The United Nations Information and Communication Technologies Task Force (UN ICT TF) was a multi-stakeholder initiative associated with the United Nations which is "intended to lend a truly global dimension to the multitude of efforts to bridge the global digital divide, foster digital opportunity and thus firmly put ICT at the service of development for all". Establishment The UN ICT Task Force was created by United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan in November 2001, acting upon a request by the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) dated July 11, 2000, with an initial term of mandate of three years (until the end of 2004). It followed in the footsteps of the World Economic Forum (WEF) Global Digital Divide Initiative (GDDI), and the Digital Opportunities Task Force (DOT Force), established in 2000 by the G8 at their annual summit in Okinawa, Japan. By providing it with a home in the United Nations, this accorded the UN ICT Task Force, in the eyes of many developing countries, a broader legitimization than the previous WEF and G8 initiatives, even if these previous initiatives also included a multi-stakeholder approach with broad participation by stakeholders from industrialized and developing countries. Aims and objectives The Task Force's principal aim was to provide policy advice to governments and international organizations for bridging the digital divide. In addition to supporting the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) and leading the UN in developing ICT strategies for development, the Task Force's objective was to form partnerships between the UN system and states, private industry, trusts, foundations, and donors, and other stakeholders. Membership and organization The UN ICT Task Force has included the top ranks of the computer industry (Cisco Systems, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Nokia, SAP, Siemens, Sun Microsystems), together with global NGOs (e.g., the Association for Progressive Communications), governments and international agencies. Its coordinating body was a multi-stakeholder bureau, assisted by a small secretariat at UN headquarters in New York. Technical advice was provided by a high-level panel of technical advisors. Activities United Nations Information Technology Service (UNITeS) Within the Report of the high-level panel of experts on information and communication technology (22 May 2000) suggesting a UN ICT Task Force, the panel welcomed the establishment of a United Nations Information Technology Service (UNITeS), suggested by Kofi Annan in "We the peoples: the role of the United Nations in the 21st century" (Millennium Report of the Secretary-General). The panel