World Summit on the Information Society

Two staff members will join the Australian government delegation to the second World Summit on the Information Society in Tunis in mid-November.
It is a UN Summit.

Prof Don Schauder and Dr Graeme Johanson, as chairman and director respectively of the Centre for Community Networking Research  in the Faculty, have been invited by the Australian government to participate in the week-long Summit to represent the views of Australian civil society on such matters as Internet governance and digital inclusion globally.

Late in 2003, the Centre formed the Roundtable on Australian Civil Society (RACS), in order to elicit the opinions of Australians about the impact of information and communications technologies on their lives. Civil society separates business or government interests from other social and voluntary commitments, although obviously the three sectors frequently intersect. RACS formulated a Statement for the first World Summit in Geneva in 2003.

This year, with the support of the federal Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, the Centre consulted groups across the country in order to formulate a Strategy for civil society input to the global discussions. The Strategy has been very widely accepted already.

In Tunis, Don Schauder and Graeme Johanson will liaise with associates from other countries, attend official functions, consult with civil society representatives from across the globe, participate in formal debates, lobby appropriate groups, and promote Australia's interests in on-site media coverage. They aim to extend the benefits of this event to further consultative and research projects.