WSIS’13 forum’s open consultation process kicks off

The open consultation process of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) has commenced on Monday, globally, according to the media relations, International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in charge of WSIS, Ms Sarah Parkes.

She made this known to DigitalSENSE Business News, Monday in a press statement, indicating that stakeholders from government, civil society and the private sector are invited to join the open consultation process for the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Forum 2013, with a view to forging a common vision around the priorities and activities needed to meet the targets set in 2005 in Tunis at the UN World Summit on the Information Society.

She also noted that the Open Consultation Process for 2013, has been structured around five phases, combining both online contributions and two physical meetings, namely, the Phase I - 8 October 2012 with the theme on ‘Online Dialogues on the WSIS Knowledge Communities’ with official submissions could be made at www.wsis.org/forum until January 23,2013.

The second phase of the open consultation, she disclosed would kick-off on November 16, 2012 with physical meeting, while the phase three is due to commence on January 23, 2013, which is the deadline for official submission of contributions and binding requests for workshop sessions.

On February 15, next year, she said, the phase four will start with the second physical meeting to review the final contributions, whereas two months later, the phase five has been scheduled to take effect with final briefing to the global community, precisely on April 16, 2013.

However, DigitalSENSE Business News recalls that the comprehensive consultation process for the 2013 event will continue the participatory and inclusive spirit of the WSIS process and WSIS Forum, even as next year’s Forum has scheduled to be hold between May 13 and 17, in Geneva, and is expected to welcome over 1,500 international delegates from government, civil society, the private sector and intergovernmental organizations.

The forum will also cover the Overall WSIS Review Process, that is, WSIS+10 and WSIS Beyond 2015.

The WSIS forum is organized by ITU, UNESCO, UNCTAD and UNDP, whilst the agenda of every WSIS Forum is directly shaped by inputs received from the WSIS community. All interested parties are encouraged to submit their contributions directly via the WSIS Forum 2013 website.

Remmy Nweke

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