[WSIS CS-Plenary] TR: [gaid-discuss] Please save the date: UNDESA-GAID, Annual Meeting, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 18 - 20 May 2008

Wed Feb 20 16:26:36 GMT 2008

Dear all, 

Find below a recent message from the GAID Secretariat regarding the
preparations of the next GAID Global Forum on Access and Connectivity; and
innovative Funding Mechanism, to be organised in conjunction with the next
meetings of the GAID Strategy Council and Steering Committee (18-20 May
2008). This will also be held in conjunction with the 2008 World Congress on
Information Technology.

Preparations are under way on the basis of the outcomes of the September
2007 Steering Committee meeting (summary available here
<http://www.un-gaid.org/fr/node/1005> ).

Note that the designation by the UN Secretary General of the new membership
of the GAID Strategy Council and Steering Committee will be announced
shortly and that this new membership after rotation will take office in
April 2008.

Bets regards, 

Philippe Dam
CONGO - Information Society &
Human Rights Coordinator
11, Avenue de la Paix
CH-1202 Geneva
Tel: +41 22 301 1000
Fax: +41 22 301 2000
E-mail:  <mailto:wphilippe.dam at ngocongo.org> philippe.dam at ngocongo.org
Website:  <blocked::http://www.ngocongo.org> www.ngocongo.org 

  _____  

De : discuss-bounces at un-gaid.org [mailto:discuss-bounces at un-gaid.org] De la
part de Sarbuland Khan
Envoyé : jeudi, 14. février 2008 22:37
À : discuss at un-gaid.org
Objet : [gaid-discuss] Please save the date: UNDESA-GAID, Annual Meeting,
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 18 ? 20 May 2008

Dear Colleageues, 

        The Global Alliance for ICT and Development of the United Nations
Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA-GAID) is a global
multi-stakeholder partnership programme, with the objective to mobilize the
human, financial and technical resources required to bridge major gaps in
information and communication technology (ICT), infrastructure, services and
applications across the world. 

        The UNDESA-GAID Annual Meeting, to be held in Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia, from 18 – 20 May, 2008, aims to bring together partners to help
implement a number of ICT projects of significant, catalyzing impact on the
development of ICT, infrastructure, services and applications. This year’s
Annual Meeting will also focus on issues of access and connectivity,
particularly for the Asian and Island States, as well as the innovative
funding mechanism for the implementation of ICT, infrastructure, services
and applications. 

Global Forum on Access and Connectivity; and innovative Funding Mechanism 

The UNDESA-GAID Annual Meeting will bring together the International
Telecommunication Union, the World Bank and GAID, in partnership with the
Islamic Development Bank, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission
for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and experts from civil societies, academia
and other regional and international organizations. 

This collaborative effort seeks to involve various stakeholders active in
the region, with the aim of supporting affordable connectivity, applications
and services to stimulate economic growth, employment and development
throughout the region. By having this meeting, partners will build on the
progress of countries, which have established an attractive ICT policy and
regulatory environment to accommodate the private sector investment required
for sustainable network build-out, capacity roll-out and business
innovations. These projects will, in turn, trigger a cycle of further
investment and development. 

The Global Forum on Access and Connectivity; and Innovative Funding
Mechanism will have a practical, results-oriented format, including
interactive, multi-stakeholder panel discussions, partnership announcements,
as well as opportunities for participants to showcase their ICT development
projects to potential partners and donors. The Forum will also provide an
excellent networking platform for leaders from the public, private and
financial sectors to meet and forge new partnerships for the future. 

Participants at the Forum will examine key success factors for ICT
investment and development and identify areas for collaboration to: 
*        expand broadband backbone infrastructure and access networks, using
innovative business and financing models, such as infrastructure-sharing and
demand aggregation among local and regional institutions. This new
infrastructure investment includes national and regional interconnectivity
initiatives, such as Internet exchange points and rural connectivity
projects; 
*        enhance workforce training to support employment and growth in the
ICT sector and the overall economy; 
*        stimulate the development of locally-relevant ICT content,
applications and services;  and 
*        broaden efforts to develop an enabling policy and regulatory
environment for investment, including harmonization across regions and
sub-regions. 

New and refurbished PCs 

There will also be a meeting in Kuala Lumpur, which will address the
initiative being developed under the GAID umbrella of providing 500,000 new
and refurbished computers for 10,000 schools, catering for 35 million
students by the year 2012. At the recent International Consumer Electronics
Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada, GAID and CES jointly organized the
Technology and Emerging Countries Brainstorming dialogue. We noted that
there was tremendous goodwill and willingness to collaborate from all
parties present. The supplying parties agreed and were willing to work with
the United Nations, through GAID, in a coordinated fashion, to scale up the
supply of new and refurbished computers and ensure that the targets are
reached. The demand side representatives responded and reiterated their
willingness and desire to accept the computers. They agreed to work out the
details and to put in place a structure and framework that is consistent in
the receiving end at their respective countries. 

A concept note is currently being prepared and will be presented to the
Strategy Council and Steering Committee of the GAID in Kuala Lumpur. It is
expected that a pilot project with a committed multi-stakeholder approach
will be developed and be rolled out in the four pilot countries before the
end of 2008. 

Private-Public Partnership 

Recognizing the significance of the private-public partnership in the areas
of ICT, we are pleased to inform you that Malaysia, representing the Asian
continent, will also host the 2008 World Congress on Information Technology
(WCIT) during that period in Kuala Lumpur. These two meetings, the United
Nations Annual GAID Meeting and the WCIT Meeting will bring the possibility
of Member States interacting with more than 70 information technology (IT)
industry associations that represent over 90 PER CENT Of the world's IT
market, together with civil societies, academia and other experts that will
provide the crucial cross-cutting and partnership link between ICT,
business, policy and society, and discussing and influencing global
challenges, such as healthcare, education, digital divide, privacy and
security. 

The Kuala Lumpur meeting will hear from some of today’s greatest minds on
how ICT can be used to enable businesses by enhancing competitiveness,
enrich economies by enhancing capacity to create and adopt new technologies,
and particularly, to empower societies via access to information and
knowledge acquisition. 

At the Kuala Lumpur meeting, we are inviting all Flagship Partnership
Initiatives (FPIs) and Communities Of Expertise (COEs) to showcase and share
their activities, plans and best practices with all other FPIs, COEs,
High-level Panel of Advisors, Champions Network, Regional Networks, the
Strategy Council and the Steering Committee members. You are invited to
bring your literatures, brochures and other relevant materials to be
distributed during the meetings. The High-level Panel of Advisors and the
Regional Networks are also invited to undertake preparatory online
discussions and bring their respective and regional perspectives to the
discussions in Kuala Lumpur. 

         Please find attached the tentative programme for the Annual GAID
Meeting in Kuala Lumpur. We look forward to your personal commitment and
active participation at the meetings. Kindly refer to our website,
http://www.un-gaid.org, for more information pertaining to the meetings. 

With my best regards, 

Sincerely, 

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