Lagos — PLANS are at advanced stage to host the first Preparatory Committee (PrepCom) meeting for the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) slated for November 2005 in Tunisia.

The meeting will be taking place at Hammamet, Tunisia, from June 24 and 25, 2004.

According to the Regional Adviser, Development Information Services Division (DISD) at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) based in Ethiopia, Thierry H. Amoussougbo, more information regarding this meeting including dates for registration of participants will be available soon.

However, Amoussougbo said deadline for accreditation/registration processes have been fixed for May 12, advising Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), civil society and private-sector entities who wish to participate in the preparatory meeting of June, who are yet to be accredited for the PrepComs for the Geneva phase, to quickly submit accreditation request form to the secretariat of WSIS before the deadline.

Requests submitted after the deadline would not be considered except for the next WSIS Preparatory meeting.

Dates for registration of members of accredited organizations and entities, the adviser said, will be provided as soon as possible, while deadline for fellowship applications also is May 12.

"A certain number of fellowships, are available for government representatives from the Least Developed Countries (LDCs). In principle, one fellowship per LDC for the Preparatory meeting at Hammamet, Tunisia" the Amoussougbo said.

It would be recalled that an informal preparatory meeting was held in Tunis on March 2 and 3, 2004, in which the Tunisian government, in coordination with ITU, invited the members of the new intergovernmental PrepCom bureau, the civil society bureau, High-Level Summit Organizing Committee (HLSOC) and Coordination Committee of Business Interlocutors (CCBI), to attend an informal preparatory meeting in Tunis for the purpose of launching discussions on the structure and mechanisms for the second phase of WSIS.

Some 100 people participated in the informal discussions on the preparatory process for the Tunis phase.

In the course of the discussions, Tunisia stressed the importance of continuity and cohesion between the two phases of the summit, as well as the need to be guided by the principle of "digital solidarity" with the objective of limiting the digital divide between the countries of the North and those of the South and of setting up an Action Plan extending, beyond the Tunis phase in 2005 upto the year 2015.

Tunisia proposed that the second phase of WSIS should be placed under the theme "Partnership for Sustainable Development based on Solidarity".

Also, on March 19, the governments participating in WSIS have agreed on the composition of the new bureau of the Preparatory Committee for the Tunis phase, raising the number of countries per region in the bureau to six.

The new composition of the PrepCom bureau for the Tunis phase, as well as its chairmanship, will be formally approved during the forthcoming PrepCom meeting in June. Just as WSIS fund-raising campaign had been launched since April 5 to ensure the main summit is a success.

Meanwhile, a three-day workshop gathering "Access Network Stars" in Geneva, between June 2 through 4 this year, is to be held to debate on the future of access technology.

The gathering according to a press statement from the organizer, International Telecommunication Union (ITU), will be at the International Conference Centre (CICG) of Geneva.

The meeting is bringing together key players in access network technology for a workshop that will push forward development in this important area.

Access network technologies provide a gateway to the next generation of communication services and the 'All Star Access Network' workshop will focus on the evolution of the wireless, optical, and copper-based technologies, as well as regulatory issues and standardization efforts.

Organized by ITU-T Study Group 15, the leader in standardizing x-Digital Subscriber Line (xDSL) and optical access technologies, the workshop includes speakers such as BT Group Technology Officer, Mick Reeve, ETRI President Chu Hwan Yim, and Hans-Ulrich Schön, Vice President, Siemens AG, Carrier Products.

Speakers will analyze whether standardization has been effective in fulfilling market needs and identify potential new standardization topics and areas of co-operation.