14 May 2008 – Morning

09:30 – 10:00

Inaugural Session
Welcome remarks

• Nitin Desai, Special Adviser to the United Nations Secretary-General for Internet Governance  
• Gherardo Casini, Executive Coordinator, Global Centre for ICT in Parliament

10:00 – 10:30

Keynote address

•   Jane Bortnick Griffith, Senior Advisor, Global Centre for ICT in Parliament

10:30 – 12:30

Session one – Implementation of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) goals: The United Nations system at work

Chair: Joseph Owona Kono, Member of the National Assembly of Cameroon
Panel:

• Charles Geiger, Special Advisor to the Commission on Science and Technology for Development, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and former Executive Director of the Secretariat of the WSIS
• Susan Teltscher, Chief, ICT Policy and Analysis Unit, ICT and E-Business Branch, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)

Open discussion

15:00 – 18:00

 Session two – Role of parliaments in advancing the Information Society

Theme 1: Fulfilling parliamentary responsibilities  

Chair: Antonio Galamba, Member of the Assembly of the Republic of Portugal

Panel:

• Geoffrey Q.M. Doidge, House Chairperson, National Assembly of South Africa
• Eric Sikhumbuzo Kholwane, Member of the Committee on Communications, National Assembly of South Africa
• Kyösti Karjula, Member of the Committee for the Future, Parliament of Finland

Country reports and open discussion

Theme 2: Organizational approaches in parliaments

Chair:Agostinho Branquinho, Member of the Assembly of the Republic of Portugal

Panel:

• Francisco Javier Costellon Fonseca, Chairman of the Committee on Science and Technology, Senate of Mexico
• Wellars Gasamagera, Member of the Political and Good Governance Standing Committee and Member of the ICT Steering Committee, Senate of Rwanda

Country reports and open discussion

15 May 2008 - Morning

10:00 – 13:00

 Session three – The legislative role in promoting an equitable information society

Theme 1: Bringing the information society to all

Chair: Kostantinos Tsiaras, Member of the Standing Committee on Research and Technology of the Hellenic Parliament

Panel:

• Shri Nikhil Kumar, Chairman of the Committee on Information Technology, House of the People of India
• Hanne Agersnap, Member of the Science and Technology Committee, The Danish Parliament

Country reports and open discussion

Theme 2: Ensuring equitable access

Chair: Kostantinos Tsiaras, Member of the Standing Committee on Research and Technology of the Hellenic Parliament

Panel:

• Hannes Astok, Member of the Estonian Parliament
• Rishab Aiyer Ghosh, Head, Collaborative Creativity Group, United Nations University/UNU-MERIT

Country reports and open discussion

15:00 – 17:30

 Session four – Parliament’s role in guaranteeing citizen rights in the information society

Theme: Protecting privacy in the Internet era and Guaranteeing fundamental rights in the Web 2.0 environment

Chair: Mincho Spasov, Chairman of the Internal Security and Public Order Committee, National Assembly of Bulgaria

Panel:

•   Rob van den Hoven van Genderen, Expert, Council of Europe
•   Stefano Rodotà, Professor of Law, University of Rome “La Sapienza”
•   Christopher Kay Ridder, Residential Fellow, Stanford Law School, Center for Internet and Society

Country reports and open discussion

17:30 – 18:00

 Closing Session
Next steps and concluding remarks

• Gherardo Casini, Executive Coordinator, Global Centre for ICT in Parliament