News
- Portugal elected Vice-Chair of the OECD Working Party on Information Economy
On the 3th December 2010, at the OECD in Paris, Portugal was elected as one of the Vice-Chairs of the WPIE - Working Party on Information Economy, beginning on the 1st January 2011, through the election of the Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) Head of International Affairs, Ana Cristina Neves, for Vice Chair of WPIE. The WPIE is one of four specialized Working Parties within the OECD Committee ICCP – Information, Computer and Communications Policy, of which the President of UMIC, Luis Magalhães, is Vice-Chair since the beginning of 2009.
- 1st Brazil-Portugal International Cooperation in Nanotechnology Workshop
On 15-16 July 2010, the 1st Brazil-Portugal International Cooperation in Nanotechnology Workshop was held at the CBPF – Brazilian Center for Physics Research of the Ministry of Science and Technology, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, within the Protocol between the Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education of the Portuguese Republic and the Ministry of Science and Technology of the Federative Republic of Brazil in Nanotechnology (text in Portuguese). This protocol was signed by Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education of Portugal, José Mariano Gago, and the Minister of Science and Technology of Brazil, Sergio Rezende, in a ceremony held at the Grémio Literário, Lisbon, on 10th October 2009, when they signed four cooperation agreements in areas of science, technology, innovation and information society (see Signing of Protocols on Cooperation in Science, Technology and Information Society between Portugal and Brazil).
- Forum for the Information Society - Internet Governance
On July 8, 2010, from 9:00 to 17:30, the Forum on the Information Society – Internet Governance took place at ISCTE-IUL, Edifício II, Auditório B203, Av. das Forças Armadas, Lisboa, (see the Forum program with links to presentations). This Forum is open to all interested participants.
The purpose of this forum, organized back-to-back with the public session of the World Internet Project (July 7, also at ISCTE-IUL, Edifício II, Auditório B203) by the Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) in collaboration with the Foundation for National Scientific Computing (FCCN) and the Lisbon Internet and Networks Institute (LINI), was to discuss some of the main aspects of Internet Governance.
- 38th Meeting of the ICANN - Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers
The 38th meeting of the ICANN – Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers was held on 20-25 June 2010 in Brussels, Belgium. As usual, the 37th meeting of the GAC – ICANN Governmental Advisory Committee was held concurrently. The GAC comprises representatives from governments of countries and public authorities from regional economies and intergovernmental organisations, and covers public policy matters related to the ICANN's activities. The GAC currently has 102 members (see list of GAC members), who jointly encompass more than 90% of Internet users geographically, and 15 observers (see list of GAC observers). 60 members and 4 observers took part in the meeting.
The main items on the agenda at the 37th GAC meeting were: proposal for a new GAC Secretariat; aspects related to enforcement of the law on abusive DNS use; adoption of generic names for top level domains (gTLDs) and questions regarding geographical place names, categories, and morality and public order in creating new gTLDs; DNS system security and stability; aspects regarding the execution of the Affirmation of Commitments (AoC) signed by ICANN and the US Department of Commerce (DoC); GAC operational principles; election of the Interim GAC President following the resignation of the President, Janis Karklins (see GAC Communiqué in Brussels).
- Meeting of the High Level Group on Internet Governance (June 2010)
The High Level Group on Internet Governance (HLIG), an informal group of experts who advise the European Commission, met at the headquarters of the European Commission (the Berlaymont building) in Brussels over a working dinner on 24 June 2010.
The main subjects for consideration at the meeting were: the evaluation and accountability to the Internet community process established by the ICANN – Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers by the Affirmation of Commitments (AOC) signed in September 2009 by the ICANN and the US Department of Commerce; questions related to the IGF – Internet Governance Forum that were examined at the 13th Session of the UN's Commission on Science and Technology for Development, on 17-21 May 2010, and preparation of the meeting of the UN’s ECOSOC - Economic and Social Council; and the possibility of organising a ministerial-level meeting of the ICANN’s GAC – Governmental Advisory Committee.
As usual, Portugal was represented at the meeting by The Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) , through its President, Luis Magalhães, and the Head of International Relations, Ana Cristina Neves.
- Portugal Elected at OECD to Chair Group on Indicators for the Information Society
The President of The Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC), Luis Magalhães, was elected yesterday, 17.06.2010, chair of the WPIIS – Working Party on Indicators for the Information Society at the OECD in Paris. His mandate will commence on 1 January 2011.The WPIIS is one of four specialist groups set up under the committee dedicated to Information Society and Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) policies, the Committee for Information, Computer and Communications Policy (ICCP), of which the President of UMIC, Luis Magalhães, has been Vice-Chair since the beginning of 2009.
- 13th Session of the UN's Commission on Science and Technology for Development
The 13th meeting of the UN’s CSTD – Commission on Science and Technology for Development took place from 17 to 21 May 2010 at the Palace of the Nations of the UNO – United Nations Organisation, in Geneva.
The CSTD examined the following topics at its 13th meeting:
- Evaluation of progress in achieving and following up on the results of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) at the regional and international level, which include the Internet Governance Forum (IGF);
- Improvements and innovations in funding mechanisms, chiefly as regards Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) for development;
- New and Emerging technologies, in particular renewable energy for development;
- Gender, science and technology, as a contribution to achieving internationally-agreed goals on gender equality and women’s involvement;
- Evaluation reports on Ghana and Lesotho’s Science, Technology and Innovation policies.
- European Commission Communication "A Digital Agenda for Europe"
The European Commission published its Communication “A Digital Agenda for Europe” on 19.05.2010. It covers one of the emblematic initiatives of the European EU2020 strategy which is intended to continue European policies for the Information Society, succeeding the i2010 – A European Information Society for Growth and Employment initiative. (2005-2010).
The general goal of the Digital Agenda is to extract sustainable economic and social benefits from a digital single market, based on fast and ultra-fast Internet and interoperable applications.
- WSIS Forum 2010
The WSIS Forum 2010 was held on 10-14 May 2010, in Geneva. It was organised by the UIT – International Telecommunications Union, UNESCO – United Nations Organisation for Education, Science and Culture, UNCTAD – United Nations Conference on Trade and Development and the UNDP – United Nations Development Programme. Since 2009, it has replaced the series of thematic sessions that were usually held over a fortnight in May every year around the topic of Internet Governance, in the scope of the Tunis Agenda of the World Summit on the Information Society (see Portugal participates in World Summit on the Information Society).
- World Telecommunication and Information Society Day 2010
The UN - United Nations declared 17th May World Telecommunication and Information Society Day. This initiative aims to promote awareness-raising schemes among the general public as to the benefits of Internet use. The topic chosen for 2010 is "better city, better life with ICT’s". Its aim is to highlight the important role of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) as drivers for advancing people's quality of life, society and the economy.
As the public body mandated with coordinating Information Society policies in Portugal, The Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) is supporting this initiative through a national World Telecommunication and Information Society Day. In this way, just as with previous initiatives, the Internet Spaces Network was encouraged to develop and deploy awareness-raising actions promoting Internet and ICT use under the "better city, better life with ICT’s" theme up to the end of May. The specific actions included in this initiative can be seen on the news posted at the Internet Spaces Network portal: World Telecommunication and Information Society Day 2010: List of Internet Spaces Network activities (text in Portuguese)
- Meeting of the High Level Group on Internet Governance (April 2010)
The High Level Group on Internet Governance (HLIG), an informal group of experts who advise the European Commission, met in Madrid on 28 May 2010.
The main subjects for consideration at the meeting were: the evaluation and accountability to the Internet community process established by the ICANN – Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers by the Affirmation of Commitments (AOC) signed in September 2009 by the ICANN and the US Department of Commerce; the Dutch and Norwegian proposal on the organisation of the GAC – ICANN Governmental Advisory Committee Secretariat; the EURODIG – European Dialogue on Internet Governance meeting, the European IGF, taking place two days later; preparation of the 5th IGF – Internet Governance Forum to be held in Vilnius, Lithuania, on 14-17 September 2010, a topic which included a presentation of the situation and most recent developments by the head of the IGF Secretariat, Markus Kummer and references to the preparation of the 13th Session of the UN’s Commission on Science and Technology for Development, scheduled for 17-21 May 2010; information on the development of the European Union (EU)’s contacts with UNDESA – United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs on “strengthened cooperation”.
- Development Days: Knowledge, Empowerment and Technology Transfer
The 3rd “Development Days” (site in Portuguese), an initiative of the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, sponsored by IPAD – Portuguese Development Support Institute, IP, were held on 21-22 April 2010 in the Pavilhão do Rio at the Centro de Congressos de Lisboa, Junqueira. As part of the programme, the “Knowledge, Empowerment and Technology Transfer” Conference (text in Portuguese) was held on 22 April, from 3pm to 5pm for all interested parties in the Pavilion. It was organised by The Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC), of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education, in partnership with IPAD. This Conference focussed on different aspect of Portuguese development cooperation in the fields of science, technology and higher education knowledge, empowerment and technology transfer.
- 37th Meeting of the ICANN - Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers
The 37th meeting of the ICANN - Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers was held on 6-13 March 2010, in Nairobi, Kenya. As usual, the 36th meeting of the GAC - ICANN Governmental Advisory Committee was held concurrently. The GAC comprises representatives from governments of countries and public authorities from regional economies and intergovernmental organisations, and covers public policy matters related to the ICANN's activities. The GAC currently has 88 members, who jointly encompass more than 90% of Internet users geographically, and 12 observers (see GAC composition). 36 members and 3 observers took part in the meeting.
The main items on the agenda at the 36th GAC meeting were: international domain names (IDNs) in country top domain codes, adoption process of generic top level domains (gTLDs), reception process of Expressions of Interest (EoI) for new gTLDs, morality and public order-related issues in creating new gTLDs, aspects related to enforcement of the law on abusive DNS use, security and stability of the DNS system, aspects regarding the execution of the Affirmation of Commitments (AoC) signed by ICANN and the US Department of Commerce (DoC), and GAC operational principles (see GAC Communiqué in Nairobi).
- Meeting of the High Level Group on Internet Governance (January 2010)
The High Level Group on Internet Governance (HLIG), an informal group of experts who advise the European Commission, met in Brussels on 27-28 January 2010.
The main subjects for consideration were: the evaluation and accountability to the Internet community process established by the ICANN – Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers by the Affirmation of Commitments (AOC) signed in September 2009 by the ICANN and the US Department of Commerce; information on security contingency for ccTLDs – country code Top Level Domains; presentation of the Dutch and Norwegian proposal for a new organisation of the GAC – ICANN Governmental Advisory Committee Secretariat; preparation of the public consultation to be held in February for the 5th IGF – Internet Governance Forum taking place in Vilnius, Lithuania, on 14-17 de September 2010, a topic that includes a presentation of the situation and most recent developments by the head of the IGF Secretariat, Markus Kummer; information on preparation of the 3rd EURODIG – European Dialogue on Internet Governance, the European IGF, scheduled for 29-30 April 2010, in Madrid; information on the Commonwealth IGF and on national IGFs planned for 2010 in EU countries.
- 4th CIP–ICT PSP Community Programme Call
The 4th call for projects was launched on 21 January 2010 with a financial envelope of 107 million Euros in the scope of the Community Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) Policy Support Programme, otherwise known as CIP–ICT PSP, in the following themes:
- ICT for a low-carbon economy and smart mobility:
- Digital libraries;
- ICT for health and inclusion;
- Open innovation for future Internet services in Smart Cities;
- ICTs to improve public services for citizens and Enterprises;
- Multilingual Internet.
The deadline for tenders for this call ended on 1 June 2010 (at 4pm GMT).
- “Infoday” in Brussels on the 4th CIP–ICT PSP Community Programme Call
An Infoday (Information Day on the fourth Call for Proposals of the ICT Policy Support Programme)was organised by the European Commission on 14 January 2010 in Brussels. The agenda was addressed to all the companies, R&D institutions and public administration bodies taking part in the aforementioned Programme, as was announced at the Information Session on the 4th call of the Community CIP–ICT PSP Programme organised by The Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) on 27 November 2009. There was no fee to take part in the Infoday but participants had to register online.
An ICT PSP Theme 4 Constituency building workshop: Open Innovation for Future Internet-enabled services in "smart" cities was also held in Brussels, this time on 15 January 2010, which participants had to register for in advance by email as indicated on the page accessible via the previous link. This theme presupposes the adoption of the European Commission model for Living Labs.
The European Commission organised a specific Infoday in Luxemburg on 4 February 2010 on Theme 2 of the call, CIP IC –PSP Digital Libraries, focussed on “Europeana ", open access to scientific information and digitalisation of cultural heritage statistics. Participants had to fill out the respective registration form to take part in the Infoday.
- Portugal invited to intervene at OECD Conference on eCommerce in Washington
An OECD Conference “Empowering e-Consumers: Strengthening Consumer Protection in the Internet Economy” was held on 8-10 December in Washington, DC, USA. Its main objective is to contribute towards preparing new OECD guidelines on the opportunities and challenges facing consumers through the major development of the Internet economy.
Portugal participated with two guest speakers: (1) the President of The Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC), Luis Magalhães (see intervention notes), on the panel of the session after the opening ceremony, entitled E-commerce trends and outlook: consumer aspects, moderated by Andrew Wyckoff, Director of the OECD Science, Technology and Industry Directorate. The other speakers came from China, the Republic of Korea, Japan, the European Commission and Forrester Research; (2) the President of the Association for eCommerce and Interactive Advertising - ACEPI (site in Portuguese) and Director-General of Controlinveste Media, Alexandre Nilo Fonseca, on the panel of part of the session on B2C: Business as sellers – recent developments, dedicated to “Opportunities for sellers”, which was moderated by Graham Branton, Deputy Director, Consumer and Competition Policy, UK Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. Other panel members were from the European E-commerce and Mail Order Trade Association (EMOTA), the International Federation of Direct Marketing (FEDMA), eBay, and Google.
- Meeting of the High Level Group on Internet Governance (December 2009)
The High Level Group on Internet Governance (HLIG), an informal group of experts who advise the European Commission, met in Brussels on 3 December 2009.
The main subjects for consideration were: the evaluation and accountability to the Internet community process established by the ICANN – Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers by the Affirmation of Commitments (AOC) signed in September 2009 by the ICANN and the US Department of Commerce; the results of the 4th IGF – Internet Governance Forum held in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, on 15-18 November 2009 and preparation of the public consultations to be held in February for the 5th IGF which will take place in Vilnius, Lithuania, on 14-17 September 2010; information on preparation of the 3rd EURODIG – European Dialogue on Internet Governance, the European IGF, scheduled for 29-30 April 2010 in Madrid; exchange of opinions on the CENTR – Council of European Top Level Domain Registries event the day before; analysis of the ICANN – Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers and GAC – ICANN Governmental Advisory Committee meetings in Seoul, Republic of Korea, on 24-30 October 2009, including sDNS root server security and scalability aspects and the introduction of DNSSEC; preparation of a workshop on security contingency for ccTLDs – country code Top Level Domains to be held in Brussels in January 2010.
- Training for EU Member States National CIP-ICT PSP Contact Points
The Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) held a Training Session for National CIP-ICT PSP Contact Points of the Member States of the European Union (EU) on 26 November 2009 in conjunction with eServices Europa, which works for the European Commission in this area. The session took place on the margins of the Information Session on the 4th call of the Community CIP–ICT PSP Programme on 27 November 2009.
The aims of this training session are to develop competences in business, marketing and information dissemination strategies and intellectual property in CIP –ICT PSP projects, and further contacts between the National CIP – ICT PSP Contact Points of the different Member States to enable more entities to take part in this Community programme.
- Information Session on the 4th call of the Community CIP–ICT PSP Programme
An Information Session was held on 27 November 2009 at the Centro de Congressos,Taguspark, Porto Salvo, in the small Núcleo Central auditorium on the 4th call for projects under the Community Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) Policy Support Programme, otherwise known as CIP–ICT PSP (ICT Policy Support Programme (ICT PSP) under the Competitiveness and Innovation Programme – CIP). Thiswill be launched by the European Commission in January 2010 with 107 million Euros earmarked in funding for the following themes (see Information Session Agenda (text in Portuguese) with links to the respective presentations):
- ICT for a low-carbon economy and smart mobility;
- Digital libraries;
- ICT for health and inclusion;
- Open innovation for future Internet services in Smart Cities;
- ICTs to improve public services for citizens and enterprises;
- Multilingual Internet.
- Inter-Sessional Panel 2009-2010 of the UN's Commission on Science and Technology Development
The Inter-Sessional Panel of the UN’s CSTD – Commission on Science and Technology for Development was held from 9 to 11 November 2009, at the Geneva International Conference Centre.
The Panel examined the follow-up to the World Summit on the Information Society, improvements and innovations in ICT funding mechanisms, new and emerging technologies focussed on energy technologies, especially green or renewable resources, based on a series of documents and presentations.
The Panel’s conclusions and recommendations will be examined at the 13th CSTD meeting in May 2010.
- 36th Meeting of ICANN - Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers
The 36th meeting of the ICANN - Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers was held in Seoul, Republic of Korea, on 24-30 October 2009 and was attended by more than 1020 participants from over 110 countries. As usual, the 35th meeting of the GAC - ICANN Governmental Advisory Committee was held concurrently. The GAC comprises representatives from governments of countries and public authorities from regional economies and intergovernmental organisations, and covers public policy matters related to the ICANN's activities. The CAC currently has 88 members who jointly encompass more than 90% of Internet users geographically, and 12 observers (see GAC composition). 58 members, 3 observers and one guest country, Russia, took part in the meeting.
The most significant progress made at the ICANN meeting in Seoul was the approval of the fast track procedure for introducing a limited number of International Domain Names (IDNs), potentially before the year is out, with applications opening on 16 November. Discussions were held on the 3rd version of the Application Manual for new generic names for top level domains (gTLDs), brand and name protection, security issues such as phishing and malware, distribution of illegal content, security and stability issues related to the introduction of the DNSSEC system, IPv6 and new gTLDs and the strategic plan for 2010, where for main areas were highlighted for attention: maintaining DNS stability and security, promoting competition, trust and consumer choices, excellence in the IANA;s functions and in other operational centres, maintaining the ICANN’s role in the long term in the Internet eco-system, replacing the Joint Project Agreement (JPA) that the ICANN had with the US Department of Commerce (DoC) with the Affirmation of Commitments (AoC), under which the ICANN becomes accountable to the global Internet community and a series of evaluations are established to ensure a high level of public and global accountability.
- ICT, Innovation and Knowledge - 4th Meeting on the UN's Millennium Development Goals and ICT
The 4th Meeting on the UN’s Millennium Development Goals and ICT was held on 3-4 November 2009, at the Centro de Congressos at FIL – Lisbon Industrial Trade Fair in the Parque das Nações. The meeting was dedicated to Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), Innovation and Knowledge. This meeting is part of the initiatives involving public bodies, enterprises and civil society to prepare contributions for the Iberia - Latin America Heads of State and Government Summit (site in Portuguese). It was jointly organised by The Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) and AHCIET – Hispanic-American Association of Research Centers & Telecom Enterprises, a private not-for-profit organisation set up by more than 50 telecommunications operators and enterprises.
Some 100 specialists from 17 Iberian and Latin American countries discussed cooperation in Future of the Internet knowledge and innovation fields.
The meeting’s objective is to analyse policies stimulating ICT innovation and knowledge, involving the public and private sectors: public administrations, international organisations, universities, scientific institutions, enterprises and non-governmental organisations active in the ICT area.
- 1st Angola National Conference on Science and Technology
On 20-21 October 2009, in Luanda, Angola, took place the 1st National Conference on Science and Technology of Angola, organized by the Ministry of Science and Technology of Angola, whose Organizing Committee and Scientific Sub-Committee were chaired by Dr. Domingos da Silva Neto, National Director for Scientific Research, and whose secretariat was coordinated by Dr. Julius Campos de Almeida, Director of the Office of the Minister of Science and Technology.
The Conference had the motto: "The role of science and technology in the socioeconomic and sustainable development of Angola". It was opened by the Minister of Science and Technology, Professor Maria Cândida Pereira Teixeira, and featured five panel sessions dedicated to:
- Meeting of the High Level Group on Internet Governance (October 2009)
The High Level Group on Internet Governance (HLIG), an informal group of experts who advise the European Commission, met in Brussels on 12 October 2009.
The main subjects for consideration were: preparation for the 4th IGF – Internet Governance Forum to be held in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt on 15-18 November 2009; preparation for the 3rd EURODIG - European Dialogue on Internet Governance, the European IGF, scheduled for 29-30 April 2010 in Madrid; the evaluation and accountability to Internet users process established for the ICANN – Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers by the Affirmation of Commitments (AOC) signed on 30 September 2009 by the ICANN and the US Department of Commerce; preparation for the 36th ICANN Meeting to be held in Seoul, Republic of Korea, on 24-30 October, chiefly on the processes related to gTLD – generic Top Level Domains, IDN – Internationalized Domain Names, and the Joint Working Party of the GAC – ICANN Governmental Advisory Committee with the ICANN Board; report on network stability and scalability of the DNS root server; information on preparation of the CEPT – European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations on Internet topics for the Plenipotentiary Conference of the ITU – International Telecommunications Union of the UN, which will be held in Guadalajara, Mexico, on 4-22 October 2010.
- Portugal and Brazil Sign Scientific, Technology and Information Society Agreements
The Portuguese Minister for Science, Technology and Higher Education, José Mariano Gago, and the Brazilian Minister of Science and Technology, Sérgio Rezende, signed five cooperation agreements on science, technology, innovation and the information society at the Grémio Literário Literary Club on 10 October 2010:
- Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry for Science, Technology and Higher Education of the Portuguese Republic and the Ministry of Science and Technology of the Federal Republic of Brazil on strengthening the Portuguese language in the Information Society through open/free access scientific repositories, provision of resources for computer processing of the Portuguese language, assessment of Web content in Portuguese and Web archiving (text in Portuguese);
- Agreement between the Ministry for Science, Technology and Higher Education of the Portuguese Republic and the Ministry of Science and Technology of the Federal Republic of Brazil on Distributed GRID Computing (text in Portuguese);
- Agreement between the Ministry for Science, Technology and Higher Education of the Portuguese Republic and the Ministry of Science and Technology of the Federal Republic of Brazil on nanotechnology (text in Portuguese);
- Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry for Science, Technology and Higher Education of the Portuguese Republic and the Ministry of Science and Technology of the Federal Republic of Brazil on research support material in Social and Human Sciences in the Community of Portuguese-speaking Countries (CPLP) (text in Portuguese);
- Agreement between the Ministry for Science, Technology and Higher Education of the Portuguese Republic and the Ministry of Science and Technology of the Federal Republic of Brazil on joint participation in EUREKA and IBEROEKA projects (text in Portuguese);
- Meeting of Ministers of Science, Technology and Higher Education of the CPLP
On August 29, 2009, the Ministers CPLP – Community of Portuguese Language Countries responsible for science and technology and for higher education met in Lisbon.
Portugal has the Presidency of the CPLP this year and prepared an agenda which includes the discussion of a Portuguese proposal to create a, in a completely innovative approach, a UNESCO Centre for advanced training in science within the institutions of the CPL (text of the declaration in Portuguese) , combining the high-level scientific training, namely through PhD programs, with the training for the social responsibility of scientists, the public communication of science, and integration in international networks and research programs, with the objective of facilitating the scientific development of the countries of origin and of combating the brain drain. Portugal ensures the launching and the early operation of this new center of distributed advanced scientific training, in cooperation with UNESCO and in combination with other CPLP countries.
- 35th Meeting of ICANN - Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers
The 35th meeting of the ICANN - Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers was held in Sydney, Australia, on 19-26 June 2009 and was attended by more than 1050 participants from over 100 countries. As usual, the 34th meeting of the GAC - ICANN Governmental Advisory Committee was held concurrently. The GAC comprises representatives from governments of countries and public authorities from regional economies and intergovernmental organisations, and covers public policy matters related to the ICANN's activities. The CAC currently has 88 members who jointly encompass more than 90% of Internet users geographically, and 12 observers (see GAC composition). This meeting marked China's return to the GAC of the ICANN. 40 members, 2 observers and one guest country took part in the meeting.
The main items on the agenda at this GAC meeting were: the process of adopting internationalised domain names (IDNs) in terms of top domain country codes, the process of adopting top generic domain names, the role and functioning of the GAC, information from the SSAC – Security and Stability Advisory Committee and the RSSAC – Root Server System Advisory Committee, mainly on the transition to DNSSEC and root server signatures, the Root Zone scaling study and problems linked to the use of wildcards (see Press Release from the GAC in Sydney).
- Meeting of the OECD's Working Party on Internet Economy
A meeting of the WPIE – Working Party on Internet Economy of the OECD’s Information, Computers and Communication Policy Committee (ICCP) was held on 17-18 June 2009. The importance of “Green ICT” to the economic recovery, growth, innovation, development and the environment were discussed at this meeting, following the OECD High Level Conference “ICT, the Environment and Climate Change” which was held in Denmark from 27 to 28 May 2009. Portugal took part in this conference through Professor Paulo Ferrão, Director of the MIT - Portugal Program, with a presentation entitled “ICT innovation for sustainable urban infrastructures” (see Portugal participates in the OECD High Level Conference: ICT, the Environment and Climate Change). The option of drafting an OECD recommendation was discussed. This would support the introduction and revision of national ICT and environment policies, for which a restricted working party of national experts was set up to work on this proposal by the end of the year. Portugal is part of this group, represented by Professor Paulo Ferrão.
- Meeting of the Preparatory Group for the i2010 High Level Group
A meeting of the Preparatory Group for the i2010 High Level Group was held in Brussels on 16 June 2009. This meeting brings together Directors-General responsible for the Information Society.
The main topic for the meeting was preparing for Post-i2010. The Swedish Presidency of the Council of the EU mooted the launch of a new programme entitled eUnion 2015, for which it is preparing a conference to take place in Visby on 9-10 November.
- Meeting of the "Informal Internet Group" to Prepare the 35th Meeting of the ICCAN
A meeting of the “Informal Internet Group” was held in Brussels on 10 June 2009, Under the initiative of the European Commission, it normally meets before the beginning of the ICANN - Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers meeting week, which will next convene in Sydney, Australia on 21-26 June 2009 (see 35th Meeting of the ICANN – Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers).
- Portugal Participates in the OECD High Level Conference: ICTs, the Environment and Climate Change
The High-level OECD Conference: ICTs, the Environment and Climate Change washeld on 27th -28th May 2009 in Helsingør, Denmark. It was jointly organised by the Danish Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation and the OECD in the scope of the OECD’s Information, Computers and Communication Policy Committee (ICCP) of which the President of UMIC, Luis Magalhães, is one of the Vice Presidents (see Meeting of the OECD’s Information, Computers and Communication Policy Committee (57th meeting) and President of UMIC elected Vice President of the OECD's ICCP Committee).
Portugal took part at the Conference after a suggestion tabled by Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) to the OECD’s Information, Computers and Communication Policy Committee (ICCP) Secretariat, namely through Paulo Ferrão, Director of the MIT – Portugal Program, who presented an intervention on ICT innovations for sustainable urban infrastructures at the “Clean Technologies for Greener Urban Growth” session.
- President of UMIC Represents Portugal at Meeting of the UN's CSTD in Geneva
The 12th meeting of the UN’s CSTD – Commission on Science and Technology for Development starts today, 25th May 2009, at the Palace of the Nations of the UNO – United Nations Organisation, in Geneva, which runs from 25th to 29th May.
Portugal was elected as a member of the CSTD with a mandate until the end of 2012 at a meeting of the UN’s ECOSOC – Economic and Social Committee held on 18th May 2009 at UN headquarters in New York. It hereby becomes one of 10 Western countries on this Commission, which currently includes Germany, Austria, Belgium, the United States of America, Finland, France, Israel, Switzerland and Turkey.
- WSIS Forum 2009
The WSIS Forum 2009 was held on 18-22 May 2009, in Geneva. It was organised by the UIT – International Telecommunications Union, UNESCO – United Nations Organisation for Education, Science and Culture, UNCTAD – United Nations Conference on Trade and Development and the UNDP – United Nations Development Programme. This year, it replaced the series of thematic sessions usually held over a fortnight in May every year around the topic of Internet Governance, in the scope of the Tunis Agenda of the World Summit on the Information Society (see Portugal participates in the World Summit on the Information Society).
- Portugal Elected Member of the UN's CSTD – President of UMIC Represents Portugal
Portugal was elected to the UN’s CSTD – Commission on Science and Technology for Development yesterday in New York, with a mandate until the end of 2012. This election took place at a meeting of the UN’s ECOSOC – Economic and Social Committee held on 18th May 2009 at UN headquarters in New York. Portugal hereby becomes one of Western countries on this Commission, which currently also includes Germany, Austria, Belgium, the United States of America, Finland, France, Israel, Switzerland and Turkey.
The representatives of CSTD Member States are nominated by the UN based on the qualifications and scientific or professional knowledge necessary for the Commission’s mandate. Portugal’s entry into the CSTD was thus approved by ECOSOC through the election of Luis Magalhães, President of Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC).
- 4th Portugal-Brazil Videoconference to Prepare Cooperation Programmes
A videoconference with several Brazilian institutions was held at Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) on 18th May 2009 to help prepare potential cooperation programmes in science, technology, innovation and information society fields, following on from previous videoconferences held on 22nd and 8th April and 17th March 2009.
The videoconference was held between the President of Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC), Luis Magalhães, and representing Brazil, the Head of the International Affairs Department at the Ministry of Science and Technology, José Monserrat Filho. It enabled a series of important agreements for concrete bilateral cooperation programmes to be wrapped up successfully. These could potentially open a new era of opportunities for effective work between the two countries’ researchers, scientific institutions and public policy bodies for science, technology and the information society.
- Benefitting from the Internet Safely: actions promoted by UMIC in Portugal
The UN – United Nations declared 17th May as World Telecommunications and the Information Society Day and decided that this year would be dedicated to the topic of young people surfing the Internet safely.
Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC), as the public body with the task of coordinating Information Society policies in Portugal, decided to extend the commemorations for the World Telecommunications and the Information Society Day to all strata of the population and it put on public awareness raising actions on the benefits of and safe use of the Internet for the whole week starting on 17th May and continuing until 22nd May 2009.
- Meeting of the High Level Group on Internet Governance (May 2009)
The High Level Group on Internet Governance (HLIG), an informal group of experts who advise the European Commission, met in Brussels on 7th May 2009.
The main objective of the meeting was to discuss the European Union (EU) and European Commission positions on the development of the ICANN – Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers, the HLIG contribution to the Notice of Inquiry by the US Department of Commerce entitled “The Continued Transition of the Technical Coordination and Management of the Internet's Domain Name and Addressing System: Midterm Review of the Joint Project Agreement”, the developments addressed at the last meeting of the GAC – ICANN Governmental Advisory Committee which took place at the time of the 34th Meeting of the ICANN – Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, the Presidency report on the IGF – Internet Governance Forum, preparation for the IGF 2009 Public Multi-stakeholder Consultations which will be held in May 2009 and the European Commission report on the adoption of DNSSec.
- Hearing on Internet Governance Arrangements
The European Commission called a Hearing on Internet Governance Arrangements on 6th May 2009 in Brussels prior to the High Level Group on Internet Governance scheduled for the day after. The objective of this hearing was to contribute to the discussion on the future of Internet governance, in a year when the ICANN (Internet Corporation on Assigned Names and Numbers) will undergo changes to its institutional situation with the termination of the contract with the US Department of Commerce on 30th September, and with discussions of the future of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF), due to its 5-year mandate expiring in 2010, which means that discussions on reviewing it and whether to continue with it or not will also begin this year.
- ICT at the XII Iberian-American Conference of Ministers of Culture
The XII Iberian-American Conference on Culture took place on 22nd April 2009 at the Centro Cultural de Belém in Lisbon. The Conference hosted ministers for culture from Iberian-American countries and included an intervention from the President of the Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC), speaking at the invitation of the Portuguese Minister for Culture, entitled The role of new technologies in promoting Shared Languages and Multiculturalism (in Portuguese).
This ministerial conference was dedicated to the topic “Portuguese and Spanish, Shared Languages, Instruments of Identity, Creativity and Multiculturalism” and resulted in the approval of a Declaration (in Portuguese), which, inter alia, includes:
- 13th Meeting of the OECD Working Party on Indicators for the Information Society
The 13th Meeting of the OECD Working Party on Indicators for the Information Society (WPIIS) of the OECD’s Information, Computers and Communication Policy Committee (ICCP) was held on 23rd – 24th April 2009 in Paris.
The meeting agenda included information and proposals from Member States on ICT measures, the potential for synergies between private and official statistics, the OECD’s Innovation Strategy, the response to the economic and financial crisis for sustainable recovery, the outcomes of the PISA study on ICT and education, the key factors for household spending on ICT, analysis of the role of ICT in transmitting knowledge, analysis of innovation encouraged by ICT, a proposal to update the definition of eCommerce, measuring the relationship between ICT and the environment, ICT statistics and global trade, ICT indicators in the health sectors and gauging the social impact of ICT.
- 3rd Portugal-Brazil Videoconference to Prepare Cooperation Programmes
A videoconference with several Brazilian institutions was held at Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) on 22nd April 2009 to help prepare potential cooperation programmes in science, technology, innovation and information society fields, following on from previous videoconferences held on 8th April and 17th March 2009.
The videoconference was held between the President of Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC), Luis Magalhães, representing Portugal, and representing Brazil, the Head of the International Affairs Department at the Ministry of Science and Technology, José Monserrat Filho, and the President of FINEP – Study and Project Funding, Luis Manuel Fernandes.
- 2nd Portugal-Brazil Videoconference to Prepare Cooperation Programmes
A videoconference with several Brazilian institutions was held at Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) on 8th April 2009 to help prepare potential cooperation programmes in science, technology, innovation and information society fields, following on from the Portugal-Brazil Videoconference to Prepare Cooperation Programmes held on 17th March.
The videoconference was held between the President of Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC), Luis Magalhães, representing Portugal, and representing Brazil, the Head of the International Affairs Department at the Ministry of Science and Technology, José Monserrat Filho, and the President of FINEP – Study and Project Funding, Luis Manuel Fernandes.
- 1st Euro-Africa Cooperation Forum on ICT Research
The 1st Euro-Africa Cooperation Forum on ICT Research was held on 25th and 26th March 2009 in Brussels. It was organised by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for the Information Society and Media, with the support of the African Union Commission and the EuroAfrica-ICT project of the EU’s 7th Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development (FP7).
- Portugal-Brazil Videoconference to Prepare Cooperation Programmes
A videoconference with several Brazilian institutions was held at the Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) on 17th March 2009 for initial discussions on preparing potential cooperation programmes in science, technology, innovation and information society fields.
The videoconference was held between the President of the Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC), Luis Magalhães, representing Portugal, and representing Brazil, the Executive Secretary of the Ministry of Science and Technology, Luiz António Elias, and the President of FINEP– Study and Project Funding, Luis Manuel Fernandes.
- Meeting of the OECD's Committee for Information, Computer and Communications Policies (57th meeting)
The 57th meeting of the OECD’s Information, Computers and Communication Policy Committee was held in Paris on 11th to 13th March 2009. The meeting agenda included a review of the access process for various countries to OECD membership, discussion of the economic crisis, the framework for non-governmental stakeholder participation in the ICCP’s work, the midterm report on the innovation strategy, proposals for the Technology Foresight Forum, information on reports regarding economic reform policy and policy coherence and development, a study on setting up partnerships for the Internet economy, reports from the ICCP Working Party on the implementation of the agenda from the OECD Ministerial Meeting on the Future of the Internet Economy (text in Portuguese) held in Seoul in June 2008, and a study on ICT and the environment.
- 34th Meeting of ICANN – Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers
The 34th meeting of the ICANN – Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers was held in Mexico City on 1st – 6th March 2009 and was attended by more than 1,200 participants from over 100 countries. As is customary, the 33rd meeting of the GAC – ICANN Governmental Advisory Committee took place in parallel. The GAC comprises representatives from governments of countries and public authorities from regional economies and intergovernmental organisations, and covers public policy matters related to the ICANN's activities. The GAC currently has 80 members and 12 observers (see GAC composition (in Portuguese)).
The main items on the agenda at this GAC meeting were: the process of adopting internationalised domain names (IDNs) in terms of top domain country codes, the process of adopting top generic domain names, the role and functioning of the GAC, analysis and contributions for the PSC - President’s Strategic Committee report, GAC interaction with ccNSO - Country Code Names Supporting Organization and the ICANN Board.
- Multi-stakeholder Public Consultations as part of Preparing for IGF 2009
The first public consultations of 2009 for preparing the 5th IGF – Internet Governance Forum, which will take place in Egypt in November, were held on 23rd – 24th February at the UN in Geneva. As is customary, representatives of governments, enterprises, civil society, the Internet technical community and NGOs were present. The main topics were the results and modus operandi from the Internet Governance Forum 2008 that was staged in Hyderabad, India, in December 2008, and how to improve the exchange of ideas and discussion between all participants at the IGF in November 2009.
The review process that the IGF will undergo in 2009 was also discussed, bearing in mind that the Secretary General of the UN will decide whether or not to continue with the IGF in 2010, based on the view the UN General Assembly takes on the matter. The conclusion was also reached that the review/evaluation process should not take over the Egypt IGF agenda as the Forum needs to go on with its work, i.e. discussing the main Internet governance topics in a multi-stakeholder environment, with the objective of convergence and bringing all the world’s regions and countries closer together in the Internet economy, thus meeting the objectives of the 2nd phase of the World Summit on the Information Society held in Tunis on 16th -18th November 2005 (see Portugal participates in the World Summit on the Information Society).
- 9th meeting of the i2010 High Level Group
The 9th meeting of the i2010 High Level Group took place on 24th February 2009 in the European Commission Presidency building in Brussels. The members are Directors-General for the Information Society, representing the Member States.
Portugal is represented at the i2010 High Level Group by the President of the Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC).
- OECD Workshop on Measuring Mobile/Wireless Service Data
The OECD-ANACOM Expert Workshop on Measuring Mobile/Wireless Service Data was staged on 19th -20th February 2009 at Culturgest, Lisbon. It was organised in the scope of the WPCISP – Working Party on Communication Infrastructure and Services of the OECD’s ICCP – Information, Computer and Communication Policy Committee. The objective of this workshop is to produce a methodology to obtain data on wireless broadband service subscriptions, categorising bandwidth differences and data transfer limits, and comparing prices.