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

Fri Sep 29 21:27:41 BST 2006

Dear Michael
I'm fully in agreement with your opinion about the "1.0" (or 1G) telecenters failure. I'd just add one more reason in my view. Generally running costs aren't appraised. Nor are they provided beyond the short term (if they are). Therefore a sustainable solution consists in involving local people or -what's more effective- local partner organisation(s), and in devoting a small part of the revenue earned through services made available by the telecenter, to meet these particular costs. However, depending on access technology used, there are large differences in running costs, as far as communication fees are considered. If you use satelllite technology, the costs (airtime fees) are (far) much higher than if you use terrestrial wireless access technology and link your telecenter to the nearest existing network node. In most cases this is the strongest argument. That's why CSDPTT gives the highest priority to the latter solution and strongly supports development of terrestrial networks as far as they are feasible, both economically and technically.
All the best
Jean-Louis Fullsack
President, CSDPTT (www.csdptt.org) 

> Message du 29/09/06 10:47
> De : "Gurstein, Michael" 
> A : plenary at wsis-cs.org
> Copie à : gta at vancouvercommunity.net, "Renate Bloem" 
> Objet : RE: [WSIS CS-Plenary] UN Alliance on Closing Digital Divide Meets Next Week
> 
> [Please note that by using 'REPLY', your response goes to the entire list. Kindly use individual addresses for responses intended for specific people]
> 
> Click http://wsis.funredes.org/plenary/ to access automatic translation of this message!
> _______________________________________
> 
> 
> 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
> 
> 
> [Please note that by using 'REPLY', your response goes to the entire list. Kindly use individual addresses for responses intended for specific people]
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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 
> (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
> 
> 
> [Please note that by using 'REPLY', your response goes to the entire list. Kindly use individual addresses for responses intended for specific people]
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> Click http://wsis.funredes.org/plenary/ to access automatic translation of this message! _______________________________________
> 
> 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 
> (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
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> UNMSP project : http://www.unmsp.org
> WTIS initiative: http://www.wtis.org
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