ICC/BASIS input on the ECOSOC WSIS follow-up and implementation discussions
Mr Chairman, Thanks to you and to the Economic and Social Council for this opportunity to speak on behalf of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and its new initiative BASIS (Business Action to Support the Information Society).
My name is Art Reilly (Cisco Systems). I had the honor of serving as the
vice chair of the UN ICT Task Force and am now a member of the Strategy
Council of the Global Alliance for ICT and Development. Business
welcomes the Global Alliance and looks for it to continue to provide a
multistakeholder forum on ICT and development linking into both the
ECOSOC and the Commission on Science, Technology and Development (CSTD).
Business
is committed to partnering with others to bring the benefits of the
Information Society to people around the world and achieving the
Millennium Declaration Goals.
The business community has appreciated
the opportunity to submit comments to the ECOSOC discussions on the WSIS
Follow-up and implementation. Special thanks are offered to Ambassador
Karklins for his outreach. We especially request that these discussions
consider the mandates of the Global Alliance for ICT and Development and
its relationship to ECOSOC and the CSTD.
In the future, business
would request that any consultative process on changing CSTD mandate,
format and agenda follow a process similar to that used in establishing
the Global Alliance that provides a longer consultative process to
gather inputs. I have had a chance to gather information on the progress
being made in your discussions and will report back to my business
colleagues.
We look forward to contributing business expertise to the
CSTD including through the Global Alliance using the procedures that
you approve at this meeting.
Thank you, Mr Chairman.
