Recognizing WSIS Impacts

PP RESOLUTION 73 (Minneapolis, 1998)

World summit on the information society

The Plenipotentiary Conference of the International Telecommunication Union (Minneapolis, 1998),

• considering
  • a) the provisions of the Constitution and the Convention of the International Telecommunication Union concerning the role of the Union with regard to policies and strategies;
  • b) the resolutions adopted by this conference concerning strategic issues in the telecommunication sector,
• noting
  • that the Union is required to fulfil its tasks in an environment where telecommunications are playing an increasingly decisive and driving role at the political, economic, social and cultural levels,
• recognizing
  • a) that ITU is the organization best able to seek appropriate ways to provide for development of the telecommunication sector geared to economic, social and cultural development;
  • b) the complementarity between the work of the Union and the activities of other international and regional organizations;
  • c) the interpenetration between issues of telecommunication development and those of economic, social and cultural development, as well as the impact of such interpenetration on social structures in all Member States,
• conscious
  • a) of the fact that the globalization of telecommunications must take account of a harmonious evolution in policies, regulations, networks and services in all Member States;
  • b) of the emergence of the concept of the information society in which telecommuni­cations play a central role,
• taking into account
  • a) the results of the World Telecommunication Standardization Conference (Geneva, 1996), the World Radiocommunication Conference (Geneva, 1997) and the World Telecom­munication Development Conference (Valletta, 1998);
  • b) the role and results of the world telecommunication policy forums held,
• resolves to instruct the Secretary-General
  • 1 to place the question of holding a world summit on the information society on the agenda of the United Nations Administrative Committee on Coordination, with a view to meeting the necessary conditions for holding such a summit before the next plenipotentiary conference;
  • 2 to report to the Council on the results of this consultation and to evaluate the financial burden that might result from the Union’s contribution to holding a world summit on the information society,
• instructs the Council
  • in the light of the results of this consultation:
    • 1 to consider and decide on the Union’s contribution to the holding of a world summit on the information society, with a view to:
      • – establishing an overall framework identifying, with the contribution of all partners, a joint and harmonized understanding of the information society;
      • – drawing up a strategic plan of action for concerted development of the information society by defining an agenda covering the objectives to be achieved and the resources to be mobilized;
      • – identifying the roles of the various partners to ensure smooth coordination of the establishment in practice of the information society in all Member States;
    • 2 to ask the Secretary-General to coordinate with other international organizations and with the various partners concerned (Member States, Sector Members, etc.), with a view to holding a world summit on the information society;
    • 3 to report on the results of the world summit on the information society to the next plenipotentiary conference.