 We're here at ITU Telecom World 2012 in Dubai, and I'm very pleased to be joined by Professor Klaus M. Leisinger, who is Chairman of the Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development. Professor Leisinger, thank you very much for being with us today. It's a pleasure. Debates in ITU Telecom World 2012 have been focusing on the current radical transformation of the ICT sector and its impact on the world in which we live. What for you are the principal opportunities arising from this transformation? I'm specialising in my work on what good use is there for poor people in the developing world. And I see several things arising. On the one hand, we have possibilities in education that we never had before. Through ICT, we have possibilities in health that we never had before. We can empower people through giving them information. We can shorten distances. Somebody with telemedicine can hook up to a university hospital in Europe or in the United States. These are huge opportunities. The question is, who has access to it? Under what condition? What's the price? Is it what the French would call a service public or is it something that costs money? If it costs money, you will cut out a lot of people who would benefit most from it. Can we find a differential pricing mechanism that kind of pays the service public for the poor and gives preferential treatment or different treatment to those who can pay for it? These are open questions and I find we are in the middle of that debate and that's good. But in terms of the main challenge or the challenges being brought about by this transformation, what would you perceive those to be? I personally have the feeling that there are some aspects that are underestimated or undervalued at the moment. Let me make a comparison. In the 1970s and 80s, the pharmaceutical industry was hugely successful, it was booming, innovation, a lot of profit, a lot, and that led to a certain extent to a complacency, to ecotism, if not arrogance, and there were questions out there and there were critics out there that were not listened to because somehow we do such a good job. Who are you to question that? I find the ICT industry in a similar situation today. There are booksellers who take books out of their sordidment for political reasons. There are companies who do not allow apps that are critical of, let's say, the Syrian government. There is something going on that touches data privacy, that touches data protection. Who is evaluating with whom I make my telephone calls in what restaurants am I eating, what kind of books am I buying? Who is analyzing it? Could it be that I then get spams from somebody who wants to sell to me what I already have consumed? At least I want to be asked what happens to my data, and I want to have a word if I do not want that. The enormous potential goes along with some risks. And I think part of what the ICT leadership today is not doing is going out and talk about the dilemmas, going out and talk about the risk. You know, initiating a debate instead of waiting in complacency until you are criticized from outside. So what would your vision or response be to addressing these challenges and taking up these opportunities really? My vision would be that leaders in the industry go out and talk about that, explain why they are doing what they are doing, explain the dilemmas they have to live with, explain what has priority in doubt and for what reasons. It's the very normal golden rule, don't do unto others what you do not want to be done unto you. And my experience is that if leaders take up the issue because they know best what issues they have, you give the debate a human face and you make an impression that you have a constructive interest in settling these issues rather than hiding in your silo. Finally I'd like to ask you a question I've been asking all my interviews here. What makes this event special? What makes it important? And what would you like to see to be the outcome from this? Well, the single most important advantage is it brings a lot of thought leaders together in one place. It opens up communication, it opens up possibility for exchange of views for debates and I think this has an awareness racing effect, this has a thought stimulating effect and that's always good for the reasons I have mentioned before. What I would wish is that we deepen this, we strengthen this, we talk about what's the corporate responsibility of ICT, in what areas do we have to do what. My grandmother told me that God has given you two eyes, two ears and only one mouth and I hope that a lot of industry leaders are learning that lesson coming from that. Professor Lysiker, thank you very much indeed for being with us today. It was a pleasure.