First Phase of WSIS: Geneva

At the Geneva Phase of WSIS nearly 50 Heads of state/government and Vice-Presidents, 82 Ministers, and 26 Vice-Ministers and Heads of delegation from 175 countries as well as high-level representatives from international organizations, private sector, and civil society provided political support to the WSIS Declaration of Principles and Plan of Action that were adopted on 12 December.

Second Phase of WSIS: Tunis

In the second phase of WSIS efforts are being made to put the Plan of Action into motion and working groups have been set up to find solutions and reach agreements in the fields of Internet governance and financing mechanisms.

Preparatory Process: Meetings

• WSIS regional conferences
• PrepCom-3 19-30 September 2005, Geneva (Switzerland)
• WSIS thematic meetings

Preparatory Process: Working Groups

• Group of Friends of the Chair (GFC)
• Task Force on Financial Mechanisms (TFFM)
• Working Group on Internet Governance (WGIG)

All available information

www.itu.int
www.smsitunis2005.org

Other Important Meeting Related to WSIS: Bilbao

From Lyon to Bilbao: Local Authorities developing their agenda for the WSIS

The I World Summit of Cities and Local Authorities on the Information Society took place in Lyon on the 4th and 5th of December 2003, culminating with the adoption of the "Declaration of Lyon." This political vision of local authorities from all over the world was submitted to the General Secretary of the UN, Kofi Annan, representing its contribution to the first phase of the WSIS.

The Lyon Summit enabled the proposals formulated by the local authorities of Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe to be gathered together with regard to the priorities to be dealt with. In this sense, The Lyon Plan of Action brings together good practices and recommendations deriving from the experiences of committed local authorities as regards the Information Society. The Lyon proposals were gathered together in the working programme of the UCLG and will enable local authorities to progress in their contribution towards a fairer and more understanding Information Society.

The II World Summit of Cities and Local Authorities on the Information Society will be held in Bilbao from the 9th to the 11th of November 2005.