European meeting on “Ethical dimensions of the information society”

The “Ethical dimensions of the information society” will be at the core of the European regional meeting organized by UNESCO, the French National Commission for UNESCO and the Council of Europe on 13 and 14 September in Strasbourg, France (9:30a.m. Room 9, 2nd floor, Palais de l’Europe).

The meeting will bring together researchers and representatives from the private sector, non governmental organizations (NGOs), governments, international organizations, civil society, and focus on issues considered to be priorities for the European region as well as North America, Turkey and Israel.
Its purpose is to identify ethical and human rights issues connected with information and communication technologies, to reflect on the elaboration of a related code of ethics and make operational recommendations to UNESCO. It also seeks to raise stakeholders' awareness of these issues and to promote the development of co-operation and of regional and inter-regional networks.
Four thematic round tables will be structured around three main issues: (i) opportunities offered by Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs); (ii) side-effects, negative impacts and possible conflicts of interest, and (iii) Internet governance involving all stakeholders and based on shared responsibilities. The meeting will also consider the issue of ICTs and security.
The meeting will continue the work of the Council of Europe and the French Commission for UNESCO on topics such as freedom of expression and information and intellectual property rights, the right to private life and to secrecy of correspondence online, the cultural and linguistic diversity of Internet content, and media education.
It is the third of a cycle of regional conferences organized by UNESCO on the ethical dimensions of the information society. The first two took place in Santo Domingo, 6-9 December, 2006, and in Pretoria, 5-7 February, 2007 and focused on their respective regions. These meetings are a follow up to the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) and the Internet Governance Forum.

• Author(s):Media advisory l’UNESCO N°56 -2007
• Source:UNESCOPRESS
• 10-09-2007