(CARICOM Secretariat, Georgetown, Guyana) The Preparatory Committee (PrepCom-2) Meeting for Phase 2 of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) got underway in Geneva, Switzerland on Thursday, 17 February, with a special focus on sourcing financing and the utilisation of ICTs for the economic and social development.

The issue of financing an information society topped discussions on the first day of the weeklong meeting, where participants felt that the forum should be used as a mechanism for advancing the development of ICTs. To this end, they expressed hope that upcoming high-level meetings regarding ICTs will be used to seek assistance for developing countries to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) as set out by the United Nations (UN) and also promote the elimination of hunger and poverty.

With regard to financing, the WSIS (PrepCom-2) has affirmed that funds acquired for the development of ICTs should be distributed equitably among countries, and has highlighted the need for developing countries to derive tangible benefits from multi-lateral trade arrangements and partnerships. There was also much debate on financing mechanisms for the WSIS, which was presented by the Task Force on Financing Mechanisms (TFFM). The Task Force called for increased international co-operation and assistance that is constant and secure. As a tangible gesture, the Government of Trinidad and Tobago has stepped up to the plate by donating US$5000 towards the Digital Solidarity Fund.

The PrepCom-2 Meeting was preceded by a meeting of the Working Group on Internet Governance (WGIG), which examined a wide range of issues pertaining to Internet Governance and sought to generate comments form the first draft of the report from the WGIG. Important issues raised at that meeting included the need for a definition of Internet Governance, Authentication, Next Generation Networks (NGN), Governance Mechanisms (public policy/Internet policy), Spam, Cyber Security, Preserving the 'openness' of the Internet and the Freedom of Information versus the Freedom of Expression.

The meeting of the (WGIG) agreed that Internet Governance must be inclusive and democratic, and that the mandate of the WGIG needed to be re- examined and kept in context, as some of the foregoing issues may already be the mandate of existing working groups and committees.

The Region is being represented at the Meeting by a number of Member States and the CARICOM Secretariat, which will co-ordinate the regional participation and involvement in Phase 2 of WSIS scheduled for Tunis in November 2005.