A) Themes:

1. Key recent trends (social networking etc.-best relevant for many Action Lines) -- and how these trends should best be discussed/addressed at this meeting (see 3.)
2. Key future knowledge and sustainable development trends

B) Format, for example:

3. How can above themes best be addressed in a cross-cutting manner, bringing together different Action Lines on key topics?

C) Process leading to the 2013 event:

4. In the context of scarce budgets, how can we still best facilitate the contributions and input from different stakeholders to the preparatory process and to the 2013 event, including of the most marginalized?

Best regards,
Cédric Wachholz

For more information.

The next edition of the WSIS Forum will take place from 14 to 18 May in Geneva, Switzerland. In order to ensure openness and inclusiveness of this annual WSIS multistakeholder event, the Forum organizers would like to ask for your feedback on the following:

1. Thematic focus: What are the key issues that need to be addressed at the WSIS Forum? At the last Forum, the following are discussed at the high-level panels: "social media and social transformation", "social inclusion", "ICT4D in LDCs" and "cyber security";
   
   
2. Innovations on the format: Is there any room for improvement in terms of efficiency and effectiveness of the Forum?

1. Objectives, goals, possible outcomes
2. Type of meeting to be held
3. Type of preparatory process to be proposed
4. Timeline

Background on the UNGIS Open Consultation
In accordance with the WSIS outcome documents and the UN General Assembly Resolution 60/252, the Chief Executive Board (CEB) tasked, at its last meeting in Nairobi in April 2011, the UN Group on the Information Society (UNGIS) to prepare, on the basis of an open consultation, an action plan to organize high-level meeting on the WSIS Review. The Action Plan would be presented to the CEB meeting in April 2012.

As  you may know, an open debate ' Do mobile phones change social development  more than economic development" is planned to take place from 4 April.

Prior to this, I thourght it might be useful to collect audio and visual materials, as well as documents related to the utilization of mobile phones for socio-economic development.

You can either introduce the URL directly in your message or you can post your materials as group video and files.

Mika

An important issue to address is “The future of e-government: Open Government and Collaboration”. Internet is changing and also e-Government. The countries are making progress in e-government but the dynamics of ICT is often faster and e-government key factors must evolve. How do the governments prepare for this change? Which are the expectations that people are having in their interactions with the government? The countries are doing Statements to “promote policies whereby governments and entities make available to the society, in readily accessible form, information and data of public interest, which can be used by third parties to create new services for citizens and businesses”. What does this mean? What are the implications for governments, for stakeholders and people in general? How to address the collaboration as a step ahead of participation?

The WSIS Forum organizers would like to hear your thoughts and ideas regarding the format of the WSIS Forum 2011.

Concerning the format, let me allow to recall the discussions that we had at the last Action Lines Facilitators Meeting of 14 May 2010. There were many positive feedbacks. Some people welcomed the collaboration efforts among UNESCO, ITU and UNCTAD which led the Forum to be more inclusive and open. Other stakeholders were also pleased that their requests had been reflected in the agenda. Nonetheless, there were also many voices urging the needs of reviewing the WSIS targets which established in 2005 in light of recent technological and social progress in order to make WSIS more significant in the international development agenda. There were also requests to shorten duration of the event from 4 days to 3 or 2 days:  many participants were indeed unable to assist the entire event due to the lack of resources.