WSIS Declaration of Principles, Paragraph 44:
Standardization is one of the essential building blocks of the Information Society. There should be particular emphasis on the development and adoption of international standards. The development and use of open, interoperable, non-discriminatory and demand-driven standards that take into account needs of users and consumers is a basic element for the development and greater diffusion of ICTs and more affordable access to them, particularly in developing countries. International standards aim to create an environment where consumers can access services worldwide regardless of underlying technology.
Meetings & Events

DCOS Workshops at UN/IGF 2007

DCOS will host two workshops at this year’s UN/IGF meeting. We will post room locations as soon as they’re announced, but both workshops will be at the Windsor Barra hotel, which is the main conference location.

Open Workshop: “The Intersection of Open ICT Standards, Development, and Public Policy”
Monday, Nov. 12th
15:30 - 17:00
Pardo I

This workshop will present an update on recent global discussions on the intersection of open ICT standards, development needs, and public policy. Last year’s IGF workshop on open standards focused on the inherent tension between the public interest and intellectual property rights holders in ICT standards. This year’s workshop will continue the discussion and focus on tangible policy efforts, such as recent developments in WIPO, continuing discussions in the WTO Technical Barriers to Trade committee, and policy efforts by various countries in Europe, Brazil and elsewhere.

Presenters include:

* Richard Owens, Director of the Copyright E-Commerce Division, World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)
* Laura de Nardis, Visiting Fellow, Information Society Project, Yale Law School
* Georg Greve, Free Software Foundation Europe
* Robin Gross, Executive Director, IP Justice
* Rishab Ghosh, Professor and Senior Researcher at the UNU-MERIT
* Carlos Afonso, Director of Planning, Information Network for the Third Sector (RITS) and Academic Coordinator, ITS Centre for Research, Study and Education (NUPEF)
* Malcolm Harbour, Member of the European Parliament
* Thomas Vinje, Clifford Chance
* Cynthia Waddell, Executive Director, International Center for Disability Resources on the Internet (ICDRI)

Best Practice Workshop: “Open ICT Standards for Greater Citizen Access: Best Practices in Government Policy and Procurement Practices”
Tuesday, Nov. 13th
16:30 - 18:00
Versailles II

The purpose of this panel is for the audience to learn from those with direct experience at federal and local levels of government in creating policy and procurement practices that rely upon ICT standards to help deliver e-government services and public documents to the widest possible audience. Emphasis will be placed on the challenges addressed, the solutions achieved, mistakes made, unintended consequences and lessons learned.

Our moderator will be Rishab Ghosh, a Professor and Senior Researcher at the UNU-MERIT (a joint research and training centre of United Nations University (UNU) and Maastricht University) Economic and Social Research and Training Centre on Innovation and Technology.

Presenters are:

* Reshwan Dewapura, Chief Operating Officer/Program Director, ICT Agency of Sri Lanka
* Jorge Villar Guijarro, Centre of New Initiatives (FUNDECYT), Regional Ministry on Infrastructures and Technological Development, Regional Governement of Extremadura

DCOS Meetings

The second formal meeting of DCOS will be held at UN/IGF 2007 on Tuesday, November 14th from 14:30 - 16:00 in Pardo I.

To RSVP, please send an email to Susy Struble at susy(at)sun(dot)com or Thiru Balasubramaniam at thiru(at)keionline(dot)org

The first formal DCOS meeting was held on July 9th in Geneva, Switzerland.

IGF Meetings

IGF Open Consultation
23 May 2007
Geneva, Switzerland
See http://www.intgovforum.org

Second IGF Meeting
12-15 November 2007
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
See http://www.intgovforum.org