Report (Part 1): Third World Summit on the Internet and Multimedia

Opening Ceremony: Defining the Divide, Pushing for Inclusion

Time: 8 October 2002, 14:20 - 15:30 Location: A 400 Chair: Roland Grunder (President of the Organizing Committee of the Summit) Presenters/ Participants: Herve Fischer (FIAM President, Canada)
Hubert Diedrichs (Vice-President of the Commune of Montreux)
Jacqueline Maurer-Mayor, Marc Furrer (Official representative for the Swiss Confederation)
Ambassador Walter Fust (Director-General, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation)
Arnold Schneider (President of the Foundation Access for All)
Nasser Boumenna (Director of the International Federation of Multimedia Associations, IFMA) Reporter: Simone Theiss, Janet Hill (ICVolunteers) Languages: English/French  Key words: Digital inclusion, digital divide, access for all, knowledge economy, disabilities and access to ICTs

The objective of this Summit is to focus on how the global knowledge of technology can be transferred to all countries in the world, as currently only 6% of the world population have access to the Internet-the so-called information highway of the world. This can be accomplished through networking, information exchange, shared technology evolution and sustainable development of industrialized countries.

Defining the Divide, Pushing for Inclusion

Mr. Roland Grunder, President of the Organizing Committee of the Summit and of Swissmedia, welcomed all participants to the Third World Summit on the Internet and Multimedia. He mentioned the difficulties in organizing the event in light of the weak economy that could not have been predicted back in 1999, when Swissmedia agreed to organize this event. The aim of the Summit is to help transfer the knowledge and technology to all.