Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: The first phase of the World Information Society Summit that took place in Geneva in December 2003 added another dimension to the already complex dynamics of global information society governance. The 1990s, were marked by a number of radical initiatives implemented in order to bring ICT regimes increasingly outside of the national domain: the 1993 agreement, in which communication was treated as a service, and signed by 130 countries with the WTO, and the 1997 Agreement on Basic Telecommunications Service, signed by 69 countries were major milestones toward an internationalized communications regime. Accordingly, in the 1990s, EU and US implemented vigorous telecommunications and IS policies. This article, which is built on a recent case study of the EU’s IST (Information Society Technologies) policies vis-à-vis candidate countries is an attempt to provide an insight into the current efforts to internationalize questions such as digital divide and communication rights from a country-specific perspective. The focus remains on the discussion of the Turkish experience with regional IST policies, while I link the findings and arguments with the vision put forth through WSIS. The point of departure for this case study of Turkey is the contention that telecoms infrastructure and the social shaping of national policy constitute the building blocks for the emergence of an IS. In other words, not only does the telecommunications infrastructure constitute the material basis for information society, but the nature of and stakes around the infrastructure in a given context might ultimately determine the nature of the IS.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: The overarching research question in this paper is: What is the influence of high- versus-low context cultural orientations on effective participation in globally distributed collaboration amongst transnational NGO networks using email? To answer this question, we will use Edward Hall’s (1976) theory as the primary conceptual lens. Specifically, we will employ a cultural dimension called “context” which explains the variations in terms of high-context-versus-low context. Other literature in this domain will also be used to explore the various aspects of cultural impacts. We are proposing a research design that uses content analysis to look at the WSIS public archival email messages. From this source material, we will present descriptive statistical analysis and in-depth descriptions for each of the decision-making stages described above, from a cultural stance.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: To make sense of the currently unfolding World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)––and global communications policymaking in general––we must engage with two projects. First, we must historicize WSIS in relation to an earlier UN-sponsored summit, the New World Information and Communication Order (NWICO), which was similarly focused on global communications policy. Second, we must theorize WSIS in terms related to the dominant political economic system defining global relations today: neoliberalism. Neoliberalism’s ascendance coinciding with NWICO’s demise is not random coincidence. Tackling these two projects will help bring into focus both continuities and changes over the previous three decades. This time period is a crucial chapter in the development of our current global communication system.