He called for principles that would 'respect the freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas [...], promote universal access to basic services at affordable cost [...], secure linguistic and cultural diversity as a common human heritage [...], promote human capacity through education, training and skills [...], set up an enhanced enabling environment, including legal, regulatory and policy framework, [and bridge] the digital divide between the less developed regions and our part of the world, as well as in our own societies.'
Mr Sander went on to warn that the only way to achieve these aims and avoid the world summit becoming a purely rhetorical exercise was to propose concrete actions. Such actions, he said, should include a global e-government initiative, a global e-security initiative, a fight against illegal and harmful content on the internet, partnerships between the public and private sectors to provide ICT goods and services at affordable costs, and the research and development of ICT focussed on the worlds low income markets.
In making these proposals, the Minister said that his goal was 'to reach conclusions that can be supported by all,' and use the world summit as 'a starting point for new perspectives for wealth and for creating new solidarity among the different parts of the global information society.'
The preparatory meeting is taking place from 7 to 9 November in Bucharest and has been organised with the help of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). For the event, UNECE has also proposed initiatives to address three key issues - building a gender sensitive information society, open standards development, and e-policy and e-regulation.
In his opening address, Paolo Garonna, Deputy Executive Secretary of UNECE, said: 'Agreeing on a set of common principles and priority themes for the information society is an historic opportunity for Europe [...]. The countries in this region have developed a leadership role in technological development and [...] therefore they have a tremendous responsibility in championing together the principles of the information society in the global context as we prepare for the world summit.'
- For further information on the world summit on the information society, please consult this web address.
- To find out more about the European Commission's information society policy, please consult this web address.
