From November 16-18, 2005 I attended the second meeting of the World Summit on the Information Society in Tunis, Tunisia. This United Nations sponsored meeting was a response to the perceived need for international agreements on issues relating to the emerging global ‘information society.’ The events included plenary sessions with country representatives, the private sector, and civil society, in addition to a multitude of panels covering everything from the specific experiences of individual countries with information technologies to debates on communications technology access for children and people with disabilities. In addition there was a large expo with representatives from major technology and communications companies, national governments, and non-governmental organizations. Overall more than 20,000 people attended the summit.

A summary report of the events I attended and the history of the WSIS process can be accessed at: http://tier.cs.berkeley.edu/wiki/media/7/77/WSIS-Report-for-TIER.pdf

Jennifer Bussell