• Meeting Agenda
• List of invited persons
• Proposed approach to WSIS stocktaking
• ITU stocktaking update

A very short summary:
                                                                          
The meeting on the 31 August had been convened as a brainstorming
exercise to help the WSIS Executive Secretariat (ES) to move forward on
the Stocktaking of Activities relevant to WSIS. Invited were a few
representatives from the various categories (see Francis' postings), and
the meeting was conducted in a free flowing informal manner (no PrepCom
rules and procedures, but also regrettably no interpretation)
It was chaired by Tim Kelly, ES responsible for stocktaking. Mr. Utsumi,
Charles Geiger (officially still on vacation) and Ambassador Karklins
were present.
                                                                           
After some general introductory remarks,  - e.g. that we have a Plan of
Action with no implementation mechanisms -  the discussion concentrated
on the purpose and modalities of such stocktaking. The Secretariat had
prepared a draft paper on Summit issues (based on the 11 WSIS Action
Lines) which could be the basis for a survey, - description of activity.
The Secretariat wants to send this out by October in form of a letter to
governments, civil society, private sector and multilateral
organisations asking for input. Under the 11 themes one would find 'Key
Words' which would help different actors as entry points for their
reporting.
                                                                            
Points were raised, particularly by CS, with regard to
*         the length of such evtl. outcome document and its overall
futility
*         criteria for format of the survey: the 11 themes being one of
them, reporting on how certain activities relate to improvements of
development and social justice issues, MDGs, e.g.gender equality,
poverty eradication, digital divide etc could be another
Other points mentioned were:
*         participatory way: bottom-up approach
*         impact
*         qualitative benchmarking
*         performing (constant) evaluation
*         looking beyond Tunis
*         dynamic vis-a-vis static reporting
                                                                         
UNESCO Representative made following contributions.
 For her the purpose
is:
1.    traditional inventory stocktaking
2.    tracking and updating movements
3.    facilitating collaboration for implementation, finding potential
partners and resources
4.    learning from other groups and enabling groups to interact
UNESCO also gave a presentation of their new site on "Implementing the
WSIS Action Plan: UNESCO Takes Stock" 
http://www.unesco.org/wsisdirectory
                                                                        
The Private Sector demanded that stocktaking should lead to Incentives
and CS (as usual) asked for resources. Government(s) pointed to cost
implications and management requirements and the ILO cautioned with
regard to a too ambitious data base.
                                                                       
Mr. Karklins reminded that the 11 themes approach would be the easiest
to proceed, as these had been agreed by all governments. Mr. Utsumi
pointed to the Summit and the need to have a report while a much more
comprehensive and dynamic way of reporting could go beyond.
                                                                      
The Secretariat concluded to have the (revised?) survey points soon on
their website for more comments before sending out the letter to all
stakeholders.
                                                                     
This in short before leaving for New York (MDGs)
                                                                    
Renate Bloem
President of the Conference of NGOs (CONGO)