One of them is the launch of Event 2003: Online Forum on the World Summit for Information Society. This is being conducted by an Internet forum for sustainable development called Mandate the Future. All enthusiasts all over the world are welcome to be part of this forum. To join, please visit http://www.ctrlaltesc.org/wsis/wsis.shtml.
This forum is devoted to the discussion of issues pertaining to the WSIS, particularly the Geneva 2003 phase, and the information society in general. Event 2003 will be continuous right up to the WSIS in Geneva and beyond, and is designed to:
- Centralise experience: The Event 2003 will bring all the major stakeholders in the WSIS process into one forum to discuss, debate and pool together their knowledge and experiences gained over the course of the Summit campaign so far. This would include local, national, regional and global level meetings, PrepComs and other advocacy and awareness-raising efforts. The Event 2003 will be a continuous and evolving process that would run up to the WSIS summit in December and beyond.
- Finding Alternatives: The Event 2003 will delve in to the Information Society from all major viewpoints. This would include, among others, the official WSIS standpoint as well as Civil Society and Youth concerns. Participants can modify and suggest alternatives to these existing viewpoints. These inputs will be channelled towards PrepCom-3, and eventually, to the Summit itself.
- Q&A: Participants will also have the opportunity to ask questions from major players in the WSIS process. These would comprise the Event 2003 guest panellists. The Panel is yet to be finalised, but the provision to ask questions online is already sin place. Please visit their website to see the topics of discussion where participants can post questions under the most relevant theme. The answers to selected questions will be published in June 2003.
- Community Building: The Event 2003 would enable the formation of a healthy online community of like-minded enthusiasts to supplement the activities of already existing physical communities. This also includes an opportunity for people actively working in the field toward the Information Society to publicise and discuss their work, share methodologies and success stories, and benefit from each other's experience. People are encouraged to share their news.
Other dates to check are the following:
- The Intersessional meeting will now be held from 15-18 July 2003 in Paris, France. It was previously pegged for 21-25 July.
- The Pan-Arab Regional Conference is now set to be held from 16-18 June 2003 at Cairo, Egypt.
Also, the Feminist Media Studies journal has issued a call for short papers that address aspects of gender and ICTs. Called "Gender and the Information Society," this is also in preparation for WSIS. Of particular interest are issues such as the global flow of information, the impact of IT on the first world- third world configuration, the information gap and its effects on practices of democratic governance and civil society formations, among others.
The deadline of submission is on 23 May 2003. For more information on this announcement, please visit their website at: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/routledge/14680777.html or e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
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Isis Resource Center holds one of the largest feminist collections of materials in the Global South. With 40 years of publication experience, Isis holds a vast collection.