Latvia in the WSIS process

Andrejs VasiļjevsTilde

UNESCO IFAP Bureau

.lv NIC 20 Conference, Riga, April 19, 2013

WSIS Goals• Goal – to facilitate creation of inclusive information (knowledge) society:o To create equal opportunities for all in access and use of information

and knowledge o Focused on people not on technologieso To ensure a balanced development of society, to overcome the

digital divideo To facilitate reaching of the UN development goals

(Millenium Development Goals)

WSIS processGeneva phase December 2003:o Declaration and Action Plan

Tunis Phase November 2005:o Tunis Commitmento Tunis Agenda for the Information Society

WSIS Tunis Phase in Figures

• 19 401 participants• 46 Heads of States and Governments, royal

persons and vice-presidents, 197 ministers and deputy ministers

• 5 857 members of delegations from174 countries• 1 508 representatives from 92 international

organisations• 6 241 representatives from 606 NGOs• 4 816 representatives from 226 companies• 1 222 accredited journalists• 8 plenary sessions and 308 concurrent events

Delegation of LatviaWorld Summit on Information Society, Tunis Phase

Main issues of the WSIS Tunis phase

• Internet governance Internet Governance Forum under patronage of UN

Secretary General

• Financial support of the Action planDigital Solidarity Fund

• Mechanisms for implementation of the Action plan

Latvia in the WSIS• Latvia Ambassador to UN Jānis Kārkliņš was

chairman of the PrepCom of the WSIS Tunis Phase

• Latvia delegations headed by the President of Latvia

• Active part in discussions on:o Multilinguality and cultural diversity in the

cyberspace o e-inclusion, e-learning, e-health and

e-government

The President of Latvia Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga andChair of PrepComJānis Kārkliņš at WSISTunis, Nov. 2005

World Summit on Information Society Cultural diversity and identity, linguistic diversity and

local content

• Harness and preserve cultural heritage for the future by all appropriate methods

• Promote e-literacy skills for all, taking advantage of existing facilities such as libraries, multipurpose community centres, public access points

• Technological development of world languages• The creation, dissemination and preservation of content in

diverse languages and formats• Promote the production of and accessibility to all content —

educational, scientific, cultural or recreational• Each country is encouraged to establish functioning

Public/Private Partnership as a showcase for future action

Implementation mechanisms

• Institutions assigned to for the Action plan implementationInfrastructure: ITU Content: UNESCO Development: UNDP

• Key indicators agreed upon to measure the progress

• Governments should develop national e-strategies for implementation of WSIS objectives

• Goals should be achieved and reported at the UN General Assembly on 2015

• UN General Assembly declared May 17World Information Society Day(former World Telecommunication day

The role of LIKTALatvian Information Technology and

Communication Association• To bring WSIS objectives to the agenda of Latvian society and politicians

• To facilitate creation of the implementation mechanism for WSIS Action plan (e.g., Information Society Guidelines)

• To be the «watchdog» for information society issues

• To inform and involve industry professionals and general society

Activities of UNESCO LNC and

LIKTA• High level round table discussionso Before the Geneva Phaseo Before the Tunis Phase

• Declarations on the implementation of the WSIS Action plan in Latvia

• Active role in development of the national IS strategy and legislation

• Latvia@World project• Participation in the key projects

in building inclusive IS

Role of UNESCO • Develop a basis for informing action that is grounded in respect and observance of human

rights.• Identify areas where current policies are insufficient or inadequate, to elaborate these

policies or create new in respect to the abovementioned rights.• Assist policy-makers in anticipating the longer-term impacts of current trends as well as

the inevitable fast arrival of technological innovations and breakthroughs.• By raising awareness and collectively discussing possible future outcomes and responses,

UNESCO empower policy-makers and society to both prepare for, and better cope with technological challenges.

UNESCO IFAP• The Information for All Programme established by

the Governments • Enabling everybody to harness opportunities of

the Internet and ICTs• Creating equitable societies through better

access to information • Develop and implement national information

policies and knowledge strategies in a world increasingly using ICTs

Latvia in the UNESCO IFAP• Latvia elected in the IFAP Council

• Latvia is among the 6 countries elected in the IFAP Bureau

• In the IFAP Bureau Latvia is responsible for the ethical dimension in the information society

IFAP Priority AreasInformation for Development focuses on the value of information for addressing development issues. Information Literacy empowers people in all walks of life to seek, evaluate, use and create information effectively to achieve their personal, social, occupational and educational goal. Information Preservationstrengthening the underlying principles of the Memory of the World Programme, beyond its registers, which serve as catalysts to alert decision makers and the public at large. Information Ethics cover the ethical, legal and societal aspects of the applications of ICT and derive from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Information Accessibility issues surrounding availability, accessibility and affordability of information, as well as the special needs of people with disabilities.

Legislation

Technologies

Conceptualization

The pace of technological development

WSIS Action Line C10Ethical dimensions of the information

society• The Information Society should be subject to universally held

values and promote the common good and to prevent abusive uses of ICTs.o Promote respect for peace and to uphold the fundamental values of

freedom, equality, solidarity, tolerance, shared responsibility [..]o All stakeholders should increase their awareness of the ethical

dimension of their use of ICTs.o [..] protect privacy and personal data and take appropriate actions

and preventive measures, as determined by law, against abusive uses of ICTs such as illegal and other acts motivated by racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, and related intolerance, hatred, violence, all forms of child abuse, including pedophilia and child pornography, and trafficking in, and exploitation of, human beings.

o Invite relevant stakeholders, especially the academia, to continue research on ethical dimensions of ICTs.

WSIS+10 Review Process• UNESCO Forum: Towards Knowledge Societies for

Peace and Sustainable DevelopmentParis, UNESCO Head office, Feb. 25-27

• Riga Global Meeting of Experts on the Ethical Aspects of Information SocietyOctober 16-17, 2013

• EU position to be formulated during Latvia presidency in H1’2015

• Goals:o To assess the progress in achieving WSIS Action Plano To set the goals and implementing instruments after 2015

Thank you Source: diplomacy.edu