THE World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), which meets in Geneva, Switzerland December 10-12 with the lofty goal of drawing up a road map for the future of society, runs the risk of disappointing millions already marginalised by the digital revolution unless international policymakers can find last-minute agreement on issues that have, so far, dogged the preparatory negotiations.

At the time of writing, the outcome of the final preparatory meeting (December 5-6) was not known.

But, at the start of this crucial last round, delegates were divided by issues like the creation of a fund for reversing the digital divide -- a key demand of developing countries, the role of the communications media in the Information Society, Internet governance, limits to intellectual property rights, copyright and free software, according to an Inter Press Service report from Geneva.

The inclusion of references to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in the WSIS final documents is also opposed by some governments who feel their domestic sovereignty and national media institutions could be threatened by further international scrutiny of their human rights conduct.

This latter hurdle is ironic as this historic conference is starting on Human Rights Day (Dec 10) which celebrates the 1948 Universal Declaration, widely regarded as the cornerstone of human rights principles in much of the world.

The process towards the Summit began back in December 2001 when the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution urging the international community to agree to a set of principles and a plan of action to tap the enormous potential of knowledge and technology to promote human freedom and development.

Underlying the effort was the recognition that the dizzying breakthroughs in information and communication technologies have changed -- and will continue to change -- the ways that human kind earn, learn, play and talk with each other.

Documents coming out of the Summit's preparatory process speak optimistically of a recognition that education, knowledge, information and communication are at the core of human progress, endeavour and well-being.

Further, Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have an immense impact on virtually all aspects of our lives. The rapid progress of these technologies opens completely new opportunities to attain higher levels of development.

The capacity of these technologies to reduce many traditional obstacles, especially those of time and distance, for the first time in history makes it possible to use the potential of these technologies for the benefit of millions of people in all corners of the world. At issue: How this is going to happen, who will pay for it, and who will control it.

Critics like Antonio Pasquali, a former assistant director-general of UNESCO for communications, have long been arguing that the choice of The International Telecommunications Union (ITU), as the UN agency at the helm of the summit was wrong from the very beginning.

That's because the ITU specialises in technology issues, thus its orientation is towards technology and telecommunications, with little attention to the socio-political aspects of information and communication.

"In addition to the socio-political inexperience of the host (ITU) there is another shortcoming to this event: the role in the summit ceded to the multinationals of this sector," Pasquali wrote for IPS Columnist Service.

Put simply, the big companies that create and own the new technologies primarily for the benefit of shareholders are not overly impressed with 'development speak' like building "a people-centred, inclusive and development oriented information society, where everyone can create, access, utilise and share information and knowledge, enabling individuals, communities and peoples to achieve their full potential in promoting their sustainable development and improving their quality of life".

One of the main concerns of the critics is that the agenda that has emerged is concerned mainly with telecommunication and Internet related issues, viewed from a technical perspective and a narrowly construed development agenda. Broader communication and media issues, an essential feature of any information society, and human and communication rights that must animate its core, have been largely sidelined.

Thus, the way the agenda developed, it appeared that the vision was of a future dominated by on-line communication and economic activity.

To address the potential marginalisation of traditional broadcast media from the process, other UN agencies like UNESCO and media organisations like the European Broadcasting Union are staging a parallel World Electronic Media Forum (WEFM) to examine key topics like universal access to information, freedom of expression, cultural diversity, social cohesion and education.

The perspective of the WEFM and leaders of many world broadcasting organisations is that communications technology is not an end in itself, but a vehicle for providing information and content, promoting diversity of culture, language and ethnic experience and respect for different civilisations.

One of the specific concerns of the forum, to which I have been invited by UNESCO to participate as a Caribbean media researcher, is the future of public service broadcasting in the face of the growing internationalisation of commercial media and the concentration of ownership in fewer hands.

With countries like Jamaica and Belize withdrawing from public media ownership and the remaining state-owned systems mostly under political control and financial pressure the entire Caribbean region has an interest in the way the Summit can promote independent voices and alternative points of view in a commercial media environment.

One of the concerns is to examine how a new kind of public broadcasting can help to provide universal access to information and knowledge through quality and diverse content reflecting the needs, develop an inclusive public sphere as a forum for debate on policy issues, promote cultural diversity and enhance the educational opportunities promised by the new technologies.

In addition, Jamaica and other Caribbean countries that are seeking to transform their societies by liberalising their telecommunications industry and attracting new investments to the sector, the stakes in Geneva (and the follow-up session in Tunisia in 2005) are high.

Phillip Paulwell, minister of commerce, science and technology who will head the Jamaican delegation at the summit, sometime ago outlined a broad telecommunications vision to "transform Jamaica into a knowledge-based society" and to make the country "the centre for IT activities and investments in the Caribbean".

The idea is that our schools, universities and training institutions would create a highly educated and skilled workforce that will attract investments especially in services like information technology, tourism, film and entertainment, business services and high-value agribusiness sub-sectors like nutraceuticals and flavoured foods.

Several other Caribbean countries, including Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados and The Bahamas are also aggressively pursuing policies to use ICTs for social and economic transformation. They will be looking to see how the Summit can facilitate that process.

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