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King Juan Carlos I presides the Honorary Committee for the World Summit in favour of digital solidarity to be held in Bilbao in november
H. M. King Juan Carlos I has been appointed president of the Honorary Committee for the II World Summit of Cities and Local Authorities on the Information Society, which will be held in Bilbao next November.
The organisers of this international encounter in favour of digital solidarity have created a Honorary Committee made up of authorities from all parts of the planet. Under the presidency of H. M. King Juan Carlos I, the Honorary Committee includes presidents of regions, mayors, elected representatives and other personalities representing organisations that support the meeting in Bilbao, which will take place from 9 to 11 November next.
Other members of the Committee are Marcel Boisard, Assistant Secretary General of the United Nations, and Viviane Reding, EU Commissioner for the Information Society. Also taking part are the President of Senegal, Abdoulaye Wade, and the acting Lehendakari (President) of the Basque Government, Juan José Ibarretxe, as well as the mayors of several cities around the world such as Paris (Bertrand Delanöe), Bilbao (Iñaki Azkuna), Sao Paulo (José Serra) and Tunis (Abbés Mohsen), among others.
The international encounter in Bilbao expects to receive more than 2,000 regional representatives from all over the world. Its promoters, the UN and the Basque Government, estimate that local authorities are the institutions that can best fight against the digital divide, which is threatening to condemn thousands of persons worldwide to illiteracy with regard to new information technologies.
The use of communication tools such as Internet is a universal right, and the cultural and economic possibilities offered must be within reach of all citizens on all five continents.
Bilbao will be the venue for the World Summit in favour of digital solidarity because it is an example of how a city has overcome its industrial restructuring by adapting to services for the future, and consolidated cultural icons like the Guggenheim Museum. Moreover, close to the capital of Biscay are the offices of Cifal Bilbao, the centre that advises regions all around the world as regards information technologies. Finally, Euskadi, the Basque Country, has demonstrated its commitment to the Information Society by its deeds and actions. More than half of its two million inhabitants can currently access Internet from their home.