President, Kathy Sierra, The Tunisian ICT Minister, and the European Commission's Director-General for Development, Stefano Manservisi. The Keynote Speech was delivered by President Wade of Senegal and included warm praise for infoDev for its role as a catalyst of international cooperation and innovation for ICT-for-Development. Mohsen Khalil, Director of GICT, delivered the opening remarks on "Extending the Information Society To All". infoDev also presented the Toolkit for Regulators, developed in partnership with the ITU, at a press briefing during the Summit. This Toolkit was also presented at the Global Symposium of Regulators, held just before WSIS, in Hammamet. Technical Workshops The World Bank Group organized four workshops: "Navigating Unchartered Waters: Implementing Regional ICT Strategies"
Most developing country governments have recognized the importance of ICTs for economic and social development. Many of them have either completed or are elaborating national ICT Strategies. But few governments have been willing to cede any national sovereignty and integrate provision of ICT services regionally. This workshop was about new regional approaches to ICT development, and the opportunities such approaches provide to radically shift the way in which ICT services are provided to citizens and businesses.
"Down-to-Earth Realities in e-Development: What Makes for Success in Adopting ICTs?"
This workshop launched the World Bank Report "e-Development: From Excitement to Effectiveness". After initial years of enthusiasm, exploration and excitement, the e- development agenda has matured into a set of policy instruments, sectoral applications and programmatic approaches. This report attempts to distill some of the lessons learned from e-development projects with experience drawn from users, producers, regulators, leaders and providers of ICT from World Bank member countries, developed and developing alike.
"Partnerships for E-Government Effectiveness in Latin America and the Caribbean"
The E-government Effectiveness Inter-Agency Task Force has emerged as a response to the recognition by the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean that more systematic dialogue and collaboration among themselves and with international development organizations is needed in order to improve the effectiveness of their individual and collective efforts to use information and communication technology in the institutional transformation of public administration at the all levels. The workshop addressed concrete aspects for improving the partnerships between Task Force members and the countries in the Region in the area of e-government.
Video Conference As a knowledge center for developing countries, the World Bank is working on leveraging Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) to enable "e-governance". This videoconference ("From Strategy to Implementation: Sharing Lessons Learned from Bank-funded e-Development Projects") between Tunisia, Sri Lanka, Ghana, Rwanda, Kazakhstan, Moldova, as well as the Bank offices in Washington DC, distills lessons learned from various e-development projects based on the experiences of team members involved in project planning and execution. Presentations at other Parallel Events The Africa Regional Communications Infrastructure Program (RCIP) Related Events In addition to its traditional country-level telecommunications operations, the World Bank Group is also supporting countries in a number of regional projects. Of particular relevance to WSIS is a regional fiber connectivity project for Africa (RCIP). At WSIS, the World Bank Group organized and participated in a number of RCIP-related events. For example:
After WSIS, Markus Kummer, Executive Coordinator of the Secretariat of the Working Group on Internet Governance, visited the World Bank in Washington, DC and outlined the key discussions on "Internet Governance and WSIS". |
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