Centre for Internet and Society

Presentation on MLATS

praskrishna — 2012-12-21T07:11:08Z

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/presentation-on-mlats.pdf

Leslie Chan Lectures in Tiruvananthapuram and Mysore

praskrishna — 2012-12-12T06:26:42Z

Prof. Leslie Chan from the University of Toronto, Canada is giving a series of lectures in Tiruvananthapuram and Mysore from December 17, 2012 to December 19, 2012.

Programme of Prof. Leslie Chan in Thiruvananthapuram

Knowledge Management in the Open Access Environment
Date: December 17, 2012 Time: 11.00 a.m. – 1.00 p.m. Venue: Dept. of Library & Information Science, University of Kerala Organiser: University of Kerala Contact person : Dr. KP Vijayakumar / 9496749901 (Mob) / 0471-2308034 (Off) E-Mail : kpvijayakumar2@gmail.com
Emerging Trends in Scholarly Communications and Impact Measures in the Open Knowledge Environment
Date: December 17, 2012 Time: 3.00 p.m. – 5.00 p.m. Venue: National Institute of Interdisciplinary Science & Technology (NIIST)(CSIR), Pappanamcode, Trivandrum Organiser: NIIST and CSIR Contact person: Mrs. Nishy P/9645086468 (Mob)/0471-2515293(Off) E-Mail: nishy22@gmail.com Evening : Discussion with Prof. VN Rajasekharan Pillai, Executive Vice President, KSCSTE, Sasthrabhavan, Trivandrum
Lecture-cum-Open Forum on Open Access Initiatives (OAI)
Time: 10.30 a.m. – 1.00 p.m. Venue:Indian Institute of Information Technology & Management-Kerala (IIITMK), Technopark, Trivandrum Organiser: IITMK Contact person : KP Sadasivan : 9447903282 (Mob) / 0471-2527567 Ext.103 (Off) E-Mail: kps31147@yahoo.com or sadasivan.kp@iiitmk.ac Afternoon : Visit to ICFOSS, Technopark, Trivandrum (Co-sponsored by IIITMK & ICFOSS) Contact person : KP Sadasivan : 9447903282 (Mob) / 0471-2527567 Ext.103 (Off) E-Mail : kps31147@yahoo.com or sadasivan.kp@iiitmk.ac

A Special Lecture by Prof. Leslie Chan in Mysore

Emerging Trends in Scholarly Communications and Impact Measures in the Open Knowledge Environment
Organisers: Mysore University Library, Department of Studies in Library and Information Science (DLIS-UoM), Mysore Library and Information Scientist’s Association (MyLISA) and SDM Institute of Management Development, Mysore. Date: Wednesday, December 19, 2012 Venue: Manasa Media Centre, Mysore University Library, Manasagangotri, Mysore

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/news/leslie-chan-lectures-in-tiruvananthapuram-and-mysore

Accessible Broadcasting in India

srividya — 2013-01-28T03:37:40Z

A report based on ITU's "Making Television Accessible Report" prepared by the Centre for Internet and Society

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/accessible-broadcasting-in-india.pdf

Links in the Chain - Volume X, issue 3

praskrishna — 2012-12-05T07:33:34Z

Digital Natives newsletter, Volume X, issue 3.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/digital-natives/blog/changing-face-of-citizen-action.pdf

WIPO SCCR 25 Day 5, November 23, 2012 (Full Text)

praskrishna — 2012-12-05T00:55:55Z

Rough transcript of proceedings from WIPO SCCR on Day 5, November 23, 2012.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/wipo-sccr-25-day-5-november-23-2012.txt

WIPO SCCR 25 Day 4, November 22, 2012 (Full Text)

praskrishna — 2012-12-05T00:52:46Z

Rough transcript of proceedings from WIPO SCCR on Day 4, November 22, 2012.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/wipo-sccr-25-day-4-november-22-2012.txt

WIPO SCCR 25 Day 3, November 21, 2012 (Full Text)

praskrishna — 2012-12-05T00:45:51Z

Rough transcript of proceedings from WIPO SCCR on Day 3, November 21, 2012.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/wipo-sccr-25-day-3-november-21-2012.txt

WIPO SCCR 25 Day 2, November 20, 2012 (Full Text)

praskrishna — 2012-12-05T00:46:53Z

Rough transcript of proceedings from WIPO SCCR on Day 1, November 20, 2012.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/wipo-sccr-25-day-2-november-20-2012.txt

WIPO SCCR 25 Day 1, November 19, 2012 (Full Text)

praskrishna — 2012-12-05T00:35:56Z

Rough transcript of proceedings from WIPO SCCR on Day 1, November 19, 2012.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/wipo-sccr-25-day-1-november-19-2012.txt

Transcript of the Plenary 1, WCIT-12

snehashish — 2012-12-03T13:58:08Z

Rough live-transcript of the first plenary session of the World Conference on International Telecommunications, 2012 (WCIT-12) held on December 3, 2012.

Raw transcript

World Conference on International Telecommunications
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
03 December 2012
14:30
Plenary 1

Services provided by:
Caption First, Inc.
P.O. Box 3066
Monument, CO 80132
1-877-825-5234
+001-719-481-9835
Www.captionfirst.com

********
This text is being provided in a rough draft format. Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) is provided in order to facilitate communication accessibility and may not be a totally verbatim record of the proceedings.
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RCC 14 A 1 roiing. roiing. roiing

(Please stand by. The meeting will begin momentarily)
And X irt. irts. Tell phony. ICT. Mobile telephony. Multi-stakeholder shareholder. Multi-shareholder. WCIT-12 WCIT. World Conference on International Telecommunications capita. Axis.

Raw transcript

World Conference on International Telecommunications
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
03 December 2012
14:30
Plenary 1

Services provided by:
Caption First, Inc.
P.O. Box 3066
Monument, CO 80132
1-877-825-5234
+001-719-481-9835
Www.captionfirst.com

********
This text is being provided in a rough draft format. Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) is provided in order to facilitate communication accessibility and may not be a totally verbatim record of the proceedings.
********

(Please stand by. The meeting will begin momentarily)
.
>> He can Len sees. Ladies and gentlemen, please take your seats. The first plenary will begin in a few minutes. Thank you.

(Please stand by. The meeting will begin momentarily)

.
>> Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen.
I'm very happy to begin with you this first plenary session of the WCIT.
Ladies and gentlemen, in arc cord dance with the regular rules of procedure for conferences, meetings, and Committees of the union and rule 51, the United Arab Emirates have nominated Mr. Tarek Alawadi to open the first session. He comes from the am telecommunications regulatory agency and it is he who will be proceededing over the first heart of this meeting. Could I ask you to come up and join us on the Ross strum, please, and may I ask you to welcome him. Thank you.
(Applause)
*

>> TAREK AL-AWADI: In the name of God, the merciful, may the peace and blessings of a God be upon our prophet and his companions.
Dr. Hamadoun I. Toure', Secretary-General of the International telecommunications union, your Excellency, ladies and gent, guests, may I convai my greetings to you on behalf of the United Arab Emirates and welcome you here. We are now beginning our work at this first plenary session of the WCIT. I should like to wish you a very pleasant stay here in the United Arab Emirates and particularly in this wonderful City of Dubai.
We have in front of us document ADM/5. That is containing the agenda of the first plenary meeting of WCIT.
Do you all have a copy of the document? Are there any observations to be made on the agenda?
Document ADM/5.

Iran, please.
>> IRAN: I thank you, Mr. Chairman. First of all, congratulations to the United Arab Emirates for its 41st anniversary of establishment of the UAE and congratulations to you Chairman and to your self.
Chairman, we have some point to make with respect to document addendum -- sorry, ADM/5. Item 15.
D C4, examination and discussion of proposals from Member States.
We understand that according to the -- to today's morning session, this is a document allocated to the plenary. Before adopting the agenda, we would wish to request, if possible, German, some clarification with respect to the origin of this document and the rationale and argument by which this element would put -- have been put together to come to the plenary.
Mr. Chairman, we fully agree that on some principal issues it would be appropriate that plenary decide on that, and possibly come to some sort of consensus, and that would reduce the over load of the Committees and sub Working Groups. We fully agree with that. However apart from the logic and rational base which this document has been assembled, we would like also to know the working arrangements that should this or similar type of dock ument principal issue be discussed at the plenary and if we could not reach a consensus, what would be the subsequent action. Would it be given to a Committee? Would it be given to an ad hoc group of plenary or would it be given to different entities?
Having said that, because of the nature of this document, which is principles, once we agree on the content, any mechanism by which the subsequent discussion would be carried out needs to be totally transparent and open to all Member States.
As I have mentioned, ad hoc group of plenary one one solution. Another solution et would be assigned to other entities. But from the outset discussing this principle issue in some consultation which may not be open to all Member States may not be appropriate.
So before approving the agenda, we seek some clarification on the matter as I have suggested and I thank you very much, Chairman.

>> CHAIR: Thank you, Iran.
Mr. Secretary-General, you want to say some?
>> Secretary-General: Frankly, this is not the type of start I wouldn't for this conference. So discussing whether this issue is on the table, you took five minutes and the whole world is listening to us.
And I beg you, please, this document is about whether you like this point 5 on the agenda or not. Then when we come to discussing the agenda item, you raise your points.
That's what this is about here. So I urge you, all delegates, let's try to be kind to one another and not waste the conference time in explanation, long explanations on these issues.
The point of the agenda here is whether point 15 should be on the agenda item. Then the DT 4 will be discussed and the sub stajs of it will be discussed then. That's how we present these documents. Therefore I don't want to go over explanations that I will go over in going over DT 4. So I'm sorry.

>> CHAIR: Thank you, Secretary-General. I may switch to English right now just to say that before going for approval of the agenda, I just want to have a request to all of you, we are in the afternoon starting the first day here. Just a request from my side to all of you, so please if you can bear with me, I want all of you to be smiling. Real smiling.
You are here in the beautiful City of Dubai and I want all of you to be really happy. We would like to start the conference together, smoothly, and the issues have been raised and the principles so this one can be discussed during the conference. And there we can come with a solution for each one of them.
Algeria asked for the floor. Can you press...
>> ALGERIA: Thank you, sir.
Sir, the fact that we're not smiling doesn't mean that we don't want to smile, it means that many of us are tired. We have had long trips in order to come here. We haven't slept very much. Our planes were late, and that may explain why we haven't got a big smile on our faces. However, we are still very happy to be here in Dubai. It is, indeed, a city which is known for its hospitality, which is very faithful to its traditions and faithful to the Arab tradition of hospitality. I would therefore, sir, like to support what Mr. Aresti said and convey to you Algeria's best wishes on the 41st anniversary of the founding of the United Arab Emirates.
Having made those points, sir, we cannot at this stage I think preJudge what a general da item 15 will -- agenda item 15 will involve. I don't think we can ask you to put it within brackets as of now. We do, however, think that 15 will include documents from Member States. And I see that agenda item 10 also deals with documents, including documents submitted by Member States.
It's entitled allocation of documents to Committees, so I think we can assume that it will also cover agenda item 15. Therefore, as far as I can see it, agenda item 10 is sufficient of itself at this stage in our conference. And here I agree with the Secretary-General, I do not think we should waste our time singling out one document over any other documents.
We are going to consider agenda item 10, which as I say is the allocation of documents to Committee, and in my opinion that will also cover agenda item 15.
Thank you.
>> CHAIR: I thank the representative of Algeria. Thank you for your proposal.
I would like to ask the Secretariat to be kind enough to provide us additional information on DT 4 then we will take the appropriate zition.
>> Secretariat: DT 1 contains all of the proposals that have been made to this conference. As the Distinguished Delegate from Algeria mentioned, DT 3 is the allocation of documents, and we will of course come to that in the course of this first plenary meeting.
DT 4 was prepared on the basis of DT 3. But of course DT 3 needs to be approved first. And what DT 4 is, is it's an extract of the proposals that are contained in DT 1 that are allocated into this plenary.
So I hope that that clarifies. But as the delegate from Algeria mentioned, we do have to first agree on the respective allocation of proposals.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

>> CHAIR: Thank you very much. If I understand this document DT 4 is an information document, showing how the proposals are allocated or distributed.
We will first of all discuss agenda item 10, allocation of documents to Committees, and I think that will be sufficient to deal with the issue.
Once again, could I urge all of us to approve the agenda as it currently stands in ADM/5 draft agenda of the first plenary meeting? Do I have your approval?
Any comment?

In that case, the agenda is adopted. Thank you.

The agenda of the first plenary meeting of the World Conference on International Telecommunications is there by adopted.
I would like to move on to agenda item number 3. Election of the Chairman of the conference. I would like to ask the Secretary-General, doctor Hamadoun I. Toure', to be kind enough to make the nomination. Thank you.
>> HAMADOUN TOURE': Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The heads of delegations meeting met this morning, and we propose the nomination of Mr. Mohamed Nasser Al-Ghanim, Director General of the ITU United Arab Emirates to be elected Chairman of the conference.
I would like to submit it for your approval.
(Applause)

>> CHAIR: In the name of God the merciful. Secretary-General, Dr. Hamadoun I. Toure', Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, peace be upon you and God's mercies and blessings.
I would should like to extend my thanks to the entire ITU and the Secretary-General and representatives of the Member States on the precious trust you have shown me to head the World Conference on International Telecommunications 2012.
Ladies and gentlemen, WCIT occupies a special place in the telecommunications industry, and information technology, because of developments and changes witnessed by the industry during the past two decades.
That has not been matched by modifications of the International telecommunication regulations governing the industry at the levels since it was since in 1988 at the conference in Melbourne, Australia. We have moved from voice communications to video and data communications, from fixed to mobile communications. And greater reliance on infrastructure and applications that run according to Internet Protocols is being seen.
This has necessary stated the need to modern size and develop these regulations to reflect this evolution.
The regulations will be the general principles of International communication operation and interconnection and interoperability globally. And they will be pillars of balanced development and operation of the technical facilities that everyone needs.
This is important for the development of societies on many levels, particularly in terms of economic, cognitive, cultural, social and other types of development.
Ladies and gentlemen, the topics to be discussed at this conference are particularly important. There are sensitive issues here which require us to cooperate fully to find a compromise. We need compromises, I repeat. A consensus in the interests of all the countries of the world. So I'd like to call upon you to cooperate with me through your experience and skills in the domains with which we're dealing.
I will need advice as well from you. We should all cooperate to achieve our common goals, namely to make this conference a success. Through the efforts which have been made since the first agreement was signed in 1988.
Colleagues, this conference will discuss important topics in a very limited timeframe and so we need to strive to adopt the following principles, if you agree with this, to achieve the desired goals in time.
First of all, optimal use of time. Secondly, we need to work in order to reach consensual decisions that will satisfy all parties. I repeat conceptual decisions that will satisfy all parties.
Thirdly, we need to make sincere efforts to overcome the outstanding issues. And we need of course to demonstrate flexibility and hear others' opinions.
I myself will be present with you to determine and follow the course of the discussions. I wish you a full measure of success and stand convinced that close cooperation will lead us to appropriate solutions for all.
Thank you very much.
(Applause)

>> CHAIR: Thank you. And now we will go to the election of the Vice Chairman of the conference. And I give the floor to the Secretary-General of the ITU, to Hamadoun I. Toure'.
>> HAMADOUN TOURE': Thank you, Mr. Chairman. From meeting of the heads of delegations meeting today, the vice Chairs for the conference are as following.
Mr. Edgardo Cabarios, Phil peens. Ambassador, his excellence Nikolai Nikiforov, Russian. Mr. Gift, and Dr. From Egypt. Prove I give you this list for approval and for approval of the conference.

>> CHAIR: Thank you, Mr. Secretary-General vrnl the names and proposals for the Vice Chairmans of the conference is put forward for you for approval.
(Applause)
*
And now we move to item number 6 of the agenda of the first plenary, the address by the Secretary-General. Mr. Toure', you have the floor.

>> HAMADOUN TOURE': Thank you. Good afternoon again. Excellencies. Ministers, Mr. Chairman, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen and friends.
I would like to thank you for this opportunity to speak in some detail about the work we are engaged in here in Dubai over the next two weeks.
Firstly, however, I would like to take a moment to honor the achievements of the original ITRs which came out of the Melbourne conference in 1988. The 1988 ITRs were negotiated by publicly minded civil servants and telecom engineers who were in those days one and the same.
They acknowledged the tremendous public benefit inherent in communications networks and services. As a result, the original ITRs paved the way for the phenomenal growth we have witnessed across the information and communication technology sector. The original ITRs established milestone principles of public service. Acknowledged the right of users to communicate by accessing networks. Recognized the right to operate free from the harm to technical facilities, and enabled the transition from the traditional settlement system to the new bilateral commercial agreements that have served us well for the past two decades, and which set the stage for the stellar growth in the exchange of International telecoms traffic, encompassing both voice and data. The original ITRs paved the way for the liberalization of the ICT sector, for which we should all be grateful. They paved the way for the explosive growth we have seen over the past two decades. In 1988, there were just 4.3 million mobile cellular subscriptions worldwide. Today there are over 6 billion, representing growth of over one thousand fold.
In 1988, hardly anybody was online. Today we are approaching 2.5 billion users of the Internet.
In proposing for this conference, we have seen and heard many comments about ITU or the United Nations trying to take over the Internet. Let me be very clear one more time: WCIT is not about taking over the Internet. And WCIT is not about Internet governance. WCIT is about making sure that we connect the billion people without access to mobile telephony, and that we connect the 4.5 billion people who are still off line.
The 1988 ITRs were instrumental in enabling rapid growth in the ICT sector. They also made possible the global deployment of the Internet and many other ITU activities continue to be essential components of Internet growth.
I can congratulate our friends from Canada at this point. I remember much respected Secretary-General of the time, the much missed Dick butler, who passed away at the end of last year.
At the time, we knew that the same tensions which we see today were a source of of tension at that time as well. But at the time we were undergthe Cold War and I'm surprised there are those who wish to bring that Cold War back here today.
I'd like here today to mention some of the aspects of the ITU, the standards of the ITU, which are used every day on the Internet and which didn't involve control.
Standards for end-user access equipment, such as modems, including XDLS and cable modems.
Compression standards. Security standards, including standards to combat spam. Standards for backbone networks, including fibre optics. And of course the radio frequencies used to implement WiFi, which you are no doubt using here in this room today.
None of this meant that the ITU was controlling anything or contributing to such control. In this second decade of the 21st Century, ICTs play an increasingly central role in our lives not just as a means of communication, but also as a source of news and, entertainment, information, and education.
For an increasing percentage of the global population, ICTs are also a vital source of income, saving, and employment opportunities.
Demand for ICTs continues to grow everywhere in the world. And deshould congratulate ourselves for successfully serving humanity so well. We managed to survive two world wars and a Cold War and a series of economic depressions and recessions.
This is not a fluke or a coincidence, it is a credit to the hard work each and every one of your Administrations has put in.
The practicing made in ICT growth over the past 25 years is the most extraordinary achievement and it has happened thanks at least in part to the principles and ground rules enshrined in the ITRs.
The Internet is no longer an innovation whose scope and benefits are limited to the developed world. It is a global phenomenon. I think we can all agree that the Internet is a valuable global public resource which every citizen in the world should be able to benefit from.
I hope we will reiterate that here.
I hope that in the 2012 version of the ITRs, we will manage to achieve certain goals.
As Ban-Ki moon the Secretary-General of the United Nations said this morning, the digital diindividual has no place in the knowledge economy of the 21st Century.
Distinguished Delegates, ladies and gentlemen.
I think we can also agree that continued progress in bringing the world online can only be assured by continuing to practice a multi-stakeholder approach. Here at WCIT-12, you can see an excellent demonstration of ITU as the original multi-stakeholder organisation. This is achieved here in Dubai by the composition of civil society, Government, as well as technical and legal experts gathered here today to work toward the common good.
ITU hation made every effort in the run up to this conference to ensure that everyone can have a say and that everybody's voice is heard. Indeed over the past weeks and months we have heard from all sides and all stakeholders. There has been a very healthy debate which spread online and through print media and across the Web and flew blogs and social media sites. This is an opportunity for me to thank all of those who have even criticized the event because their views were position positions that we all needed to hear.
And we appreciate everybody, every contribution that everyone has made here to the debate. I'm personally pleased to have been able to meet and to listen to so many representatives of civil society over the past months and to hear their concerns and their hopes for the future.
Here with us in the room, let us welcome the participation of civil society organisation, including International organisations such as art 19, public knowledge, IT for change and ISOC, and regional organisations such as CAPTA and ACSIS, coming all the way from Cameroon and central Africa.
As well as many others. So let me give a special welcome to ICANN, also, whose President and CEO, Mr. Fadi Chehade', addressed us this morning, and to whose Chairman, Chairman of ICANN, doctor doctor Steve Crocker is also here as a special guest and I look to exciting opportunities that lie ahead and can be achieved by ICANN and ITU together in a positive spirit of collaboration.
The work of ICANN and ITU can be and should be fully complementary. And we should note quite clearly that ITU has no wish to -- or desire to play a role in critical Internet resource such acidomain names and that ITU does not in any mandate to challenge ICANN's role and competency.
I believe under the Chairman's leadership, Mr. Fadi Chehade''s leadership, I am confident that a new season of cooperation will unfold and a new season that will benefit our connected world. This is a good demonstration of how wick ket 12 is very much an open door meeting.
We have on site participation through various delegations of all stakeholders. But we also welcome the presence of the world's media and members of the public, both here in Geneva as well as around the world through remote participation online. Such as things that we do in all of our plen potentiary conferences and our council meetings in Geneva.
We have heard many stakeholders over the past month, both in the form of formal contributions from Member States and formal contributions from our wider audience and of course through many articles and blogs that have been published. Indeed, there has been quite a lot of buzz and noise around the conference, which is the way it should be. But let me add a word here about silence. There is an old African saying: "Sigh silence is also a language, but not everybody speaks it. And certainly not everybody understands it, but it is a powerful language that we should all value." This is why it's also so important to know that the silent majority, what the silent majority also thinks. There will be some people who are voiceless. There are so many things we put online, but remember we only have one-third of the human population that is online. Two-thirds, large majority, who have not connected them and therefore they are not following our debates online. This is the silent majority. We have to listen to silence.
And it's powerful.
So while we welcome and indeed look forward to hearing many individual contributions over the next two weeks, we should also bear in mind one of Gandhi's great sayings: "Speak only if it improves upon the silence."
"Speak only when it improves upon silence."
Distinguished colleagues, you are here to negotiate a Treaty. Member States become parties to Treaties because they expect the benefits of signing the Treaty, whether commercial, moral, or potential benefits to outweigh any potential disadvantages.
My hope and conviction and I'm sure that this is shared by all of us here and out there, is that by coming here voluntarily to negotiate, you seek win-win solutions that benefit everyone, because there is so much to be gained.

Ladies and gentlemen, the most important goal to achieve is to bring the benefits of broadband to all the world's people. It is easy, here in Dubai, where we are provided with excellent facilities and connectivity, to forget that the Internet is still just a dream for two-thirds of the world's population. Most people in most of ITU's Member States still have no access to what could arguably be the greatest public good ever made available to humanity. In 1988, the ITRs led the way to ubiquitous mobile connectivity. How can we make sure that the ITRs 2012 do the same thing for broadband?
As Ban-Ki moon, the United Nations Secretary-General mentioned earlier this morning, "I trust that together, Governments, industry and civil society will rise to this occasion."
Here in Dubai, we will be looking at a number of areas where there is a great promise of being able to achieve compromise text-based on member state proposals, and in doing so set the stage for increased ICT infrastructure roll out and access around the world. And it includes broadband investment, energy efficiency, accessibility, security, the networks, the impact of unsolicited content or spam on the networks. Number misuse, roaming. When was the last time you came back home and had a very unpleasant surprise of higher roaming costs? Reducing taxation is a key issue, price transparency, nondiscriminatory pricing, the fostering of competitive and liberalized telecommunications markets, and freedom of expression. Let me remind you that we need to stick to high level principles, which drive continuous competition, innovation and growth.
I'm pleased to note that a number of contributions to WCIT-12 have reminded us of some key ITU declarations regarding these issue, and let me cite some of these. The report of the fifth world telecommunications development conference in 2010, Hyderabad, which highlighted the importance of telecommunications infrastructure and technology development, particularly in developing countries.
The Geneva declaration of principles adopted at WSIS which recognized that policies creating a favorable climate for stability, predictability and fair competition at all levels should be developed and implemented in a manner that attracts more private investment in telecommunications infrastructure.
The policy recommendations of the ITU/UNESCO broadband Commission for digital development for encouraging broadband infrastructure development, which were published in the State of broadband 2012 publication, achieving digital inclusion for all."
And it is just in this spirit that I graeted the broadband Commission for development in 2010 and I invited UNESCO to join me, because my considerations B will be dealing with the infrastructure, and UNESCO will be dealing with content regarding education, science or culture. So the two can come together and meet.
Our expectation in this room is not in the content business or in the infrastructure, how can we make it available, there is a lot of information out there and it needs to be online and so that everyone can access it in their languages, no matter what circumstances there, whether they are People with Disabilities or not.
Distinguished colleague, we all know that the discussions regarding Article 6 of the ITRs, dealing with financial matters will be delegate.
But we all agree, I'm sure, on the need to foster the continuing development of broadband and we all agree on the importance of competition in promoting investment, as recognized in the broadband Commission.
In light of those two points, I would urge you to consider how best to adapt Article 6 so that it will help to achieve the desired goals, to bring the benefits of broadband to all the world's people.
I keep reminding you on that. Because that's the basis, the fundamental, the objective, the final objective of this conference.
So some have said that broadband is a national matter, and therefore not within the scope of the ITRs.
It is hard to share this view, however, in a global village. In a village -- global village where commerce goes quickly beyond national borders and where we can all choose to buy products and services from other countries to suit our tastes and our pocket books. In a global village where my grandchildren can watch videos online at their home in New York, which have been uploaded by their friends in Europe or Africa or Asia. In a global village where health workers in even the remotest regions can consult the vast wealth of information and even other specialists online when making diagnoses and prescribing treatment. If a country does have adequate ICT infrastructure, and that must include broadband in this 21st Century, then it simply cannot participate in the global market.
That penalizes the citizens of that country, but it also penalizes the citizens of the other countries who cannot benefit from interacting with them. So access to modern high speed telecommunications is not merely a national matter. On the contrary, it's one of the most important International matters, something we have seen or been aware of since 1865, when Governments founded ITU, to address issues of International interconnection.
Different distributions from Member States have given us different views on what a revised framework might look like and I would like to thank all of our membership for this. So let's work together to find what the difference views have in common and find the consensus that will help drive growth in ICT networks over the next decades.
Distinguished Delegates, ladies and gentlemen, over the months leading to the WCIT, some incorrect information regarding this conference has been published in various media, and my staff and I have worked hard to try to correct them, the misinformation has not been helpful in terms of clarifying the plain facts and the enormous benefits we can hope to achieve here in Dubai over the next two weeks. But I would like nonetheless to thank all of those who have published material about WCIT-12, including the detracttors, who have done so much in just a few months to bring this important issue to the public eye, all around the world.
They have participated their way, in their fashion. It's a way of participating. But we have to listen to them as well. They made some relevant points, we may disagree with them, but we have to take them on board here.
Thanks to them, the ITRs have never been so much talked about, and as the Irish playwright Oscar Wildee once said "The only thing worse than being talked about, is not being talked about."
Let me take this opportunity to address some of the myths that have been created around WCIT-12 and to clarify several matters.
Freedom of Expression. And it has been suggest that had this conference might in some way act to restrict the open and free flow of information. In Article 33 of the ITU's constitution, however, Member States recognize the right of the public to correspond by means of the International service of public correspondence and the ITRs cannot contradict that provision, or indeed any of the articles in the ITU constitution.
This concept is paralleled in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which I will quote here in full.
"Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers."
Clearly, there is universal agreement on this matter and these freedoms are not up for negotiation, every word has been negotiated carefully. It's not up for negotiation. We make reference of that in the preample of our Treaty here. So that nothing, nothing in this conference can contradict that.
Here in Dubai, we're not going to be challenging art 19 or any other is Article of the u verse sal declaration of human rights. I want to make sure that all of you out there are listening.
I welcome the proposal from Tunisia. It comes at a perfect time.
Fears also were expressed that new provisions in updated ITRs might have to legitimate tiz Government Ken soreship and I agree that this should not happen.
This conference will not stand in the way of the need to protect the right of the freedom of expression, the right to communicate, and the right to privacy.
But we must recognize that none of these freedoms can exist without security. Especially the online -- in the online world.
If you, your personal information, your banking details, or even your identity are not secure, then how can you use ICTs with trust and confidence?
Since the World Summit on Information Society, we have seen widespread support for greater recognition of the importance of security in the use of ICTs.
This delicate issue was assigned by WSIS in Tunisia, 2005, to ITU, and we understand very clearly that there is a fine line which must not be crossed, a fine line which must not be crossed, in balancing the needs for freedom and privacy, on one hand, and security on the other.
We have to keep that in mind. So let me urge you to work together in good faith to achieve a sound, reliable and Honorable compromise so that we all can benefit from cyberresilience instead of cyberthreats. Cybersecurity instead of cybercrime and cyberpeace ind stead of cyberwar. As I said before, the only way to win any war is to avoid it in the first place and in this conference is a very good place to start making peace.
Distinguished Delegates, let's talk about affordability. The simple Question of affordability remains the biggest single barrier faced by the billions of people around the world who are still off line. We all know that the cost of connectivity is too high in most developing countries, and not just in developing countries. Recently, in a New York hotel, I had to pay 76 dollars for three days' Internet access. That is the equivalent of 760 US dollars a month. How can anyone afford that? And yet the same connectivity is given to ever citizen in the U.S. At 999. 9.99. That is one of the successes of the national broadband plan in the United States. They have succeeded doing so.
Government has no control over what hotels will be doing, it's the same thing, they have no control over what the private sector does. We may encourage them to do something good so that everyone can benefit.
We are also aware of -- that International room roaming praises are in many parts of the world still too high. Let's discuss it. Find ways, but let's not go -- let's not cross the line and give them in detail what they should do, how they should do it. We should keep some key principles in here of transparency, affordability, of equal treatment, nondiscriminatory treatment, and full openness so that consumers know what they are paying for when they are paying it, before they use it. These are there principles I would like us to agree here and put it in a Treaty that will last long enough. We want to see greater Internet usage across the world and I presume that we want consumers to feel that they are getting good value for the money as they roam. We look forward to our -- to these discussions and debates over these issues over the next two weeks. And I'm sure that a consensus view will be found. In the true tradition of ITU, but let's disagree sometimes in the start of the discussion, let's not take anything personal. Let's debate, let's convince one another and let's understand one another's problems. Let's define them when you define a problem is half solved. And most of the time we may not agree on things simply because we don't have the same understanding of it. We're speaking after all in different languages. And that's normal. And from friction comes light. We will find ways to bring down the cost of Internet connectivity while ensuring sufficient revenues for operators to deploy broadband infrastructure. We will find ways that both consumers and operators feel that roaming places are fair and reasonable. And by conscientious, I mean consensus in the true tradition of ITU. We have done that all the time. It works here.
To reach consensus, delegates will need to show willingness to compromise, so I urge you to work together for the common good, again, in the true tradition of ITU.
In conclusion, ladies and gentlemen, dear colleague, we must not be complacent in taking the benefits of online world for granted. One-third of the world's people, including those here in Dubai, expect to be able to access information easily online. One-third of the world's people expect to be able to give their children a proper education, and for their children to be able to access all the academic resources they need online. One-third of the world's people expect to be able to provide themselves and their families with decent healthcare and for their doctors and healthcare workers to provide the necessary access to the full wealth of medical information online.
But we all know that two-thirds of the world's people today do not have these privileges. And if we stay unconnected to the Internet, they will never have these privileges.
All people from all regions of the world have a right to participate in this knowledge society and the dawning digital economy:this includes people, no matter where they come from. This includes people, no matter what their personal circumstances. And this includes the 650 million people worldwide living with a disability of some kind.
So let me urge you to recognize the vital importance of measures to promote access to broadband around the world, in all countries, and in all region, and to help deliver total inclusion.
This is a moral duty. It's our moral duty. And George Washington, one of America's founding fares and great high minded public servant once said "Happiness and moral duty are inseparably connected."
This conference has the power to ensure continuing innovation, the free flow of information, an investment in network, services and applications. Ladies and gentlemen, I have no doubt that the work ahead of us at this conference will be intense. Constructive, and productive, and that, however, long denied the down will break. I have no doubt that we will sometimes struggle to find agreement, indeed, we will welcome differences of opinion and as we have always done here in Dubai, we will not see clashes between people, but friction between minds. Again, from friction comes light. And as we all know, the light, that light will help us see our common goal. *
To build a knowledge society, where everyone, whatever their circumstances, can access, use, create, and share information, that's what we need to do. We have the power to do this, together. We have the power to make the world a better place, together.
We have the power to create a brave new world, where society, social and economic justice prevails, together. So let's work together.
Thank you.
(Applause)

>> CHAIR: Thank you, Mr. Secretary-General, now we move to agenda item number 7. Structure of the conference, you can find it in DT 2. And I'll give now the floor to Mr. Secretary-General to present the document.

>> HAMADOUN TOURE': Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The document DT 2 as presented here has been again looked at by the informal hetz of delegations and the formal one. And we present it as a Committee here to the plenary for final approval. You have in this document the terms of reference of the different -- of the five Committees and two Working Groups. And I'm presenting this to you for your approval, Mr. Chairman. Thank you.
>> CHAIR: Thank you.
The document DT 2 right now is put forward for your approval.
Thank you. The document is approved. I see no comments.
We move now to agenda item number 8. Election of the Chairman and advice Chairman of the Committees. And I give the floor to the Secretary-General to present the document.
>> HAMADOUN TOURE': Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Committee one is composed by the vice Chair, the Chairman and the Vice Chairman of the conference and the Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Committees. Committee 2 is proposed Chairman Mr. Ravindra Jha. And vice Chair Mr. Bruno Ramos and Sameera Mohammad. Committee 2 is the credentials Committee. Committee 3 is the budget control.
Chairman, Mr. Bruce Gracie, from Canada. And Vice Chairman, misNurzat Boljobekova, from Kyrgyzstan. Committee 4. Editorial Committee. Chairman, Ms. Marie-Therese Alajoujanine, France.
Vice chairmen, Mr. Sami Salih Sudan.
Mr. Xue Fei Wang, China. Mr. Chris Woolford, United kingdom. Ms. Blanca Gonzalez Spain. Mr. Vladimir Minkin, as you can see, those are the representatives for the six official languages of the ITU, frens, and then the vice Chairs for Eric, Chinese, English, Spanish and the Russian languages.
Committee 5, review Committee. Proposed to have Chairman, Mr. Joshua Peprah from Ghana, and the following vice chairmen, Mr. Albert Nalbandian, Armenia, Mr. Luis Lucatero, Mexico. Mr. Frederic Riehl, Switzerland. Mr. Bob Horton, Australia, and Mr. Al-Mashakbeh Alansari, Jordan.
And the two Working Groups of that Committee 5 are as follows: Working Group come 5-1. That will be covering everything including Article 6 and 9, Chairman Bernadette Lewis, Trinidad and Tobago, and vice Chair Selichi Tsugawa, Japan.
And Mr. Fahid Al Fahasd. Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Working Group come 5-2. Chairman Fabio Bigi of Italy and vice Chair Gertrude Aka. So far those are the names that we received Mr. Chairman and I propose this for approval of this Assembly.

>> CHAIR: Thank you. And now I ask the meeting to approve the names of the chairmen and vice khir men of the Committees and Working Groups.
(Applause)
Thank you, and I wish the chairmen and vice Chair mens of the Committees and Working Groups all the best for the conference.
Now, going to agenda item 9. Composition of the conference Secretariat and I give the floor to the Secretary-General again.
>> HAMADOUN TOURE': Thank you. The secretary of the conference is myself, Hamadoun I. Toure', Secretary-General of ITU.
The executive secretary, by the way, I don't know why they should not address something to secretary. I'm always secretary, never general, so we should probably find a way to change secretary into general. I'm just joking, because I see people... of practice secretary, Doreen Bogdan-Martin, administrative secretary, Mr. Sumaki. Legal affairs, plenary and come 1 steering, Doreen Bogdan-Martin. Committee two credentials, (?)
Committee 3. Budget control. Committee 4. Editorial Committee. Committee 5, review Committee, we have Richard Hill and Alexander Toko. Committee 5-1, we have again Richard hill and Mario Minavich. Working Group 5-2, articles 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10E and related matters, we have Petom Malure and Ms. Young. * I would also like to inform you that as I started the tradition, during the plenipotentiary conference after my election. I also assigned the elected officials to some of those Committees during the conference, so each and every official has been assigned a task. What did I have that detail here?
I have Mr. -- myself for the plenaries. And there Zhao is in charge of the budget Committee. Francois is Committee 2. And Malcolm Johnson, I'll be taking also Working Group 5. But the two Working Groups -- Committee 5, but the two Working Groups under that will be Malcolm Johnson for group 1. And
>> BRAHIMA SANOU: Subpoena for the Working Group 2. And they will be reporting to me during the course of the conference to facilitate the work here. I have experimented that in the past two plenipotentiary conferences it worked very well and I intend to continue to do so.
So please notice all of that. But of course beyond those humble people who have been appear .ed here, I can assure you that all ITU staff present here and those in Geneva working for us online will be at your disposal to make and facilitate the work of this conference.
So I present that for your information shall Mr. Chairman.
Thank you. *
>> CHAIR: Thank you. And I'm sure that those people have been working very, very hard and can tell you before the conference and I'm sure they will be of great assistance to everyone here.
Now we can move to agenda item 10, allocation of documents to Committees. And I want you to pull DT 3 and I give the floor to the Secretary-General.
>> HAMADOUN TOURE': Thank you, Mr. Chairman, the recommend DT 3 which proposals an initial allocation and I repeat initial allocation of documents.
But if you allow me, I would like to point out that DT 3 proposals and allocation of proposals received from Member States as well as reports by the Working Group, the Working Group to propose for WCIT. New documents will be referred by the conference Chairman to Committees and plenarys, in plenary, as appropriate in accordance with the general rules number 82.
For contributions, recently received and committed, the secretary jath I can't tell is doing his best to ensure timely processing and publication. When a document comes, we make sure that it's available as soon as possible in all of the six official languages. It's published in the original language first for efficiency. But please forgive us if there is a small delay between the original publication of the original document and the translator -- translated ones. Our people are working in different parts of the world for us to expedite that.
So I present this for your approval, Mr. Chairman. Of course, membership may as usual suggest some modifications in this, and we I think it is the tradition of the unit. Thank you very much.
>> CHAIR: Thank you. And I submit this document to the meeting for approval with the understanding that this document is going to be updated by the Secretariat as necessary when the Member States wish to add, modify their proposals.
I see that the Russian Federation is asking for the floor. Russian Federation shall you have the floor.
>> Russian Federation: Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, first of all I want to congratulate the Chairman of the conference on the selection. We looked at the allocation of document s care feely and wree want number 27 one to be looked at, at the plenary meeting. The federation is suggesting additions to the ITRs, the purpose of which is to formulate an approach and understanding of Internet and ICT as a new global communications infrastructure and also as part of the national communications infrastructure of each individual Member State. The document contains proposals to Article 2 definition and a new Article 3 A Internet work. Our proposal on 3 A and 5 A is not referred to anywhere in the documents in the plenary, and we do have a exam 6 examples of other contribution were contributions were taken into account. In order to ad sure that we have the contribution of all States and after discussion of these documents at the plenary, we think that the more detailed proposals could be considered in the working parties of Working Group 5.
These proposals echo what we have already heard, the need for transparency, the need for openness, the need to -- through doors and Windows open. The need to open ourselves up to the Oasis rather than close ourselves off into a council or effort.
Thank you.
>> CHAIR: Thank you, the Russian Federation.
The document is going to be updated, so document 27 to be allocated to the plenary and the Secretariat is going to update this document and present it, it will be uploaded for the delegates' information.
United States?
>> UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. And we wish to join with the Russian Federation in congral grat lateing you on your selection as Chair and we would of course wish you and all colleagues a successful conference.
Mr. Chairman, as we look at this document, a number of questions occur. As this is a document that allocates by proposals, in addition to document number, there may be a greater clarification needs to be brought to the document.
For example, this document we are to understand this document in what manner in terms of method of proceeding. For example, in the plenary sessions, there are a number of proposals that are listed against the plenary. Is it the proposal or view, Mr. Chairman, that we would take each of those proposals in succession, starting from the top and proceeding to the last item? That's the first Question.
Secondly, Mr. Chairman, there was an indication by the Secretary-General that this document includes contributions from the council Working Group, Member States, and the Secretariat. At least that is what we understood him to say.
Mr. Chairman, we would ask that you would confirm that at a Treaty conference, only proposals from Member States can be considered. And if, for example, a proposal that had ar ris CEN during the council Working Group has not been adopted by a Member State, then it cannot be introduced into the Treaty conference. That needs to be confirmed, Mr. Chairman.
So if we could, we would ask your clarification as to how we are to read this document, in terms of working method, and secondly we are to ask that you confirm that a Treaty conference pursuant to the constitutional Convention and ITU practice, only Member States can make a contribution to a Treaty conference.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Thank
>> CHAIR: Thank you, United States.
First of all, thank you for your very good questions. On the plenary, I would propose not to take the documents number in order. We will come to it when it comes to examination and discussions of proposals by Member States.
And that's going to -- we will put at least, to start with, but we will come to it, at a later stage. And first discuss the principles for the conference and then take issues as we go in terms of priority.
To set the tone right for the conference and the complexity of issues that we have, and we have at hand.
On the second issue, your understanding is correct. The conference -- the council Working Group for the preparatory process of WCIT is gost going to be presented only for information and only Member States proposals are purt forward and will be considered by the conference.
China and then Japan. I'll take them both and then we will... then we will get back to this. China.
>> CHINA: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
We are very happy to come to the beautiful City of Dubai. The flower in the desert. This is the first time for us to speak, we send, then, congratulations to you and we will work together with you and make efforts to make this conference a success.
Mr. Chairman, regarding to DT 4 document, we have several questions through you to the Secretariat for clarification. DT 4, how come that DT 4 has come to the plenary session? What is the nature and status of this document and what is the relationship between this DT 4 and other documents. DD 2 1 and 4, what is the relationship between DT 1 and 4? Maybe there is some overt lap.
I -- maybe there is some overlap. As to DT 1 and 4, is that a summary of all of their proposals, either we say that DT 4 is not a complete document. For an example, some of the ACP proposals are not included. For example, 5 A 1, concerning the security issues, it's not included in the DT 4 document.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
>> CHAIR: Thank you. Japan?
>> JAPAN: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Our Question is concerning DT 3. When I look at this DT 3,s I was surprised to see that many items are are listed against the plenary and I believe that all the proposals concerning this provision of ITR should be first reviewed in Committee 5. And when I look at this, each number, carefully, it's all the proposals concerning the preamble and Article 1 is listed there. And besides, all proposals concern the name of each Article, like Article 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Only the title is listed there. So I really don't understand what is their idea of this listing of the preamble, Article 1, and just the name of the Article there, of the document to be allocated in the plenary.
Thank you very much.
>> CHAIR: Thank you. First of all, I wanted to answer to China's Question.
DT 1 includes all proposals, so it's a complete document. DT 3 is just allocation of documents to the plenary, to Committees, and to Working Groups.
DT 4 is just items that were put together by the Secretariat to be addressed by the plenary. And as you know, there are issues that need to be addressed first by the plenary before it goes to the Working Group. And coming to Japan's Question, you are right. There has been a careful selection so that we make some progress on the conference, and there are things that already have been put to the plenary so that -- and consideration was taken to all the proposals that come to the table to this conference, which some of them have majority agreement, and some major principles and some major differences that have to be resolved by the plenary. And that's why it was put to the plenary.
I hope my explanation is clear.
With that, can we approve DT 3? Thank you very much.
The document is approved, again with the understanding that this document is going to be updated by the secretary as necessary.

Sorry States and Mexico.
>> UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Chairman, we can go along with the consensus, but we should note that we remain confused as to exactly how we are to interpret DT 3 with respect to, in addition DT 4. It is not clear at all at this point how these documents are going to be taken in plenary. We would understand that today you are not going to address these documents in plenary. But that may need to be clarified, if you are going to address these documents in plenary.
If you are going to address these documents in plenary, which document comes first? Which document comes first and in which order of the proposals? If you are to take the first document that is listed in DT 3, there are six proposals against that document. Are they to take each of their proposals and present them to the plenary? If that's the principle, then by the time we goth get to other colleagues' proposals, there are two lines listed for proposals. At this rate, we certainly may not have what modestly could be called "Progress" in the conference.
But Mr. Chairman, we would again ask you to consider the difficulty that colleagues may be having in understanding exactly what this document means. This is not a document that is -- has clear precedence to other documents in this area that we have seen at Treaty conferences. So Mr. Chairman, we don't want to stand between the consensus, colleagues in consensus, but we do remain confused as to how we are to interpret this DT 3. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
>> CHAIR: Mexico?
>> MEXICO: Thank you, Chairman.
I'd like, firstly, to echo the congratulations which have been uttered on your election.
We would also like to congratulate the United Arab Emirates on their 41st anniversary.
I'd like now to say that we agree somewhat with what was said by the United States concerning how to interpret DT 3. We understand that this has now been approved and we done see any drawback to that. But we have a number of proposals in our document 20 for the plenary, and they do not appear in the work of Committee 5. So our Question is in what form will they be submitted to the plenary and what certain principles have been determined by the plenary, what will happen to the proposals which have been assigned to the plenary?
So if they have been determined how will they be built into the Working Groups?
Thank you very much.
>> CHAIR: Thank you, Mexico. And I'll try one more time.
The intention when we get to the examination -- and I'm planning to do it today, if I can -- and we will try to push to reach to this item. -- is to group key issues in plenary. For example, general principles. There are a number of Administration/regional groups who plented proposals for general principles. The preamble, the use of the term "Operating agency" or "Recognized operating agency."
The overlap with CS and CV, new proposals for Article 1, the binding nature of the ITU recommendations and basically finishes. So we will be taking those in groups. And once we come to the right group we will ask Administrations to submit their proposals.
For example, after moving from general principles and preamble, we will get into the operating agency and recognizable operating agency, because this is critical for the conference and we need to resolve it.
So we will group the the issues, and then we will allow Administrations to present their proposals and have some discussions.
I hope I'm clear United States and Mexico.
United Arab Emirates first and then United States of America.
>> UNITED ARAB EMIRATES: Thank you, Chairman. Indeed, you have actually summarized in your last intervention exactly what I wanted to say. There are some issues that are genetic by nature, as you can see, the two Working Groups at least one of them discuss more towards financial matters, and the other one is more about operational matters. However, these other issues that are genetic, and as you mentioned, the preamble, generals principles, maybe ROA versus AO, these are genetic issues that fall into the Working Groups and then we decide on them on something higher than the two works groups or the Committee itself and covers it by the plepnary in order to save time for the Working Groups and their discussions.
So the Question I think that was raised by the United States was more about we should find out what will be the mechanism that the plenary is going to use on discussing this, and I think this is something that we can discuss, whether we create an ad hoc group or is it something that the Chairman of the plenary prepares something for us? So this is something that I think we should take into account, what would be the mechanism on how we're going to discuss this, because it's definitely a valid point. The plenary wants to be as direct as possible.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
>> UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We wish to express our appreciation to the United Arab Emirates who has stated very clearly for us the issue that we are trying to understand in terms of working procedures. Mr. Chairman, we can certainly can proceed in the fashion that you have laid out. We would ask as a first step in clarity if we could see exactly if writing what are the key principles that are to be addressed and when and what order will they be addressed and against which documents are the principles to be discussed?
Secondly, Mr. Chairman, we would note in that regard and you have correctly mentioned at least one of the subjects, that we have document 31 that seeks to address as a matter of some urgency of the conference the preamble, definition of telecommunications and the issue of ROA and OA. As you were providing clarity to how we're going to proceed, we will be very interested to know exactly then when document 31 would appear on the agenda.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
>> CHAIR: Thank you. And I think as soon as we reach the urgent item to be concerned, I will lay down exactly, it will be very difficult to print it right now and distribute it, but I'll just lay down an order, as I just said, general principles, preamble, ROA and OA, overlap with CSCV, binding natures and others. I know this cannot be reached in plenary 1 but we will try to reach them today and I'm optimist particular to the OA/ROA issue before tomorrow's plenary.
With that, can we proceed?
Thank you.
I'll take two items before we have -- we have coffee break and try to be quick.
The agenda item 11, date of submission of the report of the Committee.
>> HAMADOUN TOURE': Pursuant to the 11 provisions of the Convention and the procedures adopted at the previous plenipotentiary conferences, the plenary must decide on the date for submission of the report of the credential Committee.
* the preliminary draft time plan proposes that the first meeting of the Committee be on December 5. It is noted that the date of the Commission of the report of the Credentials Committee be Wednesday, 12 December.
I'm asking for your approval. Thank you.
>> CHAIR: Thank you. And it's put for the meeting for approval.
I see no comments --
Thank you. The document is approved.
>> HAMADOUN TOURE': Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I forgot to mention an exception that was requested by the delegation of Mexico to have their approval on the 13th of December. This is due to national elects taking place in the country and therefore they have requested that and presented that to the heads of delegations meeting, and we should present this also, the delegates of the conference for allowing Mexico to present their credentials up to the 13th of December.
Thank you.
>> CHAIR: Thank you.
Is the proposal bisect general approved? It's put for your approval.
Thank you.
We move to agenda item 12. Working hours of the meetings of the conference. I give the floor to the Secretary-General.
>> HAMADOUN TOURE': Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I would like to propose the following schedule in line with our past practices. 9:30 to 12:30 and 14:30 to 17:30 on weekdays.
On Friday, work will begin at 9 o'clock. And end at 12 o'clock. And the afternoon session will resume as usual at 14:30.
The Steering Committee will of course -- the work of the Steering Committee will be updated every time, but the first one will be meeting tonight. And I would like to present this for your approval and the Steering Committee will approve the general schedule of the work of the conference as well as a detailed timetable for the first week. And as we move along, the Steering Committee will report to you any changes made.
I present this for your approval, Mr. Chairman. Thank you.
>> CHAIR: Thank you. The time plan is -- the working hours of the commet meeting of the conference is put forward to you for approval and the steer Committee for today is going to start immediately after plenary.
So with that, I see no comments. So the working hours of the meeting of the conference is approved.
And the last thing before we break for coffee, I would ask the Secretary-General to present the participation request by International organisations.
Secretary-General?
>> HAMADOUN TOURE': Thank you, Mr. Chairman. According to number 279 of the Convention, ITU Convention, observers of International organisations other than those referred in numbers 269 A, 269 D, in this Convention, are invited in accordance with the 1 1 provisions of chapter 1 of the general rules of conferences. And Assemblies and meetings of the union. And those should be admitted to participate in the conference in an advisory Committee. See also annex resolution. Councilor-at-Large, International Academy and I would like to propose this conference approval for them to be accepted as observers -- advisers commast capacity in this conference. Thank you. kurj, ooun ooun ooun and International telecommunication Academy.
>> CHAIR: This is clear. They have asked to join in an advisory capacity and it's put forward for your approval.
I see no one is asking for the floor and the three entities have been approved. * and now, we will adjourn the meeting for coffee, 15 minutes, please, Secretary-General?
>> HAMADOUN TOURE': Mr. Chairman, just allow me to ask all delegates when you are taking the floor, we hope that the first speaker will congratulate the Chairman for his election and congratulate our host country for hosting us, and thank them on behalf of everybody. And so that, to save time of the conference, as the tradition in ITU, you don't have to repeat that every time you take the floor or even the first time for taking the floor for delegations. You can save it. We ask kindly the host -- our Chairman to accept that from all of you. I believe that saves tremendous time.
And also if you allow me, I will send a letter from this conference -- from this conference to His Highness here, the President of United Arab Emirates, thanking them and congratulating them also upon their 41st anniversarye so all of that will be done as a conference, so we will save valuable time and resources.
Thank you very much.
(Applause)

>> CHAIR: Thank you. And we will have a coffee break right now and we will come back at 4:40 sharp and we will start. We have lots of work for us in front of us, and we hope that we finish today by 5:30. So please enjoy your coffee break. (Break)

>> CHAIR: Seems I'll start the meeting without the Secretary-General.

>> CHAIR: Ladies and gentlemen, if you can resume your seat. resuming the plenary. And we will go straight to agenda item 14. Examination of the output of of the preparatory process. And I'll give the floor to Armenia, to present the document. Please.
>> ARMENIA: Thank you, Chairman.
Chairman, ladies and gentlemen, the Chairman of the council Working Group to prepare for the 2012 World Conference on International communications, Mr. Krustovyv has been unable to attend the conference which is why I've been requested to report the final report of the Working Group. Which now I'm doing.
The work to prepare for the 2012 World Conference on International communications was set up in accordance with council resolution 13 19. -- 13.12. The interpreter apologizes.
The plenipotentiary conference of 20 10 -- in 2010 in Guadalajara in its resolution, 17.01, 171.
Stipulated -- resolution 171 stipulated that the Working Group should continue to prepare for the 2012 WCIT.
That the agenda and the dates for the holding of the conference should be those which was stipulated in counsel resolution -- council resolution 137.
furthermore, the Working Group was to consider and study the results of the work done by ITU on the regulations. Discuss and consider all the proposals which are being made in the revision and review of those regulations, provided those proposals were in accordance with the goals of the union as set forth in Article 1 of the constitution of the organisation, were in accordance with the goals of the regulations as set forth in their Article 1 and then the Working Group was able to consider the proposals being made and the revision and review of Article 1 of the regulations.
It was also necessary to take into account technical progress, and the need for these proposals to be a topical for -- a topic and ripe for inclusion in an International Treaty.
Furthermore, the work of the Working Group was to prepare four months before the beginning of the conference a final consolidated report, and that so that the Member States particularly the developing Member States would be able to use it in their preparations for the WCIT 2012. The Working Group acting in accordance with council resolution 1317, and plenipotentiary conference resolution 171 held 8 meetings, and prepared a final consolidated report for WCIT 2012, so that the Member States could use it in their preparation of their own proposals to WCIT 2012.
The report for WCIT 2012 is now in document 4 for this conference, and that contains three addenda.
Addenda one is a quite volumenous document and that is the completion of proposals with options for revisions to the ITRs. Addendum two contains the draft of the future ITRs, including A proposals and review of resolutions, recommendations and continues of the conference in 1988.
Addendum 3 contains the text of the regulations 1988 in the Arabic, Chinese and Russian versions with selected changes. I would like to point out in this connection that as a result of the work of the council working group, it was pointed out that the versions of the texts of the regulations of 1988 in the Arabic, Russian and Chinese languages were not agreed to the Drafting Committee of the 1988 conference. These versions were prepared after the conference. The group agreed that the text reflecting the drafting changes, if delegates agreed, were to be included in the addendum to the report. And that is, indeed, what has been done.
Chairman, ladies and gentlemen, at its session in 2012 council has discussed the Question of opening access to the draft of the future ITRs, and it was decided that an ITU Web Page would be set up and that this would be accessible from the 15th of August through to the 7th of November. During that time we received and published 28 comments. Furthermore, it was decided that 4800 accesses to the draft regulations had been made and I think the figures speak for themselves.
So the council Working Group in preparing for WCIT 2012 completed its work which it did on schedule and has submitted its final report to WCIT. It was submitted by the Secretary-General to this conference and is now published as I said in document number 4.
Thank you very much, Chairman.

>> CHAIR: Thank you very much. And with that, the meeting can take note of this document.
And now we can go to agenda item 15, and DT 4. And before I start I just wanted to also put some clarifications for the meeting. Because it has been questions raised during coffee break, on the selected items that were put in DT 4. And I just want to repeat that DT 4 is a sub set of DT 1, to Claire if I any confusion. And -- to clarify any contusion fusion. The reason it was put there were because they were items to be considered by plenary. And this is either items that have serious disagreement between Member States that requires intervention of the plenary or items that they have majority agreements that can be agreed by plenary and move forward. And of course the issues regarding general principles that we will start with.
So these contributions were grouped into key issues, and we will start the first key issue, and that's general principles now; with DT 4. And the Member States' contribution, and I'll start with the CITA proposal. CITA, you have the floor to present general principles only. I have give the floor for CITA to present their proposal, and please I want to limit the presentation by three minutes.
CITA?
Sorry. I'll be specific in your contribution. Proposals 1, 2, 10 and 12 of your contribution.
That's related to general principles.
If you are not ready, we will go to Asia Pacific for the sake of time. Is that okay?
.
>> Mr. Chairman?
>> CHAIR: Yes?
>> Yes. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
The first document is the American proposal number 1. And if you give me just a second to bring it up in my computer, it's a proposal --
>> CHAIRPERSON: Just to --
>> It's a proposal to review and revise the --
>> CHAIRPERSON: Just to help the meeting. It's page 80 of DT 4.
.
>> At the WCIT 2012. The essence of this proposal, Mr. Chairman, the proposal presents a background on the WCIT, some principles that are embedded in resolution 171, but most importantly, Mr. Chairman, the proposal reflects the views of the region in regards to the enormous changes that have happened between 1988 and 2012, changes that are clearly reflected by the technological evolution and by the liberalization of markets worldwide.
It is the view reflected in this interAmerican proposal, Mr. Chairman, that what we require is not necessarily regulatory provisions but that regulatory environment that promotes competition, investment, and entrepreneurship and innovation.
Furthermore, Mr. Chairman, the proposal, the views of the region clearly articulate that establishing detailed regulatory provisions would be detrimental to achieving and maintaining the goals of a regulatory environment that has proven to be successful, one that promotes competition, investment, entrepreneurship and innovation.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
>> CHAIR: Thank you.
I'll take now Asia Pacific proposal. Page 82 for reference in DT 4.
I give now the floor to Asia Pacific.
>> Asia Pacific: --
>> CHAIR: India will present the Asia Pacific proposal.
>> INDIA: Mr. Chairman, thank you, Mr. Chairman. Actually, it's not the Asia Pacific proposal that we are presenting. India has made a separate submission. So I think there is a little bit of confusion here.
>> CHAIR: Okay. Then can you hold and try to find who is going to present the Asia Pacific proposal and then we will come to the Indian proposal.
>> INDIA: Okay.
>> CHAIR: I cannot see any flag of... Japan? Will you present the Asia Pacific proposal? Japan?
>> JAPAN: Yes, Chairman. I understand that now we are now dealing with the part -- the last part of the DT 4, right? And the ACP has principles there concerning the issues of -- for the -- over ITR revisions.
The first one is that whenever CCITT appears in the text, that should be replaced by ITU-T. The second one is whenever there is a member, it will represented by the Member State, and if there is a demonstration, that should be replaced by Member States, whether operating agencies, or -- we, in the APT we discussed these issues about this in the operating agencies. And there are divergent views concerning whether we should use the operating agencies or ROAs, and we come to some compromise that, to adopt the operating agencies with asterisks. It shows that if Member States prefer to use this, they can do that, and if they want to limit the scope of this application to the ROA, they can do that.
We would like to have -- to see this kind of flexibility in the operating agencies A with asterisks. And if you see the asterisks, maybe some people thinks that there needs to be some modification to make the more clear. But our intention is that accord ring to the -- according to each situation that the member -- of the Member States, that can be the scope can be just ROA, or operating agency, according to each country's case. This is the idea.
And having said that, I have to add that there are diver gent views among the AP countries. And we, Japan, believe that just the operating agencies, without any restriction is too broad.

>> CHAIR: Japan, I'm sorry to interrupt you. But we are not discussing OA or ROA right away. We will get to it. But if you have any comments on general principles, I would love to put it to the meeting. Otherwise, we will come to the ROA/OA proposal at a later stage.
>> JAPAN: Chairman, I thought that we are now at the end of the DT 4. And if you see this DT 4, there are three parts concerning these principles. But if it's not appropriate, I will stop here. Thank you very much.
>> CHAIR: Thank you, Japan.
We will take right now Canada and US proposal on general principles. So document 31. And I'll give the floor to whoever wants to take it. US or Canada. Thank you.
U.S. You have the floor.
>> UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Mr. Chairman, we have submitted document 31, which contains three of the principles for consideration at this plenary.
This document 31 seeks an agreement on the scope issues as they relate to the ITRs' classification of operating agencies or recognized operating agencies, as well as retaining the existing definition of telecommunications. Should we reach an agreement on these issues, we will bolster the likelihood of a successful outcome to the conference, and ensure there is consensus from the beginning of the conference on what will be the reach of the ITRs.
As a Member State, we prefer to know the impact of the proposals to revise the ITRs before we agree to those proposals. With a common understanding of the scope issues at the start of the conference, those issues will not have to be addressed and debated in the context of each Article.
The proposals concerning scope fall into one of three categories. First revision of the preamble and Article 1. Second, application of ITRs to operating agency, operating agencies, or some other category of entities. And finally, the definition of telecommunications. As a contribution States, the preamble and Article 1 set forth the principle and scope of the ITRs, and it is essential to agree on those fundamental issues before considering specific proposals to amend provisions of these ITRs.
In addition, WCIT-12 should agree whether the ITRs should apply to recognized operating agencies, operating agency, or some other category, and whether to revise the definition of telecommunications.
These are threshold issues that we believe will affect the scope and application of the ITRs as well as their relationship to the ITU constitution and Convention and we seek a conversation about these issues as early as possible.
Member States as positions on these issues will allow the conference to develop a common understanding of the impact of the proposals to revise the scope, in this way the implications will be clear to everyone as we advance on specific proposals.
I reserve the right later on to describe each of these three proposals in detail.
Thank you.
>> CHAIR: Thank you. And I think also we -- your proposal focusing on the ROA and OA issue and primarily on some of the definitions. But we will come to that soon, very soon.
I'll now give the flur to the European common procedure, and again focusing on the general principles.
So... Portugal. You have the floor.
>> PORTUGAL: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Good afternoon to all of you. Contribution 16 and its addendum 1 presents the European common proposals for WCIT-12. These were developed by the European confor instance of telecommunications Administrations in several meetings that took place throughout 20111 and 2012.
Europe recalls that one size fits all and proscriptive solutions are not advisable. In fact, the revised International Telecommunications Regulations are ekts expected to be applicable, helpful and meaningful in every region and country of the world.
This will not be achievable if is there an intention to micromanage the International telecommunication services as a positive position to a given country may be meaningless or even harmful to its neighbor.
Europe considers that WCIT shall find win/win solutions as the Secretary-General correctly said in his opening speech.
For that hand, Europe agreed on a set of criteria which, in our opinion, should guide the ITR revision. First, in accordance to this criteria, which have a legal basis and in our opinion are bald criteria, -- are balanced criteria, as an International treat Treaty, the ITR should address high level strategic policy issues related to international telecommunications services and facilities. The basis for this criteria is laid down in resolution 171, preparations for the 2012 World Conference on International Telecommunications, Guadalajara 2010.
Secondly, consistent with ITU-T -- with ITU constitution, and in particular the preamble and Article 1, Europe considers that ITU constitution does not prescribe that ITU-T recommendations are binding, and therefore the ITR's revision should not be used to change the nature of ITU recommendations.
Consistent with International agreements and legislation, adopted by CPT Members, under this criteria calls that the large number of Europe countries are EU, UAE members and also (inaudible) members. The same way that Europe respects different market landscapes and different regional and nationals, throughout the scope, we expect that the International agreements were made by a large number of -- respects the International agreement that were made by a large number of Members.
Third, Europe will consider proposals related to national defense, national content, and cybercrime issues in the context of results free of resolution 1 30, revised in Guadalajara 2010.
Finally, exclusionings of areas not related to the purpose and scope of the ITRs. Europe considers that proposals concerning national or regional telecommunications service or transport should not be included in the ITRs. The compliance with this criteria is also linked to the preambles of both the ITU constitution and the ITRs, which fully recognize the sovereign right of each state to regulate its telecommunications. Takening into consideration the above criteria, Europe estimated a number of proposals for amending each Article of the existing ITR and is also proposing a revision of appendix 2 of this Treaty
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
>> CHAIR: Thank you. And now I open the floor for any comments. And before I forget, after -- South Africa is asking for the floor, but before giving South Africa the floor, India asked the Question, is it on general principles or do you want to comment on the general principles before giving the -- before giving South Africa the floor? India?
>> INDIA: Thank you, Chairman. Our contribution was not on the subject of general principle, so we will come in at the appropriate stage. Thank you.
>> CHAIR: Thank you. South Africa? You asked for the flo
So under general principles and the comments on the presentation of documents by the different groups, is there any comment from the meeting?
I see none and I can summarize the general principles here. As we did in terms of consultation with the regional groups and looking at proposals as well, I can say that the general principles that the way I can summarize it, the ITRs, the outcome of this conference and the ITRs shall contain high level guiding prince pels. I think there is an agreement on this -- principles. I think there is an agreement on this. And the ITRs should be technology neutral. And I think there is an agreement on this.
And there has to be -- the ITRs have to be consistent with the preamble and Article 1 of the constitution. And there is an agreement on this.
And the ITRs should belong lasting, without the need of frequent revision.
Would that -- if there is agreement that we move on general -- on these general principles for the conference, we can move right now -- there -- if there is an agreement we can move right now to the discussion of a more specific subject, which is ROA, OA.
Thank you very much.
So we will take a lot of these general principles, and I wanted to give the floor, we have Algeria on the general principles or the ROA/OA?
Algeria?
>> ALGERIA: Thank you, Chairman.
Chairman, which the Secretary-General took the floor he stressed and reminded the International community of the fact that the ITRs were established in 1988. 24 years ago at an administrative conference. And yet the title is very revealing. Since 1988, significant changes have occurred, revolutions we might say, radical change.
Radical change has marked the telecommunications context, letters compare the current -- let us compare the current situation. Looking at technology, looking at the difference between the situation in 1988 and that which we face in 2012, if we believe that the ITRs shouldn't reflect those radical changes, we might wonder what the role of this WCIT is.
It is important for us, for the International community of today and tomorrow that we understand what purpose should be given to this conference, this first conference of its kind, which is another thing we must stress.
If this conference, which is the first of its kind were not to tackle this radical change which has affected telecommunications and information technologies, future generations will fail to understand what our role in Dubai in 2012 was.
And we would not like to be judged by those future generations in that way. On the temporary, we must emerge from this conference with a sense that we have acquitted ourselves of our duties with the awareness that we have completed the line of work which involved updating those ITRs and bringing them in line with the current time and the progress which the telecommunications and information technology sector has undergone.
Chairman, I say this in my general principles, we're talking about general principles here. These regulations shouldn't talk about a particular type of technology. That's not what I'm saying, no. They should take into account the radical change which has affected telecommunications.
Thank you, Chairman.
>> CHAIR: Thank you. And when we said that these ITRs should contain high level principles, we talk about all the issues that were put on the table as contributions from Member States. So basically, we are saying the same thing. And it will be discussed during the course of the conference.
Now, we have full presentation from United States on the ROA/OA and I will come back to Japan and ACP proposal and I will give now the floor to Japan. Japan, you have three minutes because we need to have some discussions before the end of the meeting.
Japan, you have the floor.
>> JAPAN: Thank you, Chairman.
Now, I think it's the appropriate time to have some discussion concerning whether we should use these operating agencies or ROA issues. ROA. According to my understanding, the issue of the -- now, if we see the current text of ITR, the Administrations of my peers, these admin straition is a private recognized operating agencies. And now I understand this PROA is now ROA, as defined in the constitutions of this ITU.
And if I look -- we look at this constitution number 38, it says that the Member States have an obligation to impose the application described in this ITR to the operating agencies, which the Member States authorized to operate. And so we can see -- we can understand that when we talk about these obligations contained in ITR, maybe it's not appropriate to understand this obligation can be imposed to all the operating agencies. Maybe there should be some limitations concerning whether Member States will import these obligations to these operating agencies.
So I understand that maybe in the context of RO -- in the context, ROA is a better wording to replace this Administration with the private operating agencies. Private recognized operating agencies.
*
In the APT proposal, we had divergent views concerning of use of OA and ROA and we just presented as the APT proposal to say operating agencies asterisk, and allowing Member States to have some flexibility concerning the scope of ITR, and we have divided views. I'll stop here. Thank you very much.

>> CHAIR: Thank you. I'll give the floor to Sweden. Australia. Please be brief, because we are very close to the end of the day, working day.
I'll take Sweden first and then Australia.
>> SWEDEN: Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
I asked for the floor in order to provide support for the proposals in document 31, which in our reading does not only deal with the Question of ROA and OA, it also deals with the general issue of the scope of the ITRs, and the definition of telecommunications. And we believe that is important and it has to be resolved before we discuss the matter of sub substance.
With record to the ROA or OAs, we are in favor of using the word recognized operating agencies, in order not to change the context and the application of the ITRs.
Thank y

>> CHAIR: Australia?
>> AUSTRALIA: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Given the range and number of proposals that have been put forward to this conference, it's important that we decide on certain matters early in our discussion, otherwise we risk creating a situation where text that has been agreed for inclusion will later become unacceptable.
For this reason, Australia wishes to speak in support of the proposals put forward to this conference by the United States and Canada, specifically, Australia agrees that any revisions to the ITRs should be considered with full knowledge of whether they would apply to recognized operating agencies, operating agencies, or other entities.
Australia would refer to use the term recognized operating agencies to remain contis tent with the definitions in the current ITU constitution. This will provide clarity for subsequent discussions to know that we are talking about an entity that operates a public telecommunications network. We also agree that the definition of telecommunications should be consider ed before this conference moves to to discussing specific proposals to revise the ITRs.
Considering these underlying elements of the ITRs before moving on to other discussions is a sensible approach, which always Australia supports. Thank you.
>> CHAIR: I have three requests, and I want to stop the floor.
I have Brazil, Russia, UAE, and Portugal on the ROA/OA issue. And I would like to ask the interpreters if they can stay with us for ten minutes.
>> INTERPRETER: We will give you ten minutes, gentlemen, Chair.
>> CHAIR: Sorry, Argentina, that is the end of the list, Brazil, UA, Argentina, tlooes please be brief. CostaRica wants to have the floor. Brazil first.
>> BRAZIL: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Brazil supports -- the use of both terms. OA is not a new concept. It's established in the base instruments of the union. OAs more over are users and providers of International telecommunication services. They currently and due to convergence of market and technology shall providing important telecommunications services, and therefore must be covered by this Treaty.
But it's appearance has to be analyzed in-depth and in on case-by-case basis. As Europe, we don't think that one size fits all solution is advisable at this moment.
Brazil should like to enforce the concept of having OAs and ROA according to the views of each Article. Thank you. Mr. Chairman.
>> CHAIR: UAE, briefly.
>> UNITED ARAB EMIRATES: Thank you, Chairman. I will try to be very brief. First of all, the general principles, maybe we haven't submitted as proposal a document 7 Rev 1. But we have our principles and we have discussed it many times almost in line with the same that you have mentioned.
However, with regard to the ROA and OA, the Arab group also has submitted their proposals. In regard to this one, we have supporting that to cover OA instead of ROA, in the ITR and the reason for that one if we go to the definitions of the ROA, it has to have two things, which is the head Office of this company and the country will provide service or authorized by a Member States to provide the services.
And ROA always we are thinking that it is recognized by one country but it's not really recognized by other countries. houvsh, the operating agency, it is covered both.
Mr. Chair man, I graev with all, that these are important issues and they are reflected in all ITRs, and we have to find a way how we can proceed further with this one. And I'm sure that you have a solution on this issue and I'll be happy to explain our position.
Thank you very much.
>> CHAIR: thank.
Russia.
>> Russia: I'd like to thank that I'm speaking on behalf of the RCC. In our proposals we have suggested the use of the term agency, which we prefer to retain, because many developing countries, including Member States of the RSS continue to have agencies playing a very important role in the area of communications within the framework of their organisation.
We also believe that the use of the term operating agency as a general understanding, a general definition, would include state and private organisations, and that brings our proposal I think closer to the proposal made by our colleagues from the Arab countries.
In these two points, if you bring them together, in the text of the ITUs, we will be using roughly the construction Administration/operating agency.
Now, as far as document 31 is concerned, it is of course extremely interesting, although having said that we would like to return to our understanding if we might be able to do so later, as I think suggested by the USA. Thank you.
>> CHAIR: Portugal, please, briefly.
>> PORTUGAL: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I'll be brief.
First of all, we would like to support the methods described in contribution 31. We think -- Europe thinks that it's important to generally agree in the scope of the ITRs and on crucial matters, such as ROA, OA issue, as well as the telecommunication definition before we proceed to the remaining provisions.
In relation to the ROA/OA issue, Europe has run a legal analysis on this Question. And as a conclusion, we noted that Article 1, 1 A of the ITRs says that the ITRs establish general principles, which relate to the provision and operation of International telecommunication service offered to the public, and I underline the word "Public."
And in line with this, the definition which better suits for the purpose of the ITRs is, in our opinion, the recognized operating agents. Thank you very much.
>> CHAIR: Thank you, Argentina, please brief. We have to close the meeting.
>> ARGENTINA: Thank you very much, Chairman. I will indeed try and be brief. I simply wanted to make the point that we agree with the methodology which is proposed in document number 31. We think we need to reach agreement on the fundamental principles before we actually embark upon the rest of our discussions.
Thank you.

>> CHAIR: Costa Rica, please brief as well.
>> COSTA RICA: Yes, Chairman, thank you very much. Like the delegation of Argentina we want to offer our support to the proposal made in document 31 and introduced by the United States. We believe that it's essential that we sort this out before we make any further progress and move on to consider all the other specific proposals relating to the ITRs.
First of all, we have to have this matter sorted out. And therefore Costa Rica also believes that recognized operating agency is probably the most appropriate definition.
Thank you.
>> CHAIR: Thank you. I have closed the list. Philippines and Brazil, for the is a sake of time. So I will really ask you to bear with me.
With the issues at hand, this is one of the issues that was seen from the contribution that it will have a serious disagreement. I hope we will agree at end of the day.
I propose that an informal discussion takes place and I suggest that I will lead this discussion and I will ask the regional representatives to be with me tomorrow at 8 o'clock, in a meeting that we will get right now, to discuss this fundamental issue before us on the conference.
If you are in agreement with this, then we will have this discussion in an informal meeting, chaired by the Chairman of the conference, starting from tomorrow at 8, before the plenary.
I see still Philippines and Spain are asking for the floor. And Mexico.
And we are running out of time. We have four minutes before the interpreters... Philippines? I'll give the flar to the Philippines and then Spain.
>> PHILIPPINES: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The Philippines would like to express its positions on the various issues raised, particularly on the term "Operating agency", "Recognized operating agency, Member State and Administration."
It is our position that these terms may be used interchangeably, but within the context of a provision these different words may, in fact, have different meanings.
So we also are amplifying the position of the AP community, we say that the term "Administration" when it refers to a provision in the ITR, which in fact refers to the state as parties to the seing in atory or a party by ak seing, then the term Administration must be replaced by the word Member State. Because in the Treaty, it is the Member State which has the obligations, where the Administration only has operational obligations.
>> CHAIR: Philippines, I'm sorry, I hate to interrupt you. But we are -- we have two minutes. And if you can join us in the informal meeting and discuss this, this critical issue, I would really appreciate it.
We have to close the meeting in two minutes.
>> PHILIPPINES: We will. Thank you.
>> CHAIR: Thank you. With that, I see no objection on establishing an informal meeting. And I really need the representative from the regional groups and Philippines and we will have that discussion tomorrow morning at 8 o'clock. I will announce the meeting soon.
With that, we are coming to the last agenda item that is other business.
Is there any other business?
.
>> Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I'd like to make a few announcements. Ass with previously mentioned, the first meeting of the Steering Committee will take place immediately at the end of this session. And that meeting will take place in room B.
I'd also like to just say a brief word about document distribution. In line with ITU's commitment to reduce its carbon footprint and in accordance with the plenipotentiary recommendations and practice, the conference will work as far as practicable in a paperless manner. And so in that regard, Mr. Chairman, we will be limiting document distribution to two sets per delegation and that will be on request.
Also, Mr. Chairman, we have made available an application which is called SYNC. You can get that from the ITU website and the I encourage you to download it and you will have access to all of the documents and then you just need to update it each day.
Also, we have made available a number of laptops for those delegates that were not able to come with their laptops. So please contact a member of the ITU Secretariat. We have a number of colleagues in the back of the room, wearing blue ITU caps, should you need any technical assistance. And then finally, Mr. Chairman, we are piloting a mobile Web app for this event. It's a new feature for ITU conferences and I welcome delegates to try out the app. And if you have comments, please share them with the Secretariat. Thank you very much.
>> CHAIR: Thank you. And I think there is a social event today. UAE you can announce that.
>> UNITED ARAB EMIRATES: Thank you. In order to invite all delegates to a dinner, which will be in the Jumara beach hotel. The buses will start moving from here at 6:30. So I'd like to request everybody to take the buses, which will be at the registration area, at 6:30. And please enjoy yourselves there and bring your family also. So I would like to see you there at 7:30 we will be available.
Thank you very much.
(Applause)

>> CHAIR: The informal meeting is L in room E at 8 o'clock. Mexico is asking for the floor. Are you insisting on on taking the floor? Mexico?

>> MEXICO: Yes, Chairman thank you very much. I just wanted to ask if Mexico could be included in this informal group, since I think you had requested the presence of the regional presenttives. We -- representatives. We think this is a very important point and we would like to be present and I'd like some clarification if possible on the scope of these discussions.
That way we can be absolutely clear about the specific issues that are going to be dealt with. Thank you.
>> CHAIR: Thank you. You are welcome to join the meeting.
With that, I will close... United Arab Emirates? Do you still -- UAE?
>> UNITED ARAB EMIRATES: Sorry, Chairman. But because I have to say it, this social event it's sponsored by our telecom operator. If I will not say that, they will not be happy with me. So I have to say it here.
(Applause)

>> CHAIR: Thank you. The meeting is adjourned, and I'll see you tomorrow at 9:30 for the plenary and for the informal meeting at 8, in room E. Thank you.
(End of meeting,

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/resources/transcript-of-the-plenary-1-wcit-12

Transcript of the Opening Ceremony, WCIT-2012

snehashish — 2012-12-03T13:57:52Z

Rough live-transcript of the Opening Ceremony of the World Conference on International Telecommunications, 2012 (WCIT-12) held on December 3, 2012.

World Conference on International Telecommunications
Dubai United Arab Emirates
Opening ceremony
03 December 2012
11:00

Excellencies. Ladies and gentlemen. I request you to take your seats. The conference will begin in a few moments. You will need to use your headsets as this is a silent meeting.
There will be simultaneous interpretations in the six languages of the United Nations. On channel 1 you will find English. French 2. Spanish on channel 3. Russian on channel 4. Chinese on channel 5. And Arabic on channel 6.
For any assistance with WiFi connections, please feel free to call upon the staff wearing blue caps.
The ITU staff of koshs is available to assist you in any other matters.
We will begin very shortly. Please take your seats. Thank you.

(Please stand by. The meeting will begin momentarily)

.
>> Ladies and gentlemen. Would you please be up standing for the national anthem.
Thank you.
(Music) (Applause)
Honorable Ministers, excellency, ladies and gentlemen. On behalf of the ITU oying and the telecommunications regulatory authority of the United Arab Emirates, it is my great pleasure too welcome you here today to the World Conference on International Telecommunications, here at the World Trade Center in the wonderful City of Dubai. We have almost 2000 delegates assembled here, from 160 of the 1934 Member States, of the -- 193 Member States of the ITU. Many old and new friends from NGO, and the general public, you are all truly very welcome.
Over the preceding months, the world has expressed a great interest in the outcomes of this conference.
its collective eyes and ears are focusing a tentatively on us, but I feel very confident that we will not disappoint them.
The United Nations Secretary-General, Mr. bn can I moon, has shown a particular interest in the outcomes of this conference, and we are honored today to commence this opening ceremony with an address which we will share with you now.
Thank you.

>> BAN-KI MOON: Excellencies. Secretary-General Toure', Distinguished Delegates, ladies and gentlemen.
I'm pleased to address the ITU World Conference on International Telecommunications. I thank the United Arab Emirates for hosting.
Information and communications technologies are transforming our world, opening doors, educating, and empowering people, saving lives. The Arab Spring showed the power of ICT to help people voice their legitimate demands for human rights and greater accountability.
As we strive to achieve Millennium Development Goals and shape the post 2015 development agenda, expanding the benefits of ICTs will be crucial.
In the coming days, you will review the agreement that underpins how we communicate with each other across the globe.
Our over all objective must be to ensure universal access to information and communication technology, including for the two-thirds of the world's population currently not online.
A digital divide has no place in the information age, and 21st Century knowledge economy.
The management of information and communication technology should be transparent, Democratic, and inclusive. I'm great fied that you have -- I'm gratified that you have taken steps to open the process, including the vital voices of society and the -- civil society and the private sector. The U naitions systems hand between an open Internet. The right to communicate is essential to the ITU U Commission, the of declaration of human rights guarantees freedom of expression across all media and all frontiers. As a World Summit on Information Society, the free flow of information and ideas is essential for peace, development, human rights, and our common progress.
These freedoms are ind Spes sabl. We must continue to work together and find consensus on how to effectively keep cyberspace open, accessible, affordable and secure for all. I trust that together Governments, industry and civil society will rise to this occasion.
I wish you a successful conference.
(Applause)
. I would like to thank Mr. Ban-Ki moon in his absence for his message.
The United Arab Emirates has been a very generous host firstly WTSA which concluded last week and now to this WCIT. I want to invite the Director General of the regulatory authority to give an address on behalf of the United Arab Emirates.
(Applause)
.
>> In the name of God, the merciful and compassionate doctor Hamadoun I. Toure', Secretary-General of the ITU, excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, please be upon you in God's mercy and blessings.
It is an honor for me to welcome you to the World Conference on International Telecommunications. We are very proud to be able to welcome you here in the Middle East especially in Dubai. The United Arab Emirates have always been very honored to host such events. We would like to mention the fact that we hosted ITU Telecom World 2012 in October. And we hosted the world telecommunications standardization Assembly and now we are meeting for the World Conference on International Telecommunications.
We are very grateful for the trust that the ITU has demonstrated in us. The United Arab Emirates throughout its history has always been a living example of coexistence between different cultures and races. And from the ideal destination to embrace everyone without exception.
The foundations of the union were laid by late His Highness sheikh p Zayed bin Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Nahyan. He solved a great men issues in the interests of all. This conference was held at a timeline line when we are celebrating the 41st anniversary of our be loved country. We celebrate this under the spirit of our father, the late sheikh. The spirit which establishes our close ties and enable unity and solidarity and reflected spaes and love in our relations with the world and we hope this spirit will prevail in the work of this conference. We aspire today that the same spirit of oush union will facilitate the work of the world conference of the International Telecommunication Union and contribute as much as possible to play the role of consensus between the parties.
The UAE was among the first countries in the region and in the world investing in extensively in ICTs. We would like to provide the best possible services in this area, and we believe that the time has come today to take opportunities before us to ensure that we build a sound knowledge based economy.
We organized a forum on Next Generation Networks in order to accelerate the process of turning the telecommunications sector in the country into a very solid sector and to improve the communications systems and provide enterprises with the next-generation technology.
In this context and in support of the development plans for the state to support the knowledge based economy, it was announced by His Highness, sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and prime Minister and ruler of Dubai to further develop intelligent networks which will depend on the technical skills to acquire knowledge and exchange information using fourth generation networks based on IP, which represents backbone of the initiative. Ladies and gentlemen, we would like to share with you that according -- this recording that we are -- that this conference is being held, where the last conference was held in 1988, in Melbourne, Australia.
So this conference will be a new starting point to redefine our responsibilities and all the people of the world are looking at what we are doing today. Governments, service providers, and users, and we must rise to this challenge and assume our responsibilities.
Ministers, decision makers, and experts have all come together here to discuss the most important ICT issues, which are the very backbone and life blood of the world economy.
This will enable us to build on our achievements so far. The United Arab Emirates are hosting this conference as a stakeholder in this development. And I would like to welcome you yet again to our country.
I hope we will be able to make this into a better world with the tools at our disposal. And I hope that society will not be disappointed. I hope the global community will not be disappointed in us.
I hope we are successful in our work to further prosperity and well being for our people.
Thank you.
(Applause)

>> I now call about Mr. Fadi Chehade', President and CEO of the ICANN to address the delegates. His presence embodies the multi-stakeholder spirit of greater collaboration and coordination between ITU and ICANN and of the Internet ecosystem in general. We really thank him for accepting the Secretary-General's invitation as well as the UAE invitations to join us here today. Mr. Fadi Chehade', please.
(Applause)

>> FADI CHEHADE; Mr. Chairman. Mr. Mohammed Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Nahyan. Dr. Toure', excellencies, Minister, and heads of delegations. Ladies and gentlemen. I am deeply honored to address your distinguished conference today.
Responding to a truly most gracious invitation from Mr. Mohammed the Chairman of the conference, and the ITU Secretary-General, doctor Hamadoun I. Toure'. Thank you.
I sincerely thank both of them on behalf of myself and Dr. Steve Crocker, Chairman of the board of ICANN, who is here with us today, for their invitation to this historic opening ceremony.
I am here because I believe in the power of engagement.
Engagement starts with listening and I'm here for that.
It's a new season of engagement at ICANN and it's a new season of cooperation between ICANN and the ITU, which started recently at a meeting with Dr. Toure' at the IGF in Baku.
I recognize the ITU's deep impact on the development of the telecommunications industry and the broadband infrastructure of which we all benefit every day. Especially in the developing world, the world I come from.
The ITU and ICANN have complementary roles, and moving forward we shall cooperate in good spirit while clearly respecting our distinct roles. I therefore join my fellow organisations, the ISOC, the IETF, the regional Internet registries in our continued deep commitment to service the world's needs for Internet governance.
Allow me to address you now in my mother tongue, Arabic.
When we initiated cooperation with colleagues and brothers in the Arab world, I was delighted to meet the leaders of the Arab delegations here. It was a very fruitful meeting. And we committed ourselves to a period of cooperation and coordination on my own name and on behalf of ICANN. I would like to thank you all for that cooperative spirit, which is extremely positive and I should, too, like to take this opportunity to express my satisfaction and pride to see such an important conference being held in an Arab country, this brother country, the UAE. It is certainly a matter for great pride for all of those of us working in ICTs.
I thank the following. When I started at ICANN, I said we can build organisations either as fortresses or as Oasis.
I invite you to join me in making our organisations open Oasis. The Oasis is welcoming. It's open, it's vital. And that's what I intend to do. Remove the walls. Open the Windows. So that we can all participate together in building organisations that are welcoming, that are transparent, and I'm committed to that in front of all of you.
I wish you the best with your conference. Thank you.
(Applause)
.
>> And thank you to Mr. Fadi Chehade' for sharing his wishes of transparency and working together for the success of the conference.
On this very special time as we celebrate the 41st anniversary of the union of the Arab Emirates, let's take a few minutes to learn something about the history of the union.
Thank you.
(Video)
On December 2, 1971, the trution States gave way to the knewly born United Arab Emirates. Meeting in what was known as the guest palace, the rulers of abby, Dubai, Shaza, Umar quand and Suzara established the independent state of the UEA.
Ras Alqimi joined in February of the following year. Ruler of abda be was elected President of this new country.
Sheikh rach shid been Zayed Maktoum ruler of Dubai was appointed as the UAE's first Vice President and Minister. Together the dignitaries and guests gathered under the world's newest national flag. Today union house stands as a reminder of this successful federation shall with a much larger national flag now flying over this historic landmark.
Looking back, it's amazing how far the United Arab Emirates have progressed in such a short space of time.
It began with pearls. The perl industry was a major source of income for communities on the Arabian peninsula. Tribes men would migrate to the coast during the perling season to work on the fleets putting to sea. The perling Dows would spend many weeks and months gathering oyster s from the sea bed. The industry collapsed in the 19 30 due to the artificial pearls. Coastal communities dependent on fishesing and perling had to find new sources of income. It was shortly after this that the first air links to the region were established. Shaza became a stop over for aircraft enrule from GB, India and on to Australia. Passengers stayed overnight in the Almahada for the. It was practical. Necessary to protect against occasional raids by Bedoinn. Today the site is an aviation museum, displaying aircraft that served the region.
And Shaja has grown from its humble beginnings into a major city. (Sharjah)

These oorj dusty air Industrial Properties evolved into gleaming modern airports, linking the UAE to every major city in the world. Oil was discovered in commercial quantityness 19 58. Development of this abundant resource begin shortly thereafter, 196 2 the SO Dublin loaded the first cargo of crude oil.
In addition to exporting oil, the need to be self sufficient led to the opening of the Ruas oil refinery. On shore and offshore oil production continued to develop throughout the 1960 s.
The oil wealth was put to use improving infrastructure. The City of Abu Dhabi embarked on a wave of construction that saw the island's shoreline dramatically change.
The city's oldest building, Al Hausin or the white forth elected in 1798 was the most prominent landmark in the city. Today the Fort now undergoing restoration is surrounded by the sky scrapers of Abu Dhabi. The city is still growing, worthy of its place among the world's capitals.
With pearls now no longer able to supply vital income, the resilient City of Dubai turned to trade to restore its fortunes. It became a base for commerce throughout the Gulf region. The Dubai creek, tradition assistive technology alley the centre of business was dredged in the early 1960 s to allow larger Dows to navigate the water way. This allowed the city to continue to grow as an important commercial hub. Dows laden did goods are still seen, and an historical link between the old and new. Increasing demand led to the world's largest manmade port ceeing created. The docks are testament to the value role it now plays at centre of regional trade. These successful commercial links brought great change to the City of Dubai. Once crowded narrow alleyways, hardly wide enough to accommodate cam pels and donkeys have turned into highways. And there are record breaking sky scapeers and developments that are the Icons of the city.
In land, in the em RIT of abda by lies the oasis of Laine. It was the base for the p Omani skouts who set out on camel to police the area. They were based at Al Jehili forth which was used as sheikh Zayed the first. Surrounding the forth, the Houses were made from mud brick or palm fronds. Today the forth stands restored and is a popular tourist attraction.
The modern City of Alain and surrounding district expanded to be home to over 380,000 people.
Throughout the country, constant reminders of these links with the past can be found sitting side by side with modern wonders.
Practical has given way to recreational. Forts stand restored as museums. Construction methods have changed. Some things, however, remain the same.
The people of the UAE still remember and honor their past as they move into the future. A reminder of how much has been achieved in such a short space of time.
(Applause) vrnlts Honorable Ministers, excellency, ladies and gentlemen. It is as always a very great pleasure for me to invite the gentleman hose untiring energy has brought us all here together today, the International Telecommunication Union Secretary-General, Dr. Hamadoun I. Toure', to give his inAugust url speech. Dr. Toure, please.
(Applause)

>> HAMADOUN TOURE': Thank you. Request morning to you all.
Excellencies, my dear brother, Mohamed Nasser Al-Ghanum, distinguished Ministers, delegates, my colleagues, elected officials of the union, the Secretary-General Houlin Zhao, directors. Director of Ability, Mr. Brahima Sanou, Director of TSB Mr. Malcolm Johnson, ladies and gentlemen.
What a great history we have seen here today. I would like to congratulate our host for all they have achieved in this 41 years of great history. Ladies and gentlemen, distinguished guests, welcome to the official opening of the World Conference on International Telecommunications, WCIT 12. We are very grateful to be here in Dubai and I would like to thank the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of United Arab Emirates for the tremendous facilities and efficient staff and support that they have provided to us.
Dubai is one of the most modern cities in the world, a city which has grown to become a wonderful symbol of Emirati culture and progress and a city which can rightly claim to be one of the greatest symbols of human achievement in the modern world.
So let me congratulate the United Arab Emirates on the 41st anniversary, yesterday, on its foundation on 2 December 1971.
Let me take the opportunity to again thank my good friend Fadi Chehade', President and CEO of ICANN, and Dr. Steve Crocker, Chairman of ICANN, who have accepted my invitation to come here. I have invited Fadi to recognize here the impact of ICANN on the development of Internet, and I've said this, this morning in our heads of delegations meeting that I believe we should be reaching out and them accepting here means that they are on the same road. I think if you help us, we can walk the talk and I believe I can count on you and the words that I received when I heard of the acceptance of Fadi Chehade' to this meeting was a testimony of everyone here, believing that it's time to start working together to be complementary and to work together. And I believe we have started the first step of that.
And I would like to count on you here to help us continue in that direction.
I believe it's the right direction. I believe it's the direction that will help us achieve great things for the humanity. The users out there in the world are not waiting for fights among us here. They are looking for results, so that we can help them be together in this knowledge society that we are all dreaming of.
On that note, I would like to take the opportunity to thank my good friend Minister and Senateter Steven conRoy, Minister of Telecommunications in Australia for his presence. Why I'm sing blink out Senator Conroy not only because of the achievement he made in his country, not only because of his contribution to the broadband Commission for the Internet development, but also balls Melbourne was the place for the last conference of the nature. 1988.
I would like to tell Senator Conway that the Melbourne conference has served its purpose. Thanks to the ITRs in 1988, the stage was set. The foundations were laid for the information society we are in today. Because thanks to the ITRs in 1988, the deregulation, privatization, competition, and innovation and growth that came in the 1990 s, ways were founded, and therefore I would like to thank Australia for being the host of such a big conference. This event, the WCIT 12 will bring to a close a most important year, ladies and gentlemen, for ITU. A year which has proved that consensus is the very foundation of harmony. It was a year we started with the world conference in Geneva, an event which achieved consensus on issues vital to the continued advancement of the global ICT sector.
And it was a year which just last week wrapped up in the world telecommunications standardization Assembly here in this room, an event which also successfully demonstrated the true might and power of consensus.
WCIT 12 as the resulting today will fulfill the promise not just of this year but of the entire century and a half of consensus building which makes ITU's history so unique.
Distinguished Delegates, we are here to explore the best ways to ensure that all the world's people can benefit from affordable, equitable access to ICTs.
I will take more time this afternoon of course to discuss this in more detail. But let me just list a few of the most important subjects for discussion where I can see in the proposals made that it is a great promise of being able to achieve compromise based on those proposals made here.
It includes broadband investment, we need to make sure that there is enough investment in the infrastructure to carry the traffic that we see that is going on -- growing in an expo nen shal way, voice, video and data, including the Internet.
Energy efficiency, accessibility, security, how the consequences of unsolicited content, misuse of numbering, roaming, reducing taxtation, how can this industry continue to be heavily taxed while it's the basis for all other industries in times of economic crisis?
Price transparency, the fostering of competitive, and Freedom of Expression that has been mentioned that was a risk of blocking the Freedom of Expression. So we made sure that we are addressing this issue in the very beginning of this conference * so that everyone understands that nothing can stop Freedom of Expression in this world today.
And nothing in this conference will be about that. On the contrary, what we do today here in this conference will enable the access to those people who want to express their Freedom of Expression.
Ladies and gentlemen, what you will notice in this list is that I have not mentioned one thing. Controlling the Internet. I did not mention that. Indeed, we have heard this morning from the President and CEO of ICANN, Fadi Chehade', who was invited as a special guest, along with the Chairman of the board. And I'm pleased that they are here so that we can start working together.
I'm very pleased to see that all stakeholders are very represented here with national delegations comprising representatives from Government, industry, and civil society as well as technical and legal experts and others, making this a fully inclusive conference.
Distinguished Delegates, this is a historic occasion and it is a hisser Rick opportunity asthma hat ma Gandhi said, the future depends on what you do today."
Gandhi also said you must be the change you want to see in the world."
In our debates and deliberations here in Dubai, let us remember the opening words of the charter of the United Nations. "We the people of the United Nations determined to save succeeding generations from the Scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorry to mankind. And to these ends, to practice tolerance and to live together in peace with one another as good neighbors and to unite our strength to maintain peace and security."
And we heard from Ban-Ki Moon, whose work is to ensure that there is peace and stability in this world. We share our desire for security, for our society. Peace for all peoples of the world and prosperity for our children and future generations.
Everyone here has a vital role to play. The Member State delegations include representatives of all stakeholders. There are some very large delegations here and some very small ones. To those smaller delegation, let me remind you of an old African proverb. "If you think you are too small to make a difference, then you have never spent a night with a Mosquito:"
Ladies and gentlemen, this is the most important two weeks in the history of IC it is and it's time for us to work together and we can. Over the past six years, as Secretary-General of ITU, I have had the chance, the privilege, to travel widely across the globe. I have visited countries large and small and I have visited countries rich and poor, and everywhere, everywhere I have traveled, I've dishavediscovered that we all share the same hopes, dreams and aspirations. We are united, wherever we are, wherever we were born or whenever we came from, by a desire for progress. We want to grow. We want to develop. We want to innovate. To aspire to a better life for ourselves, certainly, but even more so for our children and our children's children.
And someone like me, who is lucky to be a grandfather can dream more, better, than the good life for my grandchildren.
We plant the tiny seeds that will grow into mighty trees. We look up to the stores. When you see, you know, there is a saying when you see a blutful flower up there, the roots of the tree are in the mud. * someone needs to do the work. And this has loads of progress and it's part of what makes us human. So Distinguished Delegates, we are here in did you boy to chart the course toward a better future. We are incredibly fortunate to have such a great membership bringing together great minds to a great meeting. We are also incredibly fortunate to be working in a sector, the information and technology sector that does so much to improve the lives of people across the world and which drives sustainable social and economic development. It is true, in the 21st Century, access to communication and information is ee vengs and invaluable. And this is true in the developed world and it is true in the developing world as well. I traveled to some of the world's most underserved countries and I have seen what ICTs really mean for the lives of those who have so little and the opportunities it can create for their children and for future generations. ICTs give people the power to totally transform their lives through education, healthcare and everything else on the online world we can deliver.
We have linked access bing broadband to Millennium Development Goals, to sustainable growth. ICTs also deliver a clear macro and microeconomic benefits. The at the macro economic level, we know that increasing mobile Tele dense see leads to additional GDP growth. This is even more true for increases in broadband penetration which deliver a multiplier effect. We have seen the difference of what can be made by mobile banking N and to the lives of people in southern India, where profits rose by 8 percent and consumer prices fell by 4 percent on average once the fishermen had mobile phones. When you transform individuals, you also transform whole societies and whole economies. *
75 years ago, during the second Inaugural address, President Franklin D. Roosevelt put it very wisely when he said "The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much, it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little."
Ladies and gentlemen, I look forward to the successful outcome of this conference in 12 days' time. I look forward to knowing that we have done the right thing and created an enduring framework to ensure that all the world's people have access to ICTs.
lastz week, I made the statement when the telecommunications mobile infrastructure and Internet work were cut off in Syria. I condemd those actions. I demanded that the Government restore those back immediately. For some of the opponents of this conference, I received from some of them, I received a nice, for the first time, a nice note saying Hamadoun thanks for saying what you said about the Internet. They ignored what I said about the telecommunication and the mobile infrastructure. It was a nice gesture from them, their side, to understand that we are worried about that. I did the same message a year ago when it happened in Egypt. And four years ago, when it happened in Myanmar. I was first to do that.
But what's -- what they have not noted is the fact that there was -- in Syria, the mobile penetration was close to 70 percent. sbu but the Internet penetration is 20 percent. For the 80 percent of the people in Syria, Internet was not cut off because it was simply not there. And tutors of the Hugh -- two-thirds of the human population don't have access to the Internet. And that access, the people here are involved in ensuring that we have that access. That's what this conference is about.
Thank you.
(Applause)

Ladies and gentlemen, I look forward to sharing with you that in the knowledge that we can hold our heads up high for the future generations. Distinguished Delegates, I firmly believe that there are three keys to the success of this conference. They are: Consensus. Consensus. And consensus.
Just last month, I was reminded that while elections are by definition win-lose successful negotiations are always win-win. And that's what this conference is about. Win-win. In the true tradition of ITU. I look forward to seeing how the spirit of consensus, the spirit of compromise and the spirit of multi-stakeholderism will come together to deliver that win-win solution. And I'm confident that each one of us here will do our best to ensure security for our soy site, peace for all nations and prosperity for our children and future generations. Let me close with a quote from Mandella. The time for the healing of wounds has come. The moment to bridge the chasms that divide us has come. The time to build is upon us."
Indeed, the time to build is upon us. We shall succeed.
I thank you very much.
(Applause)
.
>> Thank you very much for that uplifting speech. Our final presentation today will bring to the forefront the global advances made possible by the ICT industry. I hope you enjoy this presentation. Thank you.
(Video) information and communications has come a long way since the first message sent over the Atlanta in 1844 by Sam sul Morris. The need to be in constant touch with our family, colleagues and friends and business associates across the globe has accelerated technology development.
The digital revolution has made the telephone, Internet and social networking an integral part of modern life. Today 86 percent of the global population uses mobile phones. It's interesting that developing countries are fueling the drive for this uptake. There are more than 1.1 billion mobile broadband subscribers now. One-third of the world's population is online. That's a staggering 2.3 billion people. 45 percent of them are below the age of 25. What turns me on about the digital age is that you have closed the gap between dreaming and doing. Bono of YouTube said that, information and communications technology, ICT, helps individuals and organisations at different levels. In fact, ICT has purveyeded all facets of our personal and business life. For starters, it keeps us connected. ICT enables effortless exchange of ideas. It facilitates learning at one's own pace, place and time. Networking is yet another benefit. It makes shopping and eCommerce possible. Travel is easier than ever before. Entertainment is virtually at your finger tips. Businesses are able to function more efficiently and profitably, fueled by timely information.
Even fields such as healthcare, banking, security, transportation, and echo conservation have benefited from ICT. The UAE has always been an early adapter of technology. It has built a vibrant communications environment by providing infrastructure, competitive service providers, and set up a regulatory authority, the TRA, since 2003.
The UAE currently has 2 million fixed lines and that figure is increasing. Mobile subscriptions total 13 million subscribers. Information and communications technology, ICT, has played an important part of the average growth and development. The United Arab Emirates is proud to be Heralding in the information and communications realm. Why we're bringing the world together, to define the future of ICT in the last quarter of 2012.
Welcome to the future! Welcome to the UAE. Welcome to Telecom World Dubai. 2010.
(Applause).
>> Honorable Ministers, excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, the opening ceremony is coming to a close. Before taking leave, I would like to remind the press that there is a press conference at 12:30 in room D. That is room D for Dubai. At 2:30 we will invite everyone back to this room for the first plenary session. And finally, we look forward to seeing you all this evening at Jumar beach hotel for the welcoming reception. Honorable Minister, excellency, ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of the ITU and TRA, I would like to wish you all a very successful conference.
Thank you ever.
(Applause)

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/resources/transcript-of-the-opening-ceremony-wcit-2012

Second International e-Governance Conference

praskrishna — 2012-12-11T10:50:29Z

The second international conference on governance and electronics which is held under the motto "Together Toward Digital Inclusion" is organized by the National Committee for Corporate Governance Electronic Iraq and the United Nations Development Programme at Rashid Hotel in Baghdad from December 2-3, 2012. The event aims to review the achievements of the program e-governance Iraqi national, and discuss the challenges of applying e-governance as a tool to achieve public sector reform and digital inclusion.

Sunil Abraham is a speaker at this event and is presenting on "Review of the Legal Environment in Iraq for Effective e-Governance", and "Government Interoperability Frameworks: Global Overview and implications for Iraq".

Conference Agenda

Sunday, December 2, 2012

09:00 – 10:00	Conference Registration
10:00 – 11:00	Opening Ceremony H.E. Nuri Al-Maliki, Prime Minister of Iraq Ms. Helen Clark, UNDP Administrator H.E. Dr. Abdul Kareem Al-Samaraii, Minister of Science and Technology
11:00 – 11:30	Break
11:30 – 12:30	Plenary session 1: e-Governance and Public Sector Reform Chairman: Dr. Adil Matloob, Minister IT Advisor – Ministry of Science and Technology Mr. Thamir Al Ghadban, Head of the Prime Minister’s Advisory Commission (PMAC) Prof. Subhash Bhatnagar, UNDP Expert Q & A
12:30 – 13:30	Plenary session 2: Citizen Inclusion into the Digital Society Chairman: Mr. Imad Naji, Director General - Ministry of Planning Dr. Laurence Millar, UNDP Expert Dr. Kathim Ibrisim, Director General - Ministry of Planning Q & A
13:30 – 13:40	Plenary Session 3: Challenges of e-Governance Implementation Chairman: Dr. Mahmood Kassim Sharief, Director General – Ministry of Science and Technology
13:40 – 14:00	Break
14:00 – 15:30	Workshop 1: Challenges of implementing an adequate telecommunications infrastructure and Highlighting the role of the private sector and the establishment of the concept of true public-private sector partnership in the field of e-governance Chairman: Mr. Jaber Zwayed Atiyah, Director General – National Security Commission Dr. Rohan Samarajiva Lirne, UNDP Expert Dr. Shahani Markus Weerawarana, UNDP Expert Ms. Raghad Abdulrasoul National Centre for Consultation and Management Development/Ministry of Planning Q&A
13:30 – 14:30	Lunch @ AL-Rashid

Monday, December 3, 2012

09:00 – 09:15	Closure of the Plenary Session 3 Presentation of workshop results
09:15 – 10:45	Plenary Session 4: Effective Role of Local Governments in Framework of e-Governance Program Chairman: Dr. Kathim Ibrisim, Director General - Ministry of Planning Mr. Manu Srivastava, UNDP Expert Dr. Adil Abdullah Shuhaieb, member of e-Governance Committee in Missan Governorate Mr. Anmar Natik Mohammed, Manager of e-Governance Programme in Ninawa Governorate Eng Haider Shaker Yaji , Muthana Governorate Q&A
10:45 – 11:00	Break
11:00 – 12:00	Plenary Session 5: Challenges of Government Interoperability Framework Implementation, Standards and Information Chairman: Mr. Mohammed Raji Mousa, Council of Ministers Secretariat (COMSEC) Mr. Sunil Abraham, UNDP Expert Mr. Ammar Salih and Dr. Firas Hamadani/ Minister of Foreign Affairs Q&A
12:00 – 13:00	Plenary Session 6: Building e-Services Chairman: Dr. Saad Najem / University of Mustanserieh Mr. Emilio Bugli Innocenti, UNDP Expert Dr. Adil Matloob, Minister IT Advisor – Ministry of Science and Technology Mr. Ahmed Saad, Director General – Ministry of Municipality and Public Work Q&A
13:00 – 14:30	Conference Closing Session Chairman: Dr. Samir Attar, Deputy Minister – Ministry of Science and Technology Looking forward Adopt conference recommendation UNDP Closing Speech Government of Iraq Speech
14:30 – 15:30	Lunch @ AL-Rashid

Papers/Speakers Bio Summary

Plenary Session 1: e-Governance and Public Sector Reform

Chairman: Dr. Adil Matloob, Minister IT Advisor – Ministry of Science and Technology

e-Governance and public sector reform/ Subhash Bhatnagar The paper shares experiences from different countries of implementing e-Governance projects that have significantly contributed to governance reform by enhancing transparency and reducing corruption in delivery of public services. Some lessons are drawn for Iraq. E-Governance should be used as a means of implementing public sector reform agenda. The implementation of projects should be accelerated. *Subhash Bhatnagar* is an alumnus of Indian Institute of Technology, Madras and Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIMA). Currently he is an honorary adjunct professor at the IIMA. He was a Chair Professor, member of Board of Governors and the Dean of IIMA in his 30 year tenure at IIMA. He has been a visiting Professor in universities in the US and Africa. He worked with the World Bank in Washington DC for six years serving as an advisor to to mainstream e-Governance in the operations of the Bank. He has been a lead speaker in training workshops for ministers and legislators for 16 states in India. His research and consulting work has covered E-Governance, ICT for development, National IT Policy, and Corporate IT Strategy. He has hundred research papers and seven books to his credit which include two books on eGovernance. He is on the editorial boards of seven international journals and has served as Chairman of International Committees in the ICT field. He serves on a number of central and state Government committees in Inda including the steering committee for ICT sector for formulating India’s 12^th Five Year Plan. He was made a Fellow of the Computer Society of India in 1994. He has served on the boards of a number of educational institutions and private enterprises in India. He has travelled to nearly 60 countries, delivering public lectures and conference key notes

Plenary Session 2: Citizen Inclusion into the Digital Society

Chairman: Mr. Imad Naji, Director General - Ministry of Planning

Citizen Inclusion into the Digital Society/ Laurence Millar This paper describes the importance of digital inclusion to achieve the e-governance Vision for Iraq. The paper reports on international experience in digital inclusion and e-governance, using examples from New Zealand, United Kingdom, Bahrain and Taiwan. These experiences illustrate how to develop a plan for increasing digital inclusion in Iraq which is aligned to the wider priorities for social and economic outcomes. Laurence Millar is an independent advisor in the use of ICT by governments, and Editor at Large for FutureGov magazine. He is the lead advisor for the e-government strategy and second action plan for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and has also worked with other GCC countries on their e-government strategies. He provides expert advice to the government on the adoption of digital technology and broadband in schools; he is also Chair of 2020 Communications Trust, which is the leading provider of digital literacy programmes in New Zealand. During his career of more than 35 years, he has worked in the public and private sector, in the UK, USA, Asia and New Zealand. From 2004, he led the New Zealand e-government programme providing leadership in strategy and policy, establishing a foundation of shared infrastructure, and maintaining oversight of government ICT investment; he finished in the role of NZ Government CIO on 1 May 2009. He is married with four adult children and lives in Wellington, New Zealand; he has a MA from Cambridge University and an MSc with distinction from London University.
The role of ICTs in promoting public participation/ Dr. Kathim Ibrisim Participation is a basic feature of good governance, which suggests providing a democratic environment in the community that allows the integration of citizens, institutions of civil society, stakeholders and the poor and marginalized groups into policy-making and follow-up implementation. As much a democratic atmosphere allows for participation good governance can achieve the hopes of community regardless of its different components. This paper provides an assessment of the reality of public participation in Iraq which is based on a survey of public participation in four sectors concerned with providing services (Health/Education/Higher Education/Water and Sanitation). It was carried out by the National Centre and the support of the ESCWA in 2011 - in the light of identification the main challenges facing the participation. It will focus on how to use ICT in promoting public participation in setting priorities and policy-making and follow-up implementation.
Dr. Kathim Mohammed Breisem Okabi, Director General of the National Center for Administrative Development and Information Technology since 2008, holds Ph.D. in object-oriented software engineering, M.A. in empirical computer science – 1989, Higher Diploma in systems analysis – 1982, and B.A. of Statistics – 1980. Dr. Kazem served as a professor at the universities of Jordan (Al al-Bayt University/Philadelphia University) for the period 1996-2008, a professor at the Al-Tahadi University/Libya for the period 1983 – 1992, and a statistician for the period 1980 -1983.

Plenary Session 3: Workshop 1 (Challenges of implementing an adequate telecommunications infrastructure and Highlighting the role of the private sector and the establishment of the concept of true public-private sector partnership in the field of e-governance)

Chairman: Dr. Mahmood Kassim Sharief, Director General – Ministry of Science and Technology

ICT Infrastructure for e-Government and e-Governance in Iraq / Rohan Samarajiva Lirne Governments provisioning e government services have to address two specific policy principles with regard to infrastructure: ensure universal access to their services and assure a higher level of reliability than with comparable private services. Unlike a decade or so ago, governments today do not have to rely solely on common-access centers (telecenters) to provide universal access. In most countries, mobile signals cover almost the entirety of the population; most households have at least one electronic access device; the few that do not, can gain such access. Today’s smartphones have capabilities little different from the early telecenters, except for functionalities such as printing, scanning, etc. and the support of intermediaries. Therefore, delivering voice-based e government services in the short term and mobile-optimized web-based services in the medium term, with common-access centers performing specialized backup functions, is a viable strategy. Conventional web interfaces that adhere to common standards must be maintained but articulated with mobile applications and voice-based services provided through a government call center. In light of difficulties in supplying continuous electricity and security at the present time, special attention has to be paid to reliability. Reliability can be achieved, beginning with a proper understanding of requirements such as the importance of ensuring redundancy of suppliers, paths and media. Samarajiva is founder Chair and CEO of LIRNEasia, a regional think tank focusing on ICT policy and regulation in the emerging Asia Pacific. He most recently completed a diagnostic report on the potential of the ICT Sector for inclusive growth in Bhutan for the Asian Development Bank. He is a member of the team supporting the World Bank to establish the Pacific ICT Regulatory Resource Center, based at the University of the South Pacific in Suva, Fiji. He served as policy advisor to the Ministry of Post and Telecom in Bangladesh in 2006-07 and 2009. In 2002-2004, Samarajiva served as Team Leader of the Public Interest Program Unit of the Ministry for Economic Reform, Science & Technology of Sri Lanka. He was one of the designers of the USD 53 million plus e Sri Lanka Initiative (that had a major e gov focus) that led the way to rapid growth of fixed and mobile broadband in Sri Lanka. He was one of the founder directors of the ICT Agency. Samarajiva has been active in ICT (including telecom) policy and regulation for over 20 years. From 1998-1999, he served as Director General of Telecommunications in Sri Lanka at the invitation of the Government of Sri Lanka. He taught at the Ohio State University in the US (1987-2000) and at the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands (2000-2003).
The role of private sector software development services companies in e-Government solution implementation/ Shahani Markus Weerawarana Iraq is a country in transformation and has embarked on a compelling vision for e-Government based on a National e-Governance Strategy and Action Plan. Since the private sector plays an important and pivotal role in any national e-Government program, it is important to develop a comprehensive roadmap towards establishing a true public-private sector partnership in Iraq. As a prerequisite for such an endeavor, we review the current status of the e-Government program implementation in Iraq, the critical challenges that need to be addressed in achieving a robust public-private sector partnership in Iraq and the best practices prevalent globally and regionally with respect to addressing such issues along with the resultant policy and program implications. Based on this critical analysis, we formulate many recommendations that could be included in a public-private sector partnership development roadmap that would create momentum in establishing a competitive and vibrant private-sector role in a knowledge-based economic environment geared towards enabling the vision of e-Iraq. Shahani Markus Weerawarana has global experience in the IT industry, government and academia, in a professional career has spanned many different roles, including being an educator, engineer, entrepreneur, manager and researcher. Currently, she is a Visiting Scientist at Indiana University, USA and a Visiting Lecturer at the University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka. Previously, she was the CTO at the ICT Agency (ICTA) of Sri Lanka, which is the country's apex IT policy & planning agency for implementing the e-Sri Lanka program. At ICTA, she played a key role in providing technical guidance for many eGovernment projects, including spearheading the design and implementation of LankaGate, a 'FutureGov' Award winning project. Prior to joining ICTA, Shahani was the Head of Engineering at Virtusa (Sri Lanka), where she directly and indirectly led more than 600 IT professionals. Before joining Virtusa Shahani worked in the USA, at Prescient Markets Inc and at the IBM TJ Watson Research Center in New York. Her professional activities have included being a member in the Sri Lankan Presidential Task Force in English and IT, an adviser to the Royal Government of Bhutan in their Interoperability Framework and Enterprise Architecture initiative, and a member of the Open eGovernance Forum Advisory Board in the Pan Asia Network for Democratic eGovernance. She is a free & open source software advocate and is a Committer and PMC member in the Apache Software Foundation. Shahani has more than 50 academic publications and her academic activities include the formulation of Asia's first MBA in eGovernance program for the University of Moratuwa, and the supervision of more than 30 MBA and MSc research projects. Her research interests include e-governance, software engineering, parallel & distributed systems, e-science, and TLA practices in higher education. Shahani has a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Purdue University, USA.
Assess the reality of the public-private partnership (PPP) and its role in promoting ICT for development/ Raghad Abdulrasoul This paper, a field survey in four service sectors (health, education, higher education, water and sanitation), aims at identifying the reality and types of PPPs and how could such partnerships contribute in the provision of or complement services within the target sectors in addition to understand and recognize the quality of the services provided by the private sector than in the public sector with a focus on the role of PPP in the promotion of ICT to support national development efforts and improve the quality of public services. Raghad Abdulrasoul, an expert at the National Center for Administrative Development and Information Technology, Higher Diploma in Development Planning/specialty in feasibility studies and B.A. of Statistics. She has functional experience and participated in implementing projects with international organizations (UNICEF/UNDP/ESCWA) in different subjects dealing with the reform and modernization of the Iraqi public sector. She performed many advisory tasks for various institutions in the state in subjects (performance evaluation, organizational structures, job descriptions , mainstreaming of procedures). She provided a variety of lectures at the National Centre and state institutions in the areas of administration, planning and feasibility studies.

Workshop 2 Challenges for creating an enabling legal environment
Chairman: Mrs Afaf Khairallah Hussein, Prime Minister Office

Review of the legal environment in Iraq for effective e-Governance/ Sunil Abraham This paper examines the legal environment and compares it to international best practices for information society aspects that have direct implication for e-governance. It begins with transparency and openness law where there is an examination of right to information/access to information law and subsidiary policies such as free/open source software policy, open content or access policy, open standards policy, electronic accessibility policy, open government data policy. Then it examines privacy law looking at various options for the horizontal statute and also the vertical statutes necessary to comprehensive protect citizen/consumer rights and also public interest simultaneously. This is followed by an examination of intellectual property rights law overall before a more focussed examination patent law and copyright law. The paper ends with examination of some miscellaneous statutes such as the Cyber Crime Law and Electronic Signature and Electronic Transactions Act. Sunil Abraham is the executive director of the Centre for Internet and Society (CIS), Bangalore. CIS is a 4 year old policy and academic research organisation that focuses on accessibility by the disabled, intellectual property rights policy reform, openness [Free/Open Source Software, Open Standards, Open Content, Open Access and Open Educational Resources], internet governance, telecom, digital natives and digital humanities. He is also the founder of Mahiti, a social enterprise aiming to reduce the cost and complexity of information and communication technology for the voluntary sector by using free software. Sunil continues to serve on the board of Mahiti. He is an Ashoka fellow and was elected for a Sarai FLOSS fellowship. For three years, Sunil also managed the International Open Source Network, a project of United Nations Development Programme's Asia-Pacific Development Information Programme, serving 42 countries in the Asia-Pacific region. In 2007 - 2008, he managed ENRAP an electronic network of International Fund for Agricultural Development projects in the Asia-Pacific, facilitated and co-funded by International Development Research Centre, Canada. Sunil currently serves on the advisory boards of Open Society Foundations - Information Programme, Mahiti, Tactical Technology Collective, Samvada and International Centre for Free/Open Source Software.
Implementation of the e-system in the Iraqi elections/Dr. Tariq Kazim Ajil, University of Thi Qar

Plenary Session 4: Effective Role of Local Governments in framework of e-Governance Program

Chairman: Dr. Kathim Ibrisim, Director General - Ministry of Planning

Municipal e-Governance Platform / Manu Srivastava The paper discusses the Municipal eGovernance Platform developed by eGovernments Foundation (eGov). The paper sees this in the back ground of the policies and frameworks that the shaped the Municipal eGovernance sector in India. The paper discusses the basic design approach for developing the platform, the platform itself and then discusses the future direction for the platform. *Manu Srivastava* Bio: Manu Srivastava managed and a founding member of the eGovernments Foundation since 2003, that aims at creating an eGovernance Platform (Municipal ERP) to improve the efficiencies of City Municipalities leading to better delivery of services. Between 2000 and 2003, Manu was the project leader of GlobeTrades (Silicon Valley), for creation an Internet platform for medium and large companies to set up industry specific Internet-based solutions to streamline global Procurement and Distribution. He Architected and delivered award winning Citizen Services Solutions in area of eGovernance such as Nirmala Nagara.
Ninawa e-Governance Roadmap/ Anmar Natik Mohammed, Manager of e-Governance Programme in Ninawa Governorate

Plenary Session 5: Challenges of Government Interoperability Framework Implementation, Standards and Information

Chairman: Mr. Mohammed Raji Mousa, Council of Ministers Secretariat (COMSEC)

Government Interoperability Frameworks: Global Overview and implications for Iraq/ Sunil Abraham This paper attempts to identify some next steps for the implementation of the Iraqi Government Interoperability Framework and National Enterprise Architecture[GIF/NEA]. The paper begins with an introduction which provides an historical overview of the GIF/NEA formulation process an the policy document itself. This is followed by a discussion of Open Standards to understand why the GIF/NEA and other open standards policies in the Iraqi government remain critical from a variety of perspectives. The paper then proceeds to look at GIFs across the world and attempts to characterize some of the strategies employed by governments to reach their policy objectives. The paper also features a examination of emerging semantic standards that are most useful from the perspective of storing government data. The paper ends with certain concrete recommendations for taking the open standards agenda forward with Iraqi e-governance. Sunil Abraham is the executive director of the Centre for Internet and Society (CIS), Bangalore. CIS is a 4 year old policy and academic research organisation that focuses on accessibility by the disabled, intellectual property rights policy reform, openness [Free/Open Source Software, Open Standards, Open Content, Open Access and Open Educational Resources], internet governance, telecom, digital natives and digital humanities. He is also the founder of Mahiti, a social enterprise aiming to reduce the cost and complexity of information and communication technology for the voluntary sector by using free software. Sunil continues to serve on the board of Mahiti. He is an Ashoka fellow and was elected for a Sarai FLOSS fellowship. For three years, Sunil also managed the International Open Source Network, a project of United Nations Development Programme's Asia-Pacific Development Information Programme, serving 42 countries in the Asia-Pacific region. In 2007 - 2008, he managed ENRAP an electronic network of International Fund for Agricultural Development projects in the Asia-Pacific, facilitated and co-funded by International Development Research Centre, Canada. Sunil currently serves on the advisory boards of Open Society Foundations - Information Programme, Mahiti, Tactical Technology Collective, Samvada and International Centre for Free/Open Source Software.

Plenary Session 6: Building e-services

Chairman: Dr. Saad Najem / University of Mustanserieh

Breaking information silos: towards an Iraqi e-Service ecosystem supporting the life-event approach/ Emilio Bugli Innocenti This paper analyses the current status of the e-Service implementation within the e-Governance programmes in developing countries with a specific focus on the Life Event approach delivery of-e-Services along with the related Service Oriented Architecture. Then, it discusses the most suited SOA engineering methodology in order to boost e-Service re-use and integration. Finally, a combined SOA and Cloud Computing approach is proposed in order to provide an effective/efficient implementation of Iraqi e-Governance Action Plan along with a possible fast take-up of e-Services. Emilio Bugli Innocenti has 27 year experience in the ICT domain and over 20 in the e-Governance domain. As Senior e-Governance Consultant he has been working with assignments in transition and developing countries in the Balkans, Caucasus, Middle East, South America and South East Asia. He has been Project Manager of large International ICT projects targeting different sectors and e-Governance, in particular dealing with the implementation of e-Services. He is member of the Italian Industry Executive Association, IEEE Computer Society and Association for Computing Machinery. He holds a MSc in Physics and speaks English, Italian and French.
E-governance and cloud computing services This lecture addresses the historical perspective of cloud computing from a virtual concept to provide computing as a public facility launched in the mid-sixties of the last century as well as the phases of computing services offered by individual computers and then the network to the services provided on line. It also addresses the benefits and types of cloud computing comparing between the benefits and weaknesses of each type. Furthermore, it particularly tackles the economic benefits of balancing security with information, through the architecture and various levels of cloud computing and its impacts on architectures that must be taken into consideration. Furthermore, the ten risks will be put in cloud computing in particular. Adil Matloob is one of the advisors to the Ministry of Science & Technology Baghdad, Iraq. He works in the field of knowledge based systems and artificial intelligence for the last 30 plus years. He was the managing director of the SoftDev limited; a British based company, and a technical director for the Washington based multinational company; the United Press International. He is one of the pioneers’ researchers on machine translation software in the beginning of the nineties with the product known as ArabTrans software. He works on Arabic data mining as well as Arabic abstraction and Arabic knowledge based system. Adil has M.Sc and PhD from Manchester University, Manchester, United Kingdom in 1977 & 1980 respectively.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/news/second-international-e-governance-conference-at-baghdad

So Much to Lose

nishant — 2012-12-07T16:39:09Z

Unless you have been hiding under a rock, you have been a witness to the maelstrom of events that accompanied the death of the political leader Bal Thackeray.

Nishant Shah's column was published in the Indian Express on December 2, 2012.

Unless you have been hiding under a rock, you have been a witness to the maelstrom of events that accompanied the death of the political leader Bal Thackeray. For me, the brouhaha was elbowed out by the case of the police arresting two women for critiquing the events on Facebook. The person who wondered about the nature of the enforced mourning and the state of our public life, and her friend who “liked” the comment on Facebook, were booked and arrested under charges that can only be considered preposterous.

I will not repeat these arguments because it is needless to say that I am on the side of the women and think of this as yet another manifestation of the stringent measures which are being evolved as an older broadcast way of thinking meets the decentralised realities of digital technologies.

In the midst of this the idea of internet freedom needs to be revisited. The global Press Freedom Index 2011-12 report compiled by Reporters Without Borders, ranks India at 131, or as a “partly free” country, marking us as a country where the notion of internet freedom is not to be taken for granted, and possibly also one where the concept is not properly understood.

Citing various instances from the central government’s plans to censor the social web to the authoritarian crackdown on activists and cultural producers involved in online civic protests, from the traditional media industry’s stronghold over intellectual property regimes to the arrest of individuals for voicing their independent critiques online, the report shows that we not only have an infrastructure deficit (with only 10 per cent of the people in the country connected), but also a huge social and political deficit, which is being exposed by our actions and reactions to the Web.

Take the case of professor Ambikesh Mahapatra dean of the chemistry department of Jadavpur University, who was picked up by the police and lodged in the lock up for almost 40 hours for forwarding an e-mail that contained a cartoon of Trinamool Congress leaders Mamata Banerjee, Mukul Roy and Dinesh Trivedi. He and his housing society co-resident Subrata Sengupta were charged with defamation and outraging the modesty of a woman. While the proceedings are underway with the next date of hearing slated in February, 2013, the Jadavpur university professor says, “Section, 66A of the IT Act is being used for suppression of the freedom of speech. In my opinion, it is being misused by the state government, repeatedly. The section does not empower anyone to arrest those who voice their opinion and never meant to harm anybody’s image. Prompt action is needed to check the misuse of law.”

Likewise, Ravi Srinivasan, a 46-year-old a businessman from Pondicherry, was arrested for tweeting against Karti Chidambaram, son of Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram. His arrest and consequent release has not blunted his spirit. He says, “At the time (of the arrest) I had not heard of Section 66(A). I still cannot fathom why and how a tweet sent out to just 12 people — half of them family and friends — caught the eye of the police. By evening, when I had come home from the police station, my Twitter following had gone up to 1,700. About 15,000 people re-tweeted the statement that got me arrested.”

Given the series of incidents that have marked the last year and the whimsical nature of regulatory injunctions on internet freedom in the country, it might be a good idea for us to reflect on democracy and freedom.

We need to examine the fundamental nature of freedom, and how these attempts at regulating the internet are only a symptom of the systemic failures of enshrining freedom of speech, information, identity and dignity in India. However, internet freedom is often a difficult concept to engage with, because it is one of those phrases that seem to be self-explanatory but without a straightforward explanation. There are three axes which might be useful to unpack the baggage that comes with internet freedom, both for our everyday practices, and our imagined future:

Freedom of: The freedom of the internet is something that is new and needs more attention. We have to stop thinking of the internet as merely a medium or a conduit of information. As the Web becomes inextricably linked with our everyday lives, the internet is no longer just an appendage or an externality. It becomes a reference point through which our social, political and economic practices are shaped. It becomes a defining point through which we draw our meanings of what it is to be a part of the society, to have rights, to be politically aware, to be culturally engaged — to be a human. The freedom of the Net is important because the crackdowns on the Net are an attack on our rights and freedoms. The silencing of a voice on Facebook, might soon gag the voices of people on the streets, creating conditions of silence in the face of violence perpetuated by the powerful.

Freedom to: Freedom to the internet is often confused with access to the internet. While, of course, access is important in our imagination of a just society where everybody is equally connected, freedom is also about creating open and fair societies. If the power of the internet is in creating alternative spaces of expression, deliberation and opinion-making, then the freedom to the internet is about being safe and responsible in these spaces. A society that controls these spaces of public discussion, under the guise of security and public safety, is a society that has given up its faith in freedom.

Freedom for: It is often not clear that when popular technologies of information and communication are regulated and censored, it is not merely the technology that is being controlled. What is being shaped and contained is the way people use them. The freedom for the internet is about the freedom for people. The possibility that Internet Service Providers are being coerced into revealing personal information of users to police states, that intermediaries are being equipped to remove content that they find offensive from the web, and that views expressed on the social media can lead to legal battles by those who have the power but not the acumen to exercise it, all have alarming consequences. There is a need to fight for freedom, not only for the defence of technology but also for the defence of the rights that we cherish that risk being eroded.

The case of these Facebook arrests is not new. It has happened before and it will continue happening as immature governments are unable to cope with the real voices of representational democracy. These cases sometimes get naturalised because they get repeated, and even without our knowledge, can start creating a life of fear, where we internalise the regulatory system, not voicing our opinions and ideas for fear of persecution. And so, whether you agree with their politics or not, whether you endorse the viewpoints of the people who are under arrest, whether you feel implicated or not in this case, we have to realise that even if we might not agree with somebody’s viewpoint, we must defend their right to have that particular viewpoint. Anything else, and tomorrow, when you want to say something against powers of oppression, you might find yourself alone, as your voice gets heard only by those who will find creative ways of silencing you.

— With inputs from Gopu Mohan, Madhuparna Das and V Shoba

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/indian-express-dec-2-2012-nishant-shah-so-much-to-lose

November 2012 Bulletin

praskrishna — 2013-01-06T13:59:11Z

Welcome to the newsletter of November 2012 from the Centre for Internet & Society (CIS). The present issue features an analysis of Section 66A of the IT Act by Pranesh Prakash, comments on the draft Science, Technology and Innovation Policy, an introduction to 12 mobile devices that we are researching as part of the Pervasive Technologies project, submissions of civil society in relation to the revision of International Telecommunication Regulations that are to take place at the ITU's World Conference on International Telecommunications in Dubai, updates from the Wikipedia community on Indic languages, and news and media coverage.

Jobs

CIS is seeking applications for the posts of Research Manager and Programme Officer – Internet Governance. To apply send your resume to sunil@cis-india.org.

Accessibility
India has an estimated 70 million disabled persons who are unable to read printed materials due to some form of physical, sensory, cognitive or other disability. The disabled need accessible content, devices and interfaces facilitated via copyright law and electronic accessibility policies:
Blog Entry Human Machine Interfaces: The History of an Uncertain Future (by Sharath Chandra Ram, November 30, 2012).
Event Participated Workshop on Making ICT and Mobile Phones Accessible for Persons with Disabilities in Nepal (organised by ITU, November 9, 2012). Nirmita Narasimhan was a speaker in the session "Introduction: ICT and Telecom Accessibility, Good Practices in Policy and Industry Initiatives".
Access to Knowledge
The Access to Knowledge programme addresses the harms caused to consumers, developing countries, human rights, and creativity/innovation from excessive regimes of copyright, patents, and other such monopolistic rights over knowledge:
WIPO Transcripts We are providing archival copies of the transcripts of the 25th session of the WIPO Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights held in Geneva from November 19 to 23, 2012: WIPO SCCR 25 Day 1, November 19, 2012 WIPO SCCR 25 Day 2, November 20, 2012 WIPO SCCR 25 Day 3, November 21, 2012 WIPO SCCR 25 Day 4, November 22, 2012 WIPO SCCR 25 Day 5, November 23, 2012
Comments Comments on the Broadcast Treaty and Exceptions and Limitations for Libraries and Archives (by Smitha Krishna Prasad, November 29, 2012). Comments on the Science, Technology and Innovation Policy (Draft) (by Snehashish Ghosh, submitted to the Ministry of Science and Technology, November 26, 2012).
Pervasive Technologies: Access to Knowledge in the Marketplace As a part of the Pervasive Technologies: Access to Knowledge in the Marketplace research project, CIS is researching upon 12 gray-market mobile devices to generate a better understanding of the intellectual property implications of the pervasive mobile technologies available in the Indian market: Workshop Report Exploring the Internals of Mobile Devices — Report from a One-day Workshop at TERI (by Jadine Lannon, November 30, 2012).
Blog Entries ICOMM2012: International Communications and Electronics Fair (by Jadine Lannon, November 14, 2012). Pervasive Mobile Technologies: Meet Our Mobile Devices! (by Jadine Lannon, November 30, 2012).
Upcoming Event 2012 Global Congress on Intellectual Property and the Public Interest (FGV Law School, Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, December 15 – 17, 2012).
Openness The 'Openness' programme critically examines alternatives to existing regimes of intellectual property rights, and transparency and accountability. Under this programme, we study Open Government Data, Open Access to Scholarly Literature, Open Access to Law, Open Content, Open Standards, and Free/Libre/Open Source Software:
Event Organised Autonomy, Access, Infrastructure and Future — A Discussion with C S Lakshmi (CIS, Bangalore, November 29, 2012). A video of the event is published. Art in the Open Source Age — A Talk by Gene Kogan (CIS, Bangalore, November 30, 2012).
Blog Entry Open Government Platform (by Neeta Verma, Alka Mishra and D.P. Mishra, Informatics Magazine, July 2012).
Event Participated Science Gallery Workshop @ Srishti (organised by Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology and Science Gallery at Trinity College Dublin, Srishti School of Art Design and Technology (N2 campus), Bangalore, November 23, 2012). Sunil Abraham participated in this event.
Access to Knowledge Programme Beginning from September 1, 2012, Wikimedia Foundation has awarded CIS a two-year grant of INR 26,000,000 to support and develop free knowledge in India. The A2K team consists of three members based in Delhi: Nitika Tandon, Subhashish Panigrahi and Noopur Raval. Program Manager, Shiju Alex left the organisation. November 16, 2012 was his last working day.
Events Organised Kolkata: Tasting the Sweetness of Wikipedia! (Kolkata, November 3, 2012). First Odia Wikipedia Education Program (Indian Institute of Mass Communication, Dhenkanal, November 8, 2012). Odia Wikipedia Workshop at AML (Academy of Media Learning, Bhubaneswar, November 10, 2012). A Wikipedia Mini-hackathon in Delhi (CIS, New Delhi, November 11, 2012). Wikipedia: State of Tech — A Talk by Erik Moeller (CIS, Bangalore, November 12, 2012). An Odia Wikipedia Workshop at KMBB (KMBB College, Bhubaneswar, November 19, 2012). Follow up to Wikipedia Introductory Session (Bharati Vidyapeeth, Delhi, November 19, 2012).
Events Participated Wikipedia Hackathon (organised by BITS, Hyderabad, October 25 – 27, 2012). Wikipedia Women's Workshop in Mumbai (by Noopur Raval, Vidyalankar Institute of Technology, Wadala, Mumbai, November 4, 2012).
News and Media Coverage ‘Some Indian laws could be challenging’ (Bangalore Mirror, November 15, 2012). A Report of the Odia Wikipedia Workshop held in KMBB College of Engineering, Bhubaneswar (Sambad, November 19, 2012). OdishaDiary conferred prestigious Odisha Youth Inspiration Award 2012 to Odia Wikipedia team (Orissa Diary, November 23, 2012). વિકિપીડિયા ગુજરાતી માં પણ છે (by Harish Kothari, Cybersafar, November 28, 2012).
Blog Entry Typing in Indic Languages from Mobiles made Easy! (by Subhashish Panigrahi, November 19, 2012).
HasGeek HasGeek creates discussion spaces for geeks and has organised conferences like the Fifth Elephant, Droidcon India 2011, Android Camp, etc. HasGeek is supported by CIS and works out from CIS office in Bengaluru. The following event was organised by HasGeek in the month of November: Droidcon India (November 2 and 3, 2012, MLR Convention Centre, Whitefield, Bangalore).
Internet Governance The Internet Governance programme conducts research around the various social, technical, and political underpinnings of global and national Internet governance, and includes online privacy, freedom of speech, and Internet governance mechanisms and processes:
Analysis of IT Act Breaking Down Section 66A of the IT Act (by Pranesh Prakash, November 25, 2012). Fixing India’s anarchic IT Act (by Pranesh Prakash, Livemint, November 28, 2012). Draft nonsense (by Pranesh Prakash, The Times of India, November 24, 2012).
Analysis of Justice AP Shah Report Q&A to the Report of the Group of Experts on Privacy (by Elonnai Hickok, November 9, 2012).
Comments / Submissions to ITU Statement of Civil Society Members in the "Best Bits" pre-IGF Meeting. CIS was one of the signatories of this submission made to the ITU. Submission on India's Draft Comments on Proposed Changes to the ITU's ITRs. CIS was one of the signatories along with Society for Knowledge Commons, Delhi Science Forum, Free Software Movement of India, Internet Democracy Project and Media for Change. Submission by Indian Civil Society Organisations on Future ITRs and Related Processes. CIS was one of the signatories of this submission in response to ITU’s call for public comments. Indian Government's Submission to ITU: We have put up the text of the submission made by the Government of India to the World Conference of International Telecommunications, Dubai on November 3, 2012.
Event Participated India Internet Governance Conference (organised by the Ministry of Communications & Information Technology, FICCI and Internet Society, October 4 -5, 2012). Pranesh Prakash made a presentation. CIS was one of the supporting organisations.
Blog Entries Arbitrary Arrests for Comment on Bal Thackeray's Death (by Pranesh Prakash, November 19, 2012). This was re-posted in Outlook (November 19, 2012), KAFILA (November 19, 2012), and Shail's Nest (November 20, 2012). DoT Blocks Domain Sites — But Reasons and Authority Unclear (by Smitha Krishna Prasad, November 21, 2012).
Upcoming Events Technology Culture and Events in South East Asia — A Presentation by Preetam Rai(CIS, Bangalore, Near Domlur Club and TERI Complex, December 18, 2012, 5.00 p.m. to 6.30 p.m.). DML Conference 2013 (Sheraton Chicago Hotel & Towers - Chicago, Illinois, March 14 – 16, 2012).
Internet Governance Forum Pranesh Prakash, Chinmayi Arun, Malavika Jayaram and Elonnai Hickok participated in the Internet Governance Forum held in Baku, Azerbaijan in the month of November 2012. In total, CIS spoke in 12 panels: Best Bits 2012 (organised by Best Bits, Baku, Azerbaijan November 3 and 4, 2012). Pranesh Prakash and Elonnai Hickok participated in this event. The Privatisation of Censorship: The Online Responsibility to Protect Free Expression (organized by Index on Censorship, Baku, Azerbaijan, November 5, 2012). Pranesh Prakash was a panelist. New Trends in Industry Self-Governance (organised by Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, UK and Media Change & Innovation Division, IPMZ, University of Zurich, Switzerland and Nominet, UK, Baku, Azerbaijan, November 7, 2012 from 4.30 p.m. to 6.00 p.m). Pranesh Prakash was a panelist. Civil Rights in the Digital Age, about the Impact the Internet has on Civil Rights (organised by ECP on behalf of the IGF-NL, Baku, Azerbaijan, November 7, 2012, 4.30 p.m. to 6.00 p.m.). Malavika Jayaram was a panelist. Solutions for Enabling Cross-border Data Flows (co-organised by ICC BASIS and the Internet Society, Baku, Azerbaijan, November 7, 2012). Cloudy Jurisdiction: Addressing the thirst for Cloud Data in Domestic Legeal Processes (co-organised by Electronic Frontier Foundation (Peru) and University of Ottawa, Baku, Azerbaijan, November 7, 2012). What Frameworks for Cross-Border Online Communities and Services (hosted by the Internet & Jurisdiction Project, Baku, Azerbaijan, November 8, 2012). Chinmayi Arun was a panelist. Governing Identity on the Internet (co-organised by Brenden Kuerbis, Citizen Lab and Christine Runnegar, Internet Society, Baku, Azerbaijan, November 8, 2012, 11.00 a.m. to 12.30 p.m.). Malavika Jayaram was a panelist. Law Enforcement via Domain Names: Caveats to DNS Neutrality (organised by Hong Xue, Vivekanandan, Wei Mao and Leo Liu, Baku, Azerbaijan, November 8, 2012). Chinmayi Arun was a panelist. Who is Following Me: Tracking the Trackers (organised by Internet Society and the Council of Europe, Baku, Azerbaijan, November 8, 2012). Malavika Jayaram was a speaker at this event. National IG Mechanisms – Looking at Some Key Design Issues (Baku, Azerbaijan, November 8, 2012). Pranesh Prakash was a panelist. Steady Steps.....FOSS and the MDG's (organised by International Center For Free and Open Source Software and Free Software and Open Source Foundation for Africa, Baku, Azerbaijan, November 8, 2012). Pranesh Prakash was a panelist.
Event Participated Privacy in the Social Networked World (hosted by the Centre for Business Information Ethics, Meiji University, Tokyo, Japan, on behalf of the Asian Privacy Scholars Network, November 19 – 20, 2012). Elonnai Hickok spoke on Transparency and Privacy in India.
Featured in the Media Power to youth (The Hindustan Times, November 3, 2012). The article names Sunil Abraham and Lawrence Liang as some of the young people who are shaping the future. 25 Indians to watch (FT Magazine, November 16, 2012). Sunil Abraham is one among the 25 rising Indian stars to watch out for. Malavika Jayaram named a top lawyer for Internet and e-Commerce in India (WHO’s WHO LEGAL, November 20, 2012).
Media Coverage Information security policy on govt agenda (by Surabhi Agarwal, LiveMint, November 6, 2012). Sunil Abraham is quoted. Law yet to catch up with tech-enabled peeping toms (by Sandhya Soman & Pratiksha Ramkumar, Times of India, November 7, 2012). Sunil Abraham is quoted. India second in requesting user info: Google (by Karthik Subramaniam, Hindu, November 14, 2012). Pranesh Prakash is quoted. Post and be Damned (by Kavita Shanmugham, November 14, 2012). Pranesh Prakash is quoted. India second in keeping tabs on netizens (by Ishan Srivastava, The Times of India, November 15, 2012). India ranks second globally in accessing private details of users (thinkdigit, November 15, 2012). Pranesh Prakash is quoted. Google's 'Transparency Report' sketchy, inconclusive: Government (by Indu Nandakumar, Economic Times, November 17, 2012). Pranesh Prakash is quoted. Women Arrested in Mumbai for Complaining on Facebook (by Neha Thirani and Hari Kumar, New York Times, November 19, 2012). Girls arrested for Facebook post on Thackeray get bail (FirstPost, November 19, 2012). Arrest of girl over Thackeray FB update a clear misuse of Sec 295A (FirstPost, November 19, 2012). Pranesh Prakash is quoted. How to Steer Clear of India’s Strict Internet Laws (by Sangeeta Rajesh and Heather Timmons, New York Times, November 20, 2012). Internet users flay Mumbai girls' arrest over Facebook post (IBN Live, November 20, 2012). Pranesh Prakash is quoted. Arrests over Facebook posts: Why we’re on a dangerous slide (Venky Vembu, FirstPost, November 20, 2012). Pranesh Prakash is quoted. Girl's arrest draws flak on social media (The Times of India, November 20, 2012). Pranesh Prakash is quoted. India's Shame: World Reacts to FB Post Arrest (by Sonal Bhadoria, India Times, November 21, 2012). Pranesh Prakash is quoted. Indian government at second position after U.S.A for demanding user data from Google (WHDI Reviews, November 22, 2012). Pranesh Prakash is quoted. Indians Rank Second For Online Snooping (Indolink, November 23, 2012). Pranesh Prakash is quoted. Civil society & industry oppose India’s plans to modify ITRs (by Shalini Singh, The Hindu, November 23, 2012). Sunil Abraham is quoted. Amnesty International calls for review of 66A of IT act (by Nirmalya Behera, Business Standard, November 28, 2012). Thousands go online against 66A (by Apoorva Dutt, DNA, November 29, 2012). Pranesh Prakash is quoted. The flaw in cyber law (by S Ronendra Singh, Hindu Business Line, November 29, 2012). Sunil Abraham and Snehashish Ghosh are quoted. Govt tweaks enforcement of IT Act after spate of arrests (by Surabhi Agarwal, LiveMint, November 29, 2012). Pranesh Prakash is quoted. Yes, You Can Get Arrested for a Facebook Status Update Now (by David Wagner, Atlantic Wire, November 29, 2012). Pranesh Prakash is quoted. The real Sibal’s law: Resisting Section 66A is futile (by Lakshmi Chaudhry, FirstPost, November 30, 2012). Pranesh Prakash’s blog post on section 66A which was also published in Outlook is quoted.
Videos Women arrested for Facebook post: Did cops act under Sena pressure? (NDTV, November 19, 2012). YP Singh, Alyque Padamsee, Rohan Joshi, Karuna Nundy and Pranesh Prakash took part in a discussion about the arrest of two girls over a Facebook comment. The Last Word: Is there a need to review Information Technology Act? (CNN-IBN, November 20, 2012). Aryaman Sundaram, Pavan Duggal, Pranesh Prakash and Ravi Visvesvaraya Prasad took part in a discussion with Karan Thapar on section 66A of the IT Act. Interview with Pranesh Prakash (by Surabhi Agarwal, LiveMint, November 30, 2012).
Telecom While the potential for growth and returns exist for telecommunications in India, a range of issues need to be addressed. One aspect is more extensive rural coverage and the other is a countrywide access to broadband which is low. Both require effective and efficient use of networks and resources, including spectrum:
Building Knowledge and Capacity around Telecommunication Policy in India Ford Foundation has given a grant of USD 2,00,000 to CIS to build expertise in the area of telecommunications in India. The knowledge repository deals with these modules: Introduction to Telecommunications, Telecommunications Infrastructure and Technologies, Government of India Regulatory Framework for Telecom, Telecommunication and the Market, Universal Access and Accessibility, The International Telecommunications Union and other international bodies, Broadcasting, Emerging Topics and Way Forward. Dr. Surendra Pal, Satya N Gupta, Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, Payal Malik, Dr. Rakesh Mehrotra and Dr. Nadeem Akhtar are the expert reviewers.
The following are the new outputs: DoT — Its Powers and Responsibilities (by Snehashish Ghosh, November 30, 2012). Government Policy and Guidelines (by Snehashish Ghosh, November 30, 2012). TRAI Regulations (by Snehashish Ghosh, November 30, 2012). TRAI Telecommunication Tariff Orders (by Snehashish Ghosh, November 30, 2012).
Newspaper Columns Super WiFi & Shared Spectrum: A Time to Start Sharing (by Shyam Ponappa, Organizing India Blogspot on November 3, 2012 and Business Standard, November 1, 2012). Folly of Mandating Spectrum Auctions (by Jayna Kothari, Hindu Business Line, November 24, 2012).
Event Participated 2nd MPL Faculty Workshop (North Zone) on Teaching Public Policy, Media and Law (Central University, Rajasthan, November 1-2, 2012). Snehashish Ghosh made a presentation on "Building a Telecom Knowledge Repository."
Digital Natives Digital Natives with a Cause? examines the changing landscape of social change and political participation in light of the role that young people play through digital and Internet technologies, in emerging information societies. Consolidating knowledge from Asia, Africa and Latin America, it builds a global network of knowledge partners who critically engage with discourse on youth, technology and social change, and look at alternative practices and ideas in the Global South:
Interview Whose Change Is It Anyway? \| DML2013: As a preparation for the DML conference, Nishant Shah had an interview with Howard Rheingold, a cyberculture pioneer, social media innovator, and author of "Smart Mobs. Watch the video on YouTube.
About CIS CIS was registered as a society in Bangalore in 2008. As an independent, non-profit research organisation, it runs different policy research programmes such as Accessibility, Access to Knowledge, Openness, Internet Governance, and Telecom. The policy research programmes have resulted in outputs such as the e-Accessibility Policy Handbook for Persons with Disabilities with ITU and G3ict, and Digital Alternatives with a Cause?, Thinkathon Position Papers and the Digital Natives with a Cause? Report with Hivos, etc. We conducted policy research for the Ministry of Communications & Information Technology, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, etc., on WIPO Treaties, Copyright Bill, NIA Bill, etc. CIS is accredited as an observer at WIPO, and has given policy briefs to delegations from various countries, our Programme Manager, Nirmita Narasimhan won the National Award for Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities from the Government of India and also received the NIVH Excellence Award.
Follow us elsewhere Get short, timely messages from us on Twitter Join the CIS group on Facebook Visit us at http://cis-india.org
Support Us Please help us defend consumer / citizen rights on the Internet! Write a cheque in favour of ‘The Centre for Internet and Society’ and mail it to us at No. 194, 2nd ‘C’ Cross, Domlur, 2nd Stage, Bengaluru – 5600 71.
Request for Collaboration We invite researchers, practitioners, and theoreticians, both organisationally and as individuals, to collaboratively engage with Internet and society and improve our understanding of this new field. To discuss the research collaborations, write to Sunil Abraham, Executive Director, at sunil@cis-india.org or Nishant Shah, Director – Research, at nishant@cis-india.org

CIS is grateful to its donors, Wikimedia Foundation, Ford Foundation, Privacy International, UK, Hans Foundation and the Kusuma Trust which was founded by Anurag Dikshit and Soma Pujari, philanthropists of Indian origin, for its core funding and support for most of its projects.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/about/newsletters/november-2012-bulletin

Human Machine Interfaces: The History of an Uncertain Future

sharath — 2013-01-04T11:30:47Z

"Multimodal interfaces maybe re-engineered much more easily now and can transform the ways in which the physically,cognitively and sensorially disabled can access information and interact with the digital world", says Sharath Chandra Ram.

Fundamental inspirations in digital information practices sprouted from the hypothetical electro-mechanical device ‘Memex’ proposed by renowned scientist Vannevar Bush in 1945, who incidentally, as the graduate professor of Claude Shannon, also paved the way for digital circuit design theory. The Memex (Memory + Index) concept entailed a system where a user could add associative trails to notes, books, communication and audio-visual experiences involving both him and others. Memex in Bush’s view was to create trails of links in temporal sequences of subjective experiences of a person, accessible to him (and others) anytime — a sort of augmented and extended memory. So implausible was considered this ambitious proposal of his, that the word ‘vannevar’ has entered the dictionary as a noun used to describe something that is unfeasibly fantastic and imaginative.

Wholly new forms of encyclopedias will appear, readymade with a mesh of associative trails running through them, ready to be dropped into the memex and there amplified.[1]

The Memex idea had an immediate bearing on the conception of the World Wide Web and also influenced Ted Nelson’s coinage of ‘hyperlink’ that mapped a single word in a document to other associative content. Douglas Engelbart inspired by Bush’s essay, invented an interface that aided the very metaphor of pinpointed navigation through hyperlinks — the X-Y Indicator — that later came to be known to the world as the Computer Mouse. Not much has changed in the ways by which humans have interacted at the interface level. The WIMP paradigm (Windows, Icons ,Menus and Pointers) has been here to stay.

The X-Y indicator that previously mapped motions made on a two dimensional track pad onto the screen has simply been infused onto touch screens. While this may have eased the process of visual design automation, could our interaction be more natural, expressive, immersive and creative? Our experience in the real world is multi modal and we communicate with others using our body, hands, visual cues and sound. Is there a way by which our interaction in the virtual world could closely mimic our real world behavior?

The answer to the above questions came around the same time that the mouse was invented — Myron Kreuger's Videoplace. Unarguably the first and finest immersive virtual reality created way back in the 1970s, ‘Videoplace’ combined two cultural forces — the television (a purveyor of passive experience) and computer (symbol of forbidding technology) to create an expressive medium for communicating playfulness and active participation. Kreuger argued that "computer art which ignores responsiveness is using the computer only for visual design automation, rather than as a basis for a new medium." Kreuger used image processing and gestural interaction as early as in the 70s to interact with virtual objects in the digital world and has inspired a whole generation of computer vision artists including the likes of Golan Levin. If one recalls the seemingly futuristic gestural interface that Tom Cruise used in the film ‘Minority Report’ — be assured it’s already here! Jaron Lanier, a pioneer in virtual reality systems who headed the National Tele Immersion Initiative developed the entire working set of the film.

It seems Kreuger’s work had remained in a niche closet due to early commercialization and large scale adoption of the XY mouse and touch devices. ‘User centric design’ has become increasingly device dependent and really only caters to enticing users to information that the interface wants to disseminate rather than let the user engage with the interface intuitively.

Today, natural interfacing techniques are regaining much commercial interest. A landmark event was the massively viral YouTube video of Johnny Lee Cheung hacking the Nintedo Wiimote’s infrared sensor to track the head movement of a user in real time and provide an illusion of 3-Dimensional Virtual Reality. Within a year, Microsoft hired Cheung to develop the Kinect Camera for gestural interaction with it’s X-box gaming console and also bought all assets of 3DV system’s 3D sensor ‘ZCam’ -- the most affordable option available to new media artists until then. Within a week of the Kinect’s release, it’s drivers were hacked and exposed by the opensource art community that responded to Adafruit’s USD 2000 Kinect hack challenge.

With similar gestural devices by ASUS and the much-awaited Leap sensor, we are on the brink of a paradigm shift in the ways of accessing information that shall redefine concepts in human computer interaction. Cognitive interface solutions by NeuroSky and Emotiv Systems have already paved the way to neuronal signal activated interactions and games. The OpenEEG project has propelled research into open hardware schematics for brain computer interaction.

The linear presentation of search engine results on a browser across millions of pages , I predict, will change this decade as the GUI will transform into a 4 Dimensional Space layered in time, with relevant search results being clustered onto a connected graph node structure and distanced based on their mutual relevance. This calls for a more natural interface that depends not on the traditional keyboard-mouse interaction but on the use of intelligent interfaces such as eye-tracking , gaze , gesture ,speech and thought waves to sift through large databases that shall present themselves in totality along with multimodal feedback to the user.

While all this will transform the ways in which the specially-abled shall access digital information, such transparent interfaces shall also raise a number of policy questions related to privacy and who knows ,one day, even freedom of thought!!

On one hand, we would like to see the price of natural interfaces being made affordable to the commoner, on the other it will require us to unlearn traditional means of information interaction that we have been made quite comfortably accustomed to. Until then it is anyone’s guess what Microsoft’s recent acquisition of Skype along with the desktop version of the Kinect would turn bedroom and boardroom interactions into!

[1].Ironically sourced from a present day Wikipedia article linking to Bush’s 1945 article in The Atlantic Monthly titled “As We May Think”. See http://goo.gl/4mZKx

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/human-machine-interfaces-the-history-of-an-uncertain-future

Centre for Internet and Society

Presentation on MLATS

Leslie Chan Lectures in Tiruvananthapuram and Mysore

Programme of Prof. Leslie Chan in Thiruvananthapuram

Knowledge Management in the Open Access Environment

Emerging Trends in Scholarly Communications and Impact Measures in the Open Knowledge Environment

Lecture-cum-Open Forum on Open Access Initiatives (OAI)

A Special Lecture by Prof. Leslie Chan in Mysore

Emerging Trends in Scholarly Communications and Impact Measures in the Open Knowledge Environment

Accessible Broadcasting in India

Links in the Chain - Volume X, issue 3

WIPO SCCR 25 Day 5, November 23, 2012 (Full Text)

WIPO SCCR 25 Day 4, November 22, 2012 (Full Text)

WIPO SCCR 25 Day 3, November 21, 2012 (Full Text)

WIPO SCCR 25 Day 2, November 20, 2012 (Full Text)

WIPO SCCR 25 Day 1, November 19, 2012 (Full Text)

Transcript of the Plenary 1, WCIT-12

Transcript of the Opening Ceremony, WCIT-2012

Second International e-Governance Conference

Conference Agenda

Papers/Speakers Bio Summary

Plenary Session 1: e-Governance and Public Sector Reform

Plenary Session 2: Citizen Inclusion into the Digital Society

Plenary Session 3: Workshop 1 (Challenges of implementing an adequate telecommunications infrastructure and Highlighting the role of the private sector and the establishment of the concept of true public-private sector partnership in the field of e-governance)

Plenary Session 4: Effective Role of Local Governments in framework of e-Governance Program

Plenary Session 5: Challenges of Government Interoperability Framework Implementation, Standards and Information

Plenary Session 6: Building e-services

So Much to Lose

November 2012 Bulletin

Pervasive Technologies: Access to Knowledge in the Marketplace

Access to Knowledge Programme

HasGeek

Media Coverage

Videos

Human Machine Interfaces: The History of an Uncertain Future