Intelligent Transport Systems - Telenor

Long discussions took place on what should be
the input of ITU to the WSIS Declaration of
Principles and Plan of Action. The results of
these discussions can be found in Decision
PLEN/1, “ITU input to the declaration of principles
and plan of action of the WSIS and the
information document on ITU activities related
to the Summit” and in Resolution PLEN/7 entitled
“World Summit on the Information Society”.
The important parts of Decision PLEN/1 are
found in the two annexes. Annex 1, which is to
be forwarded to the WSIS Working Group of the
ITU Council, contains a framework that should
serve as a guideline for further elaboration of
ITU’s substantive input to the WSIS declaration
and plan of action. In this framework, three
broad objectives have been identified:
• Providing access to information and communication
technologies (ICTs) for all;
• ICTs as a tool for economic and social development
– and meeting the Millennium Development
Goals (of the UN);
• Confidence and security in the use of ICTs.
These objectives were selected having regard
to the core competencies of ITU and represent
areas were ITU could play an important role in
efforts aimed at overcoming the digital divide
and creating digital opportunities, especially for
developing countries.
Annex 2 contains an information document giving
an overview of ITU and its role in the information
society. This is to be submitted to the
second meeting of the WSIS PrepCom.
Resolution PLEN/7 instructs the Secretary-General
i.a. to make every effort to perform the leading
managerial role of ITU, to strengthen cooperation
with other UN organisations as well as
UN projects in the WSIS preparatory process
and to ensure effective allocation of the financial
resources for the preparations for the Summit.
All this should be done “within available financial
resources”.
The Marrakesh Conference did not fix any
amount of financial contribution from the ITU,
and so far the financial resources available are
far from adequate. The estimated cost of the
WSIS is in the order of 11–12 mill. CHF, while
so far only around 1 mill. has been pledged.
With the first session only one year ahead, one
of the biggest challenges for the organising committee
is therefore to mobilise the necessary
financial resources for the Summit.
Telektronikk 1.2003
For the private sector it is also not obvious what
is in it for us. The WSIS is a high-level political
event, and it could certainly contribute to a
global awareness of the challenges we are facing
in the creation of the information society. However,
there is probably a very long way to go
from the declaration of principles to the creation
of commercial opportunities that may engage the
private sector in projects and joint ventures that
can help bridging the digital divide and create
digital opportunities for all.
5.15 Strengthening ITU’s Regional
Presence
For many years there have been discussions
within the ITU about the strengthening of ITU’s
regional presence. This means that the ITU’s
field offices in Latin America, Africa, Asia and
Eastern Europe must be expanded and run more
efficiently, but also that closer ties should be
developed with regional and subregional organisations.
There was a clear majority in favour of enhancing
ITU’s presence in the regions, so it was easy
to obtain agreement on the revision of Resolution
25 from Minneapolis, 1998 (which was
itself a revision of Resolution 25 from Kyoto,
1994).
In the revised resolution, it was again affirmed
that a strong regional presence is important in
order to enable the ITU to work as closely as
possible with its Member States and Sector
Members, improve the dissemination of information
on its activities and develop close ties
with regional organisations. It was resolved i.a.
that a better balance of work should be achieved
between headquarters and the regional offices
and that the latter should be provided with
greater autonomy in terms of both decision-making
and addressing the crucial needs of Member
States in the region. The regional offices should,
in coordination with ITU headquarters, take
measures with a view to supporting pilot projects
for the implementation of e-services/applications,
analysing and disseminating their results
and managing their further adaptation and development
within the region. They should also
develop a suitable and sustainable business
model that will result in private-sector participation
and assist in the determination of an appropriate
technology to meet the needs and requirements
of rural populations.
Although both the Secretary-General and the
BDT Director (in close collaboration with the
Directors of the two other sectors) were instructed
to take the necessary measures for further
strengthening the regional presence, no concrete
figures can be found in the resolution, e.g.
in terms of increasing the staff in the regional
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