B U I L D I N G
T H E
I N F O R M A T I O N
WSIS Stocktaking Exercise
S O C I E T Y
Document ALC2C4C6/3/05-E
9 May 2007
Original: English
WSIS Stocktaking Exercise Assisting Implementation and Fostering
Follow-Up Process
During the WSIS process, stakeholders expressed their wishes that the publicly-accessible
stocktaking database of WSIS-related implementation activities (www.itu.int/wsis/stocktaking),
which had been initiated during the Tunis phase of WSIS, should be maintained, under the
stewardship of ITU (see Tunis Agenda, para 120). The objective is that it should be an effective
tool for information exchange on projects fostering development of the information society,
structured according to the 11 WSIS Action Lines. All WSIS stakeholders are encouraged to
continue to contribute information to this public database.
In November 2005, during the Tunis Phase of the Summit, a report on the stocktaking was
published, and posted on the website, highlighting a representative sample of some of the
innovative projects of a multi-stakeholder international level. In February 2006, during the meeting
of Action Line facilitators, the Golden Book of new projects launched during the Tunis Phase, with
a cumulative value of more that €3 billion, was published. In addition, a website of ICT success
stories was published and presentations of the stocktaking were presented at each of the Action Line
facilitation meeting held during the cluster of meetings around World Information Society Day
2006. Recently, the ITU circulated the new request for updating information and submitting new
project descriptions to the WSIS Stocktaking database. More than three hundred new projects
focusing on the information and communication infrastructure have been registered. At the end of
April 2007, there were more than 3’300 projects registered with a growing number of the entries.
A number of actions intended to improve the database's functionality were taken during 2006. All
existing entries were reviewed with possible duplications eliminated and all hyperlinks (URLs)
were reviewed and updated. In consultation with WSIS Action Line facilitators and following the
decisions of their open consultations, a number of sub-definitions were added for particular Action
Lines. The Stocktaking database interface and database's search ability was adjusted accordingly.
This improvement significantly helps to facilitate the search process at the level of each individual
Action Line and should encourages stakeholders to make better use of this tool for information
dissemination and exchange in more specific fields of activities.
In order to further expand the functionality and interactivity of this publicly-available tool, some
additional actions were completed in year 2007. In order to encourage WSIS stakeholders to enter
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descriptions of their projects, an open request for updating existing entries and entering new project
description will be sent to WSIS Stakeholders. In parallel to this, the Stocktaking Team improved
the level of interactivity by letting Stakeholders up-date entries directly themselves. Moreover, a
new approach for devolved Stocktaking responsibility has been introduced. Thanks to this
approach, all WSIS Stakeholders have the possibility to install the stocktaking database web interface
on their own web pages. It is hope that this will have a significant impact on the total number and
growth of entry of entered project descriptions. Additionally, this will make the database more
directly available for different uses at national, regional and international levels.
In order to embody the WSIS Stocktaking web interface in your web page, please use the following
links or request the WSIS Stocktaking Team for assistance at wsis-stocktaking@itu.int:
* Search Interface : http://www.itu.int/wsis/stocktaking/plugin/search.asp
** Questionnaire Interface http://www.itu.int/wsis/stocktaking/plugin/q.asp