by Gerry Oberst

The acronym WSIS does not stand for "what’s this?" but instead is an ambitious "World Summit on the Information Society" organized by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

"Information society" basically refers to the impact of information and communication technologies (ICT) on society. The ITU says the summit will be a "unique opportunity for all key stakeholders to assemble at a high-level gathering and to develop a better understanding of this revolution and its impact on the international community."

Not content to hold only one gathering, the ITU decided to devote two phases to this topic, with the first phase held in mid-December 2003, in Geneva, Switzerland, and the second in mid-November 2005 in Tunis, Tunisia.

The expected outcome, according to the WSIS Web site, is "a clear statement of political will and a concrete plan of action for achieving the goals of the Information Society." Because that description may not tell you anything useful, it could be more productive to look at the swirl of preparatory gatherings, regional conferences and intersessional meetings for the WSIS.

The first phase of the Summit is supposed to adopt a declaration of principles and a plan of action to deal with the information society. At the intersessional meeting in July 2003 held in Paris, possible action points distilled into a list of 125 different items.

This list covered every possible wish of every possible non-governmental organization that is participating in the activities (and there are many). Some were mainstream. Thus, action 5 is to "establish an international legal framework to prohibit producing and circulating pornographic contents and harmful materials throughout the Internet under the auspices of UNESCO."

Some goals, however, are overly specific. For example, one goal sites an international effort to make available adequate Internet community access equipment under U.S. $100 by 2010, and under U.S. $50 by 2015. Other goals are simply unrealistic–goal 50 is for the curricula of all primary and secondary schools to be revised in all countries, within three years, in order to meet the challenges of the information society. Maybe a dose of reality would cure this recommendation.

Some of the proposed actions, however, relate to the satellite field. For instance, action 8 is to "launch, through ITU, technical, regulatory and operational studies with a view to promoting the provision of high-speed satellite services for underserved areas." Focused only on Africa, action 1 is to "remove all obstacles to the implementation of the RASCOM (Regional African Satellite Communications Organization) project."

In a list of actions to foster the information society and its benefits to the world, having only two references to satellite services out of 125 seems somewhat thin. In context, however, this is perhaps not a bad bargain, as there are few other references to specific infrastructure, projects or technologies but mainly a list of social goals, demands for subsidies and public-spirited exhortations.

The United States’ comments for the intersessional meeting in July noted this imbalance, stating that the documents then on the table assigned "’insufficient weight and prioritization’ to private investment and competition." The United States would like to emphasize national policies and international principles to "promote investment, innovation and competition–all key elements to expanding information flows and promoting the build-out of communication infrastructure throughout the world."

A handful of satellite-related organizations are involved in the WSIS. The International Telecommunication Satellite Organization (ITSO, the offshoot of Intelsat’s inter- governmental days) developed the action item on high-speed satellite services for underserved areas. ITSO and the European Satellite Operators Association are listed as participants. Also active is the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs, which sponsored a workshop in Thailand on space technology contributions to bridge the digital divide.

A small number of companies in the satellite field seem to be participating, and the Global VSAT Forum submitted a paper in late May on policy and regulatory guidance for satellite services. Not much of its input yet appears anywhere in the draft actions, however.

In fact, at the end of the day, not much of any industry input appears in the WSIS papers. The vast array of non-governmental organizations, each with their particular perspective, appear to have created a babble of documents that, in their current stage, few will read and no one will act on. It would be a pity if an initiative with such a laudable aim got lost in this forest of words.

Gerry Oberst is a partner in the Brussels office of the Hogan & Hartson law firm. His email address is [email protected].