COMMUNICATIONS SUMMIT MAY BE DOMINATED BY MULTINATIONALS

The International Telecommunications Union (ITU), an organisation which defines itself as being \'\'specialised in technologies\'\', has received a mandate from the UN to organise a World Summit on the Information Society without co-organisers that have greater competence in social matters, writes Antonio Pasquali, former Assistant Director General of UNESCO for Communications. In addition to the socio-political inexperience of the host there is another shortcoming to this event: the role in the Summit ceded to the multinationals of this sector, writes Pasquali in this article. If the Summit produces any universally beneficial decision it will be due to, for the first time perhaps, the intelligence and tenacity of the NGOs. As a show of democracy, the ITU has invited governments, companies, and civil society to participate, though the latter were ostracised to such a degree during the three preparatory sessions that some are weighing withdrawing loudly from the Summit.