Phase II of the World Summit on the Information Society welcomed more than 16,000 delegates from 176 countries in Tunis to focus on forging strategies to improve the accessibility and affordability of information and communication technologies. The BA and Egypt’s Ministry of Communication and Information Technology participated jointly at the event. Chairing a panel discussion themed ‘Bibliotheca Alexandrina’s role in building the information society’, Ismail Serageldin laid out a discussion on promoting culture in the digital world, bridging the digital divide, providing Arabic e-content and building a universal digital library. Joining Serageldin to the panel discussion were Dr. Alan Kay, President, Viewpoints Research Institute, Mr. Andrew McLaughlin, Head, Google’s Global Public Policy Team and Mr. Jonathan Murray, Vice-President and Chief Technology Officer, Microsoft Europe, Middle East and Africa. Speaking at the Summit’s opening ceremony, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan focused attention on the issue of Internet governance, and stressed that the UN is striving to protect and strengthen the Internet to ensure that its benefits are available to all.