[FoME] Launch of "Global Information Society Watch 2007 Report"

[Christoph Dietz]

Global Information Society Watch 2007
Montevideo: Association for Progressive Communication (APC), Instituto
del Tercer Mundo (ITeM), 2007, 215 p.
Download: http://www.globaliswatch.org/download 

The Global Information Society Watch 2007 report - the first in a
series of annual reports- looks at state of the field of information and
communication technology (ICT) policy at local and global levels and
particularly how policy impacts on the lives of people living in
developing countries. 

Studies of the ICT policy situation in twenty-two countries from four
regions are featured: Africa (Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt,
Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and Uganda); Asia (Bangladesh,
India, Pakistan and the Philippines); Latin America (Argentina, Brazil,
Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico and Peru); and Eastern Europe (Bosnia and
Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania), with one report from a
Western European country (Spain). 

The report concludes that when it comes to ICTs for development, there
are some conspicuous similarities between the countries. Excluding
Spain, the other twenty-one countries each show obvious evidence of the
“digital divide” which impacts on the majority of people negatively.
According to Brazilian authors RITS, the absence of a people-orientated
policy framework in Brazil runs the risk of condemning the vast majority
of people to “eternal disconnection.” The report also includes
provocative, analytical essays on five international institutions
(including ICANN and the World Intellectual Property Organisation)
questioning the extent to which they allow all stake-holders to
participate in their processes. There is a special section on how to
measure progress. 

The Global Information Society Watch 2007report will be launched on 22
May 2007, at the United Nations' Palais des Nations in Geneva,
Switzerland, during the cluster of WSIS-related events.