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Dear Mawaki<br>
<br>
I would like to cite from two sources:<br>
<br>
A. WSIS Declaration of Principles -
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.itu.int/wsis/docs/geneva/official/dop.html">http://www.itu.int/wsis/docs/geneva/official/dop.html</a> (the very
first two clauses)<br>
<br>
1. We, the representatives of the peoples of the world*, *assembled
in Geneva from 10-12 December 2003 for the first phase of the World
Summit on the Information Society,* declare our common desire and
commitment to build a people-centred, inclusive and
development-oriented Information Society, where everyone can create,
access, utilize and share information and knowledge, enabling
individuals, communities and peoples to achieve their full potential
in promoting their sustainable development and improving their
quality of life, premised on the purposes and principles of the
Charter of the United Nations and respecting fully and upholding the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights.<br>
2. Our challenge* is to harness the potential of information and
communication technology to promote the development goals of the
Millennium Declaration, namely the eradication of extreme poverty
and hunger; achievement of universal primary education; promotion of
gender equality and empowerment of women; reduction of child
mortality; improvement of maternal health; to combat HIV/AIDS,
malaria and other diseases; ensuring environmental sustainability;
and development of global partnerships for development for the
attainment of a more peaceful, just and prosperous world. We also
reiterate our commitment to the achievement of sustainable
development and agreed development goals, as contained in the
Johannesburg Declaration and Plan of Implementation and the
Monterrey Consensus, and other outcomes of relevant United Nations
Summits.<br>
<br>
I now will cite from the WEF site -
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.weforum.org/our-members">http://www.weforum.org/our-members</a><br>
<br>
Begin<br>
Our Members<br>
The World Economic Forum is a membership organization. Our Members
comprise 1,000 of the world’s top corporations, global enterprises
usually with more than US$ 5 billion in turnover. These enterprises
rank among the top companies within their industry and play a
leading role in shaping the future of their industry and region.
Some of our Member companies join the Forum’s Strategic and Industry
Partnership communities, which are designed to deepen their
engagement with the Forum’s events, project and initiatives. The
Forum’s Members are at the heart of all our activities.<br>
End<br>
<br>
It is clear that WEF is a primarily group of big businesses. We have
seen the increasing danger to the ideals of the WSIS Declaration of
Principles from the activities of transnational corporations. Apart
from using/monetising our data for their commercial gains in
authorised/unauthorised/illegitimate/illegal ways, their unregulated
work also is structuring our participation in the information
society in many unhealthy ways. Through Snowden we also understand
how many of them are in cahoots with the 5 eyes (USG+) on
extraordinary programme of global surveillance, which helps them in
their goals of political-economic domination / colonisation <br>
<br>
Participating in forums anchored in such a space will only
legitimise their power. I am clear that IGC should not participate
in the NMI.<br>
<br>
thanks and regards<br>
Guru<br>
<br>
Gurumurthy Kasinathan<br>
Director, IT for Change<br>
In Special Consultative Status with the United Nations ECOSOC<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="http://www.ITforChange.Net">www.ITforChange.Net</a>| Cell:91 9845437730 | Tel:91 80 26654134,
26536890<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://karnatakaeducation.org.in/KOER/en/index.php/Subject_Teacher_Forum">http://karnatakaeducation.org.in/KOER/en/index.php/Subject_Teacher_Forum</a><br>
<br>
On Tuesday 18 November 2014 05:02 PM, Mawaki Chango wrote:<br>
<span style="white-space: pre;">> Dear All,<br>
> <br>
> You must have heard a good deal about this by now, so I won't
repeat<br>
> the background details. In the middle of the night last
night, before<br>
> hitting the bed after a long and drawn out day playing
catch-up with<br>
> deadlines, I saw that Ian (chair of CSCG) forwarded the NMI<br>
> Transitional Committee's reply the CSCG enquiry. Basically,
they are<br>
> willing to let the CSCG vet CS candidates to be part of the
NMI<br>
> Coordination Council.<br>
> <br>
> Now the question before us is to get a feel of the membership
of CSCG<br>
> member entities as to whether to get involved in the NMI
process or<br>
> not. I believe this is the last step in the consultations
we've been<br>
> having (with NMI initiators, among ourselves at the CSCG and
with the<br>
> membership of our respective organizations.) After this we
should be<br>
> able to give a definite answer, formulate a definite position
about<br>
> our participation in the NMI process.<br>
> <br>
> So what do you think? Please get right to the point and be
brief.<br>
> State your preference for IGC Involvement or No involvement
and, if<br>
> you care to provide us with such, I would be grateful to you
if you<br>
> could keep your supporting argument in one short paragraph
(as we<br>
> just want to take the "temperature of the room" if you see
what I<br>
> mean.)<br>
> <br>
> Thank you for your understanding. Best regards.<br>
> <br>
> Mawaki<br>
> <br>
> <br>
> </span><br>
<br>
<br>
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