UNESCO High-Level Symposium at WSIS will Send Global Wake-Up Call
05-12-2003 ()
How can the world community move towards building open, pluralistic and equitable knowledge societies? Political and intellectual world leaders will debate this at the High-Level Symposium on “Building Knowledge Societies - from Vision to Action” that UNESCO organizes in Geneva, Switzerland, next week at the World Summit on the Information Society.
UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura will open the Symposium on December 9 (3 p.m.) on the eve of the WSIS opening. United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan is invited to take part. Adama Samassékou, President of the WSIS Preparatory Committee, described the Symposium as “a call on world leaders to ensure that cultural, ethical and intellectual dimensions are a key part in the summit process.”
Leading experts and intellectuals who will take part in the Symposium are: the economist and sociologist Gary Becker, Economics Nobel Prize Laureate; Monkombu S. Swaminathan, Chairman of M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation of India which seeks to harness science and technology for environmentally sustainable and socially equitable development; Lawrence Lessig, of the Stanford Law School, a leading expert on internet legislation; Valdas Adamkus, Former President of Lithuania and UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for the Construction of Knowledge Societies; John Gage, Chief Researcher and Director of the Science Office of Sun Microsystems, which advocates software diversity and open-source software; and Abdul-Muyeed Chowdhury, Executive Director of BRAC, formerly known as Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee.
Two heads of states are scheduled to deliver keynote addresses at the Symposium’s two panels: Joaquim Alberto Chissano, President of Mozambique and Chairman of the African Union; and Vaira Vike-Freiberga, President of Latvia. Government ministers from New Zealand, Thailand and Tunisia are also expected to attend
UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, has designed the symposium to build a holistic vision and a clear developmental perspective of the issues at stake at the World Summit on the Information Society. The Symposium will address four key questions: How to ensure universal access to information? How to achieve equal access to quality education? How to foster freedom of expression in cyberspace? And finally, how to achieve pluralism in knowledge societies?
After the opening ceremony (3 p.m.) on December 9, the first panel will focus on “Shaping Knowledge Societies” (4 p.m.–6 p.m.). A second panel, on December 10 (10 a.m.–12 noon) will discuss “Diversity in Knowledge Societies”. BBC World journalist and broadcaster Stephen Cole will be the moderator of both panels.
The Symposium will take place at the summit venue of the Geneva-Palexpo Exhibition and Conference Center in Room C.
Leading experts and intellectuals who will take part in the Symposium are: the economist and sociologist Gary Becker, Economics Nobel Prize Laureate; Monkombu S. Swaminathan, Chairman of M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation of India which seeks to harness science and technology for environmentally sustainable and socially equitable development; Lawrence Lessig, of the Stanford Law School, a leading expert on internet legislation; Valdas Adamkus, Former President of Lithuania and UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for the Construction of Knowledge Societies; John Gage, Chief Researcher and Director of the Science Office of Sun Microsystems, which advocates software diversity and open-source software; and Abdul-Muyeed Chowdhury, Executive Director of BRAC, formerly known as Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee.
Two heads of states are scheduled to deliver keynote addresses at the Symposium’s two panels: Joaquim Alberto Chissano, President of Mozambique and Chairman of the African Union; and Vaira Vike-Freiberga, President of Latvia. Government ministers from New Zealand, Thailand and Tunisia are also expected to attend
UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, has designed the symposium to build a holistic vision and a clear developmental perspective of the issues at stake at the World Summit on the Information Society. The Symposium will address four key questions: How to ensure universal access to information? How to achieve equal access to quality education? How to foster freedom of expression in cyberspace? And finally, how to achieve pluralism in knowledge societies?
After the opening ceremony (3 p.m.) on December 9, the first panel will focus on “Shaping Knowledge Societies” (4 p.m.–6 p.m.). A second panel, on December 10 (10 a.m.–12 noon) will discuss “Diversity in Knowledge Societies”. BBC World journalist and broadcaster Stephen Cole will be the moderator of both panels.
The Symposium will take place at the summit venue of the Geneva-Palexpo Exhibition and Conference Center in Room C.
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