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The First Regional Conference, which was held from 11 to 12 October in Bangkok, focused on the regional and national implementations of the outcomes of Geneva Phase as well as the formulation on draft of the Regional Plan of Action towards Information Society in Asia and the Pacific.
It was attended by 46 representatives from 24 countries of the ESCAP region, plus 16 representatives from 12 United Nations bodies and specialized agencies, intergovernmental organizations, other entities and the private sectors.
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| The conference discussed and developed a draft Action Plan towards building a broad-based information Society in Asia and the Pacific. The Plan took cognizance of the concerted measures of all stakeholders at the national and regional levels needed to create the enabling ICT policy environment and build requested capability to prevent developing member countries from being further marginalized by the growing digital divide.
The plan could be implemented at the national and regional levels by all stakeholders with active facilitation by UNESCAP and other members of the Regional Interagency Working Group on ICT. Two outstanding issues, Internet Governance and Financial Mechanisms for ICT for Development, have become the focus of the Tunis preparatory process. The debate related to these issues revolves around the control and supervision of information and financial resources shared by the whole humanity. It is also the manifestation of the challenges accompanying globalization which could not be met without clear vision and proper strategy formulation.
In order to contribute to the global discussions on these issues, the Expert Group Meeting focusing on Internet Governance and Financial Mechanisms for ICT for Development, was held back to back with the First Regional Conference. The expert group meeting was attended by 28 representatives from 12 countries of the ESCAP region, plus 31 representatives from UN bodies, specialized agencies, intergovernmental organizations, other entitles and the private sectors .
The meeting assisted participants to share experiences and views of regional countries to enable the Asia-pacific region to get sustainable solution in a global context. These discussions will also be the regional contribution to the WSIS Tunis process. The outcomes of the Regional Conference and the Expert Group Meeting also provided an important input to the First Session of the Subcommittee on Information, Communication and Space Technology, which was held at the United Nations Conference Centre (UNCC) on 13-15 October 2004.
The meetings were addressed by Ms Keiko Okaido, Deputy Executive Secretary, and Officer-in-Charge, a.i. of the UNESCAP secretariat and addressed and inaugurated by His Excellency Colonel Nalikatibhag Sangsnit, Vice Minister, Ministry of Information and Communication Technology, the Royal Thai Government.
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Presentations and Papers