{"id":6090,"date":"2017-04-04T06:58:39","date_gmt":"2017-04-04T06:58:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wsa-global.org\/?page_id=6090"},"modified":"2025-03-07T09:09:16","modified_gmt":"2025-03-07T09:09:16","slug":"wsis-context","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/wsa-global.org\/about-wsa\/wsis-context\/","title":{"rendered":"WSIS Context"},"content":{"rendered":"

World Summit Award and the United Nations<\/h2>\n

DAWN of the Information Society<\/h2>\n

UN General Assembly endorses to hold a World Summit on the Information Society<\/h3>\n
\n

\u00a01998
\n-2001<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n


\n<\/strong>Following a proposal by the Government of Tunisia, the International Telecommunication Union,<\/a> a specialized agency of the United Nations, adopted a resolution at its Plenipotentiary Conference in Minneapolis in 1998 to hold a World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)<\/strong> and to place it on the agenda of the United Nations.<\/p>\n

In 2001, the ITU Council decided to hold the Summit in two phases, the first from\u00a0 December 10 to 12, 2003, in Geneva, Switzerland, and the second\u00a0 November\u00a016 to 18, 2005 in Tunis, Tunisia. This was endorsed by the UN General Assembly (Resolution 56\/183<\/u><\/a>), while according the lead role for the preparatory work to the ITU in cooperation with other interested organizations and partners.<\/p>\n

To assist the ITU in its work, the UN Secretary-General appointed a High-level Summit Organization Committee (HLSOC)<\/strong> comprising of Executive Heads of the FAO, IAEA, ICAO, ILO, IMO, ITU, UNCTAD, UNDP, UNEP, UNESCO, UNFPA, UNHCHR, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNU, UPU, WFP, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, UN Regional Economic Commissions, and the World Bank. HLSOC also includes IADB, OECD, UNITAR and UNV as observers.<\/p>\n

The UN Secretary-General appointed a Special Adviser to WSIS as his representative.<\/p>\n

\n

2003<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n

Accessing Networks, The Promise of Digital Interactive Content<\/h2>\n

United Nations World Summit Phase 1\u00a0 Geneva<\/h3>\n


\n<\/strong>DECEMBER 10-12<\/p>\n

The objective<\/strong> of the first phase was to develop and foster a clear statement of political will and take concrete steps to establish the foundations for an Information Society for all, reflecting all the different interests at stake.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Declaration of Principles & Geneva Plan of Action<\/a><\/p>\n

Nearly 50 Heads of state\/government and Vice-Presidents, 82 Ministers, and 26 Vice-Ministers from 175 countries as well as high-level representatives from international organizations, private sector, and civil society attended the Geneva Phase of WSIS and gave political support to the Geneva Declaration of Principles and Geneva Plan of Action<\/u><\/a> that were adopted on December 12, 2003.<\/p>\n

More than 11,000 participants from 175 countries<\/strong> attended the Summit and related events.<\/p>\n

More on the first phase of WSIS<\/a><\/p>\n

The World Summit Award (WSA) \u2013 the initiative of Austria for UN WSIS<\/h2>\n

Responding to the global challenge of the Information Society and the UN Agenda, the government of the Republic of Austria decided to initiate a member state activity on creative e-content for the Word Summit Conference.<\/p>\n

The government mandated the International Center for New Media<\/a> and its honorary chairman, Prof. Dr. Peter A. Bruck, to launch the World Summit Award to present to the global UN family of states and all delegates to the World Summit the richness and diversity of the creative use of ICTs.<\/p>\n

WSIS was introduced by the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan,<\/strong> and the first WSA winners were awarded in 2003 at the WSIS in Geneva under the patronage of Romano Prodi<\/strong>, the president of the European Commission, and the Federal Chancellor of Austria Wolfgang Sch\u00fcssel<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

WSA 2003 Best of Picturebook<\/a>
\nThe winning certificates were handed over by:<\/p>\n\n\t\t