Global Digital Divide Initiative Special Meeting for the Business Members of the World Economic Forum

Mr. Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, Chairman of Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Organization (TAGO) and Vice Chairman of the UN Information and Communications Technologies Task Force (UN ICT TF), has proposed a road map for the transformation of the world into an "Information Society," an approach from the perspective of the private sector. The Chairman’s proposal was presented during the special meeting for the business members of the World Economic Forum (WEF), which was held on January 26th, 2003 during the meeting of parties engaged in the Global Digital Divide Initiative (GDDI).

In its third and final year, the Global Digital Divide Task Force has demonstrated itself as a successful incubator for projects that facilitate digital development in disadvantaged regions of the world. The Task Force was set up by the leaders in IT, telecommunication, media, and entertainment fields at the Annual Meeting in 2000. It has developed a private sector-led multi-stakeholder consortium from interested countries to provide a business perspective to increase awareness, implement projects, mobilize resources, and enhance relationships.

The upcoming World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), mandated by United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, will take place in two phases: The Geneva 2003 meeting and the Tunisia 2005 meeting. Thes Summit will be dedicated to significantly shaping and defining the ICT agenda.

Mr. Abu-Ghazaleh, in concert with HE Minister Adama Samassekou, President of WSIS Preparatory Committee, addressed the business members of the WEF in how to fully and substantially participate in this global process. The WSIS program represents a valuable opportunity for focusing global attention on the vitality of ICT. It also provides the strategic oversight to the many strands of regulatory, commercial, and developmental agenda, which are currently dealt with in independent forums.

Mr. Abu-Ghazaleh presented a definition of the WSIS in order to create awareness across the board. The Chairman stated, “The information society informs, communicates, innovates, generates wealth, governs, generates business, drafts rules, and progresses in all walks of life through the use of digital technology. It is a society that has a digital nervous system, which utilizes the unlimited ICT resources to achieve further progress and gain more knowledge.”

Mr. Abu-Ghazaleh advocated the adoption of a human rights declaration on ICT needs, noting that some countries are already at work on drafting such a historic declaration.

He called upon the UN ICT TF for assigning the responsibility of a specific leading role within the Summit agenda, suggesting that the role can be linked to dealing with ICT and education-related issues.

Mr. Abu-Ghazaleh, who also chairs the Commission on E-Business, Information Technologies, and Telecom (EBITT) of the International Chamber of Commerce, concluded his statement by requesting to assign EBITT the responsibility of carrying out a specific mission within the Summit agenda. EBITT, he suggested, can play a leading role on the issue of “consumer needs,” since the private sector that generates productivity and knowledge must be an equal partner to the government in achieving the desired goals.