Geneva — The figure includes delegations attending plenary and parallel events as well as various exhibitors at the ICT 4 all Exhibition.

Statistics from the WSIS press secretariat indicate that by Thursday afternoon, 198 states had been represented at the summit, making this the largest gathering on information and communication technologies (ICTs) ever.

Officials administering the summit newsroom, yesterday said about 37 African states had been represented at the plenary proceeding sessions and parallel events. Media Relations officer Sanjay Acharya said 11 African Head of States attended the opening plenary session of the summit.

About 1 218 media professionals from broadcast, print and online sectors attended the summit.

The ICT 4 all Exhibition, attracted about 331 exhibitors. More than 300 technological innovations in research, e-solutions and development solutions were recorded at the exhibition hall.

The exhibition will be open today to both accredited participants of the WSIS and to general public concerned with ICT Number of participants States and European Community 5782 International Organizations 1414 NGOs and civil society entities 5864 Business sector entities 3981 Number of Entities and bodies States and European Community 176 International Organizations 92 NGOs and civil society entities 606 Business sector entities 226 Source: ITU (International Telecommunications Union)