Digital Opportunity Taskforce (DOT Force) Meeting in Calgary
(Overview)

May 9, 2002

Points:

• The implementation report of the Genoa Plan of Action will be revised, based on the comments made at this meeting, and the timing of the publication of the report will be coordinated in the Sherpa process.
• Concerning the future of the DOT Force, the members broadly agreed to establish a DOT Force network in a form that is separate from the G8 process itself, maintain loose cooperation based on the spontaneous decisions of the members and maintain the initiative.

1. Host and Participants

(1) Date: 6 to 7 May; Venue: Calgary, hosted by the Government of Canada

(2) Objective: Discussion on the implementation report of the Genoa Plan of Action and the future of the DOT Force.

(3) Participants:

G8: Governments, businesses, non-profit organizations (NPOs) of G8 countries (Japanese members are Director-General, the Economic Affairs Bureau of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Akira Miwa, Executive Advisor of NEC Corporation Yoshihiro Suzuki, Senior Research Fellow of the Center for Global Communications (GLOCOM) Izumi Aizu) and the European Community (EC)

Developing Countries: Republic of Bolivia, Federal Republic of Brazil, Arab Republic of Egypt, Republic of India, Republic of Indonesia, Republic of Senegal, Republic of South Africa and United Republic of Tanzania

International Organizations: United Nations Development Program (UNDP), International Telecommunications Union (ITU), United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), United Nations Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Task Force, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), World Health Organization (WHO), World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), World Economic Forum (WEF), International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), FRANCOPHONIE, COMMONWEALTH

Others: Ireland, Ukraine

2. Main Points of Discussion

(1) Implementation Report of the Genoa Plan of Action

1. The members agreed that a report would be submitted consisting of three parts: a summary compiled by Canada; a report overview compiled by each implementation team leader; and appendices. The members confirmed that the Canadian summary would be finalized promptly and that each team report would be submitted to the Canadian side by 16 May 2002, and that the timing of the publication of the report would then be left to the Sherpa process to coordinate.
2. The Government of Japan stated that about US$2.2 billion of IT cooperation projects have been implemented as a part of the IT Comprehensive Cooperation Package, which was announced at the G8 Kyushu-Okinawa Summit. The cooperation includes partnership with international organizations such as contributions to the ICT Thematic Trust Fund in the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and contributions to the Incubator Initiative by infoDev in the World Bank.

(2) Future of the DOT Force

1. There were strong opinions raised mainly by the business and NPO members, that the activities of the DOT Force through the cooperation of government, business and NPOs were beneficial, and that the DOT Force should be maintained in some form. The members reached a broad consensus that without a direct mandate from the G8 leaders, a DOT Force network should be established based on the spontaneous decision of the members and the initiative would be maintained by keeping loose cooperation. The members further decided that cooperation with global fora such as the United Nations ICT Task Force should be made upon the judgment of each team. They proposed that until the end of 2002, Canada would continue to serve as the Secretariat for the DOT Force, after which time the Secretariat responsibilities should be shared on a revolving basis among businesses, NPOs and governments.
2. Developing countries noted that the DOT Force had produced fewer results than was expected at its inception, and pointed out that rather that making project proposals, the DOT Force should actively implement real projects. On the other hand, they also stated that the DOT Force, apart from the initiative of the G8 to date, had great merit in that it had achieved the status of an organization composed of various bodies, including developing countries themselves, and that it should continue to carry on with activities in the future.

(3) Concerning cooperation with other G8 initiatives, such as the Africa Action Plan, and the Education Task Force, explanations of the current situation were made by the related people and their hope for cooperation with the DOT Force was stated, although concrete discussions did not take place.

(4) Concerning the initiative for an e-Government Action Plan, Italy stated that they had compiled a report and that Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi of Italy intended to raise this issue at the Kananaskis G8 Summit Meeting.