C6. Enabling environment

Confidence and security are among the main pillars of the Information Society.

1. Governments should foster a supportive, transparent, pro-competitive and predictable policy, legal and regulatory framework, which provides the appropriate incentives to investment and community development in the Information Society.

2. We ask the Secretary General of the United Nations to set up a working group on Internet governance, in an open and inclusive process that ensures a mechanism for the full and active participation of governments, the private sector and civil society from both developing and developed countries, involving relevant intergovernmental and international organizations and forums, to investigate and make proposals for action, as appropriate, on the governance of Internet by 2005. The group should, inter alia:

   1. develop a working definition of Internet governance;

   2. identify the public policy issues that are relevant to Internet governance;

   3. develop a common understanding of the respective roles and responsibilities of governments, existing intergovernmental and international organisations and other forums as well as the private sector and civil society from both developing and developed countries;

   4. prepare a report on the results of this activity to be presented for consideration and appropriate action for the second phase of WSIS in Tunis in 2005.

3. Governments are invited to:

   1. facilitate the establishment of national and regional Internet Exchange Centres;

   2. manage or supervise, as appropriate, their respective country code top-level domain name (ccTLD);

   3. promote awareness of the Internet.

4. In cooperation with the relevant stakeholders, promote regional root servers and the use of internationalized domain names in order to overcome barriers to access.

5. Governments should continue to update their domestic consumer protection laws to respond to the new requirements of the Information Society.

6. Promote effective participation by developing countries and countries with economies in transition in international ICT forums and create opportunities for exchange of experience.

7. Governments need to formulate national strategies, which include e-government strategies, to make public administration more transparent, efficient and democratic.

8. Develop a framework for the secure storage and archival of documents and other electronic records of information.

9. Governments and stakeholders should actively promote user education and awareness about online privacy and the means of protecting privacy.

10. Invite stakeholders to ensure that practices designed to facilitate electronic commerce also permit consumers to have a choice as to whether or not to use electronic communication.

11. Encourage the ongoing work in the area of effective dispute settlement systems, notably alternative dispute resolution (ADR), which can promote settlement of disputes.

12. Governments, in collaboration with stakeholders, are encouraged to formulate conducive ICT policies that foster entrepreneurship, innovation and investment, and with particular reference to the promotion of participation by women.

13. Recognising the economic potential of ICTs for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs), they should be assisted in increasing their competitiveness by streamlining administrative procedures, facilitating their access to capital and enhancing their capacity to participate in ICT-related projects.

14. Governments should act as model users and early adopters of e-commerce in accordance with their level of socio-economic development.

15. Governments, in cooperation with other stakeholders, should raise awareness of the importance of international interoperability standards for global e-commerce.

16. Governments, in cooperation with other stakeholders, should promote the development and use of open, interoperable, non-discriminatory and demand-driven standards.

17. ITU, pursuant to its treaty capacity, coordinates and allocates frequencies with the goal of facilitating ubiquitous and affordable access.

18. Additional steps should be taken in ITU and other regional organisations to ensure rational, efficient and economical use of, and equitable access to, the radio-frequency spectrum by all countries, based on relevant international agreements.