On the second day of the WSIS Forum 2012, Yuri Hohlov and Tatiana Ershova visited presentations of two important publications.

One of them, Report on the World Summit on the Information Society Stocktaking 2012, is the continuation of the WSIS Stocktaking Report series. The 4th edition of the Report reflects more than 1000 latest WSIS related activities, each emphasizing the efforts undertaken by stakeholders involved in the WSIS process. The report provides an overview of activities related to 11 Action Lines for the period 2010-2012.The publication is aimed at demonstrating the commitment of stakeholders towards building and establishing a global information society providing greater visibility to ICT related activities; sharing the innovative ideas to promote the use of ICTs and identifying the best practices towards building the Information Society in differerent countries. The report is based on the contributions of the stakeholders responding to the ITU Official Call 2010 and 2011 for update and new entries.

There are a number of IIS activities presented in the Report:

• C2.2 ICT for all and Connectivity for Public Access Institutions - Concept of the E-Moscow Target City Programme (2011-13), p. 35
• C3.3 Research and Development - expert advice for developing standardized ICT solutions for regional informatization, p. 42
• C4.3 ICT for professionals and expert - ICT training programmes for employees of government authorities, p. 55-56
• C6.1 Policy, regulatory and legal reforms - proposals for improvement, optimization and unification of the structure and content of indexes in federal statistical monitoring forms in the sphere of ICT, p. 69-70; an analysis of the main trends in ICT development for the period to 2030, p. 70; expert advice for developing standardized ICT solutions for regional informatization in the Russian Federation, p.70-71; an analysis of ICT impact on long-term scientific and technological development of key sectors of the Russian economy for the period to 2030, p. 71
• C7.1 E-Government - advice on the development of e-government services and standards in Tver region (2007), p. 77; forecast indicators for information society development up to 2015, p. 77
• C11 International and regional cooperation - the 5th Forum of the Arts and Science Intelligentsia of the CIS Member States (14-15 October 2010), and a panel discussion on Information Society for All: Humanitarian Aspects of Modernization (15 October 2010), p. 126

It is important to know that the WSIS Stocktaking Database has been maintained since 2004 by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) as a publicly accessible system providing information on ICTs related activities all over the world. The purpose of the database is to provide a register of activities carried out by governments, international organizations, the business sector, civil society and other entities, in order to highlight progress in achieving the WSIS targets outlined in the WSIS outcomes documents. The number of entries in the database is approaching 6000 reecting innovative activities including projects, programmes, WSIS Thematic Meetings, conferences, publications, training initiatives, guidelines and tool-kits. It is open for all to provide relevant information.

Another publication was announced by the Web Foundation: Accelerating Development Using the Web: Empowering Poor and Marginalized Populations. Generously supported by the Rockefeller Foundation and in partnership with the United Nations Development Program, the book is a compendium of articles by recognized experts describing the real and potential effects of the World Wide Web in all major aspects of economic and social development. It provides overviews of the major macro issues – access, capacity, and standards, among others – while also detailing insights into specific business and public policy domains.

The book unites themes of technological innovation, international development, economic growth, gender equality, linguistic and cultural diversity and community action, with special attention paid to the circumstances surrounding the poor and vulnerable members of the Global Information Society. Its findings will be of particular value to policy makers, NGO staff members, foundations, private donors, and regional experts and will also enrich the discourse among academics and members of civil society who are interested in progress in the least developed countries in the world.

This research fills a gap in the current store of knowledge by taking a broad holistic approach, offering detailed commentary from fourteen experts who are deeply engaged in the field of ICTs for development, many with extensive experience in developing countries, and each able to emphasize the key questions, challenges, and successes unique to their field. While these authors speak of the fields with which they are most familiar, much of the commentary is structured in a way that enables the reader to draw parallels across the fields and identify where there are similarities and divergences in the deployment of ICTs for development.

The book copy that goes to IIS library has the inscription of its editor George Sadowsky and one of the authors Najeeb Al-Shorbaji.

The e-copy of the book is available at http://public.webfoundation.org/publications/accelerating-development/Accelerating%20Development%20Using%20the%20Web.pdf.