[WSIS CS-Plenary] UN Alliance on Closing Digital Divide Meets Next Week

Fri Sep 29 09:45:51 BST 2006

Hmmm, Yes, particularly since the information that we (those within the GAID "governance structure" but not part of the "Steering Committee") were given was that the next meeting (which evidently is open to observers, at least from the Panel of Advisors) is not until early next year.

Also, I note that on the agenda for this meeting was "the "telecentre 2.0" initiative to supplement the first wave of centres with ones that are sustainable and build local capacity", which is interesting since from what I can gather from the press release http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2006/note6035.doc.htm none of those attending would have any direct (or even indirect) experience with how a telecentre actually works, what might (or might not) make it successful or sustainable, how it might actually contribute to building local capacity and so on...

Not a very good start at being "transparent, inclusive", results oriented, knowledge driven etc.etc....

Need it be pointed out again that one of the major reasons for the widely acknowledged failure of "telecentre 1.0" (?) to achieve wide-spread sustainability, make a significant contribution to building local capacity etc.etc. was the failure to include in their planning and development the insights of those most directly concerned on the ground with the development of telecentres or any systematic program of community anchored evaluation or research concerning the outcomes, impacts and overall development processes of telecentres in communities.

MG

Michael Gurstein, Ph.D.
On behalf of Community Informatics Research Network
	Member: GAID "High Level Panel of Advisors"
	Member: Steering Committee Global Telecentre Alliance 

Centre for Community Informatics Research, Development and Training
Vancouver, CANADA
http://www.communityinformatics.net

-----Original Message-----
From: plenary-admin at wsis-cs.org [mailto:plenary-admin at wsis-cs.org] On Behalf Of Elizabeth Carll, PhD
Sent: September 29, 2006 5:02 AM
To: plenary at wsis-cs.org
Subject: RE: [WSIS CS-Plenary] UN Alliance on Closing Digital Divide Meets Next Week

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Click http://wsis.funredes.org/plenary/ to access automatic translation of this message! _______________________________________

Dear All,

Francis posted the information re  "first-ever meeting at the United Nations of the newly formed Global Alliance for Information and Communication Technologies and Development <http://www.un-gaid.org>
(GAID) on September 27. "

Since Francis was kind enough to post the information and as I was at the UN on Sept 27th,  I decided to stop in to see if I would be able to observe the meeting.  Unfortunately, the meeting was closed and I was not permitted to stay. I did have a chance to speak  briefly with Renate Bloem, who is a member of the Alliance, who said she would post a summary of the meeting very soon.  Hopefully, in the future, these types of meetings will be open to observers.

Best regards,

Elizabeth

Dr. Elizabeth Carll
International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies Communications Coordination Committee for the UN
Tel: 631-754-2424
Fax: 631-754-5032
ecarll at optonline.net

-----Original Message-----
From: plenary-admin at wsis-cs.org [mailto:plenary-admin at wsis-cs.org]On
Behalf Of Dr. Francis MUGUET
Sent: Wednesday, September 20, 2006 9:56 PM
To: plenary at wsis-cs.org
Subject: [WSIS CS-Plenary] UN Alliance on Closing Digital Divide Meets Next Week

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Hi !

Sorry I have been busy  lately but
Why nobody has been talking about this ?

Best

Francis
--------------------------------

http://www.govtech.net/magazine/channel_story.php/101111

  UN Alliance on Closing Digital Divide Meets Next Week

Sep 20, 2006 /News Release/
/"Countries concluded at the 2005 World Summit that the internationally agreed development goals will not be achieved unless we do development differently"/

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan will open the first-ever meeting at the United Nations of the newly formed Global Alliance for Information and Communication Technologies and Development <http://www.un-gaid.org>
(GAID) on September 27. Chairing discussion of Alliance strategic goals will be Intel board chairman Craig Barrett.

Launched in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 19 June, the Alliance promotes action to utilize new information and communication technologies to fight poverty and promote development.

In addition to Barrett, other Steering Committee members attending include Jamaludin Jarjis, Malaysia's Minister of Science, Technology and Innovations Minister; Luis Alberto Moreno, president of the Inter-American Development Bank; Walter Fust, director-general, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation; Titi Akinsanmi, program manager, Global Teenager Project, South Africa; John Bernander, secretary-general, Norwegian Broadcasting, European Broadcasting Union; Renate Bloem, president, the Committee on NGOs, Switzerland; and Guy Sebban, secretary-general of the International Chamber of Commerce.

The Steering Committee, which provides the Alliance with executive oversight and guidance, is composed of a chair, Barrett, and several co-chairs representing governments, business, civil society, the media and international organizations.

The meeting will open at 3 p.m. in Conference Room 8. Remarks by Secretary-General Annan and welcoming remarks by Under-Secretary-General José Antonio Ocampo will be followed by a statement from Mr. Barrett.

An interactive discussion will examine the strategic goals and business plan of the Global Alliance, followed by a discussion on the Alliance's funding.

"Countries concluded at the 2005 World Summit that the internationally agreed development goals will not be achieved unless we do development differently," said Alliance Executive Coordinator Sarbuland Khan. "One of the ways to do that is connect the poor with the rest of the world, with the formal economy, through information technologies."

ICTs can help in the areas of enterprise, education, health and government, said Khan, allowing the poor to participate in the economy. "Many developing countries have strong growth rates, but the poor are not part of the growing economy."

GAID will seek to bring together the private sector and international financial institutions, such as the Inter-American Development Bank, in big partnership initiatives, such as bringing broadband to Africa, Khan said.

In countries like Kenya, Uganda, Mozambique and Ghana, mobile telephony is locally driven and demand driven, Khan said. The greatest growth of mobile phones is taking place in Africa, and women are using mobile phones to generate businesses and income. "The issue now is how to get mobile telephony to be a conveyor of information and knowledge on health and the economy. For this, you need the private sector."

The Alliance seeks to bring together key organizations involved in ICT-for-development to enhance their effectiveness; introduce ICT-for-development into the broader development agenda; create an environment and business models for investment benefiting the poor; find technological solutions for specific development goals; and foster partnerships among all those involved. Partnerships and new initiatives are expected to be announced at the closing of the 27 September meeting.

--

------------------------------------------------------
Francis F. MUGUET Ph.D

MDPI Foundation Open Access Journals
Associate Publisher
http://www.mdpi.org   http://www.mdpi.net
muguet at mdpi.org       muguet at mdpi.net

ENSTA   Paris, France
KNIS lab.  Director
"Knowledge Networks & Information Society" (KNIS)
muguet at ensta.fr   http://www.ensta.fr/~muguet

World Summit On the Information Society (WSIS)
Civil Society Working Groups
Scientific Information :  http://www.wsis-si.org  chair
Patents & Copyrights   :  http://www.wsis-pct.org co-chair
Financing Mechanismns  :  http://www.wsis-finance.org web

UNMSP project : http://www.unmsp.org
WTIS initiative: http://www.wtis.org
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