Summit on the Information Society

The Information and communications technologies have advanced at an unprecedented rate during the last 10 years. The world has experienced economic and social benefits from access to Internet. The rapid diffusion of mobiles technologies have shown that ICTs could be a tool for change and that we should link it policy and development programmes to foster development outcomes. The penetration of mobile technology, the growth of smartphones along with the growth of mobile broadband has shown that the world is changing towards mobile. The initial plans to end the “digital divide” and make the Internet accessible to everyone should change based on the new context. There has been much change and development on the ICT arena during the last 10 years that a new World Summit on the Information Society is needed. Additionally, there have been several positions among different stakeholders that the first two Summits were not inclusive and that the declaration paid little attention to the comments and recommendations of civil society organizations in particular. For all of these a new Summit could help to enhance the objectives and include all stakeholders. A new summit could present an opportunity to support policy changes and lead to a faster achievement of development goals.