Mr. Patrick Gannon, Chairman of the TSIED, President and CEO, OASIS (USA)

Members of the Bureau Present

Mr. George Gomelauri, Founding Director, Engineer and Management Group (Georgia)

Members of the Bureau not Present

Mr. Istvan Erenyi, Head, Ministry of Information and Telecommunication (Hungary)
Mr. Fatos Dega, Advisor to the Miister, Ministry of Economy (Albania)
Mr. Yury Fontanov, Deputy Director General, Ministry of Communications and Informatization (Russian Federation)
*Mr. Zoran Jolevski, Secretary General, Workshop on Intellectual Property Rights and Trade Facilitation, (FYR of Macedonia)
Mr. Georgi Stoev, Executive Director, Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Bulgaria)
Ms. Silvia-Adriana Ticau, State Secretary, Ministry of Communications and Informarmaton Technology (Romania)
Mr. Nurbek Toichubaev, Director, the Information Future Public Foundation (Kyrgyzstan)

Secretariat

Ms. Michiko Enomoto, Secretary to the TSIED, UNECE
Mr. Geoffrey Hamilton, UNECE
Mr. Mitja Jarh, UNECE
Ms. Maddalena Liccone, UNECE

The main points discussed during the conference call were:

1. TSIED input for a conference in Bishkek (Kyrgzstan)
2. Membership of the TSIED Bureau
3. Other Business
4. Date and venue of the next meeting

1. TSIED input for a conference in Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan) organized by “the Information Future” Kyrgyz Public Foundation
   Ms. Enomoto informed the TSIED Bureau about the invitation sent by Mr. Nurbek Toichubaev to participate in a conference on “Providing Villagers with the Access to Information through Public Information Centers Creation and its Sustainable Development” in August 2005 in Bishkek. The main organizers of the conference are the Ministry of transport and communications of Kyrgyzstan, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Soros Foundation. The TISEID agreed to support the conference in the areas where the themes are related to the work of the TSIED such as use of ICT in enterprise development. The members requested Mr. Toichubaev to provide a more elaborated conference proposal highlighting relationship with Internet enterprise development and capacity building, so that TSIED could actively participate. In particular, TSIED Bureau is interested to know more about the possibility to improve Internet literacy in Kyrgyzstan to create a network in the Baltic countries. Mr. Gomelauri suggested that it would be useful to know the underlying needs in Kyrgyzstan prior to support their project. Mr. Gannon requested Mr. Toichubaev’s participation at the next conference call on 17th June 2005 so that the Bureau would be able to re-discuss the issue.

2. Membership of the TSIED Bureau
   In order to strengthen and streamline the work of the TSIED Ms. Enomoto proposed to the TSIED members to review its current membership structure. The members agreed to explore different types of membership such as an associate member and to limit the membership to one year with a possibility of extension, which would be subject to members’ willingness to contribute to the work of the TSIED. This structure would also enable the TSIED to have a more flexible structure and to better respond to various initiatives from the member states.

   Regarding possible membership arrangements Mr. Hamilton shared his experience on Advisory Group on Intellectual Property Rights where membership has different layers according to the level of contribution by a given member. He also emphasized that this arrangement is very positive for the work of the Group. Mr. Gannon requested the Secretariat to prepare a draft proposal for further discussion.

3. Other business
   The TSIED members have requested the Secretariat to oversee the progress of the e-repository project that was prepared by Mr. David Petraitis. Ms. Enomoto informed the members that the first phase of the project has been successfully completed and that the result was reported on the 9th February 2005 at the TSIED seminar, as well as at the Bureau meeting on the same day. Currently, Mr. David Petraitis, a consultant who is working on the e-repository project, is seeking a sponsorship, which would allow him to continue the second phase of the project.

4. Date and venue of the ext meeting
   The Bureau confirmed the date of the next teleconference on 17^th of June at 15.00 CET (Central European Time).