SUMMARY REPORT FACILITATION MEETING ON WSIS ACTION LINE C6, 19 MAY 2009, ITU HEADQUARTERS 1. SUMMARY OF THE MEETING The Facilitation Meeting on WSIS Action Line C6 (the Enabling Environment) took place on 19 May. Since officially taking over the facilitation role from UNDP in May 2008, this was the first time that ITU had organized a meeting on this Action Line in its capacity of lead facilitator. This was also the first time a facilitation meeting was organized as an interactive panel discussion, involving multiple stakeholders, in which questions were not only taken directly from the floor but also collected through an open call for contributions organized in the lead to the meeting (at: www.itu.int/c6), resulting in an open debate fully driven by interested stakeholders. The panel discussion was split into two main themes. Initially, the debate focused on tracking the progress made in creating the enabling environment for the ICT sector, showcasing successful experiences and identifying synergies in the way forward towards 2015. Both panelists and audience seemed to share the view that promoting investment has a core role in good regulation, while multi‐stakeholder collaboration and bespoke, result‐oriented strategies for extending access are the keystones to successfully building the Information Society. Many participants stressed the central role of government as an enabler of meaningful reforms as well as of various forms of multi‐stakeholder alliances (such as Public‐Private Partnerships, etc.). Consequently, increasing the critical capacity within governments and regulators to understand technology and apply a global, integrated approach to developing multiple sectors (such as education, health, finance, etc.) was identified as a major challenge for a number of developing countries. It was also made apparent that the ambitious and complex task of creating an enabling environment is simply beyond the remit of any single stakeholder. However, by leveraging the efforts and resources of governments, regulators, the private sector and civil society, bearing in mind the need to foster cross‐sectoral involvement, it would be possible to create new regulatory, development and business models that will not only connect the unconnected but will also build digital capacity to boost the global economy. The second part of the interactive discussion was dedicated to ways of strengthening the role of the ITU in the facilitation of this WSIS Action Line. ITU was recognized as a facilitator of the constructive multi‐stakeholder dialogue on ways and means for creating an enabling environment by bringing different actors together as well as by developing a collection of Best Practice Guidelines to help countries create the necessary regulatory framework to extend access to ICTs. 2. SPEAKERS AND PANELISTS ¾
High‐level speakers ‐ Sami Al‐Basheer Al‐Morshid, Director, BDT‐ITU (opening remarks) ‐ Charles Geiger, Special Adviser to the Commission on Science & Technology for Development (CSTD) at UNCTAD and former Executive Director of WSIS, on behalf of Petko Draganov, Deputy Secretary UNCTAD (welcome address) ¾
Moderator ‐ Mario Maniewicz, Chief, BDT’s Policies and Strategies Department, ITU WSIS Action Line C6
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Panelists ‐ Mr. Ndiaye Diouf, Chef de la division Partenariats, ARTP, Senegal ‐ Ms. Caroline Figuères, IICD, the Netherlands ‐ Mr. Thomas OSBURG, Director Europe Corporate Affairs, Intel GmbH ‐ Mr. Sandro Bazanella, Project Manager, ITU‐EC Project‐Harmonized Policies for ICT in ACP ‐ Mr. Zakaria Hassan, Chairman of Afghanistan Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (ATRA) (couldn’t attend) 3. RECOMMENDATIONS AND FURTHER ACTIONS ¾ With regards to facilitation on WSIS Action Line C6 During the interactive discussion, three possible models to further facilitation were proposed: 1. To create a road map or an implementation guide, such as the one created for WSIS Action Line C2 (Infrastructure); 2. To use a customized progress mapping tool, similar to the one applied by the ITU‐EC project for the Establishment of Harmonized Policies for the ICT Market in the ACP countries; 3. To develop a collection of regionally biased best practice guidelines on specific topics, recognizing the different stage and pace of development of countries. From this debate, consensus was reached that a platform for sharing best practices by all stakeholders can be a viable driver of WSIS implementation of the enabling environment for the years to come. ¾ With regards to implementation of WSIS Action Line C6 During the interactive discussion, several policy priorities have been identified as critical to sustain investment in the current economic situation: ‐ Extending access to broadband to rural areas; ‐ Creating framework conditions for new models of Public‐Private Partnerships (PPPs); ‐ Applying a bottom‐up approach to the ICT sector regulation; ‐ Developing an integrated approach to designing and implementing ICT sector policies and coordinating with other sector policies and agencies; ‐ Capacity building as a prerequisite for strong market and regulatory reforms. Some of these broad and challenging topics will be integrated into the ongoing core work of the Regulatory & Market Environment Division (www.itu.int/treg), notably in the materials prepared for the GSR2009 and for training courses being developed for regulators and decision makers. 4. OTHER FOLLOW‐UP ACTIONS ¾
The dedicated webportal (www.itu.int/c6) will continue to be maintained and developed based on stakeholder contributions to track progress made in the implementation of WSIS AL C6, and will serve to prepare for the 2010 edition of the WSIS Forum. ¾
A concise document summarizing the discussions and the contributions received will be prepared and posted on the portal. ¾
A separate part/page of the website will be dedicated to the facilitation of WSIS AL C6 and will be developed as a one‐stop‐shop for best practices in the area of creating the enabling environment, drawing on ITU’s work (www.itu.int/ITU‐D/treg/bestpractices.html) as well as on the work of other stakeholders, in particular of private sector. ¾
Contact for questions and/or requests related to facilitation on WSIS AL C6 or to direct assistance in the area of regulation: bdt‐rme@itu.int. WSIS Action Line C6
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