The Pan European Regional WSIS Conference,
November 7-9, 2002,
Bucharest, Romania

In November 7-9, 2002, the Romanian Government will host the Pan-European Regional Ministerial Conference on Information Society, which will take place in the Palace of Parliament in Bucharest. The event is part of the series of preparatory meetings for the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS).

The website for the conference is currently in development, however please consult www.wsis-romania.ro for further information. Please note the "bank of e-ideas" link, which allows participants to formulate ideas and proposals relevant to the objectives of the meeting and for the substance of the themes to be examined. Additionally all success stories, ongoing projects and other relevant materials are invited as contributions and will be posted on the website. A Handbook of Good e-Practices will be compiled from this material.

The European Regional WSIS Conference will also be the occasion for an e-government exhibition, which will display e-government projects from the UN/ECE countries. The exhibition will be open during the conference (9.00 a.m.-21.00 p.m) and will provide the participants with the opportunity to promote their solutions to a large and knowledgeable audience and the visitors with the chance to look at examples of Information Society implementation. The objectives of the exhibition are to display concrete projects of the Information Society (e-government), featuring good European practices in the domain, putting forth success stories and providing an "orientation tour" of the European e-government concept implementation.

This Pan-European Regional Ministerial Conference in Bucharest will bring together governmental representatives (from various fields of activity encompassing ICTs as well as education, health and foreign affairs), as well as members of the civil society and the private sector, to discuss Information Society issues specific to the region and to develop a common vision to be presented at the World Summit of Information Society in Geneva, 10 - 12 December 2003. The European Ministerial Conference in Europe, based on the UN/ECE membership, in preparation for the WSIS will focus on concrete issues relevant to the region, all the while keeping the balance between regional specificity and the global dimension. It will be an occasion to present national strategies, achievements and challenges, success stories from across the region that will help the participants to have a better view of the stage of the transition to Information Society. The conference will create the opportunity for all participants to become more involved in the definition of a common future through an enhanced coordination and cooperation. Guests from the 55 member states of the UN/ECE as well as observers from Japan, Australia and New Zeeland have been invited to attend the event.

For more information, visit www.wsis-romania.ro