22 November 2010. Second meeting of ICT experts in Paris

The second meeting of IPEMED’s ICT expert group was focused on the following axes of reflection:

I - Trust and digitalization of the economies in the Mediterranean society : how the classic relation of trust and mistrust is modified by the digital technology: how the one completes or corrects the other one? What transformations do we notice between one-to-one communication and communication via the digital technology? Are relationships modified by the digital technology? Can we speak about governance of the digital trust?

2 - What is the state of arts of 2.0 Web "social networks" in countries of the Mediterranean basin? Are they different from those in France? What are the "nearness" which today produce some trust in the Mediterranean society? How the transformation of the social networks modifies these mechanisms of nearness? Can we bound a Mediterranean space of networks, if yes how?

3 - Is there such a governance? Is this trust being discussed, questioned or governed? How the introduction of the Internet in the exchanges transforms the governance of the trust? What are the mechanisms of control on the accesses and contents in these networks of communication? The implementation of the state of arts by the experts shall allow a better comprehension of the functioning of the digital technology and what has been changed by it.

Some examples of the modification in the relations of trust done by the development of the digital technology were presented like the "call centers" and the on-line payment. It allowed raising the following paradox: in a relation of already established trust, the digital technology negatively affects the exchanges because it eliminates the one-to-one communication. But when a relation of mistrust exists it can favour the exchanges. In other words, the digital technology can transform trust in mistrust or the other way around depending on the situations.

The meeting ended after the experts worked on the ongoing glossary that will complete the report and on the identification of the first ideas of recommendations to be implemented, among which:

-  To elaborate a reference charter on ICT.
-  To set up an observatory of the intangible and the data.
-  To evoke the difficulty of the language and also between different languages (English, Arabic, French)
-  To guarantee the quality of services via the elaboration of demanding and strict regulations emanating from States or from interstate agreements can be a solution to decrease the mistrust in Southern countries. 
-  To encourage North-South cooperation between young companies in order to build networks and bridges between the economic actors seems to be a fundamental axis to create an economic growth for ICT in both shores.