• The World Summit on the Information Society and the role of Local Authorities
• Presentation
• Preparation for the Bilbao Summit
• Declaration and Plan of Action of Bilbao
• Bilbao and the Basque Country
• Program and informations to download
• Press Room
• Videos
• Speakers

Welcome

In the 21st century, cities and local governments want to be fully involved in the major developments of our contemporary society, developments where they play a special role.

With the creation of United Cities and Local Governments, the international local authorities have set a single organisation, that represents over half the population of the planet, the goal of developing a new partnership with the world community and with the authorities of the United Nations.

During the United Cities and Local Government Founding Congress, held in May 2004 in Paris, over 3,000 mayors and people elected to public office therefore clearly asserted their commitment to a democratic information society and undertook to: “Work for an information society with cities where cultural diversity and access to information for everyone shall be valued and encouraged”.

The 2nd World Summit of Cities and Local Authorities in Bilbao, in November, will therefore have to reinforce this message and confirm the role that the cities play at the heart of this information society. As the Declaration by the local authorities reminds us, approved during the Lyon Summit (December 2003), it is precisely in our cities where the new technologies take shape, where research is developed and where wealth is created.

The elected local officials believe that it is fundamental for the new information and communications technologies to serve our co-citizens, in order to dynamize democratic practice, encourage the economic development and the creation of jobs.

Therefore, we want the development of the information and communication technologies to be a true way of meeting such decisive challenges as education, health or reducing the poverty threshold, while providing a new driving force to the requirements of solidarity.

The Bilbao Summit will be for us, the local governments from around the world, a very important duty that will allow us to specify our plan of action, renew our commitments and consolidate new partnerships.

In Bilbao, the exchanging of experiences, together with the sharing of useful information for the development of the urban world, will be at the heart of our debates, in order to enrich the common message that we will all try to express in a useful way during the future Tunis World Summit.

Bertrand Delanoë, President of UCLG and Mayor of Paris.

Smangaliso Mkhatshwa, President of UCLG and Mayor of Tshwane (Pretoria) and the Tshwane connurbation.