This week I visited UNESCO's Communication and Information homepage , only to discover that the 17 May was World Information Society Day - a fact which had completely passed the Rhodes new media class by. As young people studying new media and exploring this notion of the ‘Information Society’, it seemed embarrassing we didn’t even know the day existed. As far as I’m concerned this day actually went unnoticed in South Africa as a whole, a rather disturbing realisation considering the focus of WISD is supposedly those on the furthest end of the digital divide.
That said, what is WISD all about; does it have any real significance? The UNESCO site says the day is celebrated each year to remind the world of the “vision of the World Summit on the Information Society to build ‘a people-centred, inclusive and development-oriented information society’ based on fundamental human rights”.
That’s fantastic… but how is this day reminding the world of this vision if we aren’t aware of the day and what it means? This worries me, considering the vision they speak of starts seeming more like hot air than actual policy-making and active development and change programmes.
Judging from the links in and around UNESCO’s information about WISD, I get the impression it was more resolutions and re-affirming of previous development plans in the global ICT realm than real action. For instance, the message from UN Secretary-General, Mr Ban Ki-moon, urged “policy-makers and industry leaders to put their minds together, and to work cooperatively with children and youth to produce suitable technologies, applications and services to facilitate access to information and communications technologies”.
He noted that young people are the driving force behind innovation in the development and use of new technologies, but the digital chasm leaves many unable to capitalise fully on the benefits of globalization. He emphasised that “young people everywhere must have equal opportunities to rise out of poverty and illiteracy and to realize their full potential”.
I agree of course, but the question remains: what is really being done on a practical level? How are organisations like UNESCO, which should hold responsibility for helping to facilitate ICT development globally, actually aiding this development? I wonder how many youth in Africa were aware of this grand notion of a WISD? How many will be empowered to the extent that they can really be the “driving force behind innovation in the development and use of new technologies”? I don’t mean to be cynical, and I recognise the need for strategy and goal-making, but if this has no real impact then we’ve completely missed the point. I hope WISD resolves to be the global promise, with a global reach and real affects next year.
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