I've got my plane tickets (arriving a few days before the formal start). Looks like the pre-summit politicking is beginning, as you can see below. -Declan -------- Original Message -------- Subject: Business leaders descend on Tunis to set out their vision of an information society Date: Mon, 17 Oct 2005 17:04:15 +0200 From: nnl@private To: declan.mccullagh@private For the attention of Mr Declan McCullagh Business leaders descend on Tunis to set out their vision of an information society Paris, 17 October 2005 - Business leaders from four continents will set out their vision of the future of information and communication technologies and the Internet during a specially-convened session at the UN World Summit on the Information Society in Tunis. Hailing from as far afield as India, Korea, Egypt and the Americas, and representing companies which span the gamut of businesses – from multinational mobile phone companies to web-based start-ups and India’s largest Internet Service Provider (ISP) - the business delegation to WSIS will pause during the Summit deliberations to take stock of proceedings and offer a business commentary. “This will be an opportunity for the private sector to pass comment on the WSIS negotiations and outcomes, and set out what we believe are the essential ingredients for a truly inclusive information society,” explained Guy Sebban, ICC’s Secretary General and chair of CCBI (Coordinating Committee of Business Interlocutors for WSIS). “Issues of internet governance, creating digital opportunities, how countries can best lay the groundwork for ICT investment will all be examined.” Mr Sebban said he was encouraged by the wide cross-section of industry, from “all corners of the globe”, who would be represented at the interactive session. Participants in the CCBI session include business leaders from such large companies as, Vivendi Universal and Nokia, as well as the CEO of India’s largest ISP, Sify Corp and one of Korea’s fastest growing web companies, Netpia.com. “The diversity of countries and experiences represented at this meeting will offer a wide range of business perspectives and experiences, from many different countries and markets, on the crucial issues being debated at WSIS,” he said. Featured speakers at the meeting will include: Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, Chairman, Talal Abu-Ghazaleh and Co, Arab States Jean-Philippe Courtois, President, Microsoft International; Senior Vice President, Microsoft Corporation, France Mohamed Ibrahim, Chairman, Celtel International, The Netherlands Amin Lakhani, Managing Director, Lakson Group of Companies, Pakistan Pan Jung Lee, Founder and President, Netpia.com, South Korea Jean-Bernard Lévy, Chairman of the Management Board and Chief Executive Officer, Vivendi Universal, France Velusamy Mathivanan, Chief Executive Officer, CrimsonLogic, Singapore Richard McCormick, Chairman Emeritus, US West; Vice Chair, United States Council for International Business; Chairman, International Chamber of Commerce (2001-2002) Rama Ramaraj, Chief Executive Officer, Sify Corp, India Veli Sundbäck, Senior Vice President, Nokia, Finland One of the focuses of the business-led session will be to identify the conditions that are required to encourage investment in ICTs and the importance of ensuring the Internet remains an open environment with a free flow of information. “Business alone has the experience, capability and financial resources to turn many of the words at WSIS into action,” said Mr Sebban. “But it cannot do it without the cooperation of governments or in isolation from civil society” Meeting Information: “The business view on critical issues for the Information Society” Thursday 17 November 10.00-13.00 Kram Conference Centre Interactive Roundtable Discussion Note to editors: About CCBI The Coordinating Committee of Business Interlocutors (CCBI) is the voice of business at WSIS. The summit organizers invited the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) to create a vehicle to coordinate private sector input. The result is CCBI, a network of business organizations whose members include companies of all sizes, in all sectors, from all over the world. "Business has the unique capability to generate the ingredients required to continue to build the infrastructure, technology, and tools to make the information society a reality. Information and communication technologies are critical tools for economic growth and social development. Maximizing business innovation, entrepreneurship and resources, and building partnerships that draw upon the complementary fields of experience and expertise of all stakeholders will help us to realize the full potential of this global asset." Guy Sebban, Secretary General, ICC For further information on the event, WSIS or the CCBI, visit the website: www.businessatwsis.net. About ICC ICC is the largest, most representative business organization in the world. Its thousands of member companies in over 130 countries have interests spanning every sector of private enterprise. A world network of national committees keeps the ICC International Secretariat in Paris informed about national and regional business priorities. More than 2000 experts drawn from ICC’s member companies feed their knowledge and experience into crafting the ICC stance on specific business issues. The United Nations, the World Trade Organization, and many other intergovernmental bodies, both international and regional, are kept in touch with the views of international business through ICC. For more information please visit: www.iccwbo.org _______________________________________________ Politech mailing list Archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ Moderated by Declan McCullagh (http://www.mccullagh.org/)
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.3 : Wed Oct 19 2005 - 14:13:54 PDT