As a senior in-house lawyer of African-European descent, registered as a solicitor in England & Wales and as a Rechtsanwalt in Germany, with more than 10 years strategic and hands-on experience in global contractual, regulatory and corporate hi-tech business I believe that I can add value to this alliance.

My commitment to ICT development in Africa is reflected in numerous inititatives I have undertaken to promote investment in the continent through the multinational companies I have been working for including Canon, Cisco Systems, Nortel Networks and now Amadeus.

For many years, I have been involved in structuring and implementing joint venture, outsourcing, manufacturing, technology transfer, licensing and distribution activities between European, U.S. as well as African, Latin American and Asian companies. As a private attorney and business facilitator I have been assisting African and European businesses to be successful in their ventures across borders.

Last year, I designed, co-organized and contributed to a 2-day-workshop at the Ghana-India Kofi Annan Centre of IT Excellence in Accra sponsored by the German government and titled "The Internet and Communication Landscape in Ghana". This workshop brought together various local and multinational companies, banks, academia and the government to discuss regulatory, technological, economical and practical issues surrounding the development of ICT infrastructure in Ghana. For your information, I attach copies of the workshop report, a communique issued as a result of the workshop and of the list of resource persons. I am supporting African ICT students in their pursuit for internships in multinational companies. I am also engaged with cross-border Software development initiatives that are aimed at bringing benefits of Open Source Software projects into the wider ICT development frame.

Mr. Addy is a lawyer with extensive experience in the area of ICT and with a genuine interest in how best IT can contribute to development.

He would certainly be an asset to the council.

• Founder & International Coordinator – External Affairs and Partnerships, ICOM. Now nominated for the prestigious and inaugural malaria awards organised by the Malaria Foundation International - University Student of the Year category and the Malaria Project Pioneer of the Year category (see: http://www.malaria.org/mac/6janpress.html). Have over 5,000 hours of project work under my belt

• Have addressed audiences from the University of Ghana to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) on broad issues concerning development (Malaria, Millennium Development Goals, and Advocacy)

• Alumnus, Global 21 Online Campus - where I just completed the "Consultancy as a professional option" course

• Semi-finalist, 2006 Annual Youth Action Awards by Nokia/IYF - finalists to be announced soon

• e-Health expert for the Nigerian World Summit Awards Advisory board , WSIS 2005 e-Content awards. Representative of the International Young Professionals Foundation on the Nigerian WSIS Youth National Campaign working team

• Expertise in partnerships, ecommerce, ICT4D (currently working on developing the most innovative, adaptive, integrative online real estate portal for Nigeria - to serve as a hybrid model for Africa), public health, consulting

I am Professor of IS at a top ranking B-School of India and Chief Editor of prestigious Journal of Internet Banking and Commerce (JIBC).

I am associated with Diplo foundation and GKP for spreading the ICT4D/IG in South Asia. I am young academician representing the educated & concern youth of asia.

Dr. Nikhil Agarwal is a young and bright academician working in the field of IG and ICT4D. I would highly rate his knowledge skills. He has become youngest Chief Editor of Journal of Internet Banking & Commerce (JIBC) in 2004. Under his able leadership JIBC has become one of the most respected journal in area of Business & Intnernet. He has taken pedeogic initiatives to develop curriculum in IG area. He has extensively published papers in leading journals and conferences worldwide. His views are expressed in various print/visual media like CNBC, Zee Business, Financial Express to name a few. Currently, he is serving as Professor at a top ranked B-School of India.

I would nominate him for membership of Global Alliance. I firmly believe that he would be able to contribute substantially towards this very important initiative. To best of my knowledge he is creative and suitable for the position.

On softer side he is a extermely good communicator, very popular among students and a good human being.

http://www.intel.com/pressroom/kits/bios/lagatstein.htm

Izumi Aizu is well known as one of the Asia Pacific's Internet pioneers. He has been helping people understand and use the Internet in the region since the early 1990s.

Aizu helped establish two well known Japanese research institutes: the Institute for Hypernetwork Society, which promotes local and regional development through the use of ICTs; and GLOCOM, an academic research institute studying information and network society.

Through his work with GLOCOM he was a member of the G8 Dot Force, organized civil society participation on the WSIS Asia Pacific Region meeting in January 2003, and the WSIS thematic meeting "Tokyo Ubiquitous Network Conference". He was an active contributor in WSIS preparatory conferences and the Geneva and Tunis Summits.

In the late 1990s he was Secretary General of the Asia Pacific Internet Association, and led regional Y2K preparedness activities. He was part of an international team that organized a number of meetings around the world that led to the formation of ICANN, and is now a member of ICANN's At Large Advisory Committee, which helps individuals contribute to and participate in ICANN.

In addition to his work on ICT policy activities, he has collaborated with the UNDP's Asia-Pacific Development Information Programme (APDIP) and IDRC's PAN Asia Networking on ICT for development activities.

AKINSANMI Titilayo is one of two Program Managers of the Global Teenager Project. She has experience spanning the private and public sector working in the broadcasting industry Radio and TV and in mobile telecommunications. She has a passion for connecting people ideas and resources as evidenced in her work with the Youth Caucus of the World Summit on the Information Society, work on ICT and Education and Gender issues. She works towards being a valuable part as concerns not just building a viable information society but in contributing to the development of each life on earth one at a time. She has been an active part of the World Summit on the Information Society over the past five years, serving in the role of Volunteer Global Facilitator in the second phase.

Vision of their specific contribution to the GA Strategy Council:

From ‘words to action’ has been my personal motto as evidenced in my continued participation in the work of the WSIS Youth Caucus (National Youth Campaigns amongst others) - the Global Alliance mandate presents a continuing medium to build on the work that has been initiated from both phases of the WSIS by young people like myself around the world not as a separate entity within the Information Society but as an integral part of the web that makes the Society itself.

AKINSANMI Titilayo is one of two Program Managers of the Global Teenager Project. She has experience spanning the private and public sector working in the broadcasting industry Radio and TV and in mobile telecommunications. She has a passion for connecting people ideas and resources as evidenced in her work with the Youth Caucus of the World Summit on the Information Society, work on ICT and Education and Gender issues. She works towards being a valuable part as concerns not just building a viable information society but in contributing to the development of each life on earth one at a time. She has been an active part of the World Summit on the Information Society over the past five years, serving in the role of Volunteer Global Facilitator in the second phase.

Vision of their contribution to the GA Strategy Council

From 'words to action' has been my personal motto as evidenced in my continued participation in the work of the WSIS Youth Caucus (National Youth Campaigns amongst others) - the Global Alliance mandate presents a continuing medium to build on the work that has been initiated from both phases of the WSIS by young people like myself around the world not as a separate entity within the Information Society but as an integral part of the web that makes the Society itself.

As deputy chairman of Kuwait Information Technology Society (KITS), I have participated in the WSIS as part of the civil society. I have joined and worked in many caucuses in WSIS such as the Internet Governance Caucus, The Follow-Up Group, the Privacy and Security Group, and The Arab Caucus. Being a specialist in Information and Communication Technology (ICT), the participation in WSIS allowed me to build a better understanding for the role of ICT in the society, advancement of humanity, sustainable development and other issues like the Internet governance. It provided me with the understanding and the scope of the bigger ICT role toward building the information society and our responsibilities to it rather than looking only at the technical side of it. This allowed me to participate in reshaping the role of KITS, focusing not only toward the professionals in the field of ICT but extending it to the social responsibility of using ICT and utilizing it for the benefit of the society and the country. As part of my participation with the privacy and security group, I have delivered their intervention in prepcom II of the WSIS pahse II which took place in Geneva February 2005.

Through the exchange of knowledge, experiences and best practices, my participation in the WSIS reflected in being a consultant to several stakeholders in the Arab World (Governments, Private sectors and Civil Society) on the issues related to Information Society. Part of that was convincing them on the importance of the Civil Society role in the WSIS and making them adopting many positions like supporting the WGIG report as a base for a position on Internet Governance, Supporting the Digital Solidarity fund and giving more attention to the follow-up process. As a result of a team effort, Civil Society became a key player in drafting Information Society strategies in Arab countries. A step that was unprecedented before. One of the recent accomplishments which is considered a result of the participation in the WSIS, was the creation and launch of the Gulf Information and Communication Technology Forum. KITS took the initiative to launch this forum and organized its first meeting in April 17, 2006. The members of the forum are the ICT NGO's that is based in the Gulf States.

On the professional level, I am a senior ICT consultant with more that 15 years of experience. On national Level, I have worked with both government and private sector to improve the Internet service and increase the Internet penetration level, thus allowing more people to access the Internet by reducing service cost, providing higher bandwidth and open the market for several ISPs. I have participated in lobbying and raising awareness on copyright issues, an effort that successfully concluded with passing the copyrights law in Kuwait. I have participated in organizing the management of Kuwait TLD and establishing regulatory procedures for it. Furthermore, I have been a member and served in several ICT related committees on national level and organization level aimed to provide expertise and consultation to the stakeholders.

Vision of their contribution to the GA Strategy Council

In the spirit of Article 4 of the WSIS Geneva declaration of Principles which stated that "Communication is a fundamental social process, a basic human need and the foundation of all social organization", we should concentrate on utilizing ICT for the good of humanity and building and inclusive information society. We should focus our attention on the right of all for equal access to knowledge and information, bridging the digital divide and evolve it into digital inclusion. We should help the developing countries in building their capacity on all levels in the field of ICT with orienting them more toward building the information society. It is important to help developing countries to use ICT as tool for sustainable development. Values and rights like the freedom of expression, gender equality and poverty reduction should be addressed. We should ensure that the poor, the disadvantaged and the disabled will be able to benefit from the progress made in the ICT field. We should reduce the gap between the advanced and less advanced in ICT and create the right social and economical mechanisms for this purpose. Issues such as capacity building, enabling environment, security and confidence should be looked on for the benefit of all. We should ensure that cultural diversity will be dealt with in an equal fair manner in all aspects with the goal of bringing the world together. It is important for us to share, contribute, learn and exchange our knowledge, information, experiences and best practices with the ability to reflect them on our societies, countries and regions. It is in that spirit that I view my participation in the GA strategy council.

Participating in the WSIS process and being exposed to the world community allowed me to build experience and knowledge in the area of Information Society and role of ICT in it. While many (governments and private sector) in my part of the world lacked the proper understanding of issues related to Information Society, I was committed to raise awareness and build the necessary background to understand the issues related to ICT and Information Society. I have been committed to multi stakeholder involvement as well as an advocate for evolutionary build up process in issues related to ICT and Information Society. Furthermore, I have been committed to the free flow of information and the freedom of access to knowledge and information. I have lobbied against attempts to harm these rights. I have the capability to handle the workload of the GA Strategy Council.

Mr. Kamel Ayadi served as Minister of State in the Tunisian government from 2004 to 2006. He is also the President of the World Federation of Engineering Organizations .He served as President of the Tunisian National Authority of Regulation of Telecommunications from 2001 to 2004.

Since 1999, he has also been Vice President of the World Federation of Engineering Organizations (WFEO) and President of WFEO's Committee on Information and Communication. He is an expert in information and communication technologies (ICT) and in particular, the regulatory issues of ICT. He wrote and authored more than 50 papers in several issues ,particularly ICT,science and technology ,education ,capacity building etc. He has organized, and lectured in, more than 60 congresses and conferences on ICT and environment issues. He is a member of the United Nations Task Force for Science and Innovation. He has been closely involved in the preparation of the World Summit on the Information Society. He has organised more than 10 international events within the frame work of the WSIS and was elected in 2002 as a member of the WSIS Civil Society Bureau representing the Science and technology family. He carried out several international studies on telecommunication pricing .As the president of the regulatory authority he settled several disputes between telecommunications operator.

Kamel Ayadi was formerly Head of the International Cooperation Department at the Waste Water Department (ONAS) and Director of Technical

Cooperation at ONAS. He served as President of the Tunisian Order of Engineers from 1998-2002 and as Secretary-General from 1990-1998

Mr. Kamel Ayadi used to be Minister of State in the Tunisian government from 2004 to 2006. He is also the President of the World Federation of Engineering Organizations .He served as President of the Tunisian National Authority of Regulation of Telecommunications from 2001 to 2004.

Since 1999, he has also been Vice President of the World Federation of Engineering Organizations (WFEO) and President of WFEO's Committee on Information and Communication. He is an expert in information and communication technologies (ICT) and in particular, the regulatory issues of ICT. He wrote and authored more than 50 papers in several issues, particularly ICT,science and technology, education, capacity building etc. He has organized, and lectured in, more than 60 congresses and conferences on ICT and environment issues. He is a member of the United Nations Task Force for Science and Innovation. He has been closely involved in the preparation of the World Summit on the Information Society. He has organised more than 10 international events within the frame work of the WSIS and was elected in 2002 as a member of the WSIS Civil Society Bureau representing the Science and technology family till 2004. He carried out several international studies on telecommunication pricing .As the president of the regulatory authority he settled several disputes between telecommunications operator.

Kamel Ayadi was formerly Head of the International Cooperation Department at the Waste Water Department (ONAS) and Director of Technical Cooperation at ONAS. He served as President of the Tunisian Order of Engineers from 1998-2002 and as Secretary-General from 1990-1998

Vision of their contribution to the GA Strategy Council

As the president of the world wide engineering organisations leadership, Mr Ayadi’s contribution to the “Strategy Council” of the Global Alliance will consists of mobilizing the engineering community towards the achievement of the Alliance’s goals. He is in position to help create and encourage partnership between engineering organizations to promote ICT4D projects. He will contribute to the debate within the alliance actors and provide input from engineering and scientific perspective. He is able to mainstream the global ICT agenda into the global agenda of engineering organizations by taking advantage of the World Federation of Engineering Organizations’ networks. He will seek to contribute to the identification of technological solutions to help achieve the global vision of ICT for development.He will help disseminate the findings of the Alliance at a global level, encourage interaction between civil society actors and seek partnership between them.

My experience has shown me that Africa particularly Sub-Saharan Africa is almost totally non-participative in the Global arena of ICTs. I want to bring onboard the issues from this part of the world of which I am part and know quite intimately and raise them on the agenda of the Council. We cannot talk about high principles and rhetoric without meaningful involvement and intergration.

Besides as part of the World Federation of United Nations Associations (WFUNA) I represent over one hundred members of the Federation and hence a large and critical constituency in the civil society movement. The voice, networks and resources of the Federation would be a valuable addition to the Strategy Council.

Additionally, the experience I have and the work we are carrying out in East Africa on the MDGs does present important experiences ands examples that can be shared for the benefit of especially the Developing World.

As a member of the African Caucus and having participated in the various national, regional and international fora, I have picked useful experiences and information that would richly enrich the Council work.

Our (UNA Uganda) exposed me to the dire gaps that grossly disadvantage the rural youth. This is a constituency that I want to bring to the fore of the agenda of the Council because they constitute hundreds of millions of people and critical to the realisation of the MDGs or the failure thereof. I also do interact with young people particularly as a lecturer and since this is in the media sector, I would share my experiences with the other Council members on how to mobilise the media effectively to promote our objectives and activities.

Finally, I enjoy the confidence and have been supported by all the members of the WFUNA Task Force on WSIS.

Ma. Victoria 'Mavic' C. Balleza is a development worker from the Philippines who has worked mainly on media, information and communication issues and how they impact on women. She's been active in lobbying and advocacy work at the national, regional and international levels to effect change on policies that concern women, media and the new information and communication technologies. She has produced radio programs and other broadcast materials for community radios, as well as government and private commercial radios. She initiated the peacebuilding cyberdialogues project of the International Women's Tribune Centre that combines the power of ICTs with the broad reach of community radio to promote women's participation in decision-making on peace and security issues. She also edits and writes for a number of international publications.

Mavic co-coordinated the work of the NGO Gender Strategies Working Group during the first phase of the World Summit on the Information Society. She was also active in the Community Media Working Group in the Geneva and Tunis phases of WSIS.

Mavic is a Senior Programme Associate of the International Women's Tribune Centre where she is in-charge of producing radio programs, print and online publications and other media and ICT materials to highlight women and peace building issues. She is also the Vice President of AMARC (World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters) representing the Women's International Network. Concurrently, she is a member of the Steering Committee of the Working Group on Gender Issues of the International Telecommunication Union, board member of the Asian Communication Network, and a member of the Oversight Panel for UNDP's Information Disclosure Policy.

Vision of their specific contribution to the GA Strategy Council:

My specific contribution to the GA Strategy Council will be coming from a gender and Global South perspective and analysis in ICT for development. This will be informed by my extensive experience in using the combination of community media and ICTs to facilitate women's participation in policy and decision making at all levels. I will also bring in my organization's (IWTC) excellent track record in using ICTs to support grassroots women's initiatives in poverty alleviation. My active involvement with different multilateral organizations working on ICT policy development such as the International Telecommunication Union and UNDP as civil society representative, will also help ensure ICT policy coherence.

I have been working in the field of ICT and Development for over ten years now. For your kind information, I was the Research Coordinator for the UNDP Regional Human Development Report 2005 entitled “ICT and Human Development: Realizing the Millennium Development Goals”. I have also published a number of papers in leading international books and journals on the impact of ICT on various aspects of human development.

I am currently the Secretary-General of the Asian Media Information and Communication Centre (AMIC), which has carried out a number of projects and initiatives in the field of ICT and Development. AMIC also administers the unique Pan Asia ICT R&D Grants programme which has been supporting cutting edge and innovative ICT R&D projects across the Asia-Pacific region.

Mr Barker specializes in attaining practical and successful results for early stage enterprises, with a keen emphasis on research, marketing & leadership - while enjoying life to the full. Relevant ICT projects include (1) leadership position with an international satellite company that aims to provide cheap wireless broadband access to the world's poor, (2) deploying leading edge internet technologies to farmers in regional, rural and remote areas of Australia, (3) facilitating early stage growth in print & media enterprises- including mid sized conferences, (4) applying intellectual horse power and a wide range of entrepreneurial skills towards radio station start-ups and, (5) delivering and promoting aid organization's programs that benefit some of the poorest communities in South East Asia.

While promoting the UN Global e-schools and e-community initiative, UN General-Secretary, Kofi Annan, stated: "While education unlocks the door to development, increasingly it is information technologies that can unlock the door to education."

ICI -> ICT -> Education -> Capacity Building -> Development -> Sustainable Development.

If Mr Barker's nomination is approved, his strength might focus on (but not be limited to) these stated outcomes: (a) helping to identify technological solutions that specifically meet MDGs, (b) helping to forge strategic partnerships and (c) backing innovative business models that empower people who presently live in poverty.

A journalist by profesion, Roberto Bissio, is the executive director of The Third World Institute, a non-profit organization committed to promote South-South information exchange and the access of communities and citizen organizations to information. He is chief editor of the reference book "The World Guide", published every two years in English, Spanish, Italian and Portyuguese with a development perspective on international relations. Under his direction, the Third World Institute started in 1989 the first Internet Service Provider in Uruguay and also UruguayTotal, the most visted "portal" and directory of the country.

The Institute sued the Uruguayan government in 1991, forcing it to change monopolistic regulations that made Internet access difficult for the public, it initiated projects to provide access for blind people and has actively promoted the use of ICT tools by international civil society organizations and campaigners.

Vision of their specific contribution to the GA Strategy Council:

Roberto Bissio can contribute to the council a Southern perspective, and one based on years of experience in monitoring governmental policies by civil society organizations.

A journalist by profesion, Roberto Bissio, is the executive director of The Third World Institute, a non-profit organization committed to promote South-South information exchange and the access of communities and citizen organizations to information. He is chief editor of the reference book "The World Guide", published every two years in English, Spanish, Italian and Portyuguese with a development perspective on international relations. Under his direction, the Third World Institute started in

1989 the first Internet Service Provider in Uruguay and also UruguayTotal, the most visted "portal" and directory of the country.

The Institute sued the Uruguayan government in 1991, forcing it to change monopolistic regulations that made Internet access difficult for the public, it initiated projects to provide access for blind people and has actively promoted the use of ICT tools by international civil society organizations and campaigners.

Vision of their contribution to the GA Strategy Council

Roberto Bissio can contribute to the council a Southern perspective, and one based on years of experience in monitoring governmental policies by civil society organizations.

Renate Bloem, a Swiss national born in Germany, completed her studies in Medicine, Languages and Literature at the Universities of Bonn, Munich and New York (Columbia University) and started her academic career by teaching at international schools and cultural institutions worldwide.

Since 1985 she dynamically engaged in the NGO work. As a strong advocate for human rights, in particular for the human rights of women and children, she was actively involved in the Drafting of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, (Art. 37d) and, after its adoption, in the promotion of children's rights.

As UN Representative for the World Federation of Methodist and Uniting Church Women, she led her organization to the World Conferences on Human Rights (Vienna 1993), the Fourth World Conference on Women (Beijing 1995) and the World Congress against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (Stockholm 1996) in 1997. After being elected President of the NGO Committee on the Status of Women (Geneva) and Co-ordinating Committee Member of the NGO Forum for Health, she also served as Member of the Management Team of the Focal Point on Sexual Exploitation of Children.

Ms. Bloem engaged in many national and international seminars and consultations, amongst which: "Gender and Health" in 1998 (in collaboration with the WHO), "Seoul International Conference of NGOs" in 1999 and numerous others, being heavily involved in lobbying, advocacy and caucuses set-up within UN meetings.

In January 2000, together with her Committee on the Status of Women, she organized the NGO Working Session, preceding the ECE Regional Preparatory Meeting for Beijing+5, largely hailed as a model for NGO/UN partnership, and got actively involved in the whole review process of Beijing and Copenhagen+5.

Elected CONGO President at the General Assembly in November 2000 and re-elected in December 2003, she has been involved in numerous UN meetings, led CONGO delegations to the World Conference against Racism, to the World Summit on Sustainable Development and organized through the CONGO Working Group on Asia the Asian Civil Society Forum 2002 and 2004 in Bangkok, Thailand and, together with Latin American NGO networks, the NGO Seminar in Santiago, Chile. Together with her CONGO Team she has been at the forefront of supporting Civil Society in the process of the World Summit of the Information Society (Geneva and Tunis).

Vision of their contribution to the GA Strategy Council

I have been involved both outside and within my functions at the Conference of NGOs in supporting the UN development agenda. In particular I have been supporting the role of NGOs and civil society entities in their advocacy towards stronger international commitments and for more effective and coherent implementation processes.

The organisation of NGO fora on themes related to the achievement of the MDGs and the other internationally agreed development goals made me fully part and support of the development community at the UN.

Within the Global Alliance, I see an opportunity to develop a strong and efficient movement for achieving the MDGs through ICT4D policies. The global and multi-stakeholder nature of the Alliance will develop an innovative framework in a cross sectoral manner for the first in the UN development agenda. This opportunity is also a challenge at the scale of the over development efforts of the UN system.

After the Millennium+5 review Summit in September 2005, I see the Global Alliance as an innovative framework to improve the NGO input in the definition of development orientation and policies. It must also become of model for cooperation between actors at the local level, in the regions, and within the international institutions.

My role within the Global Alliance Strategy Council would therefore be around the crystallisation of development oriented NGOs and the expression of their concerns and expectations, taking into account the specific problems of NGOs working directly within the UN and of those working in the field.

ST Foundation develops, coordinates, and sponsors projects that through the use of modern sciences and/or high technology can contribute to improve the living conditions of less privileged communities around the world. Priority areas of intervention are education, health, environment and sustainable development.

ST Foundation operates in one or both of the following geographical regions: in developing countries in which there is a need to overcome social, economic, and technological inequalities to achieve human progress and economic growth; in countries where STMicroelectronics has a strong presence, including specific areas of developed countries where economic distress still persist.

ST Foundation wants to share and build on values of social and environmental responsibility amongst corporations and individuals operating in an ever shrinking global village.

ST Foundation seeks to encourage the culture of non-profit, of donation and of volunteerism amongst STMicroelectronics employees, through actions such as the creation of gift matching campaigns and the involvement of volunteer participation of STMicroelectronics employees worldwide in ST Foundation's projects.

ST Foundation also supports selected projects of deserving NGOs in the field of sustainable development and ICT for development, and in exceptional cases contributions for emergency relief aid.

ST Foundation has chosen not to fund or sponsor the following:

• individual scholarships or other forms of individual financial assistance

• political or lobbying groups, candidates, or campaign

• sport-related sponsorships

• fund-raising events, dinners, conferences, or receptions.

Steve was engaged in the WSIS process from the initial opening to representatives of civil society and he is broadly considered to have been a driving force in it. His understanding of the critical role that communications play in contemporary social formations is exceeded only by his commitment to espousing the interests of those who are too often excluded from the table. Even a cursory glance at the attached biographical gloss gives one a sense of Buckley's global knowledge of the communications landscape from the grassroots to the highest policy levels. During his tenure as president of the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC), significant strides were made in developing community media in Asia, ICT infrastructure was provided for many of our African member stations, and the organization integrated communication rights and human rights generally into its mandated work program. His capacity to imagine is matched by his capacity to actualize, his individual energies by his skills in developing consensus.

British journalist, based in Ecuador since 1983. At present Executive Director of ALAI. Co-coordinator of the CS Content and Themes group during the Geneva phase of the WSIS. Writer on issues relating to ICTs, globalization and social organizations; co-author of three books on these issues. Coordinator of the global APC Women´s Networking Support Program (1993-1995); founding president of the first e-mail network in Ecuador (Intercom-Ecuanex: 1990-2).

Visión de su contribución especifica al consejo de la Alianza Global/Vision of their specific contribution to the GA Strategy Council:

Will emphasize social aspects; technology at the service of peoples; a communication rights focus. Can bring inside knowledge of how rural, indigenous, women´s and other organized groups in Latin America are approaching communication and ICTs. Has developed a critical focus on the conventional discourse and approach to the digital divide and development issues.

British journalist, based in Ecuador since 1983. At present Executive Director of ALAI. Co-coordinator of the CS Content and Themes group during the Geneva phase of the WSIS. Writer on issues relating to ICTs, globalization and social organizations; co-author of three books on these issues. Coordinator of the global APC Women´s Networking Support Program (1993-1995); founding president of the first e-mail network in Ecuador (Intercom-Ecuanex: 1990-2).

Vision of their contribution to the GA Strategy Council

Will emphasize social aspects; technology at the service of peoples; a communication rights focus. Can bring inside knowledge of how rural, indigenous, women´s and other organized groups in Latin America are approaching communication and ICTs. Has developed a critical focus on the conventional discourse and approach to the digital divide and development issues.

Member, World Summit Award 2003 & 2005 Experts Panel

Member, World Summit Award (WSA) Grand Jury 2003

Member, Digital Divide Network / Philippine Computer Society (5-time Board Director) / Phil. Society of It Educators (former VP-Internal)

Teacher/Educator/Administrator for 30 years now

Andy Carvin is coordinator of the Digital Divide Network, an online community of more than 8,000 activists, policymakers, business leaders and researchers in over 130 countries working to find solutions to the digital divide. Andy is the author of the pioneering online education resource EdWeb: Exploring Technology and School Reform, launched in 1994. Named by NetGuide magazine as "One of the Top 50 Places to Go Online," EdWeb was one of the first websites to advocate the use of the World Wide Web in education. Andy is the founder and moderator of WWWEDU, the Internet's oldest and largest email forum on the role of the Web in education, and DIGITALDIVIDE, the Internet's premiere discussion group for examining digital divide issues. He also served as creator and moderator of SEPT11INFO, one of the most successful online communities created in the hours following terrorist attacks on New York and Washington. Andy has been featured in numerous publications, including the New York Times, Harvard Educational Review, Education Week, Washington Post, Rolling Stone, Village Voice, Wired, San Jose Mercury News, The Industry Standard and the second edition of The Internet Unleashed, published by Sams/MacMillan. Before coming to the Benton Foundation, Andy served as New Media Program Officer for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, where he developed Internet-related grant programs for the public broadcasting community.

In October 2005, Andy was chosen as a member of the Technology Review 35, an annual list of leading technology advocates under the age of 35. In December 2001, he was named by District Administration magazine as one of America's top 25 edtech advocates. Andy received similar honors from eSchoolNews in 1999 when they named him a member of its Impact 30 list of edtech leaders. He is a former member of the board of the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN), which advocates policies advancing the role of information technology in schools. From 1999 to 2001, he served on the Board of Directors for the Asia/Pacific Center for Justice and Peace, a consortium of NGOs that promotes democracy, freedom of speech and freedom of religion across Asia.

Andy holds a bachelor of science in rhetoric and a master of arts in telecommunications policy from Northwestern University, where he received the prestigious Annenberg/Washington graduate fellowship. While living in Illinois, he was co-founder and editor-in-chief of the Chicago-area arts weekly, Art+Performance.

As you know I have been a member of the ICT TF for the last four years, as well as a member of the ICT Indicators and MDG Mapping Working Group. While working for the vice-presidency of Bolivia as Director of the Agency for the Development of the Information Society I represented Bolivia in the entire WSIS process up to Geneva.

I also like to point out that I was able to include Bolivia in the Global e-schools and Communities Initiative (GeSCI), an ICT Task Force initiative. I hope to be involved in this program in the near future. Finally I have been doing consulting work for ICC/WTO/UNCTAD as a Bolivian expert in e-commerce for SMEs.

ORBICOM is the international network of UNESCO Chairs in communication. Its purpose is to foster co-operation between academics, scientists, professionals and industrialists specialized in the field of communication. ORBICOM has some 250 members in 71 countries.

I am an Internet Policy, Law & Advocacy Consultant having a long and rich experience of working with the stakeholders of the Internet Community – the Government, Industry, NGOs and the academic sector in the internationally with specific focus on South Asian region. My multidisciplinary and multistakeholder experience will be immensely helpful for the Internet Governance Forum. In my personal capacity and through various stakeholders I have been involved in various issues relevant to the Internet Governance Forum – like Internet Law & Policy development, Cyber crime and security, Regulating SPAM, Privacy issues, e-advocacy, capacity building of the Civil Society, Egovernance projects, Democracy projects,ICT For Development, outreach activities, Consumer protection, Bridging the digital divide through legal and policy reforms, Human rights on the Internet etc. Having a good networking among the Civil Society organisations enable me to have access to these organisations and understand their requirements. Further I can contribute to the Global Alliance by holding regional consultations and feeding into the main consultations. I will be able to give the developing country’s perspective and the regional perspective from the South Asian region as well as a multidisciplinary perspective to the Global Alliance.

As the country co-ordinator of the project Global Internet Policy Initiative it is one of my objective to encourage the penetration of the Internet in South Asian region specifically India with the involvement of the Non profit sector, Academic organisations, Civil Society organisations etc. To achieve this goal I have been involved in the e- Capacity building of the NGO sector towards use of Internet in their activities.

As the Advisor & Trustee of Center for Communications Law & Policy Research, I am involved in the research and analysis of the Internet Law & Policy and awareness of these issues. I am involved in the capacity building of the stakeholders regarding the Internet Law & Policy Issues through advocacy, lecturing, writing, holding seminars, workshops etc.

Relevant Non Profit Leadership Roles held

• Honoray Policy & legal Director of National Internet Exchange of India and .IN Registry

• Policy Advisor, Center for Communications Law & Policy Research. Also Convener of Internet Governance Task Force

• Advisor to the Diplo Foundation Malta for the Internet Governance Capacity Building Project

• Member Managing Committee Computer Society of India, New Delhi Chapter

• Secretary Action Group, a civic welfare organization in Delhi

• Founding Member & President of Internet Society, ISOC New Delhi Chapter

Accomplishments in the Internet Community

I have been an active advocate for consensus based reforms of laws and regulations governing the Internet particularly in India so that Internet reaches the masses. Some examples of my achievements include :

• Facilitated the setting up of the Internet Exchange in India www.nixi.in by providing legal, technical and policy support to the stakeholders and convincing them of the need of Internet exchange(s) for the betterment of Internet in India.

• Successfully advocated the opening up of Internet Telephony in India by bringing together the Civil Society and campaigning for the same - continuing to advocate for the complete opening of Internet Telephony in the interest of the users, Advocated De-licensing of ISM Band, thus promoting Internet through wireless (WiFi & WiMax).

• I have been instrumental in liberalising of the .IN cctld policy in India and involved in the drafting and implementation of the Sunrise Policy, .IN Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy and selection of Arbitrators and Regisrars.Also involved in the IDN implementation in India.

• Involved in the ammendments of the Information and Communications Act of India with special focus to make the Act technology neutral and introducing a much liberal safe harbour provision for the ISPs.

• Organised ICT Policy Capacity Building Workshop for the Civil Society - the first such workshop in the South Asian region to strengthen the civil society's participation in the ICT policy making at the national and international levels, Organised various events to educate the stakeholders about the need for reforms in the regulations governing the Internet, Editor of www.ictpolicy.org - a comprehensive website pertaining to ICT Policies & Laws ; moderator of the electronic discussion group on ICT Polices ictpolicy@yahoogroups.com ; I have spoken at various national and international forums and suggested policy initiatives and regulatory reforms to maximise Internet growth such as the ITU's Telecom User Group's meeting in Thailand, Computer, Privacy and Freedom Conference at San Francisco, APRICOT in Taiwan, CAN conference in Kathmandu, Nepal; Workshop on National Internet Policies held in Geneva.

Rishi Chawla is a young and dynamic ICT professional working in the field of ICT Policy, ICT Laws, Capacity Building of Civil Society, Advocating ICT Policy & Law reforms in the developing countries, promotion of Egovernance, ICT For Development etc. He has been instrumental in creating the National Internet Exchange of India and the .IN Registry and serves as a Founding Director on the board safeguarding the interests of the Civil Society and the Internet Users.

Rishi is a multidisciplinary professional having good qualifications, experience and knowledge of Technolgy, Laws, ICT Policies, Management and the Non Profit Sector.

He has been sensitising the Civil Society and other stakeholders on the issues of ICT Laws and Policies through www.ICTPolicy.org and the discussion group ictpolicy@yahoogroups.com

He has several presentations to his credit and has authored several papers on ICT Policies and laws.

Rishi will bring along with him a diverse experience and an extensive social network resulting from his memberships of various Professional and Non Profit organisations. He is the Managing Trustee of Center for Communications Law & Policy Research and serves as President on the governing council of Internet Society New Delhi Chapter, Secretary on the governing board of Action Group (a civic welfare society in India), Life Member and member governing board on the Computer Society of India, Member All India Management Association,International Bar Assocation, National Bar Associations.

Rishi Chawla is a young and dynamic ICT professional working in the field of ICT Policy, ICT Laws, Capacity Building of Civil Society, Advocating ICT Policy & Law reforms in the developing countries, promotion of Egovernance, ICT For Development etc. He has been instrumental in creating the National Internet Exchange of India and the .IN Registry and serves as a Founding Director on the board safeguarding the interests of the Civil Society and the Internet Users.

Rishi is a multidisciplinary professional having good qualifications, experience and knowledge of Technolgy, Laws, ICT Policies, Management and the Non Profit Sector.

He has been sensitising the Civil Society and other stakeholders on the issues of ICT Laws and Policies through www.ICTPolicy.org and the discussion group ictpolicy@yahoogroups.com

He has several presentations to his credit and has authored several papers on ICT Policies and laws.

Rishi will bring along with him a diverse experience and an extensive social network resulting from his memberships of various Professional and Non Profit organisations. He is the Managing Trustee of Center for Communications Law & Policy Research and serves as President on the governing council of Internet Society New Delhi Chapter, Secretary on the governing board of Action Group (a civic welfare society in India), Life Member and member governing board on the Computer Society of India, Member All India Management Association, International Bar Assocation, National Bar Associations.

His profile is available at http://www.connect-world.com/Articles/2006/AP_I-11-RishiChawla.htm

He has been actively involved in the capacity building of civil society organisations so as to improve their participation in the ICT Policy processes at the national and international level.

He was instrumental in the opening up of internet telephony and ISM Band in India.

Mr. Chawla has a very co-operative nature and has excellent communications skills and works very closely with the ICT stakeholders in India.

Rishi Chawla is a young and dynamic ICT professional working in the field of ICT Policy, ICT Laws, Capacity Building of Civil Society, Advocating ICT Policy & Law reforms in the developing countries, promotion of Egovernance, ICT For Development etc. He has been instrumental in creating the National Internet Exchange of India and the .IN Registry and serves as a Founding Director on the board safeguarding the interests of the Civil Society and the Internet Users.

Rishi is a multidisciplinary professional having good qualifications, experience and knowledge of Technolgy, Laws, ICT Policies, Management and the Non Profit Sector.

He has been sensitising the Civil Society and other stakeholders on the issues of ICT Laws and Policies through www.ICTPolicy.org and the discussion group ictpolicy@yahoogroups.com

He has several presentations to his credit and has authored several papers on ICT Policies and laws.

Rishi will bring along with him a diverse experience and an extensive social network resulting from his memberships of various Professional and Non Profit organisations. He is the Managing Trustee of Center for Communications Law & Policy Research and serves as President on the governing council of Internet Society New Delhi Chapter, Secretary on the governing board of Action Group (a civic welfare society in India), Life Member and member governing board on the Computer Society of India, Member All India Management Association, International Bar Assocation, National Bar Associations.

Mr. Chawla has rich experience and knowledge of working for the promotion of ICTs. He knows all the concerned stakeholders (Government, Business, NGOs and Users.) He is not only dynamic, intelligent and experienced but is very co-operative and likes to share his knowledge and experience with the youngsters. He is a very good communicator and motivator.

Mr. Chawla has rich experience and knowledge of working for the promotion of ICTs. He knows all the concerned stakeholders (Government, Business, NGOs and Users.) He is not only dynamic, intelligent and experienced but is very co-operative and likes to share his knowledge and experience with the youngsters. He is a very good communicator and motivator.

The George Lucas Educational Foundation (GLEF) was founded in 1991 as a nonprofit operating foundation to celebrate and encourage innovation in schools. Since that time, we have been documenting, disseminating, and advocating for exemplary programs in K-12 public schools to help these practices spread nationwide. We are starting to work internationally, ..i

We publish the stories of innovative teaching and learning through a variety of media -- a magazine, an e-newsletter, CD-ROMs, DVDs, books, and this Web site. Here, you'll find detailed articles, in-depth case studies, research summaries, instructional modules, short documentary segments, expert interviews, and links to hundreds of relevant resources.

We have just created international projects for distribution and for global use in learning. We have also created hands on projects for International cooperation in learning.

Each year, the Foundation's staff and featured speakers present at over 20 major conferences. Our experienced presenters are available to discuss various topics including educational technology and innovative and exemplary practices in K-12 education. We use content from our Web site and documentary films to frame the broad issues in education reform to present a vision for education in the 21st century -- where students are challenged and engaged, have access to interactive technologies, and are supported by skillful educators, and involved parents and communities.

I am a woman or a lady. I am matured. I have twenty years of experience in socio-economic development issues. Since the last eight years I have been commited to ICT for the socio-economic growth and development of Malawi.

Noting inaptly low output of graduates in ICT from Malawi's tertiary education/training institutions, in 1998, I spearheaded expansion of the then computer training centre from an annual output capacity of 20 diploma graduates to 200 diploma graduates and 20 degree graduates by year 2004.

Noting lack of ICT policy and startegy in the Civil Service, in year 2000, I negotiated for financial resources from both Govenment and Donors/well wishers/cooperating partners to enhance ICT awareness among top public servants and to develop ICT policy and startegy for the Civil Service.

I am the CEO of a South African company that has for that last 8 years pioneered the use of technology to deliver electronic payments to developing economies.

We are motivated by the fact that we are Africans resolving African issues. If we are successful our solutions can result in substantial GDP growth in the countries where we operate.

We created solutions that are currently being used in Rwanda, Cote D'Ivoire, Nigeria, Namibia, Lebanon and South Africa.

Our solutions are innovative in that we use mother tongue interaction and minimal infrastructure to achieve our goals.

I believe that I have the practical and technical experience in electonic commerce that would be of benefit to the Task Force.

Since 1999 he has directed the award-winning Collaboratory on Technology Enhanced Learning Communities (Cotelco), a social science research lab investigating the social and technical factors that influence geographically distributed collaborative knowledge work, particularly between developed and developing countries. Cogburn's research focuses on exploring the socio-technical infrastructure required to enhance the participation of developing countries and civil society organizations in global governance processes in information and communication policy. He worked with the Global Information Infrastructure Commission (GIIC), as Africa regional director, and Founding Executive Director of GIIC Africa. He was an active participant in tboth phases of WSIS, starting with Prepcom II of WSIS - Geneva and is a partner in the Internet Governance Project.  He is the co-author of A Global Alliance for ICT: Bringing Policy Making to the Public and the Public to Policy Making. Professor Cogburn received his Ph.D. in political science (International Relations, Political Economy, and Comparative Politics) from Howard University in 1996 where he was a W.K. Kellogg doctoral fellow at the Ralph J. Bunche International Affairs Center.

John Dada, Programs Director, Fantsuam Foundation, Nigeria. Founded in 1996 in Jos, Nigeria, Fantsuam Foundation is a non profit organization aimed at pioneering gender and youth focused micro finance and ICT services and development in rural communities of Nigeria.

Poverty alleviation is our goal through a multi sectoral approach. Our basic objective is to empower women in rural areas of the country to work their ways out of poverty, promoting the use of ICT in support of traditional Governance in rural development, education, rural-urban-rural and rural-rural connectivity, eCommerce, IT transfer for the manufacture of tropical solar-powered computers in our rural areas, accessibility. These are just a few of what we do.

John's background is in academic research, nursing and rural community development, a trained nurse. Fantsuam Foundation is sharing and building information for rural development, facilitating the achieving of MDGs in rural Nigeria through ICT-enabled community development. He has served as Chair of the African Technical Advisory Committee of the UN's Economic Commission for Africa, member of PICTA, membership committee of the Global Knowledge Partnership and Executive Board of the Association for Progressive Communications. Fantsuam Foundation's efforts has been profiled on CNN's Global Challenges and BBC World (www.fantsuam.org)

Vision of their specific contribution to the GA Strategy Council:

Providing a reality check of what ICTs are doing, can do and cannot do, to facilitate grassroots development

In sum I have two major attachments to your work.

1. as an executive director of an NGO that collects, refurbishes and sends computers to needy schools

2. as a teacher, trainer and manager of ICT for education projects - specifically for UNESCO.

I am qualified for participation through my educational background with a doctorate in international development education and experienced in the fields of ICT for education and development.

My major area is Capacity Building at the programme level to achive the vision of the NeGP.

I have been a fellow at the United Nations- Working Group on Internet Governence in Geneva and have been a part of WGIG consultations. Contributed towards the final report of the WGIG process. (www.wgig.org)

With over 7 years of professional experience, I have been an academician and a researcher. I am a Ph.D in e-Business process transformations for developing new business models, an MBA by training, and have international publications to conceptualize "offline empowerment". I am also a Certified Programmer and Certified Solution Developer.

Presently, I am tutoring the Internet Governence Capacity Building Programme of the Diplo Foundation, Geneva, for Asia region.

I wish to contribute substantially towards this global movement of envisioning the ICT and development together. Hence submitting my nomination for the Global Alliance Strategy Council.

More than 25 years in various fields as:

• education, literacy, training, related to employment, environment, entrepreneurship, migration and Development in general;

• ICTs and development in Africa and the world, with a specific accent on development of human resources and access to infrastructures

More than 25 years in various fields as:

• education, literacy, training, related to employment, environment, entrepreneurship, migration and Development in general;

• ICTs and development in Africa and the world, with a specific accent on development of human resources and access to infrastructures

Kunda Dixit is a Nepali journalist and graduate of Columbia University. He worked as news reporter for the BBC at UN Headquarters in New York from 1985-86, and then as Asia-Pacific director of Inter Press Service from 1987 to 1995. He returned to Nepal in 1996 to head Panos Institute South Asia, and is currently editor and publisher of Nepali Times and the Himal magazine in Kathmandu and co-publisher of Himal Southasian Magazine, to find out how Nepalese journalists have managed to break out of the silence. He is also author of the book, Dateline Earth: Journalism As If The Planet Mattered).

Vision of their specific contribution to the GA Strategy Council:

Kunda Dixit is commiited to addressing the issue of digital divide globally and within countries including issues of ensuring localisation of computers for the Internet, etc. and promioting the use of IT in spreading literacy in Nepal and countries in similar levels of development.

Pavan Duggal is a practising Advocate in the Supreme Court of India at New Delhi, having specialized in the newly emerging field of Cyberlaw & E-Commerce law in the last few years. An internationally renowned expert and authority on Cyberlaw, Pavan has also the credit of having done pioneering work in the field of Convergence Law.

He is the Founder President of Cyberlaw Asia, Asia’s pioneering organization committed to the passing of dynamic cyberlaws in the Asian continent. Cyberlaw Asia is engaged in the process of creating greater awareness about Cyberlaws in different countries of Asia. Pavan has been associated with UNESCO on Ethical, Legal, and Societal Challenges of Cyberspace in Asia and the Pacific.

Pavan is a member of the ICANN Nominating Committee representing the Asia Pacific region.

He is Member of Membership Advisory Committee of The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). He is also member of the Membership Implementation Task Force (MITF) of ICANN and is involved in the legal issues of At Large Membership of this global body.

He is an Expert on the Board of Experts of European Commission’s Dr. ECommerce.

Pavan is the Member of the Public Interest Registry’s. Org Advisory Council.

Pavan is a member of World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Arbitration and Mediation Centre Panel of Neutrals. He has taken an active part in the regional deliberations at Hyderabad relating to the Domain Names Policy formulation undertaken by World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

He is the consultant to United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) on the Asia Pacific Conference on Cybercrime and Information Security 2002.

Pavan is the member of AFACT Legal Working Group of UN/CEFACT. Pavan is associated with EPIC (Electronic Privacy Information Centre) as an Indian expert for the preparation of its Privacy and Human Rights, 2003 Report.

Pavan has been associated with International Trade Centre UNCTAD/WTO, Geneva as the Cyberlaw expert for conducting seminars on legal aspects relating to E-commerce in Mumbai and Bangalore.

Pavan has vetted and reviewed the e-primer on Cyberlaw prepared by an e-Asian Task Force as an expert authority.

Pavan has been invited to be an Associated fellow of the Centre for Asia Pacific Technology Law and Policy (CAPTEL) at Singapore.

He is a member of Panel of Arbitrators of the Regional Centre for Arbitration, Kuala Lumpur.

Pavan has been invited to join Indian Chapter of the Commonwealth Centre for Electronic Governance.

Pavan is the President of Cyberlaws.Net, The Cyberlaw Consultancy, which is Internet's unique and first ever consultancy dedicated exclusively to the new field of Cyberlaws. He is engaged in providing online consultancy relating to various issues of Cyberlaws and E-commerce.

He is advising the Controller of Certifying Authorities, Ministry of Information Technology, Government of India on issues concerning the Indian Cyberlaw namely, The Information Technology Act, 2000. He is also the Member of the IT Act Legal Advisory Group constituted by the Controller of Certifying Authorities.

Pavan Duggal has testified before the Indian Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology, on the Communication Convergence Bill, 2001.

At present, he is handling various newly emerging Cyberlaw litigations and disputes.

Pavan is the Founder of The Cyberlaw Association, Internet’s pioneering association dedicated to the growth of Cyberlaws in cyberspace.

He has been associated with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and United Nations International Drug Control Programme (UNDCP).

He is the Founder of Cyberarbitration, an online system of alternative dispute resolution.

He is the Founder of CyberlawIndia, an organization committed to the passing of dynamic cyberlaws in India. Cyberlawindia is membership based and is engaged in the process of creating greater awareness about Cyberlaws in India.

Pavan Duggal is also the exclusive contributor on India’s only vortal on Cyberlaw in India being Cyberlaw India at www.cyberlawindia.com.

He is member of Inter-Ministerial Working Group of Cyber Law and Cyber Forensics of Government of India.

He is associated with Ministry of Information Technology, Government of India on legal issues of Electronic Governance.

He is the author of the book entitled “Cyberlaw – The Indian Perspective”.

Pavan is the visiting faculty for Cyberlaw at the National Police Academy, Hyderabad, SEMCOM, Gujarat and Indian Law Institute, Delhi.

He has conceptualize and taught a comprehensive course on Cybercrime, for the Bureau of Police Research & Development, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India.

Pavan is associated with NASSCOM, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Indo German Chambers of Commerce (IGCC), All India Management Association (AIMA) on various Cyberlaw and E-Commerce law issues.

He is the Cyberlaw correspondent for the Global Legal Publication JURIST: The Legal Education Network.

He is a prolific writer and speaks at numerous International Cyberlaw Forums.

In addition, Pavan is the only Cyberlaw content provider and columnist with the leading Indian IT Portal being ZDNETINDIA at www.zdnetindia.com . He is regularly contributing special articles on Cyberlaw in his monthly column on the website ITSpace.com. Pavan has a weekly column “Cyberlaw and You” at www.indiainfoline.com. He is already contributing interactive features on the subject in various leading newspapers of the country. Pavan writes the weekly Sunday interactive cyberlaw column entitled ”Brief Cases” in The Economic Times. He also writes for The Financial Express, The Telegraph and others.

Pavan has been interviewed by various television channels on Cyberlaw, like The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Star Television, Star News, ZeeNews, Sahara TV and Doordarshan. He has also given an exclusive interview on Cyberlaw to BBC Radio.

He has been invited as a distinguished speaker on various issues of Cyberlaw at numerous International Internet Fora, conferences and exhibitions like India Internet World, 1998, 1999 & 2000 at New Delhi, E-biz-2000, E-BizIndia-2000, E-Governance Conference, Apricot 1999 at Singapore and Regional Meeting of Infoethics (UNESCO), 2000 at Beijing.

Pavan was invited as a speaker to speak on Cyberlaw at Regional Seminar on Ecommerce organized by the Asia Pacific TeleCommunity (APT). Pavan has been invited as a speaker on Cyber Terrorism at the 11th Annual AMIC conference in Perth, Australia. He was also plenary speaker at the Regional Seminar on the Root Causes of Terrorism and the Role of Youth organized by the World Youth Foundation on the subject of Cybercrime and Cyber Terrorism. He was invited by the Mauritian Management Association to conduct the first of its kind seminar on Cyberlaw in Mauritius in August 2002.

Mr. Pavan Duggal is the Chair Person of the Expert Sub Committee on legal, regulatory and taxation aspects relating to electronic business formed by FICCI.

Mr. Pavan Duggal is also an associated with ASSOCHAM Association of the associated chamber of electronic and industry of India on issues relating to business process out sourcing.

Prof Clement Dzidonu of Ghana is an academic who has been involved in ICT4D Policy and Plan development in number of African coutries for the past 7 years and has won the World Technology Award for Policy in 2003 as a result of his work.

Tatiana Ershova is a founder and permanent General Director of the first Russian NGO that has been strongly promoting and practically contributing to the Information Society development in Russia since 1998 - the Institute of the Information Society (IIS).

IIS led by Ms. Ershova conducts R&D concerning the issues of developing the Information Society and Knowledge Economy, drafts legislation and conducts expert analyses of bills and regulations, develops the political, socio-economic, scientific and technical forecasts, implements programs and projects, disseminates knowledge, facilitates the international cooperation in this field. IIS has conceptualized the national contest "Best Region in the ICT Field" within the E-Russia Program, developed and implemented quite a number of integrated information systems at the national and regional levels. IIS also has delivered 4 comprehensive analytical reports assessing Russia's e-Readiness: those of 2001 (the first attempt to consolidate disorganized data about Russia's e-Development and to add the expert opinions to these data regarding the building of the Information Society in this country), of 2003 (a comparative analysis of e-Readiness of 6 Russian regions completed within E-Russia Program), of 2004 (part of the project "ICT Infrastructure and e-Readiness Assessment Project" of the infoDev Program), of 2005 (Index of Russian Regions' E-Readiness, which made the basis of the report to the meeting of the Russian State Council of February 16, 2006 chaired by Russian President Vladimir Putin). IIS also has elaborated and implemented the monitoring system of Moscow's advancement to the Information Society and now is the holder of a methodology that can be adopted to Russian regions to make their e-development efforts more effective.

Ms. Ershova personally coordinated the preparation of the Concept of Moscow's Advancement towards the Information Society (approved on July 20, 2001 by the Moscow Mayor's Resolution No. 715-РМ); she was one of the key developers of the Comprehensive Program of Moscow's Advancement towards the Information Society (E-Moscow Program, approved by the Directive of the City of Moscow # 367-PP of May 13, 2003); she also coordinated the preparation of draft e-Strategies for Chelyabinsk, Kaliningrad, Novgorod, Perm, Tula regions and Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area - Yugra.

Since 2001 she also has been managing the creation of the Russia Development Gateway Portal, which in 2003 became the core component of the Network of Development Gateways of the Russian Federation established within the federal E-Russia Program under support provided by the Russian Ministry of Economic Development and Trade and a number of regional governments of Russia.

Ms. Ershova is devoting much of her time to public activities. She was a member of standing committees of IFLA - the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (1991-2001); she has been a member of the Moscow City Duma (Council) High-Level Expert Group on the Information Society Development (1998 - present time), international jury of the Global Junior Challenge (2002- present time), international jury of the Stockholm Challenge (2005 - present time). She initiated in 2001 and has been coordinating the activity of the Russian e-Development Partnership (PRIOR) - a network of organizations and individuals putting together their efforts and resources to facilitate dynamic and comprehensive development of the Information Society and to build the Knowledge Economy in Russia.

Since April of 2002 Ms. Ershova has been coordinating the activity of the Moscow Node of the UN ICT Task Force Regional Network for Europe and Central Asia - a pusher of Information and Knowledge Economy development in Russia and CIS. The Moscow Node was an active participant of the Pan European Regional Conference in preparation of WSIS (Bucharest, Romania, November 2002). Since 2004 Ms. Ershova has been preparing and publishing the series of bilingual publications "UN ICT Task Force EuCAS Series", which comprises 3 issues. She was an active participant of the UN ICT Task Force meetings and was involved in the UN ICT Task Force ICT Policy and Governance Working Group.

Ms. Ershova has widespread professional contacts with Russian and foreign colleagues. She has been both a speaker and an organizer of multiple national and international conferences and workshops. Some of them were really large-scale: the international conference "Partnership Networks as Tools to Enhance Information Society and Knowledge Economy" (Russia, Moscow, December 2002) - a multi-stakeholder event that brought together around 100 decision makers and high-level experts from 19 countries of the region and outside it to discuss E- and K- strategies and programs implemented worldwide; the international conference "UNESCO between Two Phases of the World Summit on the Information Society" (Russia, Saint Petersburg, 17-19 May 2005) - a high-level multi-stakeholder event that attracted 489 delegates from 50 countries of the world to discuss a broad scope of issues in preparation of WSIS.

Ms. Ershova actively participated in WSIS process. In October, 2003 she implemented an awareness raising project "World Summit on the Information Society: Expectations of the Russian Regions", which included a series of workshops on the Information Society in 4 remote Russian regions, as well as publication of the bilingual book with the same title with the support of the British Council Russia. In December 2003 she took part in the first phase of WSIS in Geneva; in 2004 she was a member of the Russian national delegation and participated in WSIS II PrepComs. In 2005 she became a member of WSIS Civil Society Bureau as a co-coordinator of Multistakeholder Participation Family. In this capacity she was of speakers at the Summit Round Table N2 "From Commitment to Action: Implementation after Tunis", where she made a statement: "It is time to fully recognize competence, interest and expertise of all stakeholders".

Ms. Ershova is an author of over 50 publications in Russian and foreign professional journals and mass media; she edited and compiled several books; she is an author and a member of the editorial team of the scientific and analytical Information Society Journal - a recognized Russian-language research and analytical magazine subscribed practically by all federal and regional governmental authorities and e-leaders. She is member of the Russian Journalists Union and the International Federation of Journalists.

She is a well known and respected member of the ICTs community that does not require further introduction and whose participation would be of enormous value.

Anriette Esterhuysen is the Executive Director of the Association for Progressive Communications (APC). APC is an international network of more than forty civil society organizations dedicated to empowering and supporting groups and individuals working for peace, human rights, development and protection of the environment, through the strategic use of information and communication technologies (ICTs).

She was Executive Director of SANGONeT, an internet service provider and training institution for the development sector in South Africa from 1993 to 2000. Prior to that she worked in development and human rights organisations involved in the struggle against Apartheid in South Africa. She is a founder of Women'sNet in South Africa and has served on the African Technical Advisory Committee of the UN's Economic Commission for Africa's African Information Society Initiative and was a member of the United Nations ICT Task Force from 2002 to 2005.

A critical thinker, Anriette is adept at bringing new perspectives to bear on policy issues and constructively to look for solutions. As a member of the UN ICT Task Force, she chaired the ICT Policy and Governance Working Group and has directed an extensive, study by Dr David Souter, on developing country participation in the WSIS, which will be available in May 2006. She represents APC in the Global Knowledge Partnership (GKP), Partners for ICT in Africa (PICTA), the Catalysing Access to ICTs in Africa (CATIA) programme and the Building Communications Alliance (BCO) Alliance, which are all based on multi-stakeholder participation. She also led APC's participation in the WSIS process.

Anriette woud bring to the Strategic Council of the Global Alliance for ICTD a range of knowledge and experience. She has more than twenty years experience of work in the ICTD sector and a depth of knowledge regarding the history of the connection between ICTs and development. As such, she can draw on extensive networks and is able to engage with multiple stakeholders at all levels.

Vision of their specific contribution to the GA Strategy Council:

Making a positive difference to social and economic inequalities requires initiative and change at a range of levels, and the active involvement of multiple actors. APC believes in the value of processes, networks, platforms and spaces that allow this to happen in the field of communications for development and social justice. We believe that the GA should contribute to informed approaches to communications for development policy and implementation by the UN system, other international development institutions, governments and other actors.

The GA should work interactively and respectfully with existing networks and initatives in the field of information and communications for development. It should build and improve on the experience of the UN ICT Taske Force, in particular through the inclusion of groups that were not well represented in the Task Force such as civil society, the academic and research community, the media, community based organisations, social movements, people from the creative economy, young people, and IT business from the developing world. It should consider gender equity and social inclusion in its operations and its goals.

I have known Ms Fauth for several years in the context of her work in the area of communications and ICTs, as a long-time advocate and actor in the field of information and communication technologies for development. I recently advised Ms Fauth in the preparation of her paper on “Beyond the Gutenberg Galaxy” (a youth perspective on ICTs and social development) for the IFIP WG92 conference on Landscapes of ICT and Social Accountability (June 2005, University of Turku, Finland). I edited the Proceedings, including her paper, and these have just been published by Springer Verlag.

I am sure you would find Julia a particularly energetic and idea-rich collaborator in the Strategy Council.

Mr. Juan Fernández is a Senior Advisor in the Ministry of Informatics and Communication of Cuba.

Previously he was the CIO of SIME, an industrial group of more than 200 enterprises, a Senior Researcher and Professor in the Microelectronics Research Center of Havana Polytechnic Institute (ISPJAE), Advisor for the National Directorate of Informatics of Cuba and Coordinator of the Cuban Commission for Electronic Commerce. He was also a founding member of the United Nations ICT Task Force and of the Working Group on Internet Governance. He participated actively in the negotiating process for the outcome documents of both phases of the World Summit on the Information Society.

His current interest is in the use of ICTs for development, and in the organization of the software industry in developing countries. He has a Physics Degree from Havana University and an MSc in Microelectronics from Havana Polytechnic Institute (ISPJAE). He is also a FIDE International Chess Master

I joined the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in 1977 and I am currently heading the division "Services Infrastructure for Development and Trade Efficiency". During my professional career with UNCTAD I have been working in many different areas of development cooperation. Among others I have managed the programme for Customs reform and computerization (ASYCUDA), which has been

implemented in 90 countries worldwide. Before joining UNCTAD I have worked at the Kiel Institute for World Economics in Germany, where I have developed quantitative simulation models.

Vision of their specific contribution to the GA Strategy Council:

In addition to my personal expertise in different areas of ICT4D and of partnering with a large number of stakeholders, I will bring on board UNCTAD's know-how and comparative advantage in the fields of innovation, science & technology and ICT4D, specifically in e-Customs, e-strategies, e-tourism and other development related e-initiatives to raise the profile, enrich the discussions and strengthen the impact of the GA Strategy Council.

Rich Fuchs has been IDRC's Director of Information and Communication Technologies for Development (ICT4D) since 2001. As a member of the organisation's senior management team, he is responsible for a $30 million/annum program helping people and communities in Africa, Asia, and Latin America use ICTs in innovative ways to achieve key development goals reducing poverty, developing skills, building partnerships and networks, and expanding economic opportunities. Since joining IDRC, Rich has raised more than $50 million in new external funding to lead the establishment of three major ICT4D not-for-profit start-ups, including the Institute for Connectivity in the Americas, Connectivity Africa, and Telecentre.org.

As CEO of Enterprise Network Inc., a Crown Corporation in Newfoundland (Canada), Rich established North America's first system of rural telecentres and online services. Prior to starting and running his own technology company, Futureworks Inc., which won Canada's export excellence award in 2000, he was Vice President of Rural Development at the Newfoundland and Labrador Development Corporation.

After the Dot-Force, UN ICT Task Force and WSIS in 2 episodes many developing countries have "bought in" to ICTs in their development contexts. The United Nations is exactly the kind of institution where developing world governments can meet on common ground and share agendas with other related sector mechanisms such as the Global Knowledge Partnership. The UN needs a space for reflection, analysis and advice on how to process and advance this discussion within its own walls and with related external sets of interests. Having served on the DotForce, participated in both World Summits and served on the GKP Excomm for 5 consecutive years, I can help link these discussions and interests.

Ephraim is responsible for organising legal training at the Free University in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Students from developing countries form the largest group in this course. Although the course is given face-to-face, Ephraim has made it also accessible on-line to be used when students return to their home country.

Currently Ephraim is involved in realising his initiative to set up an e-learning centre for tax officials in developing countries. The idea behind this initiative is raising the domestic level of fiscal competence that should lead to a healthy economic growth in developing countries. In addition, a well managed fiscal framework also makes it attractive for foreign investors to make investments in such countries.

The activities of the fiscal e-learning centre could be expanded in the future to include other legal areas.

Thanks to Ephraim’s network, is this initiative currently supported by major stakeholders like the International Fiscal Organisation, the IMF, the “big four” accounting firms, major figures in the academic world, development help organisations like One World and regional organisations of tax officials in developing countries. The e-learning organisation will start operating in September 2007.

In 2005 Tony received recognition as a Computerworld “Premier 100 IT Leader”. Tony’s initiatives have been recognized nationally through publications such as Baseline, Stores, Integrated Solutions Magazine and has been featured on two cover stories; CXO (2005, December) discussing “Why Business Intelligence” and Integrated Solutions for Retailers (2006, April) discussing “Business Intelligence and the Burgeoning Retailer”.

On numerous occasions, as a business leader and senior executive, Tony’s leadership was contributory to Rent-A-Center receiving national recognition: (2002) Fortune, 100 Fastest Growing Companies, (2003) Forbes, Americas Best Managed Companies, (2004) CompTIA, Industry Leadership, System Integration Achievement Award, (2004, 2005) Baseline, Baseline 500, Number One in Retail, (2005) Forbes, The World’s 2000 Leading Companies, (2005) Information Week, Masters of Technology IT Leaders and (2005) Computerworld, Enterprise Management, Distributed Systems and Infrastructure Implementation.

As a progressive thinker in the Information and Communications Technology field, Tony is frequently called upon to provide industry knowledge and expertise as a guest speaker and panelist; most recently (2006) Panel Discussion: Back from the Brink – Lessons Learned on the Front Lines of Disaster [Katrina], Premier 100 IT Leaders Conference, Computerworld, Palm Desert, CA, (2005) Remember the "Business" in Business Intelligence - Working Together to Plan, Provide, Build and Manage the BI Infrastructure, Business Intelligence Perspectives, Computerworld, Scottsdale, AZ and (2004) Ask the Experts Panel – Choosing the Right Mobile Solution Partner and Thought Leader Panelist – Mobility Integration, Mobilize 2004, Frost & Sullivan Executive Summit, Las Vegas, NV.

Mr. Gannon has served on the OASIS Board of Directors since 2000. He was previously Senior Vice President of BEA Systems, a major enterprise infrastructure software company, where he was responsible for Strategic Marketing in the eCommerce Integration Division. Prior to that, he was Vice President of Marketing and Industry Programs at Netfish Technologies in California and previously Vice President of Strategic Programs at CommerceNet Consortium, directing research and development efforts in new internet commerce standards, including Extensible Mark-up Language (XML). At CommerceNet, he expanded research into interoperable catalogs in 1996, and in 1998 was the first Project Leader for RosettaNet, which is a consortium working to achieve globally networked supply chains and also served as Executive Director for the Open Buying on the Internet(OBI) project.

Since 2000 Mr Gannon has pioneered the Internet Enterprise Development project with the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, serving as Chair of the Team of Specialists to assist less-advantaged countries to participate in internet-based international trade. Mr. Gannon has provided consultation to governmental leaders (ministers and heads of state) on adoption of electronic business strategies to facilitate economic growth and support their eGovernment implementations. He is an American national, educated at Georgia Institute of Technology, and has co-authored the book, Building Database-Driven Web Catalogs. Mr Gannon is an experienced speaker and chair at many international conferences on electronic business and standards for the internet. He participated at the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) 2003 in Geneva and in Tunis in 2005.

OASIS (Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards) is a not-for-profit, international consortium that drives the development, convergence, and adoption of e-business standards. The consortium produces more Web services and Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) standards than any other organization along with standards for security, e-business, and standardization efforts in the public sector and for application-specific markets. OASIS is distinguished by its transparent governance and operating procedures. Members themselves set the OASIS technical agenda, using a lightweight process expressly designed to promote industry consensus and unite disparate efforts. Founded in 1993, OASIS has more than 5,000 participants representing over 600 organizations and individual members in 100 countries.

Mr Atanu Garai is the Knowledge Coordinator of ICT4D work at OneWorld South Asia, a bright young individual with an indepth knowledge on ICT issues. Mr Garai has been a pioneer of ICT4D in the region, and has worked towards sensitising the governments and the private sector in the strategic use of ICTs. His service to the Global Alliance will be of utmost importance, and I am sure he will do his best to provide the Southern leadership that the Alliance would require.

Mr. Atanu Garai has done substantive work on the policy aspects of ICTs in development, especially advocating for the youth issues in the World Summit on the Information Society. He has been regarded as a very prominent activist for the rights of youth in information society. At 29, he serves as the South Asia Network and Programme Leader for the global network of young professionals International Young Professionals Foundation (IYPF). In this position, he is responsible for promoting the cause of young professionals in South Asia and giving strategic direction to the involvement of young professionals in the information society.

Mr. Atanu Garai also holds the post of Knowledge Coordinator for e-Governance in the South Asia office of OneWorld International Foundation. He has authored several papers and the co-authored the book “Taking ICT to every Indian village: Opportunities and challenges” which provides a guidelines and methodology for harnessing the potentials of ICT in India's rural development.

Atanu Garai is well-known leader and advocate for the inclusion of youth issues within information society. He has been very active member of the WSIS Youth Caucus, and provided inputs to policy recommendations for the Two Phases of WSIS. He has been part of the Information Society and Sustainable Development Research Team which was responsible for interconnectedness between IS and SD to suggest policy recommendations to the stakeholders. At the Tunis Phase of WSIS, he has been instrumental in catalyzing a number of advocacy efforts highlighting the role of youth in information society.

We believe that being a member of the Strategy Council, Mr. Garai shall be able to further the progress of implementation of WSIS and MDGs at various levels. He will serve with enthusiasm and professionalism and passionately represent the cause of ICT for development and the role of young professionals, especially those in developing countries, in achieving the MDGs through the application of ICTs.

Atanu Garai specialises in information society issues and has received his education in information sciences from the University of Calcutta. In his capacity of Knowledge Coordinator for e-Governance in OneWorld International Foundation, an international NGO with special consultative status with UN-ECOSOC, he provides new dimensions to the ICT for development paradigm by exploring the crucial inter-connectedness across knowledge, technology and human empowerment. He has been a renowned information society activist, promoting the causes of young people in the WSIS dialogue. In the last four years, he has been involved in the development of several very successful advocacy and research initiatives on WSIS and MDGs. He has given strategic directions to the applied policy research projects like “Information Society and Sustainable Development” of IISD, Canada or “Rural Connectivity” of OneWorld. He is credited with the authorship of several papers on ICT for development issues, besides being the lead author of the book “Taking ICT to every Indian village: Opportunities and challenges,” documenting the outcomes of the rural connectivity research project.

Dorothy is also a co-chair of commission on Economic Opportunity at WITFOR 2007.

Ms limota Goroso Giwa is the founder of international women communication center (IWCC ) Nigeria . An organization that startd the grassroot innovative approach for women on ICT information technogy. she was also selected among the 1000 women for nobel peace prize in 2005. and an international acknowledged person on women and development issues. she lso attend the 2001 kalalumpa meeting of global knowledge and information exchange and will be a good material for your committee reprenting global south

I was for four years (1996-2000) the founding Director of the Centre for Community and Enteprise Networking at the University College of Cape Breton in Nova Scotia Canada. This Centre was one of the earliest to work directly at the grassroots to determine if and and how Information and Communications Technologies might be used to support local economic and social development (Cape Breton Island being one of Canada's most isolated and poorest regions).

Based on that experience I became active as an initiator of Community Informatics http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_informatics as a an applied area for research and practice in the use of ICTs for development. From this work has developed the Community Informatics Research Network www.ciresearch.net of which I am the founding Chair, a global network of researchers, practitioners and policy makers with a research interest in the area of enabling and empowering communities through the use of ICTs. I am also the Editor in Chief of the Journal of Community Informatics http://ci-journal.net, a leading journal in the applications of ICTs for economic and social development including in less developed countries and in less developed regions of developed countries.

I have an overriding interest in seeing effective linkages between research, policy and practice in the area of ICT4D and particularly that such linkages include the direct experience and results of those currently working to realize ICT4D in local communities. In support of this I am active in a variety of ICT4D practitioner and policy oriented networks and am on the Steering Committee, Board of Directors or Advisory Board of a number of grassroots community based ICT organizations/networks reflecting my commitment to linking ICT research with community based practice. These organizations include:

The Telecenters of the Americas Partnership

Telecommunities Canada

Association for Community Networking (USA)

Global Telecentre Alliance

Vancouver Community Network (1999-2001)

In addition, I am the Research Director for LOGIN Africa, a recently funded research network concerned with e-local governance in Africa and a Director of The Information Society Institute, Cape Town South Africa. I am also currently a co-Principal Investigator in a major research project examining the impact of public investment in community based technology initiatives in Canada http://www.cracin.ca and an advisor to indigenous organizations currently working to make effective use of ICTs for self-development (particularly in Canada).

I have had a continuing involvement with the Civil Society responses to WSIS including attending the Tunis Summit on behalf of Australian Civil Society and participation in the Start-up activities of the Global Alliance. As a Canadian I was an invitee to and presenter at the Canadian preparatory meeting for the Tunis Summit.

My interest in participating in the Global Alliance is to ensure that there is a constructive inclusion of the current experience "on the ground" with the use of ICTs for enabling and empowering local communities particularly in development contexts as a background to and guide for future policy and programme developments in ICT for Development. I am particularly concerned that there is appropriate research and particularly research done in partnership with end-user communities to help guide future ICT4D investments and that there are opportunities for including the results of such research (including that done by end-users themselves) in the deliberations of the Global Alliance.

I was for four years (1996-2000) the founding Director of the Centre for Community and Enteprise Networking at the University College of Cape Breton in Nova Scotia Canada. This Centre was one of the earliest to work directly at the grassroots to determine if and and how Information and Communications Technologies might be used to support local economic and social development (Cape Breton Island being one of Canada's most isolated and poorest regions).

Based on that experience I became active as an initiator of Community Informatics http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_informatics as a an applied area for research and practice in the use of ICTs for development. From this work has developed the Community Informatics Research Network www.ciresearch.net of which I am the founding Chair, a global network of researchers, practitioners and policy makers with a research interest in the area of enabling and empowering communities through the use of ICTs. I am also the Editor in Chief of the Journal of Community Informatics http://ci-journal.net, a leading journal in the applications of ICTs for economic and social development including in less developed countries and in less developed regions of developed countries.

I have an overriding interest in seeing effective linkages between research, policy and practice in the area of ICT4D and particularly that such linkages include the direct experience and results of those currently working to realize ICT4D in local communities. In support of this I am active in a variety of ICT4D practitioner and policy oriented networks and am on the Steering Committee, Board of Directors or Advisory Board of a number of grassroots community based ICT organizations/networks reflecting my commitment to linking ICT research with community based practice. These organizations include:

The Telecenters of the Americas Partnership

Telecommunities Canada

Association for Community Networking (USA)

Global Telecentre Alliance

Vancouver Community Network (1999-2001)

In addition, I am the Research Director for LOGIN Africa, a recently funded research network concerned with e-local governance in Africa and a Director of The Information Society Institute, Cape Town South Africa. I am also currently a co-Principal Investigator in a major research project examining the impact of public investment in community based technology initiatives in Canada http://www.cracin.ca and an advisor to indigenous organizations currently working to make effective use of ICTs for self-development (particularly in Canada).

I have had a continuing involvement with the Civil Society responses to WSIS including attending the Tunis Summit on behalf of Australian Civil Society and participation in the Start-up activities of the Global Alliance. As a Canadian I was an invitee to and presenter at the Canadian preparatory meeting for the Tunis Summit.

My interest in participating in the Global Alliance is to ensure that there is a constructive inclusion of the current experience "on the ground" with the use of ICTs for enabling and empowering local communities particularly in development contexts as a background to and guide for future policy and programme developments in ICT for Development. I am particularly concerned that there is appropriate research and particularly research done in partnership with end-user communities to help guide future ICT4D investments and that there are opportunities for including the results of such research (including that done by end-users themselves) in the deliberations of the Global Alliance.

Anita Gurumurthy is the founding member and executive director of IT for Change, an NGO located in Bangalore, India. Anita's core interests have included research and advocacy on development, with specific focus on areas such as gender, reproductive health, globalization, and the information society. At IT for Change, Anita is currently coordinator of a research and advocacy project (Information Society for the South) that looks at imperatives for a South-based information society discourse. She is the lead researcher of an Asia Pacific study supported by IDRC that seeks to map issues concerning women’s empowerment in the information society in the region. Anita is currently engaged in a UNDP supported research to prepare policy briefs to engender ICT polices at national levels in the Asia Pacific region. She is also coordinator of IT for Change’s UNDP and Government of India supported grassroots project that uses ICTs to empower women’s collectives.

Anita has been actively involved in advocacy around gender issues at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) and has been on the Steering Committee of the WSIS Gender Caucus and its regional coordinator for Asia Pacific. She was also active as a part of the Informal Coalition on Financing – an advocacy platform comprising 7 NGOs - during the WSIS and engaged in advocacy on issues of financing and implementation. Anita is on the International Advisory Committee of BRIDGE - Gender and Development Information Service of IDS Sussex, and is the author of the BRIDGE Cutting Edge Pack on Gender and ICTs. She has also led the IT for Change research study "Bridging the Digital Gender Divide - Issues and Insights on ICT for Women’s Economic Empowerment", for UNIFEM South Asia, and recently co-authored the chapter on gender for the forthcoming Karnataka Human Development Report 2, a UNDP and Government of Karnataka project. She also recently co-authored a research paper on the “Political Economy of the Information Society: A Southern View”.

Anita is also actively associated with DAWN, a network of women scholars and activists from the global South in DAWN’s research and advocacy activities in the South Asia region and in DAWN’s global advocacy work at WSIS.

Anita has worked in various capacities with different organizations - as Research Consultant with the Centre for Public Policy, Indian Institute of Management Bangalore, coordinating a national level study on “Public-Private partnerships in Health” and authoring a Trainers’ Manual on Globalization; she has been the editor of HealthWatch Update, a policy advocacy newsletter on Women’s Reproductive Health and Rights in India; and Research Associate, Women’s Policy Research and Advocacy Unit, National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore, India.

(Anita’s statement of) Vision of her specific contribution to the GA Strategy Council:

In the emerging information society (IS), mainstreaming ICTs – which have a cross-cutting relationship with different development sectors - is an important challenge and an urgent imperative. An increased dialogue between the ICTD sector and ‘traditional’ development sectors has therefore been an area of considerable priority in my work. Further, years after Beijing, the agenda of mainstreaming gender in development still remains, and results on this front have been mixed. From the vantage of women’s rights and gender equality, the trisection of gender, ICTs and development, translates into a very important but somewhat nebulous and hence challenging policy space. An important task for the GASC therefore, would be to develop conceptual and policy connections to local and grassroots developments in the IS, especially with respect to changes in gender relations across social institutions. The GASC space allows for consolidating my efforts to push for bridges between development, rights, gender justice and information society issues.

Anita Gurumurthy is the founding member and executive director of IT for Change, an NGO located in Bangalore, India. Anita's core interests have included research and advocacy on development, with specific focus on areas such as gender, reproductive health, globalization, and the information society. At IT for Change, Anita is currently coordinator of a research and advocacy project (Information Society for the South) that looks at imperatives for a South-based information society discourse. She is the lead researcher of an Asia Pacific study supported by IDRC that seeks to map issues concerning women's empowerment in the information society in the region. Anita is currently engaged in a UNDP supported research to prepare policy briefs to engender ICT polices at national levels in the Asia Pacific region. She is also coordinator of IT for Change's UNDP and Government of India supported grassroots project that uses ICTs to empower women's collectives.

Anita has been actively involved in advocacy around gender issues at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) and has been on the Steering Committee of the WSIS Gender Caucus and its regional coordinator for Asia Pacific. She was also active as a part of the Informal Coalition on Financing – an advocacy platform comprising 7 NGOs - during the WSIS and engaged in advocacy on issues of financing and implementation. Anita is on the International Advisory Committee of BRIDGE - Gender and Development Information Service of IDS Sussex, and is the author of the BRIDGE Cutting Edge Pack on Gender and ICTs. She has also led the IT for Change research study "Bridging the Digital Gender Divide - Issues and Insights on ICT for Women's Economic Empowerment", for UNIFEM South Asia, and recently co-authored the chapter on gender for the forthcoming Karnataka Human Development Report 2, a UNDP and Government of Karnataka project. She also recently co-authored a research paper on the "Political Economy of the Information Society: A Southern View".

Anita is also actively associated with DAWN, a network of women scholars and activists from the global South in DAWN's research and advocacy activities in the South Asia region and in DAWN's global advocacy work at WSIS.

Anita has worked in various capacities with different organizations - as Research Consultant with the Centre for Public Policy, Indian Institute of Management Bangalore, coordinating a national level study on "Public-Private partnerships in Health" and authoring a Trainers' Manual on Globalization; she has been the editor of HealthWatch Update, a policy advocacy newsletter on Women's Reproductive Health and Rights in India; and Research Associate, Women's Policy Research and Advocacy Unit, National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore, India.

Vision of their contribution to the GA Strategy Council

In the emerging information society (IS), mainstreaming ICTs – which have a cross-cutting relationship with different development sectors - is an important challenge and an urgent imperative. An increased dialogue between the ICTD sector and 'traditional' development sectors has therefore been an area of considerable priority in my work. Further, years after Beijing, the agenda of mainstreaming gender in development still remains, and results on this front have been mixed. From the vantage of women's rights and gender equality, the trisection of gender, ICTs and development, translates into a very important but somewhat nebulous and hence challenging policy space. An important task for the GASC therefore, would be to develop conceptual and policy connections to local and grassroots developments in the IS, especially with respect to changes in gender relations across social institutions. The GASC space allows for consolidating my efforts to push for bridges between development, rights, gender justice and information society issues.

I'm working for social and economical development of disadvantaged local communities through strenghtening social capital (enclusion, trust, community spirit, self management) and using ICT. Community access places with IT-mentors as a new type of intersectoral service organisations should be established in every small community (villages, neighborhoods) all over the world. Their main functions of telecentres are: community learning, connecting the community and individuals to the governmental, business and all types of business network services. My vision is the virtual telecottage land, the self governed place where telecentres of the world (and their users) will have their "locations" and "buildings", "service centres" (schools, media, consultancy, tourism, government, etc.), where telecentre workers and clients can meet, find all poosible global, regional, national, local area network services, can exchange with best practices, information, ideas and opinion.

Dr. Nancy J. Hafkin is a pioneer of networking, and development information and communications in Africa. She spearheaded the Pan African Development Information System (PADIS) of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), as Officer-in-Charge from 1987 until 1997. She later served as Team Leader for Promoting of Information Technology for Development, of the Development Information Services Division of ECA (UN) from 1997 until 2000, where she was Coordinator of the African Information Society Initiative (AISI), the African governments' mandate to use ICTs to accelerate socio-economic development in Africa. Nancy also served as a facilitator in establishing the Partnership for Information and Communication Technologies in Africa (PICTA), a coordinating body of donor and executing agency partners in support of the AISI.

Nancy Hafkin has a long history of work on both gender and information technology for development issues Retired from the United Nations, she is the principal of Knowledge Working, a consultancy on gender and information technology. Nancy has a Ph.D. in African history from Boston University. In 2000 the Association for Progressive Communication established the Nancy Hafkin Prize for innovation in information technology in Africa.

Vision of their specific contribution to the GA Strategy Council:

I feel that I could help give a gendered vision to the Council, as well as a perspective on information society development in developing countries, with particular interest on sex-disaggregated statistics and indicators.

Christine Hansen began life as a concert pianist, turned professional at age nine, and performed around the world. She was educated in the United States, Paris, and England at the University of Cambridge.

While still in England, Hansen founded Hansen Partnership, and became one of the first IT company owners and Intellectual Property lawyers to actually use Linux and to grasp the issues surrounding the quick advances in technologies. In 1995 HP expanded to the USA, where she was recognized as one of very few American Indian women in technology.

In 2005 she launched Le CIEL (connect in every life) Foundation. Focusing on e-governance, sensitizing and educating policy makers, elaborating multi-stakeholders' strategies and preferences, especially:

• security

• commerciality

• multilingualization on the Internet using the Search Engine.

Christine Hansen is an international writer, broadcaster, and speaker on ICT4D. She addressed WSIS (on issues of Intellectual Property, commerce, and women), IFISI 2006 ("The costs of Not doing business with Open Source in developing countries"), and she just returned from the ITU/UNESCO meeting on the multilingual Internet, where the Foundation presented a local content project which suggests the possibility of at least 500 languages on the Internet by the end of the year. This summer will be the second time Hansen speaks at the Ottawa Linux Symposium on the serious topic of Africa and Open Source. She have also contributed to numerous policy papers and legal opinions.

Vision:

On a corporate level, the goals and aspirations of the Global Alliance and Le CIEL Foundation are virtually identical. E-governance, and the importance of policy, TODAY, is what will be the strength or failing of not only Africa, but many parts of the globe in the next 10 years. The people who are capable of working with all the stakeholders must have backgrounds not only in technology, but in law, international business, culture and humanity (human rights). In addition to this background, action is required, and Christine Hansen brings ideas and action together for the best results.

I've known Dr Christine Hansen for 14 Years now. As a fully qualified and licensed lawyer with degrees in the humanities, she is a persuasive advocate for many causes. She also has an outstanding grasp of the principles by which open source operates and a passionate enthusiasm for bringing them to bear on everyday problems, such as child Literacy in her collaboration with the US National Endowment for the Arts Reading at Risk programme to promote her vision of the Digital Reading Portal.

Recently, she has set up Le CIEL Foundation (http://www.cielfoundation.org) to bring the benefits of Open Source to the problems of E-Governance and the growing digital divide in Africa and elsewhere. In tackling this issue from the perspective of open source, she has demonstrated vision almost unique in the field and by taking time away from running Hansen Partnership (http://www.hansenpartnership.com) to set up le CIEL Foundation and to present position papers at WSIS, IFISI and the ITU/UNESCO meeting in Geneva on various topics around Open Source she has demonstrated both commitment and dedication to the issues which the Global Alliance for ICT and Development has listed as objectives in its plan of action. In conclusion, I know of no other person better qualified to provide vision and insight into using Open Source for solving real world problems to the Global Alliance.

C'est avec un réel plaisir que j'ai vu le nom de Dr Hansen, Christine L. sur la liste de vos nominés.

Je l'ai connu tout récemment lors du Forum IFISI 2006 (The International Forum of ICT Strategies and Investment - Semaine Internationale de l’Investissement) qui s'est déroulé au début du mois de mars dernier à Marrakech au Maroc. Elle y a fait une présentation très honorable sur les logiciels libres (Open Source Software) et leurs avantages pour le développement : The Costs of NOT Doing Business with Open Source Technologies in Developing Countries.

J'ai ensuite eu des échanges avec elle, et elle m'a impressionné par sa manière de concevoir le développement de l'Afrique en particulier, et des pays en développement en général au travers des TIC. Les gouvernements de ces pays sont entrain d'acquerir des budgets pour mettre sur pieds les plates-formes de E-Gouvernement, l'utilisation des logiciels libres est ici incontournable, il est grand temps de la laisser s'exprimer, sinon d'énormes sommes d'argents seront dépensées.

Elle a créé une fondation Le CIEL (http://www.cielfoundation.org) qui oeuvre pour l'utilisation des logiciels libres pour le E-Gouvernement et la réduction de la fracture numérique.

Dr Hansen est à mon humble avis une référence en matière de TIC pour le Développement (ICT for Developement).

Ayesha Hassan manages ICC's Commission on E-Business, IT and Telecoms. She is in charge of the Coordinating Committee of Business Interlocutors (CCBI), a vehicle mobilizing and coordinating the involvement of the worldwide business community in the process leading to the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Summits of 2003 and 2005.

In 2004 Ms Hassan accepted the UN Secretary General's invitation to participate in his Working Group on Internet Governance (WGIG). She also served on the UN Secretary General's Task Force on Financial Mechanisms.

She has represented ICC on numerous occasions, participating and making presentations at international and regional events including the G8 Dot Force and the UN ICT Task Force, OECD, WTO, ITU Telecoms and the EU Commission.

Ms. Hassan is an experienced lawyer, and has a background in dispute resolution, international policy, and e-commerce issues. She is former head of online dispute resolution services at SquareTrade. Ms. Hassan obtained her undergraduate degree from the University of Chicago, law degree from the University of San Diego, and a masters in international policy studies from Stanford University.

As executive advisor to the chairman of the board of the German ICT Initiative D21, with over 200 member organizations, and as member of the Public Affairs working group of the German ICT industry association BITKOM with over 700 member companies, he develops close working relationships with government, civil society and other stakeholders. Peter was actively involved in both parts of the World Summit on the Information Society and in its preparatory work, especially with regard to Internet Governance, and continues to take part in the consultations on the Internet Governance Forum and the WSIS Follow-up and Implementation process.

In recent years, Peter was involved in the work of the World Economic Forum Digital Divide Initiative, the Digital Opportunities Task Force of the G8, and the United Nations Information and Communications Technologies Task Force, where in 2005 he served as Chair of the Working Group on Human Capacity Building, eHealth and Local Content, and organized a series of regional capacity building workshops for Internet governance. He is a member of the start-up group for the Global Alliance for ICT for Development. Recently, he was appointed to the Commission on E-Business, Information Technologies and Telecommunications of the International Chamber of Commerce, and to the German UNESCO Commission.

He is an active proponent of an environment that enables sustainable solutions for development, a commitment that began in the early 1980s, when he spent almost three years working in Cairo, Egypt. After completing his studies in international relations and development, Peter worked in the IT Policy and Strategy department of the World Bank, pushed for electronic networking with developing countries, and helped African countries to achieve Internet connectivity in the early 1990s. Peter also led the bank's mobile computing task force, commissioned the first web server for the World Bank, and helped to establish its Electronic Media Center. Since 1993, he has been a member of the Internet Society.

Back in the private sector, he worked for ABB on large project finance deals for the new international airport for Athens, Greece, and the privatization of the Jorf Lasfar Power Station in Morocco. Peter joined Siemens in 1999, negotiated telecommunications financing deals for Brazil, served as Senior Advisor for International Financial Institutions, and developed an eGovernment Strategy for Siemens. Since 2001, he has been a member of the International Banker's Forum.

Peter H. Hellmonds is Vice President of Public and International Affairs at the Communica-tions group of Siemens AG in Munich, Germany, a company with over 470,000 employees in 190 countries. He is responsible for the development and communication of strategies and initiatives to advance the information society, both on the national and the international scene.

As executive advisor to the chairman of the board of the German ICT Initiative D21, with over 200 member organizations, and as member of the Public Affairs working group of the German ICT industry association BITKOM with over 700 member companies, he develops close working relationships with government, civil society and other stakeholders. Peter was actively involved in both parts of the World Summit on the Information Society and in its preparatory work, espe-cially with regard to Internet Governance, and continues to take part in the consultations on the Internet Governance Forum and the WSIS Follow-up and Implementation process.

In recent years, Peter was involved in the work of the World Economic Forum Digital Divide Initiative, the Digital Opportunities Task Force of the G8, and the United Nations Information and Communications Technologies Task Force, where in 2005 he served as Chair of the Working Group on Human Capacity Building, eHealth and Local Content, and organized a series of re-gional capacity building workshops for Internet governance. He is a member of the start-up group for the Global Alliance for ICT for Development. Recently, he was appointed to the Commission on E-Business, Information Technologies and Telecommunications of the International Chamber of Commerce, and to the German UNESCO Commission.

He is an active proponent of an environment that enables sustainable solutions for development, a commitment that began in the early 1980s, when he spent almost three years working in Cairo, Egypt.

After completing his studies in international relations and development, Peter worked in the IT Policy and Strategy department of the World Bank, pushed for electronic net-working with developing countries, and helped African countries to achieve Internet connectivity in the early 1990s. Peter also led the bank's mobile computing task force, commissioned the first web server for the World Bank, and helped to establish its Electronic Media Center. Since 1993, he has been a member of the Internet Society.

Back in the private sector, he worked for ABB on large project finance deals for the new interna-tional airport for Athens, Greece, and the privatization of the Jorf Lasfar Power Station in Morocco.

Peter joined Siemens in 1999, negotiated telecommunications financing deals for Brazil, served as Senior Advisor for International Financial Institutions, and developed an eGovernment Strategy for Siemens. Since 2001, he has been a member of the International Banker's Forum.

Peter holds a bachelors degree in foreign service from Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service, a diploma in international studies from Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies, and a master's degree in public affairs from Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.

Vision of their specific contribution to the GA Strategy Council:

Peter is a proponent of an enabling environment that encourages sustainable solutions to development. In other words, his vision is that the private sector contributes experience and expertise both as policy advice on a global level and as a partner in implementing concrete projects on a local level. He pledges to work towards coherence between policy discussions and implementation activities, seeking to ensure that policies are devised that can be implemented, and that implementation follows the policy guidelines developed.

I am currently working as partner and marketing manager for two companies: JDL Humantech Solutions AB and CUT Computers AB, both based in Sweden. We are working with ICT solutions for development, and have a market in around 50 countries, of which 45 are regarded as "developing nations". As responsible for external relations, my network in the public and private sectors, within governments and NGOs is very good, and I have almost 10 years experience in the field. With a background as social scientist now working with ICTs as tools for development, I am very focused on social and economic development, and not on the technology as such.

Our vision is to be an active member through our sister's participation and make sure that Indigenous Peoples, being the most marginalized, are a part of the Global Alliance commitment.

Ann-Kristin Håkansson has 20 years of experience in development co-operation with Indigenous Peoples, project management and project evaluation. Furthermore, she has carried out a number of research tasks in this context. In addition, she has organised Indigenous capacity-building programs for Indigenous Peoples from developing countries, but also served as a resource person in such training programs. Her main geographic areas of work are Latin America and Africa.

From 1977 until 2005 she has worked for the Saami Council, an Indigenous NGO for Saami living in Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia. The Saami Council was established in 1956 and has a consultative ECOSOC status at the United Nations.

From 2003 on she has also extensively participated in the WSIS process as part of an Indigenous Delegation. Her work mainly focused on raising awareness on Indigenous perspectives towards the Information Society. She also has a keen interest in co-operating with Indigenous organisations in developing countries to address the digital divide and to share experiences of the Sami with ICT use and connectivity to develop locally appropriate access solutions.

Development Co-operation (Some examples)

• 1997: Conducting a study on EU-development co-operation with Indigenous Peoples commissioned by the European Commission. The study served as background material for the elaboration of a European Union policy on Indigenous Peoples and development co-operation.

• 1998: Co-ordinator for a consultation with Indigenous experts on the draft of the European Commission Working document on the EU-policy with Indigenous Peoples in Brussels. The consultation included a preparatory meeting for Indigenous participants and a meeting of the Indigenous experts with Commission officials, representatives of Member States and representatives of the European Parliament on the Commission Working Document.

• 1999: Resource person in a training programme for Indigenous organisations from 8 African countries on International Human Rights Standards and the Policy Process funded by the European Commission.

• 1999: Project co-ordinator for a project with L'auravetl'an Indigenous Information Centre and RAIPON to organise a round table in the Russian Duma in Moscow to discuss democratic participation of Indigenous Peoples. The project brought together Parliamentarians and ministry officials from Russia, Sweden, Norway and Finland, representatives from the various Sami Parliaments in these countries and representatives from Indigenous communities and organisations from Russia. The project was funded by SIDA.

• 1999-2000: Project co-ordinator for a project on the implementation of the EU-Policy on Indigenous Peoples commissioned by the European Commission. The project included 10 regional studies on the development situation of Indigenous Peoples and a final analysis with recommendations (see heading publications below).

• 2001: Co-ordinator for a one-week visitor program in Brussels for representatives of Indigenous organisations from 3 African countries to familiarize them with the development policy of the European Union in general and the EU-Policy on Indigenous Peoples in particular. Participants met with representatives of the European Commission, the European Parliament and the Council, as well as with NGO representatives. The program was funded by the Brussels offices of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung and the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung.

• 2002: Production of a background paper on "Indigenous Peoples and the Right to Adequate Food" in English and Spanish for the Global Consultation of Indigenous Peoples on the 2002 World Food Summit. The consultation took place in Guatemala from 17-19 April. The paper was commissioned by the SamiMaya Council and funded by SIDA.

• 2002: Resource person for a two-week working visit with First Peoples of Kalahari (FPK) and the Working Group on Indigenous Minorities in Southern Africa (WIMSA) in Botswana, and with the Organization of African Indigenous Peoples (OIPA) in Tanzania. The activity took place in the context of a Sami Council project and was funded by NORAD.

• 2003 – to present: Resource person for the SamiMaya Council in Guatemala on research and development issues, particularly in the context of a project to improve the situation of Mayan housemaids and to promote their human rights. In this context, expertise is also provided on conducting background research in three Mayan communities. The activities are taking place as part of a project funded by NORAD.

• 2005: Conducted a prestudy on preventive measures against HIV transmission among the Maasai in Tanzania. Partners were Global Indigenous (Sweden) and PINGOs Forum (Tanzania). The study focused on cultural components of preventive measures and the possible use of ICTs to convey messages to monolingual Maasai speakers in the course of a HIV campaign. The prestudy was funded by SIDA.

World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)

• 2003: Production of a background paper on Indigenous Peoples and the Information Society in English and Spanish for the then focal point of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues towards the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), Marcos Matías Alonso. The paper was commissioned by the Permanent Forum Secretariat.

• 2003 – to present: Resource person for a project on the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) carried out by the Indigenous Media Network and Incomindios. The project is funded by SDC, Swiss Development Agency.

• Meetings: Participation in the PrepComs for the Geneva and Tunis Summits, the GFC process and the two Summits themselves. Participation in the Global Forum of Indigenous Peoples and the Information Society (Geneva Parallel Event) and in the Tunis Parallel event Indigenous Peoples and the Information Society. Participation in The National Connecting Aboriginal Peoples in Canada Forum and the Indigenous Thematic Planning Conference for Tunisia (14-18 March in Ottawa). Participation in two side events on Indigenous Peoples and the Information Society at the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. Participation in the Regional WSIS Meeting Latin America and the Caribbean that took place from 8-10 June 2005 in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil).

WSIS follow-up: Participation in the IGF consultation meeting. Participation in the consultation meeting on action lines.

• Presentations on Indigenous Peoples and the Information Society: Presentation at the High Level Panel of the Global Forum (Parallel Event of the Geneva Summit]. Presentation at the WSIS Geneva Parallel Forum "Engineering the Information Society. Invited Speaker to the UNESCO Conference "Knowledge in the Next Generation" (29 September – 2 October 2004, Norway).

• Panel Member: Panel Member at the The National Connecting Aboriginal Peoples in Canada Forum and the Indigenous Thematic Planning Conference for Tunisia (14-18 March 2005 in Ottawa). Panel Member at the side event on Indigenous Peoples and Connectivity at the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (19 May 2005). The event was co-organised by the Canadian Government and the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.

• Memberships: Member of the WSIS Civil Society Bureau. Member of the International Indigenous Steering Committee (IISC) formed at the above mentioned Ottawa Conference. Member of the Indigenous ICT Task Force that has been formed at the Tunis Summit.

• Background papers, research and provision of expertise:

Conducting an initial online survey among Indigenous Peoples on their needs and perspectives regarding ICTs. Producing a brief and a background paper on the survey results. Participation in producing an Indigenous Position Paper to WSIS from the survey results.

Co-organiser of an Indigenous presentation stand at the ICT4D.

2005: Co-author of a background paper on Indigenous community radios and disaster management, prepared for the Tunis Summit. The paper was built on the work of Indigenous community radios during and after Hurricane Stan in Guatemala.

2005: co-author of a WSIS orientation paper for Indigenous Peoples.

• 2006: Co-author of a background paper on Indigenous Peoples and the Millennium Development Goals in the Information Society that will be presented at the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues and the launch of the Global Alliance for ICT and Development.

Publications

• Ann-Kristin Håkansson (Ed.) 2001: Roots of Life. Cultural Diversity for Sustainable Development. An Indigenous Approach. Stockholm. The Saami Council.

• Kenneth Deer and Ann-Kristin Håkansson 2005: Towards an Indigenous vision for the Information Society. In: Tom J. van Weert (Ed.): Education and the Knowledge Society. Information Technology Supporting Human Development. Kluwer, New York et al.

Vision of their contribution to the GA Strategy Council

"On behalf of the Indigenous Peoples Caucus on WSIS, and the Indigenous ICT Task Force, we are writing to you to submit our nomination of Ann-Kristin Håkansson as a member of the strategy council.

Our vision is to be an active member through our participation and make sure that Indigenous Peoples, being the most marginalized, are a part of the Global Alliance commitment.

To raise awareness about Indigenous peoples and find common grounds

with other stakeholders.

To see where ICTs can be used in development with identity."

Dr. Khaled Ismail has represented Egypt in the ICT Task Force and will continue representing Egypt in the Global Alliance.

Mr Satish Jha is most likely exceptionally qualified for the following reasons:

He began his learning about development as a voluntary activist and worked with Jaya Prakash Narayan- someone who could be considered one of teh tallest public leaders in the leage of Gandhi and Vinoba- on a daily basis.

He was one of the youngest chief editors of one of the most respected weekly magazines in India at the time- "Dinamaan" of The times of India Group

He co-founded "Janasatta" a national daily for the India Express group while still in his twenties and Janasatta was one of the earliest newspapers in India to be typeset on computers.

He was perhaps the youngest global CIO level person in the Fortune 100 companies in the early 1990s.

He co-founded Tarahaat.com, Baramati Conference, Digital Partners India, VotesmartIndia etc among a couple dozen initiatives in the space of ICT for Development.

He mentored and supported several organisations including Drishtee, ehealthcare, Computers On Wheels etc..

He has been a Special Adviser to Kofi Annan Centre since it was founded.

He has also been a member of various governmental committees at local, state and national levels.

He is credited with promoting the first Wi-Fi campus in India, an inter-village video-conferencing in India etc

Altogether, he combines non-profit, social, corporate, governmental, media and international perspectives and that is a unique combination even in the community of global information technology and development.

Internationally he has been an advisor to the Development Gateway Foundation, member of steering committees of UNDP initiatives and has been a known public speaker and visiting faculty at the Indian Institutes of Management and Indian Institutes of Technologies and several US universities. He has also worked in Asia, Africa, Europe and the US.

This much is available from the public records on Mr Satish Jha. I am sure we can find out in detail many of his other qualifications for him to be invited to this international initiative on ICT and development.

Satish has been a key member of the ICT for development community in India. He brings valuable experience and insights to define the framework to advance the development goals through ICT and innovation. He is the founder of several technology development initiatives that received the Stockholm Challenge Award. He is also one of the founders of Tarahaat that has been acknowledged as one of the pioneering models in using ICTs for Development. Later he started the Baramati Initiatives in 2001 with the support of Motoo Kusakabe of The World Bank and Sharad Pawar, a former chief minister of Maharashtra who has turned his constituency of Baramati as a model of development. Baramati Initiatives is an annual event and is now jointly organized by Digital Partners and Baramati Institute of Information Technology.

He is a Special Advisor to the Kofi Annan Center for Excellence in ICTs and is currently a co-chair of the World Information Technology Forum (WITFOR). His achievements span supporting organizations like Drishtee, eHealthcare, Digital Partners India and others. He has worked across Asia, Africa, Europe and the US . His work at Digital Partners India has involved supporting the center to develop partnerships between companies in India and Ghana to create a mutually beneficial relationship in the areas of capacity building, R&D Policy, and developing a framework for social entrepreneurship.

Satish has a very accomplished background and has been involved both in the public and private sector. His background and education in strategy and technology will allow him to bring a broad perspective to the Council. Satish has an MBA specializing in Strategy, Innovation and Technology from France (EDHEC/ Theseus), graduated in economics from Nehru University and studied international affairs at The Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy.

Satish brings combined experience in social, non-profit, media, government and International areas which will bring a fresh and perspective to the council. Based on all Satish's achievement and commitment to ICT's to further the cause of the global community I would like to nominate Satish Jha as a member of the Global Alliance Strategy council.

La participation de la Société Civile en tant que partenaire privilégié dans les négociations internationales dans le cadre du processus du SMSI a été une avancée formidable et inédite. Elle constitue un immense espoir que je souhaite continuer à incarner avec les autres membres de la société civile internationale dans le cadre du Conseil de Stratégie de l’Alliance Mondiale pour les TIC et le Développement. L’approche inclusive et de multi-partenariat est fondamentale pour le suivi du SMSI et la mise en oeuvre de ses résolutions. Cela, en suivant l’agenda de développement des Nations Unies pour la réalisation des Objectifs de Développement du Millénaire (ODM). Je souhaite y apporter ma contribution en tant que membre actif d’une Société Civile Internationale consciente de ses responsabilités et respectée par ses autres partenaires.

J’ai une grande capacité de rédaction, d’analyse et de synthèse que je souhaite mettre à la disposition du Conseil de Stratégie pour mener à bien les résolutions qui ont été prises à Genève et Tunis en matière d’accès à Internet, de Solidarité numérique, de formation des jeunes, des femmes.

Je considère les TIC comme un projet de développement complet incluant les infrastructures et les équipements, la formation, l’accès à l’emploi, l’accès à l’information dans le respect des valeurs et de la diversité culturelle. En tant que ressortissant africain vivant à Genève et coordonnateur de plusieurs ONG oeuvrant dans le domaine des TICs et du développement, je souhaite contribuer à donner corps à cette vision au sein du Conseil de Stratégie de l’Alliance Mondial pour les TIC et le Développement.

He has over twenty years experience in the ICT sector as a telecommunications engineer, analyst, and technology lawyer. He has worked as a consultant for both the Media & Communications Department at Clifford Chance, the Telecommunications & Internet Department at Field Fisher Waterhouse, and as an external consultant to the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID), Cable & Wireless, and the UK’s Office of Telecommunications (now OFCOM). He is qualified to practice law as a solicitor in the United Kingdom.

Rohan also has worked in Malaysia and Hong Kong as the Asia-Pacific Product Manager for Northern Business Information, a strategic business Information Communications Technology (ICT) research consultancy and subsidiary of McGraw-Hill Publishing. His career began as a telecommunications engineer at Marconi Underwater Systems where he worked on projects for the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence.

Rohan has studied at Harvard Law School as a Berkman Fellow (Berkman Center for Internet & Society), the University of Kent at Canterbury, the University of Geneva, Switzerland, the College of Law in London, and the Centre for Commercial Law Studies at Queen Mary University of London. His research interests include the interpretation of World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules relating to e-commerce, open access to electronic networks and services, and legal and regulatory mechanisms to help reduce the digital divide between the developed and developing worlds. In 2001, he was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to Harvard.

Rohan is also the founding trustee to the Rahula Trust (www.rahula-trust.org), which provides sponsorship to poor, academically gifted children in the developing world.

He has spoken and published widely on ICT issues. His latest book, “International Economic Law and the Digital Divide: A New Silk Road?” looking at new and innovative ways to encourage transfer of technology into the developing world and the use of economic law to promote ICTs for sustainable growth and development is to be published by Edward Elgar in 2006.

In the WSIS process, I have been working as Civil Society Bureau Disability Focal Point on behalf of the DAISY Consortium and facilitated joint action of disability caucus from Geneva phase through Tunis phase and beyond.

In addition to WSIS specific activities, I have been working on cross-cutting issues of ICT, development, human security and disability in international context such as Steering Council of W3C/WAI, United Nations ESCAP Thematic Working Group on Disability Concerns, Japan International Cooperation Agency Advisory Committee on Disability, International Federation of Library Associations and the DAISY for All Project.

Vision of their contribution to the GA Strategy Council

Disability community contributed the WSIS by adding value to Summit documents. ICT development with universal design concept is a key strategy for bridging the digital divide. Persons with disabilities successfully created global one voice to add this key strategy in the Summit documents.

All stakeholders supported this key strategy for digital opportunity development that will benefit not only persons with disabilities but also all digitally divided communities in the world. We have good strategy but, in order to implement ICT designed for everybody, we need develop use cases that should include real needs of those divided community members.

One of the really bright african women involved in ICTS, she developped a sound expertise on ICTs and Gender related issues. She is the Regional coordinator of anais.AC, a Euro-african network dedicated to forge social appropriation of ICTs in Africa. Anais has set up a network of proxi-centres, intented to bring ICTs to underpriviledged. She is memeber of various networks dedicated in Africa.

I will be glad to join and contribute actively to the Strategy Council with my experience as initiator and steering committee chair of WITFOR (World Information Technology Forum, www.witfor.org), Treasurer and member of Executive board of IFIP (International Federation For Information Processing, consultative NGO of UNESCO, www.ifip.org) and as Professor and Head of the Department of Informatics, Lund University, Sweden.

Dipak Khakhar is Professor and Head of Department at Department of Informatics, School of Economic and Management, Lund University, Sweden. As professor and head of the department his duties include management, administration, procurement, finances, international relations, planning education and research.

He is also initiator and chairman of The World Information Technology Forum (IFIP WITFOR, www.witfor.org ), which was launched in Lithuania in 2003 hosted by Government of Lithuania, is developing into an instrument to take WSIS a step forward; from policy to action. WITFOR 2005, which was held in Gaborone Botswana hosted by Government of Botswana, was designed to help developing countries overcome financial and skills obstacles through the use of innovative practices, partnerships and shared resources in the use of ICT. WITFOR 2007 will be hosted by Government of Ethiopia and UNECA.

Dipak has shown his capacity to build and sustain a broad international contact network within industries, NGOS, governments, UN organizations, enterprises and research communities. He is Treasurer and member of the Executive Board of International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP, www.ifip.org).

He has established a significant international network through my commitment and engagements. He acts within the international community as initiator and connector for many activities. This is a strong evidence of his capability to communicate and to integrate. He has intensively pursued new ideas and brought them into action on different levels and in several international environments. He has been successful and appreciated for his qualification to communicate across linguistic and cultural borders. Dipak has shown ability to assemble international groups for collective projects and to develop different concepts. He has acted as catalyst and as a disseminator for the benefit of technically and culturally different groups.

Prof. Khakhar is editor of the books, Information Network and Data Communication, I - IV, published by North-Holland in 1987 - 1994. He has published in a number of international journals and given seminars and tutorials in a more than 40 countries.

As a member of the working groups constituted by the Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST) , government of Pakistan he has provided input in the formulation of first the Information Technology Policy of the country. In particular was associated with strategies for the use of technology in education, open and Distance education suited for Pakistan

He is liaising with governmental agencies to implement ICT based policies, in particular community based Distance education programs that impact all sections of our Society. Am closely linked to major educational institutions, Academia, government educational departments to raise the general awareness level and need for utilizing IT as a tool for economic growth and improving the quality of life of our masses.

Has advised the MoST, government of Sudan and the Open University Sudan on adoption of ICT in education and formulation of a policy. Networking with major international NGO's and sharing of experience. Acting as a bridge for making recommendations to our government of regional project and projects that bridge the information and digital divide between nations.

Mr. Shahab Khan has been invited and attended major ICT conferences/workshops and presented papers on use of technology and POP's for distance education.

1968/1971: Study of Communication at the University of Leipzig (B.A. 1971)

1971/1997: Study of International Relations and International Law at the University of Leipzig (M.A. / Dr. rer. pol/ 1974)

1974/1987: Researcher, Institute for International Studies, University of Leipzig (Ph.D. / Dr. sc. pol./ 1982)

1987/1991: professor for International Communication, Institute for Internaitonal Studies, University of Leipzig, East Germany

1991/1992: Visiting Professor for International Communication, Department for Communication, University of Tampere, Finland

1992/1994: Visiting Professor for International Communication, School of International Services (SIS), American University, Washington, D.C., USA

1994/1997: Coordinator, Saxonian Information Initiative (SII), Saxonian Ministry for Economics, Leipzig, Germany

1995/1996: Chairman of the Management Committee of the Inter-Regional Information Society Initiative of the European Commission (IRISI), Bruxelles

1995/1997: Projectdirector IRISI, Saxonian Economic Development Corporation (WFS)/ Saxonian Telematics Development Corp. (SET), Leipzig, Germany

1998/ : Professor, Department for Media and Information Sciences, University of Aarhus, Denmark

2005/ : Professor, Department for Communication, University of Tampere, Finland

2001/2002: Visiting Professor for International Communication, Department of Media and Communication, University of Oerebro

2002/2004: Founding Director, European School of Journalism (HALESMA), Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg

2005/ : Department for Media and Communication, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg

Others

International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR): President of the Law Section / from 1988 to 1998; since 2000 Member of the International Council, since 2004 co-chair of the Law Section

Member of the United Nations Working Grpup on Internet Governance (WGIG)

Member of ICANN´s Membership Information Task Force (MITF), 2000

Initiator and Coordinator of the ICANN-Studienkreis, since 1999

Member of the Programme Committee for INET 2002, Internet Society, Washington D.C.

Member of the Interim At Lagre Committee of ICANN (2001/02)

Member of ICANN´s Nominating Committee (2006)

Member of the Parliamentarian Media Council and the Media Law Commission of the German Democratic Republic, 1989/1990

Corresponding Member of the German UNESCO Commission / Communication Section / since 1991

Co-Founder and Member of the Board of the Media City Leipzig e.V., Leipzig, Germany (since 1990)

Member of the Advisory Boards of „Gazette", „Transnational Data and Communication Report", „Computer Law & Security", and „The Journal of Media Law and Practice"

Key-Note Speaker, Panelist, Moderator and Rapporteur of numerous international conferences on the Information Society, Information Law and Internet Governance, inter alia ITU, EU, OECD and UNESCO conferences

Author of numerous books and articles on the Information Society, Information Law and the Internet Governance (including ICANN), inter alia in Teleocmmunication Policy, info, Gazette, Multimedia & Recht / Publication List will follow

Vision of their contribution to the GA Strategy CouncilAs a representative of the academic community, teaching issues related to the information society since 20 years at various universities in Europe and the US - inter alia American University Washington, University of Tampere, University of Leipzig, University of Halle, University of Aarhus - I would argue as a member of the GASC first of all in favour of the interests of civil society and here in particular for projects supporting Human Rights and Freedoms - like the right to freedom of expression, right to access to information, right to knowledge, right to communicate, right to education, right to privacy, right to share information, user and consumer rights - and bridging the digital divide. I would also argue in favour of a deeper understanding and a more efficient implementation of the principle of multi-stakeholderism, which was one of the political innovations of the WSIS process and which needs collaborative actions towards a qualitative new relationship among all mein stakeholder groups in achieving the WSIS goals until 2015. Another issue for my activities in the council would be to link closer the MDG objectives with the WSIS objectives and to link the GA process related to ICT for development with the IGF process related to internet governance.

Ma candidature est motivée du fait que l’idée de l’Alliance Globale, lancée par l’ONU, a rencontré toute mon adhésion, car elle correspond à la vision de mon entreprise, le Groupe AFICONCEPT BROADCAST TELECOMS.A., par rapport à la démarche de promotion et de développement des TIC, de même qu’elle répond à mes attentes en faveur des pays en voie de développement. Connaissant l’importance des TIC dans l’avènement de la Société de l’Information, de même que sur le Développement durable, je me sens le devoir d’apporter ma contribution à l’édification de l’œuvre qui va se réaliser. D’autant plus que déjà j’œuvre pour le développement du secteur privé africain et son implication dans la promotion des TIC en Afrique.

Et dans cette optique, je suis persuadé que mes connaissances sur les TIC et mon expérience des Rencontres et Séminaires internationaux me seront d’un grand apport dans l’accomplissement des tâches au sein du Conseil Stratégique de l’Alliance.

En effet, j’ai pris part à divers Forums, Conférences et Séminaires internationaux sur les TIC, sur les Médias, le Développement du secteur privé africain, de même que j’ai participé aux différentes Sessions du processus préparatoire à la tenue du Sommet Mondial sur la Société de l’Information (SMSI) ainsi qu’aux deux phases du SMSI qui ont eu lieu respectivement à Genève en Décembre 2003 et à Tunis en Novembre 2005.

Je voudrais surtout vous informer ici que mon entreprise, le Groupe AFRICONCEPT BROADCAST TELECOM S.A. dont je suis le Président Directeur Général, est la seule entreprise béninoise et l’une des rares entreprises africaines a avoir eu un stand et pris part comme exposant aux deux phases du Sommet Mondial sur la Société de l’Information (SMSI), notamment :

• à la 1ère phase tenue à Genève du 09 au 13 Décembre 2003 au Stand N° 249,

• à la 2ème phase tenue à Tunis du 15 au 19 Novembre 2003 au Stand N°1322.

Je participe actuellement à promouvoir la construction de la Société de l’Information et du Savoir au Bénin et en Afrique. Par ailleurs, je porte à votre connaissance que j’occupe quelques responsabilités sur le plan national et international, je suis notamment :

Au plan national

Je suis actuellement :

• Président du Forum du Secteur Privé pour les TIC au Bénin,

• le deuxième Vice – Président du Conseil National du Patronat de la Presse et de l’Audiovisuel au Bénin ( CNPA-Bénin),

• Membre du Conseil d’Administration d’AgeNTIC

Au plan international:

Je suis :

• 2ème Vice-Président de la Commission Régionale du Secteur Privé pour les TIC de l’Afrique de l’Ouest depuis 2005.

• Membre du Conseil d’Administration de Open Society for West Africa (OSIWA), de la Fondation SOROS, depuis Mai 2004,

• Membre du Groupe de travail régional au titre du Secteur privé dans le NEPAD-NTIC de l’UIT- D depuis Juillet 2004,

• Membre de ATAC de AISI/C.E.A à Addis-Abéba 2002-2004,

Fort de ces atouts, j’espère pouvoir faire parti des membres du Conseil Stratégique qui sera mis en place à Kuala Lumpur du 19 au 20 Juin 2006 prochain. Ceci, afin d’apporter ma contribution au travail qui se fera au niveau de l’Alliance Globale dans l’intérêt de l’Humanité toute entière.

Viola Krebs is the Founder and Secretary-General of ICVolunteers an international non-governmental organization that recruits, trains and coordinates volunteers for non-profit projects in the field of communications (conferences, cybervolunteerism and language services).

She has experience with the conception, launch and evaluation of projects in the field of communications and media, including in a development context (Africa and Latin America). Viola Krebs is also the Vice-President of Informaticiens Sans Frontières (ISF) and was the focal point of the Civil Society Bureau "Volunteer Family" of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), held in Geneva in 2003 and Tunis 2005. She chaired several international conferences and meetings, including the International Symposium on Volunteering (ISV 2001), closing event of the International Year of Volunteers (IYV 2001) which gathered representatives from 126 countries in Geneva, Switzerland. In the past, she worked in the public and private sector, including for People Living with HIV/AIDS (PWA), the World Economic Forum and Merrill Lynch.

Viola Krebs is the Founder and Secretary-General of ICVolunteers an international non-governmental organization that recruits, trains and coordinates volunteers for non-profit projects in the field of communications (conferences, cybervolunteerism and language services).

She has experience with the conception, launch and evaluation of projects in the field of communications and media, including in a development context (Africa and Latin America). Viola Krebs is also the Vice-President of Informaticiens Sans Frontières (ISF) and was the focal point of the Civil Society Bureau "Volunteer Family" of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), held in Geneva in 2003 and Tunis 2005. She chaired several international conferences and meetings, including the International Symposium on Volunteering (ISV 2001), closing event of the International Year of Volunteers (IYV 2001) which gathered representatives from 126 countries in Geneva, Switzerland. In the past, she worked in the public and private sector, including for People Living with HIV/AIDS (PWA), the World Economic Forum and Merrill Lynch.

• Focal Point for the Volunteer Constituency in the WSIS since 2003, organized Symposium on Volunteering and Development of Human Capacity in the Information Society in Dakar (2003), Conference on Volunteering and ICTs in Geneva (2003)

• For phase 2 of the WSIS, ICV worked with CONGO and NGLS to coordinate the WSIS Civil Society Secretariat

• ICV mobilized volunteers interpreters and reporters, as well as volunteers helping with logistics for civil society throughout the whole WSIS

• Co-Secretariat of the Network for Linguistic Diversity, together with Linguamon: http://www.icvolunteers.org/index.php?what=pub&id=413

• Working with volunteers and volunteer network from some 100 countries: www.icvolunteers.org

• Running the CyberVolunteers Program, recruiting, training and coordinating volunteers with Information and Communication skills: www.cybervolunteers.info

• Helped set up Malian working group on Decentralization and ICTs (2004)

• Has written various articles on the volunteerism and ICTs:

a) A laboratory for new mechanism: Volunteerism as a building block for multi-stakeholder approaches (MSAs), http://www.boell.de/downloads/medien/visions_in_process2.pdf

b) Volunteers: an essential building block for a society of shared knowledge, UN ICT Task Force Series 8: The World Summit on the Information

Society: Moving from the Past into the Future, http://www.unicttaskforce.org/perl/documents.pl?do=download;id=896

• Has made documentary in collaboration with CERN on the use of the Internet in Senegal and Mali

Manish Kumar is currently working with OneWorld South Asia (OWSA) as the Programme Manager-Knowledge for Development (ICT) and is responsible for developing knowledge management strategy of the organisation to strengthen knowledge based advocacy efforts for facilitating the march towards achieving the millennium development goals in South Asia.

He is widely known in the ICT for development sector and has published research articles in national and international journals in the area of development communication, rural development, agriculture, and participatory research. He is also on the review board of international ICT journals.

Mr. Kumar has a diverse academic and professional background. He has his Bachelor’s degree Agriculture and has completed double masters in Development Communication as the Junior Research Fellow of Indian Council of Agricultural Research and the Management of Agricultural Knowledge Systems programme of the Wageningen University in the Netherlands respectively. He is pursuing his PhD as well from the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology Delhi.

Mr. Kumar has been instrumental in setting up the Global Young Professional’s Platform for Agriculture Research for Development which will be formally launched in November 2006 in New Delhi during GFAR’s biennial meeting. His commitment to utilize ICTs for the development of agriculture sector in particular is beyond doubt.

His selection as the Reuters Digital Vision Fellow (2006-07 www.rdvp.org <http://www.rdvp.org/>; ) at the Stanford University, USA is a testimony of his commitment, creativity and innovativeness to harness the benefits of ICTs for human development.

Potential contributions to GAID:

Mr. Manish Kumar strongly believes that ICTs could play a catalytic role in improving the live and livelihoods of poor people across the globe. He believes that his experience in developing strategies for mainstreaming ICTs for achieving the MDGs in South Asia would be of vital importance to the council. He is committed to put his knowledge and experience at the service of grassroots community of South Asia.

Jaya Kumar has his feet on the ground. He is an active contributor to the Linux kernel and other free and open source software (FOSS) projects. His cs5535 audio driver is to be used in the One Laptop Per Child project. He has talked at FOSS.IN about significant issues involving ICT, massputers, the digital divide and FOSS in developing nations. He is passionate about and committed to the development and utilization of FOSS in order to facilitate improvements in economic and social capabilities, including parameters such as educational and technological growth with low and bearable capital costs in developing countries. He has expended significant effort in raising the profile of free and open source software projects in India and in Malaysia in industrial embedded and mobile computing. His on-the-ground proven experience in ICT/FOSS in developing nations and his creative ideas on technology utilization would provide a unique perspective on this strategy council.

Vivek Kundra is currently the Assistant Secretary of Commerce and Trade for the Commonwealth of Virginia, he was appointed by Governor Tim Kaine in January of 2006. Prior to joining Governor Kaine’s Cabinet, he was the CEO of Creostar, a company focused on cyber security and information warfare. Kundra served as the Vice-President of Marketing for Evincible Software, a technology startup that enabled trusted transactions for the government and the financial sector, which was sold to Exostar. Prior to that, he was the Director of IT for Arlington, VA, where he was responsible for the government’s strategic technology initiatives and focused on protecting critical national assets under homeland security. He also served as an adjunct faculty member at the University of Maryland teaching classes on emerging and disruptive technologies.

Before joining Arlington he was with SAIC, consulting at the Health and Human Services (HHS) focusing on growing SAIC's $1 Billion business at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Prior to SAIC Mr. Kundra was the CEO of eRush.com a startup in next generation bot technologies. He is actively involved in the political process at the local, state, and national level.

Vivek Kundra has worked on the World Cities Alliance initiative to advance business and economic development in Arlington, Zurich, Paris, Berlin, and Wales. Within the private sector, he worked with multiple clients to build operations in the United States, Canada, and India.

He received his Masters in Information Technology and his Bachelors in Psychology and Biology from the University of Maryland.

Elle a occupé des fonctions administratives à l'Université Laval de 1983 à 1995 : directrice du département de Psychopédagogie, vice-doyenne à l'enseignement (deux mandats de deux ans) et doyenne (deux mandats de quatre ans). Ces fonctions l'ont amenée à mieux comprendre le développement organisationnel. Elle a siégé sur nombre de comités, commissions ou assemblées où elle a démontré des qualités de membership et de leadership. Elle a conduit plusieurs projets d'innovation et produit nombre de documents en matière de gestion pédagogique.

Profondément convaincue de la nécessité d'une synergie entre les savoirs théorique et pratique, elle forme des alliances université(s) - milieu(x). Elle fait la conception d'environnements d'apprentissage en réseau et étudie principalement, sous l'éclairage de la psychologie des groupes et de la perspective socioconstructiviste en sciences cognitives, les phénomènes qui se produisent au sein de la classe, communauté d'apprentissage. Dans son propre enseignement, elle intègre les technologies de l'information et de la communication de manière à enrichir l'expérience d'apprentissage des étudiants; elle les fait participer à des communautés d'élaboration de connaissances. Plus d'une quarantaine d'étudiantes et d'étudiants, souvent praticiennes et praticiens de carrière, ont complété un essai, une maîtrise ou un doctorat sous sa direction. Ses écrits et communications verbales font largement foi de préoccupations de formation professionnelle.

Elle est membre du Centre de recherche et d'intervention sur la réussite scolaire (CRIRES).

Elle est chercheure associée au Centre francophone d'informatisation des organisations (CEFRIO) où elle co-dirige présentement le projet L'école éloignée en réseau. Elle est aussi chercheure associée à l'Institute for Knowledge Innovation and Technology (IKIT) à l'Université de Toronto où elle participe au projet de recherche en collaboration intitulé "Beyond Best Practice: research based innovation in learning and knowledge work". Elle fut la responsable du thème Formation des pédagogues à l'intérieur du Programme de recherche - développement TéléApprentissage, subventionné par le Programme des centres d'excellence du Canada de 1995 à 2002.

Elle a été présidente de l'Association pour la formation des maîtres de la Société canadienne pour l'étude de l'éducation (SCÉÉ) et, en 2001-2002, elle fut la présidente de l'Association canadienne d'éducation. Elle coordonne présentement le groupe d'intérêt Technologie et formation des maîtres de l'Association pour la formation des maîtres à l'intérieur de la SCÉÉ.

Radhika Lal is the ICT Development Policy Adviser, Poverty Group, UNDP. Radhika is a development economist with a focus on technology, trade and macroeconomic issues. She is a policy advisor on ICT for poverty reduction at UNDP. Her work involves assisting countries seeking strategic guidance in formulating and implementing development-oriented national e-strategies and mainstreaming ICT into national development policies, strategies and programmes with a view to using ICT to enhance poverty reduction efforts, strategies to achieve the MDGs and benefit from globalisation. Recent publications include "Essentials of National e-Strategies" with Denis Gilhooly, and "The role of ICT in achieving the MDGs". She is also co-author of "Budgets as if people mattered: democratising macroeconomic policies". Prior to working with UNDP, she taught economics, and worked with civil society organisations and capacity development institutions on economic development and technology issues.

Vision of their specific contribution to the GA Strategy Council: (draft)

Radhika has considerable experience and knowledge of the ICTD sector and supports a broad range of innovative work from a pro-poor

perspective. In this, she is concerned to develop a holistic approach to mainstreaming ICT in the development arena within the framework of

the MDGs and e-strategies.

Radhika played an important role in expanding the scope of the Task Force on Financial Mechanisms for ICTD to look at a broad trange of factors affecting ICTD policy and financing, She has also commissioned innovative research on community networks.

If the Global Alliance is going to make an impact on policy dialogue on ICTD, the participation of development players like Radhika will be valuable in devising its strategic approach.

I am currently Commissioner of the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) ­ the apex ICT body in the Philippines. Within the Commission, I lead the Human Capital Development Group which is in charge of developing and implementing a national strategy to develop ICT competencies and skills through the extensive and intensive use of ICT in education. At the Commission, I also Chair the Working Group on International Affairs which defines and implements the country's international ICT policy and strategy. In this capacity, I lead the Philippine delegations to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Telecommunications and IT Senior Officials Meeting (ASEAN TELSOM) and the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Telecommunications and Information Senior Officials Meeting (APEC TELSOM). I also lead the Philippine delegation to WSIS PrepCom leading to WSIS Phase II.

I am also a member of the Steering Committee of the ICT4D.ph ­ a program of the (Philippines) Department of Science and Technology, with funding from IDRC (Canada) that “examines past and current ICT projects for their transformational impacts on Philippine society; and to distill critical learning for ICT decision/policymaking, planning and programming. The program also emphasizes documenting these learning in a series of research publications aimed at policymakers, program managers and researchers.”

Prior to my September 2004 appointment by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo as CICT Commissioner, I was actively engaged in research, training and consulting on ICT policy. Recent publications include: “Digital Divide in East Asia” in Peter Drysdale (ed) The New Economy in East Asia and the Pacific (Routledge, 2004); An Overview of ICT Policies and e-Strategies of Select Asian Economies (UNDP APDIP and Elsiver, 2004); SMS in Business and Government (ICT4D.ph, 2004); State of eGovernment in the Philippines 2003-2004 (2004); and mGovernment: Mobile/Wireless Applications in Government (in www.egov4dev.org.topic4.htm). I was also the Series Editor of e-Primers on Information Economy, Society and Polity vol 1-7 (online version: www.eprimers.org), which was jointly published by the e-ASEAN Task Force and the UNDP-APDIP. I also wrote the chapter on the Philippines in the Digital Review of the Asia Pacific 2003/2004 and 2005/2006 editions (online version: www.digital-review.org). Aside from the country paper, I was also co-author of the chapter “Social, Political and Cultural Aspects of ICT” in the Digital Review of the Asia Pacific 2005/2006. I also served as a member in the Advisory Panel of the UNDP Human Development Report 2001: Making New Technologies Work for Human Development.

From 2000-2002, I was the Executive Director of the e-ASEAN Task Force (eATF). eATF was a public-private sector advisory body to the 10 member South East Asian inter-governmental organization on developing information and communications technology (ICT) competencies among its 10 member countries. As e-ATF Executive Director, I supervised the work of the Secretariat, developed, with the Chairman, the e-ATF work program, prepared policy options for discussion and adoption by the Task Force. I developed and implemented an e-Entrepreneurship Seminar for SMEs for participants from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam and also ran the e-ATF’s e-Government/Cyberlaw Seminar Series for ASEAN which were held in Brunei, Indonesia, Vietnam, Myanmar and Singapore. This series was undertaken in cooperation with the UNDP’s Asia Pacific Information Development Program (UNDP-APDIP), Infocomms Development Authority (IDA) of Singapore and the ITU’s Asia Pacific Center of Excellence (ITU-APCoE).

Vision of their specific contribution to the GA Strategy Council:

I will bring into the GA Strategy Council a deep knowledge of the challenges faced by developing countries that seek to benefit from the ICT revolution. This knowledge is a product of research and actual (work) experience in my own country (the Philippines) and in other Southeast Asian states. This knowledge has helped me in developing strategies for the use of ICT for development, in the Philippines as well as in Southeast Asia, in my previous capacity as Executive Director of the eASEAN Task Force and my current role as the Philippines' TELSOM leader.

I am a firm believer in a multi-stakeholder approach to ICT for development. This is reflected in the policies and programs that is being implemented by the Human Capital Development Group. A multi-stakeholder approach is also being employed in the development of the Philippines' International ICT policy. As a member of the GA Strategy Council, I will ensure that the development of the strategies benefits from the said approach.

As in the Commission on ICT, I will be the champion for human capital development in the GA Strategy Council.

I am passionate about empowering citizens through the use of ICT. Developing ICT competencies is fundamental to developing local, appropriate and meaningful content.

Beyond this, developing human capacities also ensures that individuals do not remain mere consumers but also producers of information and communications goods and services. Ultimately, ICT capability building is linked to democracy -- if citizens are competent in the use of ICT, they can use said technology to promote and/or nurture democratic governance.

He is a respected social entrepreneur in our country and has the necessary skills and leadership to help the ICT Task force achieve its goals.

Mr Lebendiker is a Social Entrepreneur and has the necesary skills and leadership to help the ICT Task force to achieve their goals. His expertise as successful entrepreneur and businessman, together with his commitment in promoting inclusive economic opportunities in the ICT sector, could make him a great asset for your Task Force.

I have been working for over 10 years developing ICT initiatives and strategies related to local communities, education, and Latin American and Caribbean culture. I am familiar with both the Latin American and Caribbean culture, having traveled extensively throughout the region and fluently speaking Spanish, English and Portuguese.

The initiatives that I have founded and coordinate engage over 100,000 people on-line everyday and include a network of Latin American Digital Cities and Virtual Communities (www.CIVILA.com), an educational portal with an active virtual community of collaborative knowledge building and

digital campus (www.Educar.org) and an open content virtual library with an active community of readers and writers (www.BibliotecasVirtuales.com)

I have developed ICT strategies for Information Society, Higher Education, Science and Technology for international organizations, governments and private institutions. My work includes the formulation of several models, including: SIFT (Social Impact from Technology) and CODE3 (Collaborative Development through Continuous Community Direct Engagement) which have been presented and used in several countries.

I am currently doing a 10 month consultancy for United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) on Information Society and Public ICT Policies in the Caribbean.

In 2000 I was selected by CNN as one of the 20 most Influential Latin Americans on the Internet. In 2004 I was invited as a fellow to the Reuters Digital Vision Fellowship Program at Stanford University and awarded the Google Developing World Scholarship. In 2006 I was awarded a scholarship to the Internet Governance Programme. Nominated twice to the Content and Innovation Award of the World Summit on Information Society. His initiatives have been featured by the international media, from Discovery Channel and CNN and media around the world.

I think the Council would be a great opportunity to be actively engaged in the formulation of strategies that generate a significant impact in the quality of life of people all over the world with the use of ICT.

Janet's 25 years of development experience and vision is at the base of DOT's high impact innovation as a public/private sector NGO that engages young leaders in working at community level in the effective use of ICTs for education and small to medium enterprises. Ms. Longmore and DOT are committed to gender balance and the role of young women in all aspects of DOT's work in the Middle East and Africa and in other regions of the world.

DOT's first and enduring partners are the Cisco Systems Foundation, CIDA, USAID and a dozen more from the public and private sectors, including the governments of the countries they work in. DOT engages stakeholders in each country of operation to ensure ownership, sustainability and growth within the country. DOT specializes in evaluation and communication elements to ensure the sharing of best practices, operations and knowledge within a country, and across borders and continents.

In my view Ms. Longmore, her team and their network of partners represent a youthful new breed of development work in the ICT sector, avoiding mistakes of the past and innovating new efficient and effective models of implementation that are replicable, scalable and sustainable on a country by country basis. Ms. Longmore herself represents outstanding leadership, commitment and vision that would be a valuable asset to the Strategy Council of the Global Alliance. DOT's work and action themselves demonstrate the exact kind of multi-stakeholder partnerships for ICT and development that the Global Alliance is designed to foster.

Brian Longwe has been active in the Kenyan Internet market since it's inception 10 years ago. Besides running the technical departments of various Internet Service Providers over that period, he has been active on the global scene at a policy level having participated in the drafting of a number of recommendations governing internet operations e.g. CCTLD policy at the International Corporation for Assigned Names & Numbers (http://www.icann.org), Position papers at the African Internet Service Providers Association (http:// www.afrispa.org) and operational policy at the African Network Information Centre (http://www.afrinic.net) among others.

Brian has also been involved in capacity building around the continent having served as an instructor and track leader at theAfrican Network Operators Group (http://www.afnog.org) for several years. He has also assisted several countries in Africa both withtraining as well as technical assistance in the establishment of their national Internet Exchange Points e.g. Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Mozambique among others.

Vision of their specific contribution to the GA Strategy Council:

Brian's long experience in the ICT sector in Kenya as well as his many years of international interventions at various levels in the areas of policy, regulatory affairs, capacity building and networking on the African continent can bring a wealth of experience and a unique African perspective to the Council. His role in facilitating the establishment of a number of Public Private Partnerships, Multi- Stakeholder networks and widely representative non-profit organisations also speaks of good inter-personal skills, negotiation capability, long-term vision and pragmatic mindset.

Paul Maassen M.Sc. (1973) is programme manager within Hivos for the ICT, Media & Knowledge Sharing (IMK) programme. He is responsible for the strategic orientation of this programme, as well as for the promotional, fundraising and lobbying aspects. Furthermore he co-ordinates the choice of projects and programmes supported and implemented by the IMK team. He has been working with Hivos since 2002 in ICT4D related activities including from the beginning WSIS. Paul Maassen studied Industrial Engineering and Management at the University of Twente (The Netherlands) with a specialisation in non-western management and information sciences. He graduated on a study into key success factors for mobile operators in Indonesia. He started his career with Dutch Telecom incumbent KPN, where he worked as financial controller and project manager.

Vision of contribution on GA Strategy Council:

Hivos has been an advocate of the role of ICT for development since 1999 with the ‘Access for all’ programme on ICT4D. This programme was positively evaluated in 2004 and is succeeded by the programme ‘Making civil voices heard’ that started in 2004. This programme includes activities in the field of new media and knowledge sharing and broadens our role to both funding and implementing. Hivos has strategic partnerships with OneWorld, IICD and APC, is a member of BCO and often works jointly with Open Society Institute in the implementation and funding of projects.

Robin Mansell is Professor of New Media in the Department of Media and Communications, London School of Economics and Political Science. She is internationally known for her work on the social, economic, and technical issues arising from new technologies, especially in the computer and telecommunication industries. During her twenty years of research experience she has examined the integration of new technologies into society, the interaction between engineering design and the structure of markets, and the sources of regulatory effectiveness and failure. Her current research is devoted to understanding the interactions between electronic and social networks in the creation and distribution of knowledge.

Professor Mansell has contributed to policy discussion and formulation for the liberalization of the telecommunication sector, the development of e-commerce, the governance of universal access, and developing country responses to globalization. Her research in recent years has been supported by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Canada, the Department for International Development (DfID) UK and the European Commission. She currently serves as a Governor of the London School of Economics, a Trustee of the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) at Sussex and as President of IAMCR (International Association for Media and Communications Research) 2004-2008.

Her most recent book publication is Trust and Crime in Information Societies, Edward Elgar Publishing 2005 and she was senior editor and contributor to Knowledge Societies: Information Technology for Sustainable Development, Oxford University Press, prepared for the UN Commission on Science and Technology for Development, 1998.

Vision of their specific contribution to the GA Strategy Council:

As a strong supporter of initiatives to strengthen multi-stakeholder alliances and strategic partnerships to tackle all aspects of digital divides and as a researcher and policy advisor with a good working knowledge of inequalities in the global distribution of ICT production and use, Mansell can bring great insight into the barriers that continue to make it difficult to build capacity for benefiting from the enormous potential of ICTs in contributing to poverty reduction. Her experience includes work with civil society organisations, governments and with the private sector and she is well-positioned to build synergies between different stakeholders at the strategic level and to assist in the translation of vision into practical actions.

He started working on the Internet in September 1990, by becoming one of the first system operators of a Bulletin Board System in Sofia, Bulgaria. By 1993 he has founded the second in history Internet Service Provider in Bulgaria - BOL.BG. In 1995 he founded the Bulgarian Internet Society.

He is chairing the Bulgarian President's IT Advisory Committee. Mr. Markovski is member of the ICANN Board, selected by the Nominating Committee in 2003. He also serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Internet Society (from 2002 to 2008), and on the Board of Directors of the Computers Professionals for Social Responsibility (2003-2005).

Veni Markovski is the Project Manager of the UNDP project “Support to e-government initiatives based on Free/Open Source Software at the local (municipality) level in South-eastern Europe”. Through the project ISOC-Bulgaria has launched e-government services in eight cities within six months; has trained more than 200 city officials in three different countries; has migrated approx. 80 percent of participating city computers to using free and open software applications and tools, and about 20 percent to use Linux OS. The UNDP project has been positively reviewed in The New York Times, The International Herald Tribune, heise.de and others.

Currently Markovski is the senior adviser on International Projects of the Chairman of the State Agency for IT and Communications to the Council of Ministers or Republic of Bulgaria.

Veni Markovski is also leading the team to organize the Bulgarian ENUM trial (launched on April 13, 2006)

Among his many interests, Veni Markovski has three areas where he spends most of his time: Cyber-security, Internet Governance and Free and Open Source Software (FOSS).

On cybersecurity, the Internet Society of Bulgaria organized international conference, drafted legislation, and published policy recommendations; on Internet governance, Mr. Markovski has been member of delegations at the U.N. World Summit on Information Society, and has numerous publications and presentations; on FOSS he drafted national legislation and is leading the implementation of an UNDP project in South Eastern Europe.

Narcisse Lokwa Mbunzama has 6 years experience in the Information Communication Technologies Fiels.

Narcisse has contribuated in many ICT Conferences, Forum and workshop around the world and published many articles related to ICT and related issues.

Narcisse Mbunzama has played a considerable role in africa campaign on the world summit on information society.

Narcisse Lokwa Mbunzama has been Central Africa coordinator for Africa Environment Outlook for United Nations Environment Programme and Youth advisor for UNEP.

International Telecommunication Union Young leader since 2001, Narcisse Lokwa Mbunzama has initied many projects on the ICT in Africa as well E-congo Development.

Vision of their contribution to the GA Strategy Council:

I wish to bring Youth vision and experiences to the GA Strategy Unit, how youth can contributate to promote the information society and achieve the millennuim development goals around the World, by using ICT as tools for Development.

While an engineer-scientist (1965-1979), Metcalfe helped build the early Internet. In 1973, at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center, he invented Ethernet, the local-area networking (LAN) standard on which he shares four patents. Now, 30 years later, more than 100 million new Ethernet connections are shipped annually for $10 billion.

While an entrepreneur-executive (1979-1990), Metcalfe founded 3Com Corporation, the billion-dollar networking company where at various times he was Chairman, CEO, division general manager (GM) of software, GM netstations, GM hardware, VP engineering, VP sales, and VP marketing.

While a publisher-pundit (1990-2000), Metcalfe was CEO of IDG's InfoWorld Publishing Company (1992-1995). For eight years, he wrote an Internet column read weekly by over 500,000 information technologists. He spoke often; appeared on radio, TV, and the web; and produced conferences including ACM97, ACM1, Agenda, Pop!Tech, and Vortex. His books include Packet Communication, Beyond Calculation, and Internet Collapses.

I possess a strong academic and work experience built in Albania, and in USA. I do have a B.S. in Computer Science, and I also obtained two postgraduate degrees in USA, one Master in Business Administration and one Master in Project Management.

From August 2004 till September 2005, I worked as ICT consultant for a capacity building project in UNMIK Kosovo as a part of a UNDP project, where I was directly involved in several projects regarding ICT national strategy in UNMIK-Kosovo, and e-government services.

As a part of my job, I am continuously involved with ICT national strategy projects, e-government services and any other ICT consulting services in the public administration and private sector of Albania and Kosovo.

I believe that my expertise, experience and commitment will be a guarantee for a successful selection of my nomination.

Joseph is President of e-cology Corporation, a founding director of WorldVistA and founding chair of the Open Source Health Care Alliance (OSHCA). His extensive international experience developing and implementing IT strategy in both private and public sectors includes VP eHealth Business Development for a major telecommunications consortium, co-founder of an open source software company, and national manager of Digital Equipment's Canadian health care business unit. His pioneering work in the development and application of open source ICT strategy in health began in 1998 and includes: planning SPIRIT, the European Commission funded portal for open source health care software development; developing the business plan and strategy for OSCAR, the McMaster University Dept. of Family Medicine’s open source primary care electronic health record, and UCLA School of Medicine open source collaboratory initiative. Most recently, he co-authored Canada's first federally funded study of the implications of the open source to Canadian the private and public sectors. His clients include the Pacific Telehealth Hui, OECD Working Party on the Information Economy, UCLA School of Medicine, UK NHS Information Authority, University of Toronto Joint Center for Bioethics and Center for Global eHealth Innovation, and FAO/IAEA joint program of the UN. He is currently leading the establishment of the VistA Office Vendor Support Organization as part of CMS's VOE initiative. The VVSO is chartered to provide, software enhancement and maintenance, as well as technology transfer and training for VistA Office EHR adopters and vendors.

Joseph is a frequently invited speaker on open source and health IT strategy including events sponsored by the Digital Nations Consortium, Kennedy School of Government; American Association of Medical Colleges and American College of Physicians; OECD Working Party on the Information Economy; the Brazilian and Malaysian Health Informatics Associations, Real World Linux Conference and the University of Toronto Knowledge Media Design Institute.

I am 23 years old from Australia. Currently I am Special Advisor to TakingITGlobal (TIG), an international youth organization headquartered in Toronto, Canada. (TIG) operates the world's most popular online community for youth interested in global issues with 110,000 members in 200 countries, as well as other local capacity-building, expression, and internet-enabled youth programming in partnership with eight UN agencies and many NGOs. Between 2001-04, I was Strategy and Partnership Coordinator at TakingITGlobal. Through TakingITGlobal I have extensive capacity to outreach to young people around the world.

I have played an active role in global policy making processes related to ICTs for Development. At Prepcom 1 for the WSIS in June 2002, I was a founding member of the WSIS Youth Caucus and subsequently became the Caucus' global facilitator in the first phase, coordinating the mobilization of hundreds of young people worldwide in attending (and personally speaking at) more than 10 global and regional preparatory meetings. I also globally project managed National Level Youth Campaigns in 17 countries in the first phase, reaching more than 70,000 further youth. I also represented TakingITGlobal within the Global Knowledge Partnership, have been a judge of the World Summit Youth Awards, and attended the New York, Berlin and Dublin meetings of the UN ICT Taskforce.

Most recently I have spent fifteen months working at Amnesty International's International Secretariat in London, coordinating their global youth strategy. I also coordinated this year development of an emerging strategy for Amnesty around involvement in internet governance/internet freedom debates. I have now left Amnesty to pursue new consulting projects.

At 14, I founded one of the first online communities for youth interested in technology, and I authored a guidebook to the Internet for teenagers published in several countries by Penguin. I was also appointed by the Australian government to National Commission for UNESCO (attending two General Conferences of UNESCO and participating in the Australian delegation to the initial WSIS preparatory meetings), and served a term on the advisory board of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Claudia Morrell is the executive director of the Center for Women and Information Technology (CWIT) at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC). Under her leadership, the Center's programs and resources have expanded dramatically, including the development of a CWIT Scholars program which retains 94% of its students; increased funding of $8 million in scholarships, research, and program funding to support girls' and women's participation and advancement in technology careers in education and industry; and the expansion of personnel from two to forty-one staff, students, teachers, and faculty.

She also served as the executive producer for an international award-winning women and technology video entitled, You Can Be Anything. Ms. Morrell effectively maintains an active 25-member advisory board with CEOs, CIOs, and high level executive women and men representing business, education and government leadership across the U.S. Currently she is directing several major initiatives that will increase the participation of girls and women in IT, from middle school through the college and university to the workforce and technology entrepreneurship. Ms Morrell was instrumental in drafting legislation that was signed in to law on May 26, 2004 that established the first statewide Governor's Taskforce on the Status of Women and IT, and she now serves as co-chair of the Taskforce. The Center's award-winning website, www.umbc.edu/cwit, is recognized internationally as "the best resource for women and IT on the web."

Ms. Morrell speaks at state, national and international events, including recent presentations at the United Nations and World Bank. CWIT also hosted the first International Symposium on Women and IT in June 2005 in Baltimore, Maryland. Ms. Morrell serves on multiple statewide, national, and international advisory boards, has been published in numerous electronic media, journals, and conference proceedings, and was the editor of the International Symposium proceedings published through the Association of Computing Machinery digital library.

Claudia Morrell received her Bachelor of Science degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a Master of Arts degree from Loyola College of Maryland, and a Master of Science degree from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Vision of their specific contribution to the GA Strategy Council:

Gender needs to be woven into the fabric of ICT policy and program development so that all individuals may participate in and benefit from the knowledge economy and ensure their full citizenship in the information society. To ensure women's full participation in IT, they must first participate fully in the leadership. My vision would be to build partnerships to create synergy to implement, evaluate, and sustain effective practices for women and ICTs.

Claudia Morrell is the executive director of the Center for Women and Information Technology (CWIT) at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC). Under her leadership, the Center's programs and resources have expanded dramatically, including the development of a CWIT Scholars program which retains 94% of its students; increased funding of million in scholarships, research, and program funding to support girls' and women's participation and advancement in technology careers in education and industry; and the expansion of personnel from two to forty-one staff, students, teachers, and faculty.

She also served as the executive producer for an international award-winning women and technology video entitled, You Can Be Anything. Ms. Morrell effectively maintains an active 25-member advisory board with CEOs, CIOs, and high level executive women and men representing business, education and government leadership across the U.S. Currently she is directing several major initiatives that will increase the participation of girls and women in IT, from middle school through the college and university to the workforce and technology entrepreneurship. Ms Morrell was instrumental in drafting legislation that was signed in to law on May 26, 2004 that established the first statewide Governor's Taskforce on the Status of Women and IT, and she now serves as co-chair of the Taskforce.

The Center's award-winning website, www.umbc.edu/cwit, is recognized internationally as "the best resource for women and IT on the web."

Ms. Morrell speaks at state, national and international events, including recent presentations at the United Nations and World Bank. CWIT also hosted the first International Symposium on Women and IT in June 2005 in Baltimore, Maryland. Ms. Morrell serves on multiple statewide, national, and international advisory boards, has been published in numerous electronic media, journals, and conference proceedings, and was the editor of the International Symposium proceedings published through the Association of Computing Machinery digital library.

Claudia Morrell received her Bachelor of Science degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a Master of Arts degree from Loyola College of Maryland, and a Master of Science degree from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Vision of their contribution to the GA Strategy Council

Gender needs to be woven into the fabric of ICT policy and program development so that all individuals may participate in and benefit from the knowledge economy and ensure their full citizenship in the information society. To ensure women's full participation in IT, they must first participate fully in the leadership. My vision would be to build partnerships to create synergy to implement, evaluate, and sustain effective practices for women and ICTs.

Dr. Francis Muguet belongs to the Civil Society. He participated in the WSIS process through MDPI and ENSTA, both WSIS accredited NGOs. He is the coordinator of the Civil Society Working Group on Scientific Information ( http://wsis-si.org ) and co-coordinator of the Civil Society Working Group on Patents, Copyrights & Trademarks ( http://wsis-pct.org ). He is a member of the Civil Society Bureau (CSB). During Phase I, he participated in PrepCom2, Intersession, PrepCom3, PrepCom3A, PrepCom3B and the WSIS summit in Geneva, where he was a speaker during the Plenary Session. He also organized and spoke at several official WSIS side-events. During Phase II, he participated in the brainstorming meeting in Tunis and PrepCom1 Hammamet, Prepcom II and Prepcom III in Geneva. He was also a Civil Society speaker during the Plenary Session in Tunis.

Francis Muguet is originally a researcher mostly in Computational Chemistry (ENSTA, France, http://www.ensta.fr ) but now his research interests also includes computer sciences. He is directing the "Knowledge Networks & Information Society" project (KNIS/ENSTA), currently being developed.

He is associate publisher and board member of the Molecular Diversity Preservation International (MDPI, Basel, Switzerland ( http://www.mdpi.org ), a Swiss non-profit Foundation which publishes seven Open Access scientific journals and which includes eight Nobel Prize winners on its editorial boards.

His institution ENSTA ( http://www.ensta.fr ) is a member of a ParisTech (http://www.paristech.org) which is currently offering the world second largest Open CourseWare repository ( http://graduateschool.paristech.org/ ). Dr. Muguet is also a member of the Civil Society Task Force on Education and Research ( http://www.wsis-edu.org ). He is a member of the expert group on Open Educational Resources at OECD (http://oer.wsisedu.org).

Dr. Muguet is an active member of the Civil Society Working Group on Financial Mechanisms ( http://wsis-finance.org ). Dr. Muguet supports also a current grass-root Civil Society initiative to bridge the digital divide between provincial territories and big cities in France ( Tour de France des Térritoires http://wtis.org/tft.html ) and its proposed worldwide extension ( World Tour of the Information Society http://wtis.org ).

Dr. Muguet is also a founding member of the Civil Society Working Group on Digital Arts ( http://wsis-arts.org ) formed during the last stages of the WSIS, unfortunately too late to be able to underline the role of arts in Education and Culture in the WSIS texts.

D. Muguet is not affiliated with any current Internet governance entity and is not a consultant with any government, UN agencies, programs or secretariats, or with any commercial company.

According to an informal background Background Note on the future role of the CSTD in the WSIS follow-up and a note concerning the “Principles and Elements of a Global Alliance” ( 2 March 2006) very recently made public, it appears that the Global Alliance is going to play a key in the implementation of the multi-stakeholder approach : On the policy dialogue level, the Global Alliance for ICT and Development will present innovative, inclusive and interactive channels for multi-stakeholder input to policy debate to be conducted in CSTD. To this end, the CSTD Secretariat, in partnership with the Secretariat of the Global Alliance, will help organize a multi-stakeholder platform as the multi-stakeholder component of the CSTD review of WSIS follow-up and implementation. If this crucial role of the Global Alliance is confirmed, and not withstanding his further involvement with any multi-stakeholder component that the CSTD might create, Dr. Francis Muguet might bring several significant contributions to the Global Alliance and the CSTD multistakeholder approach :

a) raising awareness concerning access to knowledge and in particular scientific informations, while adopting and supporting Open Access policies

b) promotion of Free Software and free interoperability as conditions of economical freedom and sustainable development.

c) a good understanding of the overall WSIS process, concerning both the Civil Society and diplomatic aspects in the course of the long WSIS process;

d) raising awareness about the scientific and technological aspects of the information society, and supporting the continuing role of the CSTD in Sciences and Technology, not in parallel, but in conjunction with its new role within the WSIS context.

e) a good historical perspective of how the Information Society and the Internet evolved, since he participated during his years as Ph.D student in the USA to the first steps of the NSFnet. He has been using NSFnet and the Internet before the birth of the Web, and has been a Web user and webmaster since the beginning of the Web.

f) A good technical knowledge of how the Internet actually works in practice, since he personally manages or oversees the management of several web servers, clusters, mail servers, etc.. - all running under the open-source GNU/Linux operating system. He currently manages a research project concerning P2PTelevision ( http://p2ptv.cc ) which has been presented on the UNESCO booth at the WSIS in Tunis.

g) A specific attention to technological issues ( Semantic Web, etc.. ) that are emerging towards the implementation of Information Society of Shared Knowledge ( eg http://semantic.cc )

h) A specific attention towards finding suitable legal frameworks for multi-stakeholder partnerships, such as the UNMSP proposal (http://www.unmsp.org) that he initiated.

i) A specific attention towards innovative financial mechanisms such as the Digital Solidarity Fund and the proposal of a Free Software Fund for Digital Solidarities that was first proposed during his speech in Tunis ( http://www.wsis-si.org/TUNIS/discours-ecrit-enA.html) at the WSIS in November 2005.

I am an African-American attorney with international experience and training. My focus is on Alternative Dispute Resolution, with a speciality in the use of web-based technology to resolve disputes through arbitration and mediation.

Recently, I presented at the ICODR Conference on the topic of cybermediation and online dispute resolution (ODR), where a fair amount of discussion was devoted to cross-cultural disputes.

I would like to work with the Council on effective utilization of projects such as AiDA and as a resource for resolution of disputes involving the civic organizations, business interests, governments and NGO community members involved in Council projects.

Tracey Naughton is Chair of the WSIS Civil Society Media Caucus, a position she was elected to in 2002. She co-chaired the Civil Society Bureau during the Tunis phase of WSIS. Tracey is a consulting development professional with twenty-five years of experience using ICT's in development programs, projects and processes across Africa and Asia.

Her foundation interest is in technology, the content it carries and the way it is deployed, as a means of fostering democratic participation, communication and development especially, though not exclusively, in rural environments. Her career in community cultural development began in 1980 and has always incorporated participatory media. She has been a media producer and policy advocate and was based in southern Africa for fourteen years.

In the late 1980's in Australia, the regulatory environment for participatory media was opened and Tracey led the national team that advocated for the establishment of new, local media services. As a result of this drive, in 1992 a single frequency was allocated to community television across Australia. Concurrently she was President of a Community Newspaper and a broadcaster on a Melbourne wide radio station. Earlier she had worked on a participatory video project in central Australia developed in response to black deaths in custody and since adopted as mainstream practise.

In recognition of her contribution to media democratisation, she received a Professional Development Award in 1991 from the Australia Council for the Arts and undertook a twelve-month field research project on community media in Europe, Asia, America and Africa. The published results were one of the first resources for the emerging community television sector in Australia. Additionally, they were the basis of a lecture series in South Africa in 1992. The lectures informed the transition there, from a state media monopolised environment to a more democratic, three tiered one encompassing public service, commercial and community media. In recent years her work has incorporated emergent forms of ICT.

In 1992 Tracey moved to South Africa to take up an AusAID Contract as Advisor to the nascent community radio sector there, subsequently contributing to a large network of community based radio projects, and the national co-ordinating network. She then adopted Johannesburg as a base and consulted in Africa and Asia in the area of community based ICT initiatives with development objectives. She is now based in Australia but continues to work globally in ICT for Development.

Vision of their contribution to the GA Strategy Council

I have twenty-five years of professional practise as a Communications for Development consultant to civil society, inter-government, government and aid agencies. This practice in ICT - including media, deployed for development outcomes, has given me a multi-dimensional array of experiences and contextual information to draw on as a contributor to global policy discussions.

My work has been focused on the expressed needs and ideas of people who are marginalised by existing infrastructure, social policies and political contexts. From Aboriginal and multi-cultural Australia to Timor Leste and South Africa before liberation, to a number of African countries to Mongolia I have worked as a development practitioner under trees, in media production studios, in makeshift training rooms, in villages and in cities. I have often worked in the same context over a sustained period giving me a deeper analysis than in once off interactions.

As a policy change advocate I have run national and regional policy development processes and ensured their impact in regulatory and legislative arenas. I have led, facilitated and participated in processes of policy change in communities, transitional states and in conflict zones. I have managed media programs and projects and practised as a broadcaster, journalist and media trainer.

I believe it is important that policy discussion draws on beneficiary and practitioner experience.

I am in favour of participatory change and consultative program development where the people who are seen to be beneficiaries of policy processes and practical programs are involved in the design of the intervention.

I am a skilled facilitator. My objective is always to catalyse change and to cause distribution of power through participatory processes that build knowledge and empower people who for a variety of reasons are on the uncomfortable side of a communication divide.

As Director of Internet Technology and Strategy at IBM, Mike Nelson manages a team helping define and implement IBM's Next Generation Internet strategy. His group is working with university researchers on NGi technology, shaping standards for the NGi, and communicating IBM's vision of NGi, the Grid, and on demand computing to customers, policy makers, the press, and the general public. He chaired the Internet Society's annual INET2002 meeting and in 2003 was selected as the Society's Vice President for Public Policy. In that role, he attended the UN's World Summit on the Information Society in Geneva in 2003 and has been very involved in preparations for the second phase of WSIS in Tunis in November. Nelson also serves on the Industry Strategy Council of the Internet2 research consortium and recently completed a two-year term as Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Telecommunications Policy Research Conference.

Prior to joining IBM in July, 1998, Nelson was Director for Technology Policy at the Federal Communications Commission. There he helped craft policies to foster electronic commerce, spur development and deployment of new technologies, and improve the reliability and security of the nation's telecommunications networks.

Before joining the FCC in January, 1997, Nelson was Special Assistant for Information Technology at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy where he worked with Vice President Gore and the President's Science Advisor on issues relating to the Global Information Infrastructure, including telecommunications policy, information technology, encryption, electronic commerce, and information policy.

From 1988 to 1993, Nelson served as a professional staff member for the Senate's Subcommittee on Science, Technology, and Space, chaired by then-Senator Gore. He was the lead Senate staffer for the High-Performance Computing Act.

Nelson has a B.S. in geology from Caltech, and a Ph.D. in geophysics from MIT.

Last year I coordinated the Fight Hunger-Walk the World Zimbabwe event. This is an annual event bent on eradicating child hunger. During the same year my project, Youth Information Centre, was short listed for showcasing at the World Bank Youth ICT Conference (see attached mail). The project now is a national project under the name National Youth Data Bank. The project will be providing up-to-date information on youth activities for policy makers and researchers in youth work. The project has been labeled as a milestone achievement in youth development by some practitioners. I also advocated for the UN programme for a Youth Delegate through the Ministry of Youth Development and Employment Creation, of which it was endorsed and I’m the current Youth Delegate for Zimbabwe. The programme is being run by the Zimbabwe Youth Council under the auspices of the same ministry. This year I managed to establish the United Nations Youth Association of Zimbabwe, of which I’m the President. I’m also conducting a research on blending cultures in the dawn of globalization. I’ve been employed in the Ministry of Youth Development and Employment Creation for four years now. My profile can found at http://profiles.takingitglobal.org/simnhle.

Commitment and Potential Contribution: -

I’ve always cherished the work and what UN tries to achieve. This has seen me being committed to the establishment of the United Nations Youth Association of Zimbabwe and the endorsement of the UN programme for a Youth Delegate. Use of ICTs in tackling developmental issues has been one of my top priorities as a youth practitioner, hence my involvement in the establishment of my country’s first-ever National Youth Data Bank. By the same token, I will contribute the experience I have acquired in ICT Policy and Development to the success of this noble initiative.

Vision of the Global Alliance and Engagement of Youth: -

Use of ICTs in tackling developmental issues is being appreciated day by day considering that they have brought about revolutionary changes impacting every aspect of our society. Youths are by no chance being left out in this revolution. Young people use ICTs in addressing problems/needs in their communities. The Global Alliance must be the KEY player in ICT Policy and Development working with other information focal points like the UN Commission of Science and Technology for Development and especially with the WSIS Youth Caucus, to foster youth participation.

Having been a professional journalist for almost 20 years, Mr. Noronha has received many credits for his work including Panos Fellow in 2001 (reproductive health and gender issues), Sarai Print Media Fellowship 2001 (studying the contribution of South Asia to GNU/LINUX), co-founfer of Bytes For All - a widely appreciated site and e-zine studying the use of IT and Internet for development, member and Admin. team for Goa mailing list for 400plus expatriate Goans worldwide, founder member of India-Linux Users group.

He is one of India's most active e-journalists in cyberspace and has long been involved in exploring the Net as a tool for alternative communications. Among his current initiatives are an online network for documentary film-makers in India, and a list to campaign for the legalisation of community radio in South Asia.

Publications which have featured Mr. Noronha's work include Economic Times, India Abroad, Financial Express, Spide Internet Magazine (Pakistan), Associated Press (photographs), INOMY, BBC website and a number of websites, newsgroups and mailing list.

Mr Noronha holds an M.A. English Literature and a Bachelor in Commerce for University of Bombay and an Advanced Diploma in Journalism from IIJ-Berlin. [more info: http://fn.goa-india.org/

Vision of their specific contribution to the GA Strategy Council:

Focussing on the small player (who can make a big contribution, collectively) in the ICT-for-development debate, and also looking at the potential of Free Software. In addition: how to build bridges between the techie, the ICT-for-D network and the non-governmental non-profit sector in general.

I am so far doing Post Graduate Diploma in Management at Tumaini University in southern Tanzania. I hold an Advanced Diploma in Information Technology and am looking forward to going for further studies in Electronic Governance. I have worked for one year as Administrative Director for ADEN center of Kigoma, a french government initiative as an impact of the WSIS I in Geneva. I have presented a paper on ICT for refugees and women together with the OneVillage Foundation in the Tanzania Global Learning center which was organized and coordinated by UNESCO.

Graduated from England, worked with the Royal Scientific Society 1977-1993, and was the Director of Information Technology and Training Centre, and Dean of Princess Sumaya College for Informatics. 1990-1991 worked with UNESCO as Chief Technical Advisor on Informatics in Education. Established the National Information Technology Centre in 1993 and became its President until 2006. Chaired and participated in several national and international committees on ICT, and designed and implemented several national ICT systems. Has been Top Level Domain Administrator for .jo domain since 1995 and has many publications in ICT. In 2006 joined UN-ESCWA as Chief ICT Division.

Nnenna Nwakanma holds a triple Bachelors (in the Social Sciences, History and English and a Masters degree in International Relations and Law. She has done large-scale work within International development organisations and institutions in Africa on Information, Documentation and International Relations. Among them, The Home Health Education Service, The Helen Keller Foundation(www.hki.org) and The African Development Bank(www.afdb.org). Co-founder of different pan-African organizations: The Free Software and Open Source Foundation for Africa (FOSSFA)(www.fossfa.net), The Africa Network of Information Society Actors (ANISA), and the Africa Civil Society for the Information Society (ACSIS) (www.acsis-africa.org) . One of the major Civil Society Actors in the World Summit on the Information Society, she represents the African Civil Society on the Digital Solidarity Fund(www.dsf-fsn.org), and advises on the Africa Information Society Initiatiave.(www.uneca.org/aisi). Today she is Council Chair of the Free Software and Open Source Foundation for Africa.

She is also the Co-author of Our Side of the Divide. http://www.schoolnetafrica.net/index.php?id=1022 http://www.thepublicvoice.org/events/capetown04/ourside.pdf

Silenced: Censorship and Control of the Internet http://www.privacyinternational.org/article.shtml?cmd[347]=x-347-61390&als[theme]=Silenced%20Report

Vision in Process http://www.worldsummit2003.de/download_de/Vision_in_process.pdf

The Incommunicado Reader http://www.incommunicado.info/

At present she works as a Consultant to governments, Civil Society organizations, business entities and International Development Organizations on various domains of her expertise in African Development:Human Rights, Conflict Management,Gender Mainstreaming, Capacity building and Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)

Ms Nyambura is a committed professional who has gained a sizable experience in networking for development in the Eastern part of Africa where she has been coordinating initiatives related to applications of ICTs for promoting health and agriculture.

Dr. Dorothy Okello is coordinator of Women of Uganda Network (WOUGNET) whose mission is to promote and support the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) by women and women organizations in Uganda. Dr. Okello has been active in the area of getting more women and rural communities engaged in the information society for development ­ via gender & ICT policy advocacy and via program implementation and monitoring & evaluation. Dr. Okello is also a lecturer with the Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Technology, Makerere University, Uganda, and all together has over 10 years of diverse experience in teaching, researching, and conducting projects in the ICT sector at national, regional and international levels. Dr. Okello holds a B.Sc. in Engineering (Electrical) from Makerere University, Uganda, an M.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Kansas, United States and a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from McGill University, Montreal, Canada.

Vision of their specific contribution to the GA Strategy Council:

Engendering ICT policies for development at national and regional level as well as addressing the issues for rural development for an inclusive Information Society.

YIELD is an NGO located in Nigeria committed to enhancing the lives of young people and seeing the maximization of their potentials by leveraging tools of development,which includes Information and Communication Technologies.Mr.Davidson holds a Bachelors Degree in Geology fromthe University of Calabar,and have been very active in the WSIS and other development-related processes.In his homecountry,he was the pioneerofthe WSIS Nigeria Youth Consultation held in 2006,which sampled young people's opinion on ICT and ICT policy.In close collaboration with various youths organization,and major stakeholders,he drove the development goals hometothe grassroots.Having been a participant in the World Bank-British Council project,he had made it possible toimpact and increase the development knowldege base of young peoplein his country.He has workedand still works with the Global Knowledge Partnerships,The Global Development Learning Network,the Assocaition for Progressive Communication and other international organization.

He has been very actively involved with the ICT 4 ALL program having participated acvtively with/in the WSIS Prep Com 3 both in Geneva and Tunis and the Tunis Phase 2 meeting in November 2005.

A strong voice in the African Civil Soceity of the WSIS and highly regarded by CS both outside Nigeria and within the Civil society in Nigeria.

Currently, leading the formation and organization of the Nigeria branch of the African Civil Society of the WSIS. A full fledged member of the Conference of NGOS in consultataive Relationship with the UN-CONGO.

Armen Orujyan is founder, President and Chairman of the Board of ATHGO International since 1999. For over a decade, Armen has had direct working relationships with various NGOs promoting human rights, democratic values, and young diplomats. He furthered his relationship with the NGOs by working closely with UN NGO section, UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, and the UN University amongst many other UN agencies and international institutions. Formerly Chairman of the Board at Nucleus Consulting, Inc. and the Executive Vice-President with Global Consulting Associations (both in California, USA), Armen furthered his involvement in domestic and international politics by coordinating roundtables for various NGOs at the United Nations’ European Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland and by serving as a captain for the 2000 Presidential campaign for democratic presidential candidate Al Gore. He continues being involved in many local and national campaigns offering expertise in domestic affairs and foreign policies.

Armen has gained expertise in human rights, democratic development, youth international networking, public and community relations, and international diplomacy and is committed to preparing young people to become magnanimous leaders with a focus on establishing closer working relations with the United Nations and its family.

Armen began his political and youth directed career as an Associated Student Union president at Los Angeles Valley College. He continued his education at UCLA where he earned the degree of Bachelor of Arts with Honors majoring in political science and received his Master of Arts degree in International Studies from Claremont Graduate University (CGU) in California. Currently, he is reading for his PhD dissertation at CGU on political campaign strategies in terms of choosing an issue platform.

Uwem Robert Otu is President of the African Youth Movement (AYM),an Abuja, Nigeria-based non-governmental organization dedicated to empowering young Africans to work toward a better world through local and global initiatives in poverty eradication,human rights, environmental conservation and management, and social development. Under his leadership, AYM partners with 15 Nigerian non-governmental organizations, among them the Better Life Programme for African Women, the Pan African Vision on the Environment, and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. It also collaborates on sustainable development projects with the Stockholm International Water Institute and the Global Water Partnership of which Mr Otu sits on the Board in Nigeria. He is also the African Coordinator of the World Forum of Civil Society Networks [UBUNTU] based in Spain - an International Organisation supporting the Reform of the United Nations and other International Institutions. He was previously President of the Johannesburg-based Groups Against Corruption in Africa and African Regional Campaign Coordinator of the International Youth Professional Foundation. Mr. Otu advocates for effective water management, pollution control and other sustainable development policies and programmes in Africa, and has spoken widely on these issues at national, regional and international fora.

He was Chairperson of the African Regional Group of the 2002 Global Youth Forum, and represented the Forum at the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development.

H.E. Sir Victor JW Pekarcik III: Born July 2, 1966 Knighted by the Vatican& the Holy See: Works with and advises Global Heads of State, International Government Members, the United Nations, Government Agencies, and Global Corporate CEOs from the Global 2000, the Fortune 1000, as well as International Banks and Venture Capital Groups.

Pekarcik Global Ventures has for over 20 years been working in the Corporate, Government, and Philanthropic Arena attempting to bring them all together, as well as raise the standard of existence for humanity and its future development thus creating a synergistic Global Brain Trust with Heads of State, Global Corporate CEO, Government Agencies, and Philanthropic Organizations, as well as NGOs.

For over 20 years has worked with and advised Heads of State, Foreign Governments, the United Nations, Fortune 1000/Global 2000 Corporations, Venture Capital Companies, Many Startups, and US Government Agencies, including the White House (which provided him with special recognition for his work), as well as being a Member of many International Steering Committees, to include nearly a dozen for the United Nations, and the US President’s High Tech Steering Committee, and Advisory Committees.

His goals are to assist Countries their Governments and Global Corporations, and companies in increasing their most important needs by Increasing Revenues, Investment, Trade, Tourism, Economic Sustainability and Technological capabilities, such as:

Increasing synergistic relationship between Global 2000/Fortune 1000, High Tech & Industry Leading Corps, Global Associations, and other Countries, “with” the Governments of the World, & its population to increase Economic Sustainability programs and projects, as well as Investment and development into their country.

Assist in developing relationships for the Companies “within” those countries, assisting them with fostering business partnerships with other Countries, Governments, and Global Corporations, allowing them to engage in Worldwide development projects, and partnerships deals which will increase their revenues and growth.

Dramatically Increase Tourism to those countries through key Partnerships, and Marketing Programs

Increasing the technological capabilities of the Government through key partnerships,

Programs to educate the citizens of those countries, raising their technological abilities, capabilities, & quality of life

Giving support to technology advances fostering relationships to the Government in National Security Issues, as well as improving the National Security of the Countries Citizens, their Governments and their Agencies.

He was responsible for gathering Global Brain Trusts, which consisted of the Current and Former Heads of State, Global Corporate CEOs, Global Public Figures and Global Philanthropists, Nobel Laureates as well as Global Associations who focused on the largest of Global Sustainability Issues/Projects, and have been recognized and Knighted by the Vatican, as far back as President Reagan and President Gorbachev.

He has helped Countries and Corporations meet the challenges of the emerging society to successfully grow in this new world of converging technologies, Global Interdependence, as well as with International Strategic Business Development deals, Global Marketing Campaigns, and International Branding. His Global Philanthropic endeavors have assisted in changing our course of humanity for the positive infrastructure development in this our new world of interconnected Globalization.

His goal is to change the course of human history and assist those companies and countries all around the world.

J’ai animé au milieu des enfants, jeunes et femmes les conférences ou séminaires portant sur :

Les violences sexuelles faites aux femmes,

La femme et sa prise de décision sur les élections en R.D Congo,

Les jeunes débout contre le sida,

L'importance de la connaissance de l'outil des nouvelles technologies dans nos entreprises,

Les nouvelles technologies et le Développement de la République Démocratique du Congo

Daniel Pimienta was born in Morocco, read Applied Mathematics in Nice (France) and holds a Ph.D. in Computer Sciences.

After creating a Software House specialized in APL, he joined IBM France, (La Gaude Laboratory) and worked for 12 years as Telecommunication

System Architect and Planner, participating in voice/data integration products, videotex and OSI protocol testing.

In 1988, he joined Union Latina, in Santo Domingo, as Scientific Advisor and Head of REDALC project, focusing ICT for development. With the support of European Union and Unesco, his team designed the first PC based multilingual interface to networks (MULBRI 1989) and built (and operated) Research and NGO networks in various LA&C countries: Peru (1991), Dominican Republic (1992) and Haiti (1993).

In 1993, he launched the Foundation Networks & Development (FUNREDES). Managing virtual communities, sensitizing and educating users, elaborating multi-stakeholders strategies, experimenting appropriate methodologies for sustainable development, with a special focus on:

• participative democracy with ICT and research-action on social impact of ICT (funredes.org/mistica), Stockholm Challenge finalist 2001;

• observation of ICT public policies and alternative methodologies for IS Indicators (funredes.org/olistica);

• observing languages and cultures within the Internet (funredes.org/LC);

• Caribbean region integration (funredes.org/caribtic - cardicis.org);

• efficient and plurilingual virtual communities (funredes.org/emec);

• collaborative work with ICT (funredes.org/caribcad).

Daniel Pimienta is an international speaker and writer on ICT4D and was an active civil society actor in the World Summit of Information Society (wsis.funredes.org) as well as an obstinate promoter of institutional and professional collaboration in LA&C (redistic.org).

A coordinating expert of the Alliance of the “Three Linguistic Spaces”, he is member, for the Caribbean, of the expert committee for the Francophone Virtual University and of the steering committee of GCNP and EUROLATIS. Member of Argentina Academy of Arts & Communication Science, he has been nominated for the 2003 World Technology Award for Ethics and Innovation in Technology.

Vision of their specific contribution to the GA Strategy Council:

Daniel Pimienta has been participating actively in the whole WSIS process (see http://wsis.funredes.org) and his contributions were more specifically as:

• a gateway between languages and cultures, especially within the Caribbean, between the Caribbean and Latin America and between Latin America & the Caribbean and Africa or Europe);

• a gateway between Internet culture and other professional groups (such as librarians);

• a promotor of collaboration within civil society and within multistakeholder approaches http://cmsi.funredes.org/inc/multistakeholder_en.htm;

• a specialist of participative virtual processes.

He has made concrete contributions in the following areas:

• Linguistic and cultural diversity (see http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0014/001421/142186e.pdf, http://funredes.org/lc, http://funredes.org/tradauto, http://cardicis.org),

• Digital Solidarity Fund (he is member for Latin America civil society of the Foundation Board - http://www.dsf-fsn.org/en/04b-en.htm)

• Social impact of ICT - see http://redistic.org and http://www.vecam.org/article.php3?id_article=698&nemo=edm

• Articulation of local and global issues (see http://socinfodo.org.do)

• Observatories of Information Society (see http://funredes.org/olistica, http://funredes.org/lc)

What he can bring to the GA SC, is his extensive experience in the field, creative contributions in appropriate methodologies as well as its ethical permanent concerns is his special capacity to bridge ideas, peoples and issues within ethical and structured frameworks.

Daniel Pimienta was born in Morocco, read Applied Mathematics in Nice (France) and holds a Ph.D. in Computer Sciences.

After creating a Software House specialized in APL, he joined IBM France, (La Gaude Laboratory) and worked for 12 years as Telecommunication System Architect and Planner, participating in voice/data integration products, videotex and OSI protocol testing.

In 1988, he joined Union Latina, in Santo Domingo, as Scientific Advisor and Head of REDALC project, focusing ICT for development. With the support of European Union and Unesco, his team designed the first PC based multilingual interface to networks (MULBRI 1989) and built (and operated) Research and NGO networks in various LA&C countries: Peru (1991), Dominican Republic (1992) and Haiti (1993).

In 1993, he launched the Foundation Networks & Development (FUNREDES). Managing virtual communities, sensitizing and educating users, elaborating multi-stakeholders strategies, experimenting appropriate methodologies for sustainable development, with a special focus on:

• participative democracy with ICT and

research-action on social impact of ICT (funredes.org/mistica), Stockholm Challenge finalist 2001;

• observation of ICT public policies and alternative methodologies for IS Indicators (funredes.org/olistica);

• observing languages and cultures within the Internet (funredes.org/LC);

• Caribbean region integration (funredes.org/caribtic - cardicis.org).

• efficient and plurilingual virtual communities (funredes.org/emec);

• collaborative work with ICT (funredes.org/caribcad).

Daniel Pimienta is an international speaker and writer on ICT4D and was an active civil society actor in the World Summit of Information Society

(wsis.funredes.org) as well as an obstinate promoter of institutional and professional collaboration in LA&C (redistic.org).

Vision of their contribution to the GA Strategy Council

A coordinating expert of the Alliance of the "Three Linguistic Spaces", he is member, for the Caribbean, of the expert committee for the Francophone Virtual University and of the steering committee of GCNP and EUROLATIS. Member of Argentina Academy of Arts & Communication Science, he has been nominated for the 2003 World Technology Award for Ethics and Innovation in Technology.

Daniel Pimienta has been participating actively in the whole WSIS process (see

http://wsis.funredes.org) and his contributions were more specifically as:

• a gateway between languages and cultures, especially within the Caribbean, between the Caribbean and Latin America and between Latin America & the Caribbean and Africa or Europe);

• a gateway between Internet culture and other professional groups (such as librarians);

• a promotor of collaboration within civil society and within multistakeholder approaches http://cmsi.funredes.org/inc/multistakeholder_en.htm;

• a specialist of participative virtual processes.

He has made concrete contributions in the following areas:

• Linguistic and cultural diversity,

• Digital Solidarity Fund (he is member for Latin America civil society of the Foundation Board -

http://www.dsf-fsn.org/en/04b-en.htm)

• Social impact of ICT - see http://redistic.org and http://www.vecam.org/article.php3?id_article=698&nemo=edm

• Articulation of local and global issues (see http://socinfodo.org.do)

• Observatories of Information Society (see http://funredes.org/olistica, http://funredes.org/lc)

What he can bring to the GA SC, is his extensive experience in the field, creative contributions in appropriate methodologies as well as its ethical permanent concerns is his special capacity to bridge ideas, peoples and issues within ethical and structured frameworks.

Magaly Pineda is one of the pioneers of the feminist movement in Latin America and the Caribbean. An active militant since 1970, she has participated in the four UN World Concerences on Women. She is Founder and Director of the Center For the Investigation of Women’s Actions (CIPAF), and has coordinated investigations and studies about women in the Dominican republic and has participated as an invited speaker and/or professor of numerous seminars and work shops around the world.

She was Social Sciences and Sociology Professor, Sociology Department, Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences, Santo Domingo Autonomous University, UASD, 1967-1985 and her experience includes participation in a range of national, regional and international organ isations and initiatives including as Senior Adviser of Beijing Latin-American and the Caribbean ngo Committee.(1994-1995); Latin American Council of Social Science (CLACSO). (1994-1998); Association for Women in Development (AWID) (1996 ­ 1999); Executive Council of the North-South Center, Europe Council ( 1999 ­ 2001) ; External Gender Consultative Group for the World Bank, (1999-2002); Regional Initiative for the Social Responsibility and Fair Labor (2001- ); Task Force on Education and Gender Equality and the UN Millennium Project.(2003- ).

Magaly is also the Civil Society representative at the Dominican Republic National Commission Information Society. (CNSIC) and as such participated in the ofival delegation at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)

With CIPAF and in coordination with other ngos and government agencies, Mrs.Pineda promotes initiatives to encourage girls and young women to study science and technology as a fundamental stratetgy in the elimination of the 'gender digital divide'. At the same time she works with teachers in both the public and private sectors helping them integrate new technologies into the classrooms. She is a member of the International

Society for Technology in Education (ISTE®) and the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD).

As CIPAF Executive Director she has been involved in the Millenium Campaigns and at this time is a member of the International Facilitation Team of Global Call for Action Against Poverty (GCAP) and of the Regional Committee GCAP ­Latin-American and The Caribbean.

In 2000 Magaly Pineda received the National Merit Award for Women.

She has a bachelors degrees in Bachelor in Social Sciences (University of Puerto Rico, 1965); Postgrade in Educational Planning (Santo Domingo

Technological Institute, INTEC, 1977) and ;Post grade in Dominican Studies ­ Major in Social Studies (Santo Domingo Autonomous University, UASD, 1980)

Vision of their specific contribution to the GA Strategy Council:

Ms Pineda will contribute to the work of the Global Alliance with her expertise in building policies for gender equity and inclusion. She will also bring her experience in working to implement the Millenium Goals in order to overcome poverty and its effects, specially on women and girls.

Because of her active involvement in the WSIS process and her participation in the Summit as a member of her country's official delegation, Ms

Pineda knows well the needs and interests of Latin American and Caribbean countries, as well as the debate around ICT policies in the region. She will be able to contribute to South-South dialogue in order to strengthen cooperation and solidarity.

Magaly Pineda is one of the pioneers of the feminist movement in Latin America and the Caribbean. An active militant since 1970, she has participated in the four UN World Concerences on Women. She is Founder and Director of the Center For the Investigation of Women's Actions (CIPAF), and has coordinated investigations and studies about women in the Dominican republic and has participated as an invited speaker and/or professor of numerous seminars and work shops around the world.

She was Social Sciences and Sociology Professor, Sociology Department, Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences, Santo Domingo Autonomous University, UASD, 1967-1985 and her experience includes participation in a range of national, regional and international organ isations and initiatives including as Senior Adviser of Beijing Latin-American and the Caribbean ngo Committee.(1994-1995); Latin American Council of Social Science (CLACSO). (1994-1998); Association for Women in Development (AWID) (1996 – 1999); Executive Council of the North-South Center, Europe Council ( 1999 – 2001) ; External Gender Consultative Group for the World Bank, (1999-2002); Regional Initiative for the Social Responsibility and Fair Labor (2001- ); Task Force on Education and Gender Equality and the UN Millennium Project.(2003- ).

Magaly is also the Civil Society representative at the Dominican Republic National Commission Information Society. (CNSIC) and as such participated in the ofival delegation at the Worl Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)

With CIPAF and in coordination with other ngos and government agencies, Mrs.Pineda promotes initiatives to encourage girls and young women to study science and technology as a fundamental stratetgy in the elimination of the 'gender digital divide'. At the same time she works with teachers in both the public and private sectors helping them integrate new technologies into the classrooms. She is a member of the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE®) and the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD).

As CIPAF Executive Director she has been involved in the Millenium Campaigns and at this time is a member of the International Facilitation Team of Global Call for Action Against Poverty (GCAP) and of the Regional Committee GCAP –Latin-American and The Caribbean.

In 2000 Magaly Pineda received the National Merit Award for Women.

She has a bachelors degrees in Bachelor in Social Sciences (University of Puerto Rico, 1965); Postgrade in Educational Planning (Santo Domingo Technological Institute, INTEC, 1977) and ;Post grade in Dominican Studies – Major in Social Studies (Santo Domingo Autonomous University, UASD, 1980)

Vision of their contribution to the GA Strategy Council

Ms Pineda will contribute to the work of the Global Alliance with her expertise in building policies for gender equity and inclusion. She will also bring her experience in working to implement the Millenium Goals in order to overcome poverty and its effects, specially on women and girls.

Because of her active involvement in the WSIS process and her participation in the Summit as a member of her country's official delegation, Ms Pineda knows well the needs and interests of Latin American and Caribbean countries, as well as the debate around ICT policies in the region.

She will be able to contribute to South-South dialogue in order to strengthen cooperation and solidarity.

He made tremendous strife in underserved comminities in the Philippines using low cost wireless connectivity. His organization is now one of the finalist in the 2006 Stockholm Challenge.

Natasha Primo is the Executive Director of Women’sNet, an NGO based in Johannesburg South Africa that implements projects which seek to build women’s and girl’s capacity to use ICT strategically to advance gender justice.

Currently, she is the also Chair of the Executive Board for the global network of organisations that implement project and advocate for the ICT use to promote social justice and development - the APC. She is a long standing activist for (women’s) human rights and the value of communications in the development process. She is also active on the governance structures of two Africa-based communications-focused NGO stuctures that promote a human rights approach to development. Natasha was heavily involved in WSIS, in particular the Geneva phase, where she played a leading role in gender advocacy spaces (the WSIS gender caucus and the NGO gender strategies working group) and the African caucus.

Vision of their specific contribution to the GA Strategy Council:

I hope to bring to the GA Strategic Council an appreciation of the experiences of disadvantaged segments of society and of the experiences of the

unconnected in developing countries, and specifically Africa. Building on my experience over the last 15 years as a feminist and gender activist, I hope to add to the debate and direction of the GA by building an understanding of how women and girls are negatively impacted by the digital divide. I hope to be part of collective strategising for ensuring the inclusion and substantive benefit of historically marginalised communities. This includes contributing constructively to the debate particularly on issues relating to infrastructure delivery in resource poor contexts, creating an

enabling environment for ICT delivery and access, as well as building the capacity of users to access and make use of ICTs in ways that add substantive value to their lives. I hope to add to the promotion of a development orientation to ICT skills building, innovation, and ICT enterprise development ­ an approach that recognises the needs of communities versus private sector ­ and profit-motivated - actors.

Natasha Primo is the Executive Director of Women'sNet, an NGO based in Johannesburg South Africa that implements projects which seek to build women's and girl's capacity to use ICT strategically to advance gender justice.

Currently, she is the also Chair of the Executive Board for the global network of organisations that implement project and advocate for the ICT use to promote social justice and development - the APC. She is a long standing activist for (women's) human rights and the value of communications in the development process. She is also active on the governance structures of two Africa-based communications-focused NGO stuctures that promote a human rights approach to development. Natasha was heavily involved in WSIS, in particular the Geneva phase, where she played a leading role in gender advocacy spaces (the WSIS gender caucus and the NGO gender strategies working group) and the African caucus.

Women'sNet; Board member of the African Women's Development and Communication Network (FEMNET). FEMNET has consultative status with ECOSOC and was a key member of the WSIS Gender Caucus. FEMNET is a board member of CONGO. Executive Director of Women'sNet, an NGO focusing on gender and ICTs; Board member of the African Women's Development and Communication Network (FEMNET); member of New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) Gender Task Force.

Vision of their contribution to the GA Strategy Council

I hope to bring to the GA Strategic Council an appreciation of the experiences of disadvantaged segments of society and of the experiences of the unconnected in developing countries, and specifically Africa. Building on my experience over the last 15 years as a feminist and gender activist, I hope to add to the debate and direction of the GA by building an understanding of how women and girls are negatively impacted by the digital divide. I hope to be part of collective strategising for ensuring the inclusion and substantive benefit of historically marginalised communities. This includes contributing constructively to the debate particularly on issues relating to infrastructure delivery in resource poor contexts, creating an enabling environment for ICT delivery and access, as well as building the capacity of users to access and make use of ICTs in ways that add substantive value to their lives. I hope to add to the promotion of a development orientation to ICT skills building, innovation, and ICT enterprise development ¬ an approach that recognises the needs of communities versus private sector ¬ and profit-motivated - actors.

Mainstreaming gender within the policy debates of the Global Alliance on ICT and Development. This will be to particularly ensure that UN commitments on gender equality, social justice, development and human rights are integrated into the workings and policies of the Alliance. The representation and participation of African women will be a key factor within the Alliance and other WSIS follow up mechanisms.

Dr Onno Purbo has dedicated his life to promoting the dissemination of knowledge through information and communication technologies (ICTs) in Indonesia, both as a professor at Bandung's Institute of Technology Bandung (ITB) and as the author of nearly 1000 articles and close to 40 books. It's all part of a large plan to empower people through ICTs, and to foster a movement that will see information and know-how being shared through the Internet throughout the geographically-fragmented nation. Purbo's enthusiasm, dedication, knowledge, and energy make him the perfect candidate for the task of changing the way a nation shares information. His method is twofold: communicate with people through public speaking, articles, and books; and educate others to do the same.

He finished his PhD in 1993 from the University of Waterloo, Canada.

Until five years ago, Purbo taught at ITB, striving to help his students become analytical thinkers and writers who could help shape Indonesia's future. It is this desire to educate the public that led Purbo to resign from ITB in 2000 to devote all his energy to promoting ICTs in Indonesia. Usually, he travels to two or three cities a week to give seminars on the feasibility of building infrastructure and to provide training. He has also introduced several alternative Internet technologies, which have been adopted by Indonesian IT communities. The technologies include WiFi-based Internet infrastructure and VoIP MaverickNet.

He moderates several Indonesian mailing list dealing with the many strategic technologies for society, including jasakom-perjuangan@yahoogroups.com (open access techniques for infrastructure/ethical "hacking", with more than 13,000 members) and indowli@yahoogroups.com (dealing with Wireless Internet, with more than 5,000 members).

Most of his written materials can be easily accessed on the Internet. All of his articles are "copylefted" and can be freely downloaded from http://www.bogor.net/idkf and http://www.apjii.or.id/~voipmerdeka.

Vision of their specific contribution to the GA Strategy Council:

A simple vision, "to see a knowledge based society in Indonesia", has been the base of most of my activities in the last ten (10) years. It is a challenging endeavor to be pursued.

I am convinced that making knowledge transparent through various platforms (including digital platforms) and open systems impacts on societal empowerment. These ideas and way of thinking have gradually accumulated into a clear vision, strong motivation and direction of my future life.

My experience gained in implementing community-based networks is documented in many articles and papers in various Indonesian media, and disseminated generously in various seminars and workshops. My focus is set towards making the Internet infrastructure accessible for the Indonesian people as it would be the most strategic entry point to enable the society in gaining access to information and knowledge. (High telecommunication tariff, expensive computing facilities, lack of knowledge in IT would be the major barrier for common people in accessing the Internet.)

I understand, the effort is still in its infancy. Currently, with ~2 million Indonesian Internet users in Indonesia out of 200 million population, the task ahead of me to realize the vision is not easy. People's education would be the primary strategy. Self-funding scheme would assure the sustainability of the movement. I believe God will always help those who do good deeds.

In February 2000, I resigned as a lecturer at ITB and as an Indonesian civil servant. I would like to dedicate my life to educate the Indonesian people not limited to few students at ITB. Since then, I work for no one and spend my time at home writing articles, active on the mailing lists & giving talks. I am fortunate enough to be able to live and share my knowledge to others, even with no permanent jobs (my choice of life). While living happily with my wife Lina & our five (5) children Ito, Reza, Atik, Darry & Dsaq in our tiny & simple house.

This is the perspective I will bring if I am presented with the opportunity to be part of the Global Alliance.

I have a lot to contribute to the alliance in increasing our knowledge of the challenges and current development in the SIDS of the Pacific, who have uniques that information and communication technologies can help adrress. There is a dearth of information on ICT challenges and developments in our part of the world and I believe that through the Alliance, we hope to bridge this gap.

I represented Samoa in the WSIS process 2002-2005. At this moment, I am working for the WGIG Secretariat of the Internet Governance in Geneva and will return to Samoa in July.

I am Manager of the ICT Secretariat of Samoa under the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology. I have a Master of Commerce and Administration (MCA) in Information Systems from the Victoria University of Wellington.

Currently, I am driving the implementation of Samoa's National ICT Strategy, using the knowledge and skill I gained from the WSIS process. It is the skill and experience gained from Samoa's participation in the WSIS process that allowed us to develop our national strategy, without any assistance from any other organisation at all. We are very proud of this achievement.

I would therefore ask for your consideration of Samoa, a small island developing state, to become a member of the Global Alliance, respecting paragraph 16 of the Declaration of Principals of WSIS.

I believe I have the skills, knowledge and experience of ICT for development, to represent my country. Not only that but I was in the drafting group for the WSIS Declaration of Principles and the Plan of Action. After the Geneva phase, I was selected to the UN Task Force for financial mechanisms and contributed to our final report. Further, I am on my second term as Advisor Panellist of the Asia Pacific Development Information Programme (APDIP) and co-authored two chapters of APDIP's book on Internet Governance.

I have been an invited speaker in a lot of WSIS thematic meetings, regioanal and International ICT conferences. I shall provide my utmost attention and committed to the Alliance to ensure that voice of the small island countries of the Pacific is heard.

With 15 years of diversified experience in Development Communication Planning; he started his career in 1988 as a communication planner with Bangladesh Development Society (BDS) before moving to Action Aid- Bangladesh in 1996 as a Coordinator-Advocacy.

The core areas of his professional interests include Communication Rights, ICT4D, Community Broadcasting, IPR, Policy Advocacy, Participatory Training, Airwaves, Election Planning, Communication for Development, Good Governance, Community Broadcasting, Alternative Communication and Radio Communication.

Academically, he has done his post graduation in Social Science with a disciplinary concentration in Government and Politics from Asian University of Bangladesh.

He is a member of Bangladesh Working Group on WSIS. He also acts as an honorary examiner in National Marine and Amateur Radio Examination Committee selected by Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission(BTRC),Government of Bangladesh.

Out of his numerous publications ‘Airwaves and Broadcasting Policy: Reviewing from National and International perspective (in Bangla)’ and ‘Policy Advocacy Plan for Community Radio in Bangladesh’ are two to be mentioned here.

AHM Bazlur Rahman is the Chief Executive Officer of Bangladesh NGOs Network for Radio and Communication (BNNRC). BNNRC is a national networking body working for building a democratic society based on the principles of free flow of information, equitable & affordable access to Information, Communication Technology (ICT) for remote & marginalized population.

BNNRC registered with Ministry of Law, Parliamentary and Justice Affairs as a trust and NGO Affairs Bureau, Office of the Prime Minister, Government of Bangladesh according to the foreign donation(Voluntary Activities) regulation ordinance 1978 as an organization on Information, Communication and Technology for Development (ICT4D) and established in 2000 as per Article 19 charter of UN bill of rights.

With 15 years of diversified experience in Development Communication Planning; he started his career in 1988 as a communication planner with Bangladesh Development Society (BDS) before moving to Action Aid- Bangladesh in 1996 as a Coordinator-Advocacy.

The core areas of his professional interests include Communication Rights, ICT4D, Community Broadcasting, IPR, Policy Advocacy, Participatory Training, Airwaves, Election Planning, Communication for Development, Good Governance, Community Broadcasting, Alternative Communication and Radio Communication.

Academically, he has done his post graduation in Social Science with a disciplinary concentration in Government and Politics from Asian University of Bangladesh.

He is a member of Bangladesh Working Group on WSIS. He also acts as an honorary examiner in National Marine and Amateur Radio Examination Committee selected by Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission(BTRC),Government of Bangladesh.

Out of his numerous publications Airwaves and Broadcasting Policy: Reviewing from National and International perspective (in Bangla) and Policy Advocacy Plan for Community Radio in Bangladesh are two to be mentioned here.

Vision of their contribution to the GA Strategy Council

To implement WSIS Action Plan

Chat Garcia Ramilo has been specializing in gender, information and communication technology and women's electronic networking for the last nine years. Ms Ramilo is currently the Global Coordinator of the Association for Progressive Communications Women's Networking Support Programme (APC WNSP). For the last three years, she has managed APC WNSP's ground breaking Gender Evaluation Methodology (GEM) project and is the main writer of the GEM Manual.

The APC WNSP is a ten-year old network with over 150 women and their organisations from 36 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America and national networks in Europe. APC WNSP members include specialists in content development and management, policy formation, lobbying and advocacy, training, information exchange facilitation, participatory research, evaluation and monitoring, software development, technical work and policy issues.

As a gender and ICT specialist, Ms Ramilo has worked as a gender and ICT consultant for United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), United Nations Economic and Social Council for Asia and Pacific (UNESCAP), Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), the United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women (UNDAW), the International Development Research Agency (IDRC) and the World Bank. She has also been a speaker and resource person in international workshops and conferences in many countries, including the WSIS process.

Vision of their specific contribution to the GA Strategy Council:

My main contribution to the Council will be towards developing strategies in integrating a gender perspective in ICT for development. The WSIS Declaration and Action Plan includes gender equality and women's empowerment as critical elements in building an equitable information society. The challenge facing the international ICT for development community will be building capacity within governments, international agencies and civil society in translating this commitment into operational and measurable terms, particularly in ICT policy formulation, program design and evaluation. I can draw on my organisation's research, tools and practice in gender evaluation (www.apcwomen.org/gem) and gender and ICT policy development (www.genderIT.org), particularly focusing in developing countries.

1. I have been a full-fledged Professor of Management in the University formed by an Act of Federal Government of India & working on utilizing ICT for aiding developmental impulses and interventions to reduce descent life deficits through education and economic empowerment, particularly of women in rural and urban areas.

2. I did a few projects for ILO on women empowerment; presently completing Success Stories of organizing the un-organized in informal sectoe in India for ILO.

3. Designed & Developed proto type RD Soft & UMan3F for Federal Government of India; presented UMan3F as a part of Indian University System at Cross Roads in the 90 minute Round Table I conducted on Invitation at the annual conference of American Educational Research Association at sanFransisco some years ago

4. Honourary Advisory Director of Commonwealth Center for E-Governance - India Chapter, New Delhi

5. Has designed a program on ICT for Voluntary Organizations for Development [known as NGOs] and a resource person for a number of similar programs

I wear many hats and have been creating and running several websites over the past few years, the most recent being the Women’s eCommerce Association International. It would be an honor and a privilege to be considered for this most important role. Please let me know what steps are required to be considered. I have included my websites below for your information. From the business side, I am currently serving on the board of the Early Learning Coalition of Broward County – appointed in 2005 by Governor Jeb Bush. The appointment required several documents and a background check, so I am use to filling out forms.

One of my “gifts”is that of having a good sense of foresight and the ability to recognize trends that have staying power and those that do not which may be of some value to the task force. In addition, having run ecommerce enabled websites in the past few years has given me much experience (and at times some frustration) so I am familiar with what business owners and website owners go through.

For more information about me, you may visit: http://www.speakingwithspirit.com/ABOUTHEIDI.asp.

• For the past four years, as Executive Director of the Global Internet Policy Initiative, I've been involved in a significant effort to work with governments in transition countries to understand ICTs and to fashion legislation and policy to help countries benefit from them. To accomplish this, I have worked along with full time advocates in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Georgia, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Nigeria, Russia, Serbia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Ukraine and Vietnam. Information about this program can be found at http://www.internetpolicy.net/, and a copy of our 2004 Annual Report is attached.

• I have almost 50 years of experience in computing and networking, in almost all sectors - private, academic, developmental, at the local, regional, national and international levels.

• Since 1973 I have been involved in spreading both computing and Internet technology throughout the developing world. I have worked in the use of ICT for development in over 50 developing countries, first as a full time technical adviser in ICT for the United Nations for 13 years, and then through many consultancies, relationships and other events involving ICT and development.

• Since 1986, 20 years ago, I have been involved in networking technology at all levels - at the international level through my work with the Internet Society, with ICANN, and through a variety of consulting assignments. My work with the Internet Society has resulted in the training of thousands of Internet technologists, users, and managers in developing countries.

• I have participated extensively in Internet governance discussions during the past few years, and was a contributor to the papers prepared for the Expert Group Meeting on Internet Governance held at the United Nations in March 2004 and published by the UN ICT Task Force.

• I have written and lectured extensively on the use of Internet in development, Internet governance, and education. (See cv: http://www.georgesadowsky.com)

• I am a member of the President's Council for Information Technologies in Bulgaria.

• I am the principal author of the World Bank's Information Security Handbook, a 400 page infoDev publication focusing on the technology security needs of developing countries. The contents of this publication are on line at http://www.infodev-security.net/handbook/.

• I was a member of the Board of Trustees of the Internet Society during 1995-2000 and 2001-2004. In addition, I served as Vice-President of Education for the Internet Society from 1995 to 2001.

• I am active in ICANN and was the chair of ICANN's Nominating Committee during 2005.

• From 1996 to 2002 I was a member and the Chair of the Technical Advisory Panel for the World Bank's infoDev program.

• I have served as Director of Computing at the Brookings Institution and Director of Academic Computing and Networking at both Northwestern University and New York University for a total of 20 years.

• I was the founder and director from 1993-2001 of the Internet Society's series of Workshops on Networking Technology for Developing Countries. These workshops and their spin-offs trained more than 3000 people from well over 100 countries intensively on network technology, information discovery and distribution, and management.

• ICTs are one of the most important technologies that could influence the pace of economic and social development. ICTs need rational management and effective exploitation for, inter alia, economic and social development. I am ready to continue to help with both.

As Executive Director of the Global Internet Policy Initiative, a project of Internews and the Center for Democracy and Technology, Dr. Sadowsky lends his unparalleled experience in international ICT development to GIPI’s work fostering an open and accessible Internet in developing countries around the world. In addition to his many accomplishments listed below, Dr. Sadowsky is currently the Principal Investigator for an Internews project funded by the US National Science Foundation to assess the feasibility of economically providing very high bandwidth connectivity to the research and education communities of some African countries. He is also currently a key implementer of an Internews project to develop a comprehensive knowledge map and “toolkit” on e-government, funded by a grant from the Information Development Program (infoDev).

Dr. Sadowsky is smart, funny, dedicated and unfailingly professional. He would bring much to the Strategy Council. If he is willing to serve, you would be very fortunate to have him. Please contact me if you have any questions.

I have known Mr. Sagun through his active engagement in the WSIS process and his commendable global and national efforts to create digital and developmental opportunities for the marginalized sectors of our society, particularly for young people and persons with disabilities. With utmost confidence, he will be an invaluable asset to the Strategy Council's future work in the field of ICTs for Development and, more broadly, the achievement of the MDGs. His meritorious credentials, worthy of the trust of the youth NGO community, are appended below for your consideration.

I have known Mr. Sagun through his active engagement in the Earth Charter Initiative (www.earthcharter.org) and his commendable global and national efforts to create opportunities for the marginalized sectors of our society, particularly for young people and persons with disabilities. With utmost confidence, he will be an invaluable asset to the Strategy Council's future work in the field of ICTs for Development and, more broadly, the achievement of the MDGs. His meritorious credentials, worthy of the trust of the youth NGO community, are appended for your consideration.

Reza Salim (46) started his career with Social Research at the ground level to improve people and community's health status by developing information, communication and education materials; he was later responsible for NGO case study project which was also a comprehensive research program (Anubhav Series) financed by the Ford Foundation.

He initiated an ICT4D rural development model project namely Amader Gram (Our Villages – www.amadergram.org) in the southwest part of Bangladesh; this project is being implementing by the Bangladesh Friendship Education Society(BFES) - an NGO serving Bangladesh rural education, community development and civil society engagements in policy advocacy.

Through the Amader Gram Project Reza Salim is developing Knowledge Management tools appropriate for the project owners, the grassroots people of Bangladesh, that integrate ICTs as an important medium; Reza has developed the now practiced concept - KT4D (Knowledge Transfer for Development) - that includes empowerments issues for rural women.

Reza Salim served as Member Secretary for the Bangladesh national committee for WSIS which was headed by the government; he was involved in WSIS process from the beginning and organized many consultations in country and abroad. He was an active member from Asian CS group in WSIS process.

Vision of my contribution to the GA Strategy Council:

The effort for presenting this Global Alliance with an added value of a multi-stakeholder cross-sectoral platform is greatly appreciated.

During the post WSIS phase the Alliance is a very timely and effective initiative in monitoring the successful implementation of the outcomes.

I will feel honored to have the opportunity to serve in the forum that visions for a knowledge society for achieving the internationally agreed development goals as well as MDGs through integrating ICT.

Both Information and Communication Technology for Development as well as Knowledge Transfer for Development and policy advocacy are the areas where I have long been devoted to achieving a knowledge and technology base society for empowerment and poverty eradication through reducing digital gap and knowledge transfer. To turn my vision into reality, I initiated several innovative initiatives at the grassroots level those were the first of those kinds in my country, Bangladesh. Those projects could successfully empower local people; develop their knowledge base resulted in their developed socio-economic status. I was actively involved with the whole WSIS process at both local and international level. In the WSIS process, at home, being the Secretary of the Working Committee, I coordinated among various sectors of the society – media, civil society, govt, private sector etc while I also served in the South Asia Caucus as an active member. My organization, represented by me, was the first member of GKP from Bangladesh; I served as the focal point for South Asia Region.

I vision for a global world where the people made poverty a history by the power of knowledge and appropriate technology. I look for a Global Knowledge and Information Bank where every individual will have access to develop their knowledge base and transfer need based knowledge for the development of own communities. I dream for the world where all the communities are rich in their local knowledge improved by technologies, teachers-students are in use of modern tools like online materials or laptop, high quality and long life expectation or plentiful agricultural production where ICTs act as a catalyzer.

Being a member of the Strategic Council of the Alliance, I will serve my best to bring together all the segments of the society in the Alliance, encourage innovative initiatives at the grassroot level of the developing countries, advocate and promote developing and implementing pro poor strategies, encourage replicating the successful initiatives for the holistic development.

Career Objective:

To help several countries reach their highest potential in the field of ICT through policy-oriented research based innovative ways while keeping in mind the ever-changing influence of global economy and technology.

Focus:

E-commerce, ICT4D, Internet Governance, Business Process Reengineering, IT Parks, Technology Economy, Managing International Development, Information System Strategy, Change Management, Implementing Strategic Decisions.

Educational Qualifications:

MBA, MA in English Literature. Diploma in Computer Studies.

Research Experience:

• “Elusive Challenges of e-Change Management in Developing Countries”. Published in ‘Business Process Management Journal’, Vol. 10 No. 2, pp. 140-157. 2004. Emerald Group Publishing Limited, England. <www.emeraldinsight.com/1463-7154.htm>

• “Impediments of E-commerce and IT Implementation in Developing Countries”. Published in the proceedings of 5th International Business and Economics Conference, St. Norbert College, De Pere, Wisconsin-USA that was held on October 11-12, 2002.

• As keynote speaker, delivered comprehensive "E-commerce Development Plan for Bangladesh" while taking all constraints into account. Seminar “Potential of E-commerce in Bangladesh”, which was held at Institutions of Engineers, Ramna, Dhaka, Bangladesh on January 3, 2002.

• Presented research paper entitled: “IT Parks in Developing Countries: The Development Engine in Knowledge E-conomy” at 8th European Conference on Information Technology Evaluation-2001, University of Oxford, England. Government of Bangladesh is following the guideline to build Hi Tech Park.

• Wrote an article on “IT Parks in Bangladesh - Hard Problems for Software?” Published in Observer Magazine, November 3, 2000 as Cover Story and in ‘The Daily Star’ September 26, 2000. Presented at Tech Transfer Convention-2000, BUET, Dhaka, Bangladesh. <Available at Electronic Library of Harvard University>

• Wrote an article on “Impediments to SME Development in Bangladesh: Looking into Root Causes” Published in 'The Daily Star’, October 31, 2000 and in Observer Magazine, November 10, 2000 as Cover Story. <Available at Electronic Library of Harvard University>

• Wrote an article on “Dubai Internet City- A New Millennium Business Model” with special focus upon key strategic issues of the Internet City to make the vision implemented successfully. Published in 'The Daily Star', May 6, 2000. <Available at Electronic Library of Harvard University>

• Wrote an article on “The Future and Strategy of Software Industry in Bangladesh”. Published in 'Computer Barta', Issue- June 1999.

Managing International Development

• Lessons learned from South East Asian Economy with reasons behind success and failure and how those lessons can be applied for development trajectory of other developing countries.

• Formulated development trajectory for India, Central Asia and GCC economy with special lessons learned from South East Asian Economy.

• Japanese Economy, cause of their trouble, their management style, Industrial Policy, Consumer Market, Japanese Market Entry Strategy, etc.

• European Business Management with particular focuses on Euro and European Competition Policy. Developed Business Strategy of BA for European Single market.

• Impact of Business Process Reengineering on Global Economy, particularly on developed countries and its consequent influence on other countries.

• Deming and Juran - Gurus of Total Quality Management.

Recent Research Works:

• “E-commerce Management Program for SMEs of Industrialized Countries as well as of Developing ones”. The training programs have been written out of more than three years extensive research. Trainees will develop the holistic view on how different components of e-commerce work together cohesively and much more. These are parts of a comprehensive business plan to promote e-commerce for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) across the globe.

Well, I firmly believe that I would be able to contribute to the vision of UN ICT task force and would be an active player in Strategy Council of the Global Alliance.

His works "IT Parks in Developing Countries: The Development Engine for Knowledge E-conomy", "Elusive Challenges of e-Change Management in Developing Countries, would prove handy for the mission of Strategy Council of the Alliance. Moreover, his project "E-commerce for SMEs" would be very useful for the SMEs across the globe to embrace e-commerce fast but cost-effective way. I am sure the Strategy Council of the Alliance can use this very important project to materialize its vision across the globe. On the top of that, his future work (a book) "ICT for Development: A Holistic Approach" will be perfectly in line with the vision of the Strategy Council of the Alliance. On the top of that, his substantial experience in ‘Development Economics’ (South Asia, South East Asia, Central Asia, Gulf Co-operation Council etc.) would be equally useful to uphold the vision of the Strategy Council of the Alliance.

His knowledge and expertise in the fields of E-commerce, IT Parks, ICT4D, Business process Reengineering, Managing International Development, Internet Governance would come of considerable use if he becomes a member to the Strategy Council of the Alliance.

In addition, his holistic view, visionary leadership, excellent communication skills, can do attitude make him an appropriate candidate for membership of the Strategy Council of the Alliance.

As per my knowledge he is very hard working, dedicated, knowledgeable and experienced person. He has vast knowledge and experience in the fields of ICT4D, e-commerce, BPR, etc. His unquenchable thirst for knowledge made him so much successful in his professional career.

Since 1999 I know Mr. Ahmed Salman as hard worker and punctual. He has diverse research works in various topics which are of great help for many governments across the world.

Besides, he is extremely good with people and his interpersonal skills are excellent. Moreover, I also found his work to be prompt, deliberate and the product of extraordinary analytical skills.

• Participation au processus du SMSI

• Impulsion de la dynamique de la participation des collectivités locales sénégalaises au processus du SMSI (une trentaine de collectivités locales ainsi que 4 associations nationales d’élus locaux)

• Membre du Groupe de Travail des Nations Unies sur la Gouvernance de l’Internet (GTGI)

• Membre du Comité Scientifique du Premier Sommet Mondial des Villes et des Pouvoirs Locaux sur la Société de l’Information, du 3 au 5 décembre 2003, à Lyon

• Point focal titulaire de la famille des Autorités locales dans le Bureau International de la Société Civile du SMSI

• Initiateur et coordonnateur du Forum Africain des Collectivités Locales sur la Société de l'Information à Dakar du 13 au 15 juillet 2005, comme Conférence Régionale Africaine Préparatoire au Deuxième Sommet Mondial des Villes et des Pouvoirs Locaux sur la Société de l’Information de Bilbao,

• Coordonateur de la participation africaine dans l’organisation du Deuxième Sommet Mondial des Villes et des Pouvoirs Locaux sur la Société de l’Information organisé à Bilbao du 9 ai 11 novembre 2005

• Coordination du Nœud Afrique du Réseau IT4ALL - Réseau des Autorités locales pour la Société de l'Information

• Projets en cours :

• Participation à la mise en place de la branche sénégalaise de African Civil Society for Information Society (ACSIS)

• Participation à la mise en place d’un cadre formel tripartite pour l’ensemble de la société de l’information au Sénégal (gouvernement, société civile et secteur privé)

• Participation à la mise en place d’un Réseau Africain des Collectivités Locales pour la Solidarité Numérique.

M Joseph SARR a été la cheville ouvrière de la participation des collectivités locales sénégalaises au processus du Sommet Mondial sur la Société de l’Information (SMSI) et est le point focal autorités locales dans le bureau de la société civile du SMSI (http://www.csbureau.org/contactinformation.htm).

Il a participé activement au Premier Sommet Mondial des Villes et des Pouvoirs Locaux sur la Société de l’Information organisé à Lyon du 3 au 5 décembre 2003 comme membre du comité scientifique (http://www.cities-lyon.org/fr/scientifique.html) et au Deuxième Sommet Mondial des Villes et des Pouvoirs Locaux sur la Société de l’Information organisé à Bilbao du 9 au 11 novembre 2005, comme coordonnateur de la participation africaine (http://www1.euskadi.net/enpresak/sem_f.apl?Fecha=04/11/2005#NOTICIA1, http://www.it4all-bilbao.org/press/noticias/38, http://www.it4all-bilbao.org/press/noticias/39).

Guy-Olivier SEGOND, 60, studied law and political sciences in Geneva, London, Dallas and New York.

Active in Swiss politics for the last 30 years: he has been Member of the Swiss radical Party since 1971, was elected Mayor of Geneva in 1983 and re-elected in 1988. He was President of the Geneva Hospitals (HUG) from 1989 to 2001. At the Swiss Government level, he was President of the Federal Commission for Youth (1980-1990).

Elected at the Swiss Federal Parliament in 1987, and at the Geneva State Council in 1989, Guy-Olivier SEGOND was in charge of social affairs and health from 1989 to 2001. He was President of the Geneva State Council from 1996 to 2001.

Nominated Special Ambassador for the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS, 10-12 December 2003), Guy-Olivier SEGOND has been in charge of relations with national Governments and with United Nations specialised agencies (2001-2003).

President of the International Human Rights Training Centre for over 20 years, Guy-Olivier SEGOND is also member of the High-level Council of the Francophonie. He is currently President of the Global Digital Solidarity Fund (DSF) which implements a new financing mechanism to put ICT at the service of development through a 1% Digital Solidarity Contribution on public ICT procurement contracts.

http://www.dsf-fsn.org/en/m-guy-olivier-segond-en.htm

Mr. Settimi serves as the Sr. Advisor in ICT4D/KM for USAID Global Health Bureau Office of Population and Reproductive Health. Stephen holds a Masters in International Relations from University of San Diego and a B.A. in Social Science and Latin American Studies, and has additional post-graduate work in Epidemiology and BioStatistics. He began public service as Chief of Operations for training and services projects and later economic development along the US/Mexico border area of Southeastern California. He founded GNS Information Technologies, Inc, a custom software and database company working in health informatics, patient tracking and case management systems, and health surveys. His areas of expertise include electronic publishing (former, electronic publishing manager with Academic Press), information management and knowledge sharing networks. He is also the senior USAID technical advisor for ICT4D/KM to the Johns Hopkins Information for Optimal Health (INFO) project where he advises on use of field-level approaches to information dissemination, and to IntraHealth Human Capacity Project where he advises on use and application of open/free source software development projects in sub-Sahara Africa.

Dr Shadrach has been working closely with Professor M S Swaminathan in spearheading this initiative in India. His credentials can be verified by Professor M S Swaminathan.

Dr Shadrach has helped the UNICT Task Force while serving Transparency International, and has served the working groups.

Dr. Asad U. Shah is a social entrepreneur who not only recognized the barriers to education and ICT in the developing countries but provided new ways to give access to the highest quality content and skills for 21st century employment to the underprivileged countries. He found what was not working and solved the problem through ICT. He is spreading the solution and persuading entire societies to take new leaps. He is not content just to give a fish but teach how to fish.

Identifying and solving large-scale social problems requires social entrepreneurs like Dr. Shah, because only the entrepreneur has the committed vision and inexhaustible determination to persist until they have transformed an entire system. The scholar comes to rest when he expresses an idea. The professional succeeds when she solves a client's problem. The manager calls it quits when he has enabled his organization to succeed. Social entrepreneurs go beyond the immediate problem to fundamentally change communities, societies, and the world." That in a nutshell is what Dr. Shah is all about.

Dr. Asad U. Shah has over 20 years experience in international consultancy, working with UN agencies, public and private sectors. His forte is electronic trade facilitation, e-government and elearning. He is also the founder and CEO of one of the largest offshore software development houses. A graduate from University of Houston USA, he Initiated a global work and human resource development program that is one of a kind. He is also the gratis Chairman & CEO of the International Commission on Workforce Development, a NPO based in the US. ICWFD is a global policy advocacy body reflecting the views and interests of governments and other stakeholders, assisting existing institutions to foster and promote ICT strategies including the regulatory framework while raising awareness among key decision makers of the related strategic importance of addressing development and poverty eradication goals innovatively and effectively.

ICWFD also assists with: developing networks of stakeholders dedicated to helping poor nations design workforce-training strategies to attract financial and infrastructure investment; providing assistance in the formulation of national ICT strategies; supporting initiatives for national ICT strategies; promoting the sharing of experiences through the creation of various networks for best practices and lessons learned; and helping ensure that innovative upstream ICT and e-strategy policies are matched with bottom-up initiatives for the promotion of equitable ICT access and participation.

While many speak and talk of bridging the digital divide through ICT, Dr. Asad U. Shah through his organization has launched a global skills development initiative which is the only practical program of its kind in the world that addresses all the key barriers through hi-end technology and provides access to the highest quality certification level IT & Professional Development courses that ensure instructional competency and the proper curriculum. To date over 1.3 million underprivileged learners have benefited from his program for FREE.

In the global trade facilitation and e-government area, he has demonstrated practical and tangible solutions that are available FREE of cost to governments and institutions.

If Dr. Asad U. Shah’s nomination is approved, his participation will provide real life and tangible technological solutions to meet the MDGs, and ground-breaking business models that empower people who presently live in poverty.

As someone who hails from a developing country but who has been exposed to ICT in work and experience; he will be able to give the developing countries perspective as well as a multidisciplinary perspective to the Global Alliance’s Strategy Council.

Professor Dr Shastry is a world-renowned Information Technology and Healthcare professional with over 30 years of experience in the Healthcare industry. He has multiple qualifications covering Electronics, Information Technology, Medical Imaging and Clinical Sciences.

In his capacity as Professor and Consultant, Professor Dr Shastry has been associated with various initiatives within the United Kingdom working through the Directorate of Clinical Radiology, UBHT NHS Trust. On the International scene, he has been supported by Multinational Corporations, Academic Institutes, Healthcare Organizations and Governments in the pursuit of excellence in Healthcare. He has played a key role in the development of eHealth and eLearning strategies for telemedicine; Integrated Healthcare Enterprise (IHE); Medical Imaging; and ICT in healthcare. He has presented over 120 publications and case studies on ICT in eHealth and eLearning and he supports various clinical and learning activities in China, India, Singapore, Malaysia, Canada and USA. In the interest of Best Practice, ROI, and Sustainable Applications; he has been a conduit and catalyst in the transfer of knowledge between the Industrial and Medical domains for both developing and developed countries.

He is also a member of the United Nations and European Union Working Groups on ICT for Healthcare covering the areas of eHealth, Sustainable Development and eLearning.

His domain expertise coupled with the international experience will be vital to the development and deployment of solutions for the developing and developed countries, especially in healthcare industry in the areas of telemedicine, medical imaging, and eHealth.

I am also the UK lead for a multimillion Euro project called Healthware; here we are looking at yet another method of service delivery to the needy across Europe initially with a view to link the same to other countries who have satellite based medical capabilities. We are looking at possibilities of supporting African countries once we prove the merits of this method of service delivery within Europe, more so for the new Member States of the EU.

He holds a degree in Economics and also did Diploma in Computer Science. He is member of Advisory Councile of Global ICT Education Propgram (A project of Standford, MIT, World Bank and INSEAD). He is World Youth Bank Ambassador to Pakistan. He has attended various conferences and presented papers including Asia Invest Forum, UN World Summit on Information Society,Information Technology and Communication (ITCAN )session of 2nd Asia Pascific Conference on Sexual and Reproductive Health.He has conducted several ICT related Workshops.

Pietro Sicuro est directeur de l’Institut francophone des technologies de l’information et de la formation (INTIF) et Gestionnaire du Fonds francophone des inforoutes de l’Organisation internationale de la Francophonie depuis 1998. Il coordonne les concertations francophones inhérentes à la mise en œuvre de la société de l’information et représente la Francophonie au sein de diverses instances internationales spécialisées dans le domaine des technologies de l’information et de la communication. Il s’intéresse particulièrement aux problématiques de la diversité culturelle et linguistique dans l’univers numérique.

Après l’obtention d’un mastère en Communications de l’Université du Québec à Montréal, il a été successivement Conseiller aux politiques et aux coproductions internationales à Téléfilm Canada, Conseiller industries culturelles et communications du Premier ministre du Québec, et Sous-ministre adjoint responsable des enjeux internationaux de la société de l’information au Ministère de la Culture et des Communications du Québec.

Pietro Sicuro, en tant que conseiller spécial, a participé aux travaux de la « Dot Force du G8 » et du « UNICT Task Force »

Mr. Waudo Siganga is Chairman of the Computer Society of Kenya, Secretary to the Africa Federation of ICT Associations (AFICTA) as well as Steering Committee member of the World Information Technology and Services Alliance (WITSA). He is also a member of the Coordinating Committee of Business Interlocutors (CCBI) which has coordinated the private sector business input into the WSIS process and beyond. He has participated in UN ICT Taskforce meetings, the WSIS Process, and in November 2004 was nominated by UN Secretary General to serve on the UN Working Group on Internet Governance (WGIG). He is currently active in the formation of the UN Internet Governance Forum. He is an expert in the application of ICTs in the Development Agenda, particularly achieving the Millennium Development Goals.

Richard has been very active in the work of the UN ICT Task Force, the G8 DOT Force and other inernational fora. He is well known to the UN ICT TF community.

I have 16 years of experience in the ICT industry with a core competence in the design and development of educational content in various media of delivery (like Instructor-Led, CD-Based and Web-Based).

In 2003, i co-founded C2 Workshop, a company offering customised learning solutions to clients across the globe. Since inception, C2 has developed over 1400 hours of educational content covering a wide variety of domains, including K-12, Universities, Insurance, Healthcare, Engineering, Banking, Media & PR, etc.

In my earlier assignments with two of the largest IT training companies in India, i have helped set up over 600 IT training centres across India, South Asia, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa. During my stint, i was also instrumental in establishing collaborative arrangements with several schools, colleges and universities in India and overseas.

I would like to use my experience and expertise to contribute to the Alliance.

Michael Stanley-Jones is Environmental Information Management Officer with the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe in Geneva. He serves as principal officer of the Aarhus Convention Task Force on Electronic Information Tools and the Protocol on Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers. He also manages the Aarhus Clearinghouse for Environmental Democracy (http://aarhusclearinghouse.unece.org), the global portal for information on the Aarhus Convention and principle 10 of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development.

During 2005, Stanley-Jones served as the Environment and Human Settlements Division representative to the UNECE Information Society Team. As an Information Society Team member, he drafted a statement of support for creation of the Global Alliance for ICT and Development that was subsequently presented by the UN Regional Economic Commissions to the UNICT Task Force as the common position of the Regional Commissions. He also oversaw adoption of the Recommendations on the More Effective Use of Electronic Information Tools to Promote Public Participation in Environmental Decision-making which were adopted by the Parties to the Aarhus Convention in Almaty, Kazakhstan, in May 2005, and distributed by the UNECE at the World Summit on the Information Society in Tunis.

An active environmentalist and public educator, Stanley-Jones is a past member of the Board of Directors of the Silicon Valley Environmental Partnership, a nongovernmental organization serving to bridge the information technology, governmental and public interest sectors in the service of sustainable development. Prior to joining the California-based technology firm Education Access, Inc., in 1996, Stanley-Jones taught politics and public policy at Pomona College, in Claremont, California, and Tomas Masaryk University, in Brno, Czech Republic.

Stanley-Jones holds a BA in Government (1983) from San Jose State University and MA in Political Science (1992) from The Claremont Graduate School. His most recent publication is At the Frontlines of Democracy: Strengthening the Public Voice in State Decisions that Affect the Environment (San Francisco, CA: 2004), co-authored with Eric Dannenmaier and Simona Vaclavikova.

Vision of their specific contribution to the GA Strategy Council:

As key values of the Information Society, I will work to promote social inclusiveness and transparency in the Global Alliance, to ensure that the benefits of new information and communication technologies contribute to achievement of the United Nations Millennium Goals. Providing a platform for an inclusive, cross-sectoral policy dialogue on the role of ICT in development requires respect for the principles of access to information and public participation in decision-making articulated by the Aarhus Convention. To strengthen the foundation established by the UN ICT Task Force, the Global Alliance should significantly expand the circle of participants in policy debate beyond the traditional set of

stakeholders with a view to triggering action and fostering problem-solving partnerships.

The Alliance should leverage the contributions and creativity of all stakeholders by reaching out to civil society, youth, gender, academic research and philanthropic organizations, media and the business sector. The inclusion of groups that were underrepresented in the Task Force, such as those working in community based organisations, the arts and IT businesses from the developing world, would promote social inclusion in the operation of the Global Alliance and the ultimate achievement of its goals. Taking advantage of the convening power of the UN, the Alliance should further build upon established relationships with international development institutions, governments and existing networks, such as the Global Knowledge Partnership and Association for Progressive Communications.

He needs no introduction. In my belief Prof. Swaminathan shall be able to provide the vision and direction to the works of the Global Alliance.

I have been working in advocating and promoting the values of freedom, sharing and collaborative creativity and development since 1997. Based on my firm beliefs of the central role of ICT in development, particularly in developing countries, I founded the Syrian GNU/ Linux Users Group (www.linux.org.sy) back in 2002 with the main objective of promoting the values of sharing and participation and encouraging contribution of individuals in building and developing Free and Open Source Software projects. The group currently has 700 members, and is one of the most active in the Arab world.

I also co-founded the Syrian Chapter of the Internet Society (www.isoc-syria.org), aiming at promoting the use of the Internet and setting its standards, increasing awareness of the Internet and the modern communication technologies in bridging the digital divide and support economic reform and development, and provide reliable information about the Internet, in addition to fostering international cooperation and community-based Internet self governance.

I have a keen interest in the commons culture, and have authored a book titled (Open Source – Unlimited Opportunities) which is released under a Creative Commons license, in addition to many other projects. My most recent activity is the creation of the Arab Commons initiative (www.arabcommons.org).

Working with multiple groups and NGOs in Arab countries and Africa, I strive to make the case for the optimum utilisation of ICT in development. I believe that ICT has greater leverage than any other support factor to accelerate development and maximise the benefits reaped from development efforts. In the developing countries, resources are scarce, and an optimal utilisation of such resources is of utmost importance.

The OVF is active in the area of ICT and Community Development working to empower the underprivileged especially youths in the areas of ecology,economy, governance, culture, health and education. Joy is doing a great job to bring ICT to people at the grassroots, with a wide experience on the field and with a rich professional background I hope you do consider bringing her into the Global Alliance. She is worth the task and you shall find her a very suitable candidate.

As an academic and professional with considerable experience and leadership in this space, I offer not only technology but also policy and real-world skills. […]

I organized a series of global conferences on ICT4D with support from the UN, World Bank, and National Science Foundation (where Nitin Desai was a Keynote speaker as well as participant, in addition to many global leaders in ICT and in Development) and this led to a book on ICT for Sustainable Development: Defining a Global Research Agenda. http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~rtongia/ict4sd_book.htm [we have made it freely available only]

I am working to elevate ICTD as a scholarly domain, both in ICT and in development, and am co-organizing the inaugural IEEE/ACM peer-reviewed

scholarly conference on ICT and Development, to be held in May 2006: ICTD2006. http://www.sims.berkeley.edu/ictd2006/

Importantly, this work spans beyond disciplines and incorporates stakeholders outside academia, as well.

I am also Associate Director of TechBridgeWorld, the CMU initiative to bridge global needs using technology, spanning education, research, outreach, and partnerships. We have students and projects working on ICT and advanced technology development in countries around the world, including Ghana, Pakistan, Micronesia, Peru, Sri Lanka, etc.

While I may be a faculty member (Senior Systems Scientist) at Carnegie Mellon, my work is global in nature, and I have a scholarly focus on S. Asia and Africa, coupled with to strong links to India. I am an Indian Citizen, and helped found a new non-profit Think Tank, Center for Study of Science, Technology, and Policy (CSTEP) in Bangalore, India, which focuses on technology policy issues for development.

Cid Torquato is the executive director of the Brazilian Chamber of e-Commerce (Câmara Brasileira de Comércio Eletrônico - Camara-e.net), which he co-founded in May, 2001.

His privileged outlook of the Brazilian and international markets enables him to perform with excellence in the broad areas of consulting, marketing, public and governmental relations, policy making, fund raising and business development. Camara-e.net has represented the ideal institutional media to exercise, with neutrality, all the skills and interests listed above.

The association represents 160 leading companies from the most important sectors of the Brazilian and Latin American Digital Economy. Visa, Bradesco, Microsoft, HP, Petrobras, Mastercard, Correios, Certisign, Telefónica, Banco do Brasil, Dell, IBM, UOL, iG, Telemar, Intel, Submarino, Americanas, Pão de Açucar, SAP and CPM are some of its founding members and supporters.

As Camara-e.net’s representative, Torquato takes part in various national and international forums, such as the Executive Committee of e-Commerce (Brazilian Ministry of Development); the Inter-Ministerial Committee on the Information Society (Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs); the Chamber of Information and Communication Technologies of the State of São Paulo; the UN ICT Task Force (New York); the Coordinating Committee of Business Interlocutors for the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS); and the Commission on E-Business, IT an Telecom (ICC – International Chamber of Commerce, Paris), amongst others. He was recently nominated to be on the grand jury of the World Summit Award, the foremost e-content contest worldwide.

In recent years, Torquato has worked as a consultant for ITC – International Trade Center (WTO/UNCTAD, Geneva), on ICTs – Information and Communication Technologies for SMEs – Small and Medium Sized Enterprises, as well as collaborated in a number of international projects and seminars for the World Bank; the Inter-American Development Bank; the United Nations Conference for Trade and Development (UNCTAD); the World Economic Forum; the Global Business Dialogue on e-Commerce (GBDe); the Computer Technology Industry Association (CompTIA); the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA); and the Information Technology Industry Council (ITI).

He has also led important international commercial missions to promote the Brazilian ICT industry in Korea, India, the United States, France, England, Argentina, Colombia, Bangladesh, Ecuador, Bahrain, and others.

Prior to joining Camara-e.net, Torquato worked for the Brazilian Federal e-Government Committee – Ministry of Planning, where he managed the main public Internet portals. Previously, he held positions as corporate communications and marketing director for StarMedia Networks, and as regional business development executive for Lowe & Partners Latin America.

He holds a degree in Law from the University of São Paulo (USP), where he specialized in International Affairs. He has organized and published three books of articles by pioneers and decision makers of the Digital Economy in Brazil, and keeps an active agenda of institutional presentations, as well as systematic collaboration with national and international media vehicles, from newspapers to TV stations, to which he contributes with opinion articles and as a reliable source of trends, knowledge and information.

Mr. Titus Tossy is a young aged 27 years old, with more than 12 years working and establishing and working with local and international organizations in integrating ICTs into Development. Is the Founder of UNITE FOR ICTs and Development with a mission to effectively integrate ICTs into Development, Founder of e-governance Africa, etc. He has managed to integrate ICTs into development and help more than 7300 youngsters and women in 2 years through his own initiatives.

Educationally, Mr. Titus is MBA-Information Technology(UK). He has attended and participated in hundreds of workshops, and conferences in ICTs, and last year he was the country organizer for UNESCO International Conference for ICTs capacity building, and presented a paper on Developing ICTs Skills and tools for empowerment.

Mr. Titus Tossy is a young man, aged 27 years with strong mission. He has impressed a community of more than 750,078 population(community) after establishing through his own efforts a Rural community telecentre in Arusha region, where he has trained 7045 women and youngsters in two years in ICTs. Mr. Titus Tossy has been working hard to bring ICTs for All in east Africa. Apart from this great efforts Mr. Tossy has the following achievements:

1. He has been a Head of ICTs department at Arusha of University, Institute of Accountancy Arusha and Tanzania youth Development Association in different times.

2. He worked as Lecturer at the Institute of Accountancy Arusha, where he was the founder of Computer Science programme, and where he promoted the programme for women in ICTs and managed to raise 34% youngsters enrollment in computer studies

3. Mr. Tossy while he was been in UK, he was been the President and Founder of East Africa Society (www.eastafricansociety.com)

4. He was been the founder of Kukaye Worldwide, center for Millennium Development Goals volunteering

5. The founder of e-Governance Africa, to promote e-governance in Africa, and form a network for making sure all efforts are collectively productive

6. He is the president and founder of UNITE FOR ICTS and Development, to help to integrate ICTs into Development Activites

7. He is the co-founder of National Computer Centre of Tanzania

8. He has presented Tanzania in different international organizations, and conferences. On May 22-26, 2006 will be representing our country at e-learning Africa conference in Addis Ababa, where he will deliver a paper also

9. He was been the Country Director for International Human Rights and Peace Commission

10. And has been using all his time to help community and Government initiatives in different programme in integrating ICTs into Development activities

Since I born I never seen a young man at this age, an orphan (who lost parents at the age of 1 year through road accident) works very hard with very grassroots community for development activities in very rural/remote areas, where people are neglected. We many think that an orphan is very hard him to progress, but Mr. Tossy has done a wonderful job for his community and other parts of the world too.

Mr. Titus Tossy, for 8 years assembled computers and finally lunched Rural Community Telecentre where I was working as an ICTs Trainer. Showing how much Mr. Tossy care about the disadvantaged groups, especially women, he has set this rural community telecentre special for women and Youngsters, and has used the principle of women leadership, the manager of this centre is a normal local woman who has been trained right there. The center has trained more than 7056 people for two years. If you see this telecentre you will belive that Mr. Tossy is really committed, experienced and creative to help community through ICTs. When you talk to him, always you will hear from him .. " My dream is to see everybody benefit from Technolgoy", and sometimes you will hear saying " Technology made to benefit humanity, hence I need to work hard to bring this benefits to the hands of all people".

Every place I went to promote ICTs during my stay, all say where is our "Technology Promoter", means where is Mr. Titus Tossy. This impressed me and my friends.

What he has done, now is to establish volunteer network where many people go to Africa and other Developing countries to help in development activities. And is now the founder and president of UNITE FOR ICTS AND DEVELOPMENT.

I strongly recommend Mr. Tossy to you. Being Mr. Titus Tossy a young man, and taking into consideration that the world is made up with large percentage with young people then he will present the largest population, especially he has already shown the committment using his very small funds in pocket. Imagine! if he can be ready to sleep without eating, only being happy when his community make use of ICTs!!!! to me is really impressing that we have few african young people of this type and in world at large. Let recognize him.

We recognize Titus Tossy as a ICTs Champion. Out of working with grassroots local(in Kenya, Uganda, Burundi, South Africa, etc. ) and international organizations( in Brazil, United Kingdom, etc.) Mr. Tossy:

• Has managed to bring ICTs into development activities through working with local community and the disadvantaged groups such as women, youngsters, disables, etc.

• Has managed to create East Africa Society, to unite all young people from East Africa living abroad to collectively help our people back home in Development activities.

• Has been lecturing ICTs in different schools such as President Chipole school, Njombe Secondary, Kennedy School(UK), Barrs Hill School, etc where he managed to help young people in ICTs , approximately helped more than 657 youngs to pass and decide to major in ICTs for further Studies

• Has been the Training officer at Tanzania Youth Development Association

• Has presented Young people in different local and International organizations events, workshops and conferences( i.e UNESCO World conference, etc.)

• Has managed to train more than 7300 women and youngsters through his very small Rural Community Telecentre in Arusha &#8211; Tanzania

• Has been member of Academic Board at the Institute of Accountancy Arusha, representing 76 teachers in this board

• Has been Coventry University(UK), faculty of Engineering students Representative in the faculty meetings

• Finally he is the founder & President of UNITE FOR ICTS AND DEVELOPMENT, which works to integrated ICTs into Development Activities. After being founder and co-founders of different local and international projects, & efforts.

Being a young and an orphan who lost his parents through road accident at the age of 1 year, has shown tremendous efforts to help our people.

Allen Bailochan Tuladhar is Chief Executive Officer of Unlimited NuMedia Pvt Ltd and serves as the Member Secretary of Nepali Language in the Information Technology Steering Committee under the High Level Commission of Information Technology of the Government of Nepal. In addition, Mr. Tuladhar is Chairperson of the Forum for Information Technology Nepal (FIT Nepal) and has served as a Member of the National Information Technology Council, which is chaired by the Prime Minister of Nepal and formed under the National IT Policy of the Government of Nepal. Mr. Tuladhar has also served as the General Secretary of the Computer Association of Nepal for two terms of two years each. He has been working in the field of local language computing for the past 17 years and has been representing Nepal to the Asian Forum for Information Technology for the past 9 years. Mr. Tuladhar has also been contributing to International Standards Development in the field of local language computing to ISO and Unicode. He was responsible for conversion of Microsoft Windows XP, Microsoft Office 2003 and Microsoft Proofing Tools into the Nepali language for Microsoft Corporation, USA and in the same capacity is working on the localization of Microsoft Windows Vista and Microsoft Office 2007 into the Nepali Language. He has also been awarded Most Valuable Professional by Microsoft for 2005 and was awarded this prestigious recognition for a second time again in April, 2006. Mr. Tuladhar is currently heading Mission Swaabhimaan, a Nepali-based multi-stakeholder partnership of government ministries and agencies, international development agencies, donor agencies, non-government organizations, civil society organizations, academia, private companies and its associations to create a knowledge revolution in rural Nepal by establishing 1,500 rural tele-centers as envisioned by the current 10th five-year plan of the National Planning Commission of the Government of Nepal, further to meet the poverty reduction strategy of Nepal and on an international level to meet the Millennium Development Goals.

Professor Tim Unwin leads the ICT4D Collective at Royal Holloway, University of London (http://www.ict4d.org.uk), where he is Professor of Geography and is shortly to become Director of the Centre for Developing Areas Research. He previously led the UK Prime Minister’s ‘Imfundo: Partnership for IT in Education’ initiative in the Department for International Development. He has considerable experience at shaping partnerships to deliver ICT4D initiatives, and his research focuses particularly on the use of ICT in education, policy analysis and rural development. He has worked in more than 25 countries across Asia, Africa and Europe, and is passionately committed to identifying optimal ways of using ICTs to empower poor and marginalised communities, especially those with disabilities and living and working on the streets. He is a Commonwealth Scholarship Commissioner, and has formerly been Honorary Secretary of the Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers) and Chair of the Developing Areas Research Group of the IBG

I met Prof. Unwin the first time when he was the leader of the UK Prime Minister's Imfundo initiative and I have since then the privilege to work with him on ICT4D issues. What I first appreciate in Prof. Unwin is his very strong commitment for the development of ICT for Development in developing countries, his communication skills and the way he leads groups in a collaborative work.

I strongly support Tim Unwin's application to be nominated as a member of the Strategy Council. I would be happy to provide a more detailed reference if required, but in brief his knowledge of the issues, his energy and his enthusiasm are all attributes which I believe the Council would find enormously valuable in its work.

I have known Tim for many years in various capacities, including most recently my roles as British Ambassador to Ethiopia (a country with which Imfundo had a significant engagement) and as Head of the Secretariat of the Commission for Africa.

• Positions hold:

• Sec-General of the Austrian E-Business and Content Association (1997-2005)

• Board member of “The World of NGOs”: Austrian NGO working in the field of information society, Eastern Europe and gender issues: www.ngo.at

• Senior advisor to Austrian IT- and content-associations

• From 2006 on: Sec-General of two Austrian associations (Software, e-procurement)

• Expert in several EU-projects relating to eContent, exploitation of public sector information and information freedom

• Country focus: Eastern Europe (12 countries including Hungary, Bulgaria, The Balkans, Ukraine, Russia); Austria-Germany-Switzerland

• Language capabilities: Hungarian, Serbo-Croatian, Bulgarian; German, English

• Advisor to Governments in Eastern Europe (e.g. Serbia, Slovak Republic)

• Topics: national policies and action plans on content, e-government, e-signature, e-learning and educational affairs. How to bridge content- and broadband policies; PPP-models for the information society; Information culture as success factor of the U.S. and Scandinavian content-industry; eContent-policies

• Expert for following international institutions: OECD, UNDP, EU, UNCTAD.

• Member of various standardisation bodies: ICC/Paris, CEN/Brussels

• Jury member of several international and national awards: Europrix; New Media Award for Journalists

• Lecturer on information science, content and e-business at several universities in Austria

Since the European Commission recently included e-content as key topic to the i2010-programme, my expertise in that field might be valuable for your alliance.

L. Muthoni Wanyeki is a political scientist who works on development communications, gender and human rights. She is currently the Executive

Director of the African Women's Development and Communication Network (FEMNET). Set up in 1988 and based in Nairobi, Kenya, FEMNET is a pan-African membership organisation working towards African women's development, equality and other human rights through advocacy at the

regional and international levels, training on gender analysis and mainstreaming and communication. She serves as the Deputy President of the

World Association of Community Broadcasters (AMARC). She is also a regional advisor for Article 19, a Board member of the Communication for

Social Change Consortium (CFSC) and a member of the Media Council of Kenya (MCK), the Kenyan media's self-regulatory body. She is a political columnist with the East African, the sub-regional weekly magazine.

Muthoni is a well know African civil society leader with extensive knowledge of current issues in communications for development and who has been active in the WSIS process including being selected as a civil society speaker at the Geneva Summit.

L. Muthoni Wanyeki is a political scientist who works on development communications, gender and human rights. She is currently the Executive Director of the African Women's Development and Communication Network (FEMNET). Set up in 1988 and based in Nairobi, Kenya, FEMNET is a pan-African membership organisation working towards African women's development, equality and other human rights through advocacy at the regional and international levels, training on gender analysis and mainstreaming and communication. She serves as the Deputy President of the World Association of Community Broadcasters (AMARC). She is also a regional advisor for Article 19, a Board member of the Communication for Social Change Consortium (CFSC) and a member of the Media Council of Kenya (MCK), the Kenyan media's self-regulatory body. She is a political columnist with the East African, the sub-regional weekly magazine.

Sean Weekes, the Chief Operating Officer of ICONZ - New Zealand's third largest business ISP, is at the cutting edge of Internet and IT technology and has been for more than 20 years. He has been instrumental in developing a nationwide internet strategy for ICONZ taking into consideration complex technical equipment designs and the art of industry management including developing telecommunication and industry relationships nationally and internationally.

In his role as principle manager of ICONZ he has created an overall understanding of network backbones, Internet ethics, company and Internet laws and policies, and is regarded as an industry expert in the New Zealand media. Sean is currently preparing a paper for submission to the Select Committee on the Legislation against Unsolicited Electronic Messages, as well as working with the Department of Internal Affairs towards establishing an effective anti child pornography environment.

Sean also has a strong depth of technical understanding, in relation to, last mile product technology such as wireless, mobile, satellite, WIFI and xDSL. As these networks grow and further result in convergence, Sean's acute knowledge, enthusiasm and personal drive has been of great benefit to various organisations within New Zealand.

Sean has been involved, at board level, in the development of ICT-NZ, a New Zealand initiative to consolidate the various & dispersed ICT organisations under a single organisation interfacing to all stakeholders: government, private sector and specialist technical forums, and to present a single unified conduit to internal and external ICT requests, initiatives, forums and strategies.

Sean's professional understanding of the ICT industry has given his recipients, partners and collaborators, the benefit of a experienced technology innovator, with a track record of 'making it work' at a strategy, management and technology level.

Sean also has a keen interest in staff people development and this is reflected through his board membership of Leadership NZ, of which he has just completed his 18 month term. Sean has also been a member of the New Zealand Institute of Directors for the past 5 years.

As an existing InternetNZ Councillor, involved in New Zealand wide policy setting, government interaction, Internet development, management of the .NZ TLD and management of the registry service, I believe that I have the range of skills, commitment, vision and passion to be an effective contributor to the Global Alliance Strategy Council, and would welcome with great honour the opportunity to serve.

Dr. Gerolf Weigel is Head of the ICT4D Division of SDC. At the WSIS Geneva 2003, he had a leading function in the SDC-GKP ICT4D Platform, the largest summit event. He is strongly involved in ICT4D networks, policy development and programmes, including the Executive Committee of the "Global Knowledge Partnership". He is Co-Editor of an ICT4D Book (www.globalknowledge.org/ict4d)". He is Board Member of the World Electronic Media Forum (WEMF).

Before joining the SDC Multilateral Cooperation and Development Policy Department, he served as SDC Country Director in Pakistan/Afghanistan (1994-1999) & Bhutan (1987-1990). From 1982 to 1986 he worked in development programmes in Ethiopia, Haiti & Nepal.

He gained experience in the Private Sector with Dornier Systems GmbH, Germany.

He studied Sciences at the Universities of Berne (PhD), Basle (M.Sc.) and Zurich and completed the Programme on Macroeconomic Policy & Management at the Harvard University.

Vision of their specific contribution to the GA Strategy Council:

The GA should be a multi-stakeholder forum to promote the innovative and effective use of ICT for development and empowerment, bringing the concrete relevance, potential and policy implications to the attention of the UN system, International Financial Institutions, and global audiences, in close coopration with existing organisations and processes.

Dr. William Welty’s background in telecommunications began in 1982 with his successful pursuit of a broadcast license from the United States of America’s Federal Communications Commission to operate on an interim basis the facilities of UHF KHOF-TV channel 30 assigned to San Bernardino, California.

He opened the final round of Direct Broadcast Satellite applications before the FCC in 1987. Dr. Welty sold his DBS interests in 1996 and donated all proceeds to a charitable trust, naming a number of non-profit organizations as beneficiaries.

Dr. Welty founded the Super-Wide Area Network Satellite (SWANsat) System project in 1997 and filed before the Ministry of Telecommunications of the Republic of Nauru an application to operate a number of space stations in the W-band. The application was granted in 2004, at which time he filed a first commercial use claim for utilization of the W-Band from geosynchronous orbit before the International Telecommunication Union on behalf of the Republic of Nauru.

Launch of the first of no less than seven authorized SWANsat spacecraft by SWANsat vendor IOSTAR Corporation of North Salt Lake City, Utah, is planned for late 2010.

A member/observer of various working groups of the United Nations Information and Communications Technologies Task Force, Dr. Welty discussed how SWANsat can meet Wide Open Access and Sustainable Development goals of the UNICT with more than 20 ministers of information representing various nation states at the November 2005 World Summit on the Information Society in Tunis, Tunisia. He also presented SWANsat as a candidate for meeting various UN Millennium Development Goals before a number of international regional forums of the ITU.

In March 2006, the International Forum for ICT Strategies and Investment (IFISI 2006), sponsored by the Kingdom of Morocco and the Islamic Development Bank, invited Dr. Welty to address the subject of how UNICT development goals can be met utilizing the SWANsat Shareware Telecommunications as an economic model for bridging the digital divide. Later that month, Dr. Welty addressed the Computer Association of Nepal’s InfoTech 2006 conference in Kathmandu, Nepal as a keynote dinner speaker.

During 2006, the Shareware Telecommunications™ economic model has been presented for endorsement before the member states of the African Union, the Organization of American States, the Pacific Island Forum, the South Asia Association for Regional Cooperation, the United Nations, and a number of regional international trade and cooperative associations.

As the ICT Consultant to the Ministry of Education I was responsible for advising the Ministry of Education on ICT Education Development in the School System and the University Sector and supervising the implementation of the ICT Development Programme. The Ministry of Education launched recently an accelerated ICT Education Programme, which was considered as one of the main components of the ICT for National Development Programme of the Government. I was responsible for the preparation of the ICT Education Policy, ICT Education Master Plan, ICT Education Action Plans, and ICT Education Budgets etc. Other than that I worked as the responsible officer for the Education Portal of the Ministry (www.education.gov.lk )which was established recently and currently I am working on the Web Strategy for the Ministry. Recently I was appointed as the CIO of the Ministry of Education to represent the Ministry in the re-engineering programme of the Government of Sri Lanka.

I was responsible for organizing the National ICT Education Drive launched by the Ministry of Education. This National Drive consists of two components.

ICT Education for Schools

ICT Education for Universities

ICT Education for All

This National Drive was launched by the President of Sri Lanka, Her Excellency Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumartunga at the President’s House on 12th August 2005. (www.education.gov.lk)

ICT Education for All component introduced Sri Lanka ICT Examination which aims at providing ICT Literacy for 50% Sri Lankan population by 2010.

I was responsible for the preparation of the National Policy for ICT Education in the School Sector which was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers in 2001 ( www.education.gov.lk/docs/ICTPolicy.pdf )

I was responsible for introducing ICT as a subject in the School Education in Sri Lanka. The National Examination for ICT subject (GIT: General Information Technology) in GCE Advance Level will be held on 21st August 2005 for the first time. More than 80,000 students have applied for this first examination ( www.education.gov.lk/icteducation.php ). One of the main units we have introduced in GIT Syllabus in 2002 is ICT for National Development. (Refer to the Last Unit of the GIT Syllabus)

As a Programme Specialist at ICTA I was responsible for the introduction of Development of ICT for Development Programme (e-Society) for the Government of Sri Lanka in 2002. In order to make more public awareness I managed to organize one of the largest ICT4D events in Sri Lanka in August 2004( www.esociety.info or www.people4life.org/ict4life)

As the Head of Media and Web of the Center for National Operations(CNO) which was established at the Office of the President of Sri Lanka to handle Tsunami Relief operations soon after the 26 December 2004. I was responsible for managing the Government Website for Tsunami Information (www.cnosrilanka.org) and handling media activities of the CNO during the Tsunami Disaster. This huge website was highly used by the international community and specially donor community and media during January 2005. As CNO was closed down in February 2005 as scheduled transferring CNO work to relevant authorities at present this site is minimized to one page.

Consultant, writer, activist in ICT and Communication rights. Research Director, NEXUS Research. Has completed evaluation, programme design, advisory and research projects in ICTs in over 40 countries for numerous UN agencies, donors and international organisations. Is a Spokesperson for CRIS, and was very active in the WSIS from the earliest stages, though organising events, civil society structures, writing papers and contributions and lobbying. Author/co-author/editor of several books and numerous chapters, journal articles, reports and papers in ICT and communication rights. Currently working in ICT projects in Asia, Africa and Europe.

Vision of their specific contribution to the GA Strategy Council:

General focus on communication rights; more specific focus on ICTs: Community owned and driven networks; universal access and pro-poor ICTs; pro-poor regulatory structures and dynamics of ICT policy & strategies; governance structures at global level.