In a short period, information and communication technology has conquered the (Western) world. While in the early 1990s, few people had heard of email or the Internet, ten years later, these technologies have become institutionalised and common-place. It is hard yet to grasp the influence of this on society, but it is certain that a world in which ICT plays such a dominant role is, in various ways, functioning differently from the world two decades ago. This affects the law, social development and ethical notions. A glance at recent developments in developing countries shows that ICTs, although slowly, start playing a key role in economic and social change as well. Given earlier experiences in the Western world, the rise of ICT in developing countries will also have a fundamental influence on ethics, regulatory challenges and social life.

The sessions focusing on ethical, legal and social aspects, will address some of the major challenges as well as opportunities in the area of law, ethics and social life. These include: identity theft and security in online environments, the use of ICT in the judiciary, a code of ethics in the information society, Internet as a resource tool for empowerment of women, e-learning tools for lawyers and judges.

The (invited) speakers for the sessions include:

• Session ICT in the Judiciary: Ato Menbere Tsehay (Judge Supreme Court Ethiopia); Michael M.Murungi speaking on the The Kenya Law Reports.
• Session ID-theft and security: Reinhardt Buys ( Lawyer Cape Town, SA), Dr. Adreas Mitrakas (policy advisor European Network and Information Security Agency - ENISA) and Sonia Camacho (expert on legal aspects of ID-theft)
• Session Ethical issues: Boyan Radoykov (UNESCO)
• Session Legal E-learning tools: Rahel Bekele (assistant professor Addis Ababa University)
• Session MDG Internet portal: dr. Katherine Gateo (University of Nairobi), Dr. Mina T. Gabor (President of Uniglobal Services Outsourcing, Inc, Philipines)