The second phase of the World Sumit on the Information Society (WSIS) took place in Tunis from 16 to 18 November 2005. While heated debates on the future of the Internet were taking place inside of the police-surrounded conference venue, citizens' demonstrations reclaiming the host country's compliance with international human rights agreements were being severly repressed in downtown Tunis.

The Tunis Summit, which was supposed to give an answer to unresolved issues that emerged during the first phase of the WSIS in 2003 in Geneva - in particular the democratization of the Internet governance system and the leverage of funding for the development of information and communication in the South - was closed with mixed emotions.

WSIS outcomes express good intentions but in no way provide concrete mechanisms to address the disparities in access to information and communication in developed and developing countries. The gap between what civil society organizations aimed for the second phase of the Summit (expressed in civil society's declaration at the end of the WSIS first phase) and the real outcomes of the official negotiations is almost as wide as the so-called digital divide between the North and the South.

However, some achievements were reached in the process. In particular, when looking back into the past and considering the context in which this Summit was originally conceived. Some progress can be identified, for example, in terms of civil society participation, in the perspective towards the role of public and private investment in information and communication, in the opening of the debate on Internet governance policies to multiple actors and, most importantly, in the shift of perspective from a market-oriented and technology-centered information society towards a stronger awareness on the role of information and communication infrastructures and capacities for human development. Taking into account the lack of expectations that the WSIS process gathered in its origins and its strong market orientation, the language included in the documents can be considered as a small victory and civil society organizations involved in the process should further their lobbying actions to make sure that this step is just the beginning of a walk in the right direction.

The opportunity for the "people-centred" and "development-oriented" information society envisioned in the Geneva Declaration of Principles might still be at reach after the second phase of the WSIS. For it to be achievable in the near future, nevertheless, WSIS commitments must be put into motion with no delay in the form of concrete actions by the international community.

Choike's in-depth report on the WSIS process, including the Geneva phase

News and reports during the Tunis Summit, in Choike's 'Events' section