A “digital divide” separates participants in the revolution in information and technology from those who are not. It happens across international borders, and it happens within any community in which economic and social barriers separate people. At the first phase of the U.N. World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), held in Geneva in 2003, world leaders declared their commitment to turning this digital divide into a digital opportunity for all, particularly for those who risk being left behind and further marginalized.

Information School Assistant Professor Karine Barzilai-Nahon was a key member of the Israeli delegation to the second phase of WSIS, held in Tunisia in November 2005. “The WSIS was the first real attempt for countries and other stakeholders to convene and try to solve issues that concern the information society, such as free speech on the Internet, access to content, localization mechanisms, xenophobia and more,” Barzilai-Nahon says. “While representing Israel as the academic director of its delegation, I also participated in the conference as an iSchool researcher, and I strongly felt the iSchool’s moral and social support.”

The objective of the Tunis summit was to put Geneva’s Plan of Action into motion and to find solutions to the remaining stumbling blocks. Nearly 50 heads of government and vice-presidents and 197 ministers, vice ministers and deputy ministers from 174 countries attended, as well as high-level representatives from international organizations, the private sector, and civil society. Overall, more than 19,000 participants attended the summit and related events.

The summit adopted a Statement of Commitment and an Agenda for the Information Society and Barzilai-Nahon notes two other major developments. “The WSIS created an international implementation mechanism, moderated and facilitated by U.N. agencies when appropriate,” she says. “The International Telecommunication Union (ITU), United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) are expected to play leading facilitating roles in formal global information society processes.

“Most importantly, WSIS created a new international body called the Internet Governance Group (IGF) with a mandate to facilitate discourse on these issues,” she continues. “The group was a result of a conflict in which the European Union and other countries asked to move control of Internet governance away from the U.S. and suggested, among other things, internationalization of Internet governance as an alternative. The compromise was leaving the situation as is, but constructing the IGF, which will advise and suggest policy in this area.”

Barzilai-Nahon, who has doctoral, master’s and bachelor’s degrees from Tel-Aviv University, held senior positions in research and development in high-tech companies in Israel and San Francisco before joining the UW faculty in 2004. She teaches information policy and ethics and focuses her research on information politics and social aspects of technological changes. Her specialties include information control on the Internet, particularly in virtual communities, and tools for measuring the digital divide.

During the three formal days of the summit, Barzilai-Nahon organized the Israeli delegation’s panels and worked on delegate committees that attempted to reconcile disagreements and make sure that all participating countries approved the summit’s accords. “Task groups worked until the small hours trying to bridge disagreements, and it was fascinating to see how decisions are made behind the scenes,” she recalls. “One of the conflicts revolved around free speech in the media. The debate was whether to anchor this subject around national or international laws. Most of the developing countries preferred using national laws, since some of them do not permit a large degree of free speech, while most of the developed countries preferred international mechanisms for regulation of free speech. Finally, when the summit closing was approaching, they decided on a vague formula as an exit from the conflict (‘We reaffirm our commitment to the freedom to seek, receive, impart and use information’).”

Beyond its global importance, Barzilai-Nahon found the summit professionally valuable in several ways. “I met many colleagues from other countries from academia, public administration and business,” she explains. “Encountering and exchanging information with colleagues from countries that Israel does not have any relations with was fascinating and moving as well.”

Things she experienced outside of the formal framework of the conference affected her as much if not more than the summit itself, she says. “It was fascinating to see the daily life in a rather wealthy society that is still under an authoritarian regime,” Barzilai-Nahon explains. “For example, Tunis was closed to free movement during the summit – when our bus passed, the streets were evacuated. It was strange to drive a usually noisy street and see it quiet.”

Barzilai-Nahon left Tunis with mixed emotions about the summit’s accomplishments. “The fact that all the countries sat around the same table for three years negotiating issues concerning access and use of information and technology is encouraging,” she says. “Nevertheless, I am sorry to say that I bring a more pessimistic perspective to the table regarding bridging the digital divide. The concept comprises so many levels of analysis and different factors that it feels almost patronizing to say we are closer to bridging it in actual means. The problems are different and contingent upon the context: In the First World, bridging the digital divide would come in terms of improving skills; in the Third World, the bridge could be just having one computer in a village.

“Gaps have always existed and will continue to exist – socially, politically and economically” she continues. “I do believe in the iSchool statement preaching ‘information for all.’ My perspective may be pessimistic, but I think as information scientists and leaders we should take a big role in helping wherever we can through research and education. Although it is a small drop in the ocean, as the saying goes, ‘Saving one soul is saving a whole world.’”