Dear all,<br><br>As the Athens Forum approaches, I am looking forward to seeing you all again and continuing our debates and common endeavours. <br><br>But before it takes place, I want to announce publicly on the list that things have evolved on my side recently and that I have just been appointed by the French government as its "Special Envoy for the Information Society", (in French : Délégué Spécial pour la Société de l'Information)
with the responsibility to cover the various aspects of the
post-WSIS and related processes.
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<div>I have decided to accept this offer to return to formal diplomatic
service with the conviction that I can bring my past experiences in the
business and civil society sectors to this new role and thus contribute
further to the development of innovative multi-stakeholder processes,
including those decided in Tunis. <br><br>The present period is different from the summit years where the challenge was to get civil society accepted. Now, the multi-stakeholder principle is accepted - at least in theory - by all governements. I can therefore pursue the same vision in this new role as before : the challenge is to give life to multi-stakeholderism and make it work concretely for the benefit of the international community.
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<div>I will participate in this new capacity in the upcoming Internet
Governance Forum in Athens and am looking
forward to seeing many of you there again and continue our interactions, including in the workshops.<br><br>Best<br><br>Bertrand<br> </div><br>