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Part IV:
Neoliberal Context
Missing from Official & Civil Society Documents
The information society
has been focused on “information” for many decades, with the
emergence of
a global communication information system and networks that
are intertwined with neoliberal
globalization for market expansion.
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Yet neither the official UN
documents or the Civil Society Declaration at the United Nations
World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), December 8-12, 2003, include a
characterization of the context in which the ITU convened other
stakeholders to hammer out a Declaration and Plan of Action that would
contain a multi-stakeholder vision and perspectives for the future of
this kind of society.
Specifically, what is
missing from all documents - civil society and official - are mechanisms
for
implementation of their proposals and resolutions. Perhaps in the
case of civil society it had to do with the fact that the aim of the
document was to mainstream it into the official process, but the
fact remains that the challenges ahead for civil society are
so huge between Geneva and Tunisia, and between neo-liberalism and
a "possible new world" that social movements have to better organize
their own inclusive process. |
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The issue of mechanisms is by no means insignificant. They represent concrete ways in which
commitments and purposes become a reality; in which language becomes
concrete;
the place where words and actions meet; where commitment takes the form
of organized action.
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Headline from La Nación daily
newspaper in
Costa Rica says, "Chicken creates friction in
TLC (free trade talks)" |
Also missing from both the
official and civil society documents is an analysis
of the current situation of the neo-liberal development paradigm in
which ICTs
have emerged. And it is this context that underlies and
shapes the gender divide, the north-south gap,
the poverty or income
gap, and all the other digital divides discussed in the context of ICT
development today. |
Business as usual
| Such neoliberal
efforts are evident in the combination of the following results of WSIS: lack of
financial commitment by governments of their own plan of action on one
hand, and on the other, partnership agreements announced at the close of
the Summit.
These include: Cisco and ITU signed a Memorandum of
Understanding to open 20 more Internet Training Centres in developing
countries. |
“In many cases WSIS looked more like a shopping mall in that governments forgot commitments to civil society and were more attached to communications
corporations.” |
Likewise, several transnational corporations (TNCs) announced
plans to invest in a variety of partnership projects in several
countries, including Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft, Bhutan Telecom and
Post, Worldspace and Encore India.
The Overseas Private Investment
Corporation (OPIC), announced at WSIS that it would establish a
preliminary $400 million support facility to encourage U.S. investment
in the telecommunications and
information technology (IT) sectors of emerging markets globally. In the form of loans,
the investment is the largest announced.
At the US delegation
press conference on the outcome of WSIS, acting Assistant
Secretary of
Commerce Michael D. Gallagher stated, "We are pleased
that commercial and economic interests
from around the world will
continue to have a center seat at the table in the development of the
Internet.
That model has served the United States and the world digital
economy very well. The progress at this
WSIS Conference will continue
the worldwide dialogue on how to boost the growth of the Internet and
extend the global benefits that come from open markets and commerce."
Moreover, businesses
insisted at the Summit upon certain neoliberal conditions in order to
sign
agreements for such projects, as stated by Richard McCormick, who
spoke at the Final Plenary on
behalf of the Coordinating Committee of
Business Interlocutors (CCBI). “You can’t just snap your
fingers and
have an information society. It requires investment, creativity and
innovation – all of the
things that business does best. And business
stands ready to make those investments. To do so, we
need to work with
governments to create the conditions necessary for investment. Among
those
conditions are: intellectual property rights protection; stable
and predictable legal systems; trade
liberalization; technology
neutrality; and a regulatory framework which promotes competition and
fosters entrepreneurship.
However, as Gustavo Gindre of the Brazilean NGO Institute of Studies and Projects on Communication
and Culture (INDECS), said, “In many cases WSIS looked more like a shopping mall in that
governments forgot commitments to civil society and were more attached to communications
corporations.” And buying and selling is what malls are all about.
Challenges ahead
The second phase of
the WSIS process is scheduled to be held in Tunisia in 2005, which has
generated outrage and massive criticism from civil society and human
rights groups due to its repressive regime, which has been accused of
numerous human rights violations including jailing of journalists and
Internet dissidents. Likewise, the President of Tunisia recently named
General Habib Ammar as President of the preparatory committee of the
Tunisian Summit, who is a military man and former Interior Minister, and
was denounced by the World Organization Against Torture for his
activities.
The Human Rights Caucus
of the WSIS Civil Society Group has requested, among other things that
journalists and others currently being held for their opinions in
Tunisia be freed, and that a different person be appointed to head the
organizing committee; and also that there be a commitment to allow all
civil society representatives from Tunisia and abroad to participate
freely in the work of the Summit.
Kofi Annan, in his
address at the opening ceremony of the WSIS said, “Even as we talk about
the power of technology, let us remember who is in charge. While
technology shapes the future, it is people who shape technology, and
decide what it can and should be used for. So let us embrace these new
technologies. But let us recognize that we are embarked on an endeavor
that transcends new technology. Building an open, empowering
information society is a social, economic and ultimately political
challenge.”
# # #
(*e-quality
is a term originated by UNIFEM)
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