The Road to WCIT 2008

Behind the build-up of excitement leading to WCIT 2008 next May, is a tale of secret ballots, sheer bravado and meeting of fates by a simple toss of a thumb-sized Nepalese coin.

Lobbying efforts for WCIT 2008 started as early as 2000 within Asian-Oceanian Computing Industry Organization (Asocio), which is Asia’s voice in Witsa.

“We carried the national colour at Asocio and did not take part to lobby for rights to host WCIT. Multimedia Super Corridor was only five years old and Pikom’s resources were limited,” Looi Kien Leong, former Chairman of the Association of the Computer and Multimedia Industry Malaysia (PIKOM) recalled. “Larger economies with ICT prowess like India and Singapore were already intensifying their efforts to secure WCIT 2008’s hosting rights. We were contented to be merely a participant at that time.”

But that outlook soon changed. Looi found himself having breakfast with then Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC)’s senior vice president Datuk V. Danabalan at Asocio 2001 General Assembly in New Delhi, India.

“We discussed many things, among them WCIT 2008 for the first time.”

“Upon his (Datuk V. Danabalan) return, he had briefed then MDeC’s executive chairman Tan Sri Othman Yeop Abdullah and Pikom was asked to meet with him,” Looi recalled. “By week’s end, Tan Sri fast-tracked a Pikom proposal to host WCIT 2008 to then Energy, Telecommunications and Post Minister Datuk Dr Amar Leo Moggie. The Minister consulted and received the Cabinet’s support.”

For over two years, the Government and Pikom conducted an intense campaign to garner support from Asocio members. The lobbying campaign was so intense that we found Leo Moggie pitched against his counterparts from other regional economies at more than one Asocio event,” Looi said, adding that the RM250,000 purse was small in comparison to the competitor’s coffers.

Ultimately, the decision to select WCIT 2008 host economy was to be decided by a secret ballot during Asocio’s Officer’s Meeting 2003 at Kathmandu, Nepal. The day before the even t took place saw other potential host economies stepping up their last-minute lobbying efforts. “By then there were only two economies named on the ballot box. We left the press conference room as the secret balloting process started,” Looi recalled. “It was a tie and the pressure became intense.”

The delegates deliberated and decided on another round of vote by secret balloting in the evening. After the votes were tallied and results ratified by the delegates, a loud commotion was heard and the doors flew open.

“We were informed that it came to another deadlock,” Looi said. “In the room, delegates proposed to delay the vote or have then Asocio’s president, Thailand’s Manoo Ordeedolchest, cast a tie-breaker vote.”

Then a delegate proposed tossing a coin. The din in the room was silent after a neutral representative was elected to carry out the toss.

To this day, Looi cannot vividly remember the side of the coin which appeared after the toss. “All I can recall were the handshakes and jubilant cries,” he said.

(Excerpted from Outlook, New Straits Times, 21 May 2007) 

Past WCIT host cities