The Global Cities Dialogue is an international network of Mayors and High Political Representatives (HPRs) who believe that the development of the Information Society should be for the benefit of all the citizens, communities and peoples of the world. For this reason, they committed themselves to this goal by signing the Declaration of Helsinki "Mayors of the World for a Global Cities Dialogue on the Information Society" and getting actively involved in creating equal opportunities and access for all citizens.
Access to the network bears in itself the seeds of a new society - the Information Society, which characterizes the beginning of the third millennium, progressively replacing the industrial one developed in the 19th and 20th centuries. This global dialogue is a political act, the expression of common political wills, which reminds the present and future members that the Information Society is first of all a change in the community. The GCD is also a political platform that allows its members to make their voices sound louder in the development of this new society. The local authorities are seen as a very pertinent level for the development of new practices, using Information and Communication Technologies for the citizen. Cities are the main melting pots for innovation and change, both for the formal and the informal components of our world. Cities are essential in searching new mechanisms for global governance and in the transition towards the Knowledge Society.
Information and Communication Technologies offer new ways of government. All over the world, citizens are asking their governments to be more open in their relation with the civil society. In the political decision-making process, some of the main characteristics of a reinvented system are transparency and access to information and knowledge. Citizens expect secured services to respond to their needs and to receive a better "customer service" from their administrations.
The direct representation of mayors in the dialogue ensures the necessary credibility and political authority. Cities are challenged to play a true leading role by contributing with concrete actions and committing themselves to turning their vision of the dialogue into fruitful initiatives for the Information Society. Today, the GCD network has approximately 200 members worldwide and is registered as an international non-profit-making organization under Belgian law.
Within the "open framework", the role of the Global Cities Dialogue is to stimulate and implement a number of selected catalytic actions and a steering structure in order to:
- Help cities discover and learn about each other's Information Society experiences and know-how;
- Support cities to establish bi-lateral and/or multi-lateral relations and to choose the most appropriate blends of ingredients to hasten the development of the Information Society;
- Encourage cities to participate in a "dialogue of dialogues" e.g. along with the Global Business Dialogue (GBDe) or the Knowledge Society Forum (Eurocities) and to contribute to the solution of the problems that slow down the globalisation of the Information Society.
History
The GCD was launched in 1999 by twelve founding members who decided to commit themselves to the development of the Information Society for the benefit of all regardless of race, social position, creed, gender or age. At that time, GCD was the world's first initiative based on a joint commitment by cities - represented by their mayors and HPRs - to work tirelessly for realising this promise of equal opportunities and access. Over the last decade it has invited nearly 200 cities across the five continents to join in this worthy, effective and dynamic enterprise.
