Yoshio Utsumi
Secretary-General
ITU

The first phase of WSIS was held two years ago in Geneva, where a Plan of Action and Declaration of Principles were agreed. Now, the world’s leaders are meeting again in Tunis, for the second phase of the Summit.

Robert Shaw
Internet Strategy & Policy Advisor
ITU

The governance of the Internet is proving to be a contentious issue, but what are the real issues behind the headlines? And what’s wrong with the system as it stands?

Peter Bladin
Vice President
Grameen Foundation USA

The Grameen Foundation is making the lessons it learned in rolling out communications and micro-payment network in Bangladesh available to other countries, free of charge.

Eduard Dayan
Director General
Universal Postal Union

In this electronic age of email and SMS, what role can the world’s postal services play in supporting the information society?

Alexander Ntoko
Chief of E-Strategies
ITU

ICT can enhance social and economic development. For instance, by giving farmers access to up-to-date market information, they can judge what crops to grow and at what price to sell them.

John Gage
Vice President
Sun Microsystems
And
Larry Nelson
Acting Executive Director
GELC

Education is an important element of the information society, hence the involvement of ICT vendor Sun with the Global Education and Learning Council.

Chief Willi Littlechild
Member of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues
United Nations

WSIS calls for inclusive universal access for all people, no matter what their circumstances. A worthy aim, but is it possible?

Lara Srivastava
Telecom Policy Analyst
ITU

The ITU has published its latest report, called “The Internet of Things”, which suggests that the Internet still has a long way to develop, as it becomes a platform for communications between devices and machines.

Oisin Walton
Communications Director
Telecoms Sans Frontieres

Disaster relief agency Telecoms Sans Frontieres has first-hand experience of both sides of the digital divide, and is all too aware of the lack of ICT infrastructure.

Nitin Desai
Advisor to the Secretary-General
United Nations

Amidst the recent controversy over Internet governance, one important point was largely overlooked: does it actually need changing? And if so, how soon can it be accomplished?

Dr Tarek Kamel
Minister for CIT
Egypt

Funding ICT developments can be difficult, but the Egyptian government recommends its approach of public-private partnerships.

Prof. M.S. Swaminathan
Mission 2007
India

The aim of Mission 2007 is to make each village in India into a knowledge centre, extending the reach of ICTs into the heart of the country.

Shashi Tharoor
Under Secretary-General
United Nations

Now that two phases of the WSIS have been concluded, is the process actually making a difference in bridging the digital divide?

Fred Opare-Ansah
Member of Parliament
Ghana

There are still many issues that need to be addressed before we can say that we have successfully bridged the digital divide.

Ahmed Toumi
Director General and CEO
International Telecommunications Satellite Organisation

With the rapid deployment of cellular networks around the world, there is still an important role for satellites in bringing telecoms services to parts of the world, especially those not served by fixed-line broadband.

Prof Hans van Ginkel
Under-Secretary General and Rector
United Nations University

Thirty years old this year, the United Nations University hosted a parallel event at WSIS to focus on the impact of IT and communications technology on economic development.

Judy Chen
President and CEO
AsiaTotal.Net

Despite the arrival of the $100 laptop, there is an alternative approach to spreading the use of computers and the Internet throughout the world.

Dr Ahmed Darwish
Minister of State for Administrative Development
Egypt

Egypt has initiated an e-government programme to assist in all aspects of the country’s administration and governance.

Amir Dossal
Executive Director
United Nations Office for International Partnerships

The United Nations is working to encourage the adoption of public and private partnerships in order to further to development of ICTs around the world.

Alan Rossi
CEO
Development Gateway Foundation

The use of the Internet, especially through dedicated portals, is helping developing nations achieve better economic and social development.

Janet Longmore
President
Digital Opportunity Trust

From talking about the digital divide to actually helping to bridge it; a novel approach from a Canadian-based development trust.

Manar Al-Hashash
Member of the Grand Jury
WSIS Awards

An overview of the WSIS Awards programme, with a focus on one of the winning entries from Kuwait.

Vanessa Gray
Telecoms and ICT Analyst
ITU

The regular statistics and the ICT Opportunity Index produced by the ITU clearly indicate market trends and can highlight technology gaps that exist between countries.