Separated Together: The International Telecommunications Union and Civil Society

Abstract

The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) is embarking on a cautious discovery mission to civil society. Presently, the organization’s interface with civil society is governed by different regimes depending on whether ITU is acting within its incumbent competences or as organizer and stakeholder of the WSIS. This paper concentrates on ITU’s incumbent competences in international spectrum management and standards-setting with its inherent public policy formulations. The central question to be addressed is how the organization will reconcile its membership and corporate culture with the effective participation of stakeholders from civil society. The paper analyses a study process, which ITU initiated with Resolution 141 of the Plenipotentiary Conference in Antalya, on the participation of all relevant stakeholders in the activities of the ITU emanating from the WSIS. This contribution will refocus global governance research on the valid claim for full recognition of civil society actors in ITU’s core activities. It will be shown, that the process in fulfilment of Resolution 141 is falling behind this goal because of the limited mandate of the study and the procedural rules applied. The outlook will present several scenarios on how ITU could resolve the process and places them in the context with the WSIS procedural principles of transparency and participatory inclusiveness.