OECD ministers agree to make Internet safer, more widely used

ahmedvisham · #1 19-06-2008, 12:53 AM

Ministers and officials from leading industrial nations agreed Wednesday to make the Internet safer and more accessible, to strengthen its role as a driving force in the global economy.

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) ministerial meeting adopted a "Seoul declaration" after a two-day forum on the future of the Internet economy.

"We agree that our challenges are...to expand Internet access and use worldwide... (and) ensure the protection of personal information in the online environment," it said.

"We declare that, to contribute to the development of the Internet economy, we will...strengthen confidence and security."

The declaration cites the need to strengthen security, reduce malicious activity online and protect personal data as well as privacy.

It also promises to use the medium to address challenges such as global warming, declaring: "We will work to use the tools of the Internet economy to address global challenges, such as climate change."

The worldwide web has increasingly become a key global platform for commerce and social interaction but faces an ever-growing challenge of trust and confidence, according to an OECD report to the meeting.

The report describes the Internet as a major driving force in global economic growth, responsible for 17.9 percent of OECD member states' gross domestic product growth over the past decade.

But online identity theft, fraud, infringement of privacy, malicious computer hacking and other forms of cyber-criminality have been constant threats.

"Absolute trust may never be achievable but users need to be confident that their online activities are as secure as offline equivalents," the report said.

"Protecting the Internet is a public policy priority."

More than one billion people or about 20 percent of the world's population use the Internet. "But over five billion people still lack access to the Internet," the OECD report said, calling for more work to raise access.

Eric Besson, French minister of state in charge of development of the digital economy, said providing better access would be a key part of his government's policy.

"One of the priorities defined by the French president will be to ensure that all French have a right to have a broadband connection," Besson told AFP.

"This plan will not only focus on the development of broadband networks but also on the use, the content and the governance of the Internet."

France, which will assume the EU presidency next month, will organise a ministerial conference on the future of the Internet on October 6-7 in Nice.

It plans to present conclusions to the European Council on November 27, he said.

The forum of the OECD members is a follow-up to the first one in Ottawa in 1998. It promised to ease the convergence of digital networks, devices and services.

OECD secretary general Angel Gurria described the Seoul declaration as "a road map for the future" and promised to review it within three years.

"We cannot talk about the importance of the Internet every ten years, which is an eternity in Internet time," he told a closing session.

More than 2,500 IT experts and officials took part in the meeting.

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