further construction of the rest of the 47-member task force. Each G8 country was asked
to field representatives from 3 societal sectors: government, private sector business, and
from non-profit organizations (NPO’s). Eight non-G8, developing countries were also
asked to provide governmental representatives.
This membership was further
complemented by the addition of single members from the European Commission, the
OECD, ECOSOC, UNESCO, UNCTAD, ITU, the World Economic Forum (WEF), the
Global Information Infrastructure Commission (GIIC) and the Global Business Dialogue
on E-Commerce (GBDE).
The objectives of the DOT Force were also laid out in the Okinawa Charter:
1. the facilitation of dialogue and discussion with a variety of
stakeholders: developing countries, international organizations, NGOs;
2. G8 coordination of ICT programmes and projects;
3. the promotion of policy dialogue and education and awareness
programmes;
4. examination of private sector inputs; and
5. reporting of findings and activities before the next annual meeting in
Genoa.
Four priority areas were also established:
1. fostering policy, regulatory and network readiness;
2. improving connectivity, increasing access and lowering costs;
3. building human capacity; and
4. encouraging participation in global e-commerce networks.
The DOT Force was set up with a deliberate time-frame that guided its actions.
The first phase of its operation was to uncover and identify concrete methods and projects
for bridging the digital divide, and to ensure the full participation of developing countries
in the global information society. To do this, the DOT Force was to undertake three two-
day plenary meetings for all the members (with meetings taking place in Tokyo, Cape
Town, and Siena, respectively). These plenaries were designed to incrementally create a
8
The developing country members were Bolivia, Brazil, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Senegal, South Africa and
Tanzania.
4
Convention