The WSIS recommendations include proposals to launch strategies at national and regional levels, focusing on a number of areas, including universal access to information, affordable information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure and services, and an enabling environment based on clear policies, laws and regulations, as expressed in the Declaration of Principles and the Plan of Action.

To activate the execution of WSIS recommendation, the United Nation Department of Economic and Social Affairs in collaboration with the Regional Commissions, UNDP and UNCTAD are committed for the execution of the project “Capacity-Building for ICT policy-making”. The main goal of the project is to provide technical assistance and advisory services to decision makers from United Nations Member States, in particular developing countries and countries with economy in transition, in order to develop comprehensive and sustainable ICT-for-development policies and effectively integrate them into overall national development programmes and strategies.

This workshop aims at contributing to streamlining the process of building an integrated knowledge society in accordance with the goals of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS). It will provide decision makers in the region with a framework and a guide for the design and development of national strategies aimed at the realization and advancement of the information society and knowledge-based economies, the implementation of such strategies and the evaluation of their impact.