On May 16-20^th, world leaders gathered in Geneva for the annual World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Forum.  Speakers emphasized the role of incorporating ICTs into all aspects of the MDGs as opposed to the previous goal of providing ICT access.

This type of rhetoric respecting the role of ICTs is different than previous global summits and conferences.  In 2000, when the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were first released, the eightieth goal – Global Partnership – included a specific target to “make available new technologies, especially information and communications.”  Subsequently, the 2010 MDGs Report included measurements of ICT availability and number of users.  In this report, ICT usage was the primary goal.

However, more recently, the ITU and UNESCO announced the establishment of the Broadband Commission for Digital Development, which embraces ICTs as “uniquely powerful tools for achieving the MDGs.”  One of the commissioners, Bruno Lanvin, boldly explains: “Broadband is not just about infrastructure…it presents the opportunity for a quantum leap.  …We may soon discover that Broadband has been the biggest absolute accelerator in our efforts to realize the MDGs.”

The shift in rhetoric surrounding ICTs is now beginning to affect international measurements.  For example, last month the World Economic Forum released The Global Information Technology Report 2010-2011, and announced new changes to the Network Readiness Index.  The WEF acknowledged that the original index “falls short in looking at the impacts of ICT usage,” and in their revised index elements such as business innovation, governance, citizens’ political participation, and social cohesion are incorporated, demonstrating the acceptance of ICTs as important development tools in all sectors.

A keynote speaker at the WSIS Forum, Mr. Mohammed Nasser Al Ghanim, Director General of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority in the UAE, explained that ICTs are crucial for “every sector of the economy and contribute to areas so diverse as health, education, and public safety.”

Other forum sessions at the conference further emphasized the importance of ICT utility in achieving all of the MDGs, including “Better Life in Rural Communities with ICTs,” and “ICTs as an enabler for Development of LDCs.”

The second day of the conference, May 17^th, was the annual World Telecommunications and Information Society Day.  In a public video celebrating the event, ITU Secretary-General Hamadoun I. Touré states: “It is time for global action to connect rural communities to the opportunities offered by ICTs.”

The WSIS Forum 2011 verified the need to utilize ICTs to accelerate the completion of all the MDGs.  This change in rhetoric and measurements regarding ICTs will likely affect public policy in the short future.  The WSIS Forum 2011 was an important marker in the history of ICT4D.  ICT access and connectivity is the means to making sustained impacts in all the MDGs, but is not the end goal in itself.