Third Meeting of the Task Force

 

 

 

The third meeting of the United Nations Information and Communication Technologies Task Force (ICT Task Force) was held from 30 September to 1 October 2002 at the United Nations Headquarters.  The substantive focus of the meeting was ICT-for-development in Africa.  It also reviewed the results of the first year and agreed on a strategy for the Task Force for the next two years built around two clear objectives: (i) application of ICT for achieving the Millennium Development Goals; and, (ii) making a substantive contribution to the preparations for the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS). 

 

The meeting was preceded by intensive advance preparations.  As a result, a new momentum was generated that produced a major qualitative step forward in that the meeting resulted in a solid sense of mission, an ambitious set of priorities and benchmarks with clear deadlines, and a reinvigorated broad-based commitment to the objectives of the Task Force.  The discussion also benefited from advance provision of comprehensive background information on ICT for development in Africa, the substantive theme of the agenda, as well as of draft policy papers on the future strategy of the Task Force and on its governance and organization.

 

The meeting attracted broad and high-level participation.  Apart from the high attendance by members of the Task Force, key ICT leaders, such as the Chairperson of the G-8 Dot Force, the President of ICANN and the Chair of Global Knowledge Partnership, as well as key multilateral institutions, including Digital Gateway Foundation, the MIT Media Lab, OECD, and the World Economic Forum participated actively in the discussions.  The meeting helped solidify close synergy that has been built with these institutions and initiatives, turning the ICT Task Force into a universally recognized forum where the ICT and the development communities interact in their quest to mobilize worldwide support for the goal of poverty eradication through the use of ICT.

 

 

 

 

On Monday 30 September and Tuesday 1 October (morning only), the Task Force had three plenary meetings.  The Secretary-General in his opening statement at the first plenary meeting outlined the broad global context for the future work of the Task Force. He stressed the high potential for investment and growth in the developing world and pointed the need to use ICT in turning this potential into concrete opportunities that will help the poor work their way out of poverty.  The Secretary-General welcomed the decision of the Task Force to place a special emphasis on ICT for development in Africa. He underlined the fact that the task of bridging the Digital Divide requires a major commitment of resources and engagement of all stakeholders, and the Millennium Development Goals provide a rallying point for such broad engagement.  The Secretary-General called on the Task Force to play an important role in building alliances for action and commended the dedication and commitment of the Chair and all the members of the Task Force for the work already done to forge such coalitions.

 

The President of ECOSOC affirmed that the UN ICT Task Force was becoming an important tool for achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and he mentioned its initiatives to sensitize diplomats so they could help promote ICT in their countries, and to create regional networks of professionals in Africa and elsewhere. Further actions should result from this meeting, especially in the areas of human capacity development and national e-strategies.

 

The Administrator of UNDP focused upon ICT in relation to the MDGs and to the global policy framework. He emphasized the importance of ICT in making effective coalitions of allies, and urged further efforts to develop policies that would help counter the current constriction of FDI and would counter forces that prevent spreading the benefits of globalization.

 

In his introductory statement, the Chairman of the Task Force stated that while the first year of the Task Force had laid down the foundations, focusing on establishing collegiality and coordination and achieving short-term goals, the time has come to capitalize on what has been learnt and to focus on deliverables relevant to the MDGs and on contribution to the World Summit for the Information Society (WSIS).  

 

The meeting adopted the Provisional Agenda as contained in document UNICTTF III/2002/01 (see Annex 1).

 

 

 

 

 

      Membersnoted that the Task Force was mandated to submit an annual report to the Secretary-General who would then submit his report to ECOSOC.  An outline of the first annual report was circulated.  It was agreed that concrete suggestions by members on the report should be submitted to the Secretariat by 10 October.  A draft of the report will be sent to members for comments before finalization and submission of the report to the Secretary-General.

 

 

 

 

The meeting reviewed the current status of ICT development in Africa, in particular the ICT program and the e-Africa Commission of NEPAD, the G-8 Africa Action Plan, the launching of the African Diaspora Network, and the recent activities under the African Information Society Initiative (AISI).  The tone of the deliberations was set by a statement by Mr. Desai, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs and by a series of high-level presentations by African ICT leaders and practitioners on different aspects of the Digital Divide in the region and the initiatives underway to address them.  Discussion also benefited from comprehensive background documents that presented an up-to-date factual and statistical profile and trends on ICT-for-development in Africa (see Annex 2 for a list of documents).

 

African business leaders representing the Digital Diaspora for Africa Network for Africa (DDNA), launched by the UN ICT Task Force in July, presented their Plan of Action for mobilizing intellectual, entrepreneurial, technological, and financial resources of African IT entrepreneurs residing in North America and Europe for supporting ICT-for-development efforts in Africa.

 

During the discussion over a working luncheon and then in a plenary format, members welcomed the focus of the meeting on Africa.  New elements, especially the NEPAD initiative were seen as encouraging platforms for future cooperation on ICT in Africa.  It was noted that there was progress on ICT development in Africa and a call was made for more clear and robust plans.  Key messages from the Task Force were readiness expressed by many bilateral and multilateral donors to extend their full support to NEPAD’s ICT strategy and the willingness of the major initiatives operating in Africa to develop synergy and collaboration among them to be most effective.  Members raised concerns regarding the need to more effectively integrate and align existing efforts and to harness synergies and increase cooperation between various actors at the national, regional and international levels.  There was a need for true partnerships in ICT in Africa and the role of the ICT Task Force could be that of a strategic partner.  

 

Policy recommendations and initiatives that emerged as a result of the discussion:

 

-         The Task Force should support innovative ICT programs and R&D in the field of ICT in Africa

-         The role of the Task Force should be to harness synergies and link the vast number of ICT initiatives both within Africa and between Africa and other continents

-         The Task Force should provide a framework for defining collaboration between NEPAD and the African Information Society Initiative

-         The secretariat of the ICT Task Force should distribute the organizational chart of NEPAD and the Task Force should transmit a report of its meeting to President Wade of Senegal in his capacity as Vice-Chairman of the Implementation Committee of NEPAD responsible for Infrastructure and Honorary Chairperson of the e-Commission

-         The ICT Task Force secretariat should gather the background material on ICT activities in Africa that had been produced for the Task Force meeting as well as the discussions during the meeting into a publication.

 

 

 

 

Under this agenda item, Task Force members had a comprehensive discussion on approaches and concrete steps to enhancing coordination, networking, and partnerships.

 

A series of presentations, including by the Chair of the DOT Force, Chair of GKP, representatives of Development Gateway, ICANN, OECD, Commission on Science and Technology for Development, a representative of ITU speaking on WSIS and others illustrated both the level of cooperation already achieved by the Task Force with other major initiatives, and the potential for further development and strengthening of such collaboration.  Members stressed that the MDGs provide a powerful rallying point for bringing together the efforts of diverse stakeholders and aligning them towards a common objective, while the preparatory process for the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) and the Summit itself provide a vehicle for organizing the work of different stakeholders, as well as a benchmark for assessing its results.

 

In this regard, presentation by Professor Jeffrey Sachs, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for the Millennium Campaign, provided valuable information for designing effective modalities for the Task Force contribution to the Campaign.  In the course of the discussion of this item of the Agenda, the Chairman introduced a draft resolution on this matter which read as follows: “Following consultations with Mr. Mark Malloch Brown, Administrator of UNDP and Professor Jeffrey Sachs, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for the Millennium Development Goals, it is proposed to establish within the Working Group 3 on Human Resources and Capacity Building, a “Committee on the use of ICT for the achievement of the MDGs”.  It will draw its members from the WG3 Committees on Education, Health and Content, as well as selected Task Force members.  This committee will also include other members drawn from the academic and other areas, and is to be chaired by Professor Calestous Juma of Harvard University.  UNDP will serve as the liaison between the Task Force and the Millennium Project, and this Committee will serve as part of Task Force 10 of Professor Sachs’s Project.” This resolution was adopted.

 

Members felt that the ICT Task Force should make substantive contributions to the preparatory process of the WSIS. It was noted that the multi-sectoral character of the Task Force equipped it for a unique role as a broker between governments, non-governmental organizations, and UN agencies.  It was agreed that the Working Groups and Regional Nodes should play an active role in preparations for the WSIS and that the Bureau should ensure that the Task Force provides a coherent and coordinated contribution, thus avoiding the danger of scattering of its efforts and resources.

 

The Task Force agreed that the support for the realization of the Millennium Development Goals should be the paramount strategic objective of its work and that the progress in achieving these goals should serve as a basis for assessment of Task Force contribution.  The meeting also decided to concentrate its efforts, in the immediate future, on contribution to the preparation of the WSIS, in particular through a more active involvement in the PrepCom 2 to be held in February 2003.

 

 

 

 

            The following documents were submitted under this item:

-         Strategic plan (UNICTTF III/2002/05)

-         Organization and governance of the Task Force (UNICTTF III/2002/06 and UNICTTF III/2002/07).

 

Members expressed appreciation to Mr. Talal Abu-Ghazaleh and his company, TAGI, for the major effort undertaken, as a pro bono consultant, in preparing, at the request of the Bureau, the draft strategic plan.  The plan, based on views expressed by members in response to a questionnaire, outlines the accomplishments of the Task Force as well as elements of the strategy proposed for fulfilling its mandate in the coming two years.

 

The strategic plan was well received by members and generally acknowledged as an excellent document.  It was decided to request the secretariat to update the draft in light of the discussion, in particular the written comments presented by Ireland that were endorsed by the majority of the Task Force members.  Further written comments should be directed to the Secretariat before the deadline of 15 October.  The Secretariat will present a revised version of the strategic plan by the end of October for final clearance by Task Force members.

The Task Force then considered a paper on governance and organization of the Task Force, also prepared by Mr. Abu-Ghazaleh and introduced by the Chairman. The Task Force approved the recommendations contained in the paper, including strengthening of the secretariat of the Task Force, an increase in the size of the Bureau from 11 to 12 members, and establishment of a position of a Vice-Chairman.

 

 

Introducing the sub-item on budget for 2003, the Chairman noted with appreciation that only $750,000 had been spent in the first year.  An income and expenditure statement for 2002 and a proposed budget for 2002-2003 were circulated to Task Force members.  The short-term goals of the Task Force had been accomplished and yet there was a net saving of some $450,000.  The Chairman commended the secretariat for its prudence and conservation of Task Force resources.  He noted, however, that with the new strategic plan and governance structure approved by the Task Force, there would be a significant increase in the resource requirements in the second year and urged Task Force members to provide contributions for the second year’s budget.  The Task Force approved the proposed budget for 2003 of US$1.6 million.

 

 

 

Mr. Sarbuland Khan presented to the meeting the proposed composition of the new Bureau developed on the basis of consultations with the members of the Task Force. The meeting endorsed the composition of the 2002-2003 Bureau as follows:

 

1.                  Ms. Zoë Baird (Markle Foundation)

2.                  Mr. Talal Abu-Ghazaleh (TAGI)

3.                  Mr. Bruno Lanvin (World Bank)

4.                  Ms. Astrid Dufborg (Sweden)

5.                  Mr. Erkki Liikanen (European Commission)

6.                  Mr. Andrey Korotkov (Russian Federation)

7.                  Mr. Tadao Takahashi (Brazil)

8.                  Ms. Debra Dunn (Hewlett Packard)

9.                  Mr. Rajeeva Ratna Shah (India)

10.              Mr. Nii Quaynor (Ghana)

11.              Mr. Peter Harder (Canada, G8 Coordinator)

12.              Mr. Jose-Maria Figueres Olsen (Task Force Chair)

 

On the Chairman’s proposal, Mr. Abu-Ghazaleh was elected by acclamation to serve as the Vice-Chairman of the Task Force.  Mr. Abu-Ghazaleh resigned as Chair of Working Group 3.  Mr. Brendan Tuohy was appointed as the new Chair of that Working Group.

 

The Task Force endorsed the proposed list of Convenors of the Working Groups as follows:

·                    Working Group 1: Ms. Zoë Baird (Markle Foundation)

·                    Working Group 2: Mr. Denis Gilhooly (UNDP)

·                    Working Group 3: Mr. Brendan Tuohy (Ireland)

·                    Working Group 5: Ms. Astrid Dufborg (SIDA)

·                    Working Group 6: Ms. Debra Dunn (Hewlett Packard)

 

Conveners of the Working Groups were invited to participate in the work of the Bureau.  The work of Working Group 4 (resource mobilization) should be carried out by the Bureau.  The meeting endorsed Mr. Abu-Ghazaleh's proposal that each Working Group elect a Co-Chair from the developing world. 

 

It was agreed that the next (fourth) Task Force meeting will be held in Geneva in February 2003 in conjunction with the WSIS PrepCom 2 and the meeting will focus on the contributions by the Task Force to the WSIS.  Task Force members, its Working Groups and Regional Nodes were invited to provide to the Secretariat their concrete inputs and proposals regarding the WSIS by 30 November.

 

Mr. Abu-Ghazaleh conveyed the invitation of the government of Morocco to host a future Task Force meeting.  The invitation was noted with appreciation.

 

 

 

 

Annexes:

 

Annex 1. Provisional agenda

Annex 2. List of background documents for Agenda item III Review of ICT for            development in Africa

 

Annex 1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Annex 2

 

 

 

 

 

 

1.                                       1.   ICT-for-Development in Africa – by Joseph Okpaku (UNICTTF III/2002/12)

3.      A Final Report – Digital Bridge to Africa: The launch of the Digital Diaspora Network- Africa. (UNICTTF III/2002/14)

4.      Regional ICT Developments: The AISI perspective – A Report by the Economic Commission for Africa (UNICTTF III/2002/15)