UN ICT Task Force - Asia News

Digital Opportunity Chanel: ICT key for fighting poverty - ADB

Daan Boom: ADB recognises the importance of information and communication technology (ICT) to fight poverty and foster development in the Asia-Pacific region. In 2002, the ADB approved a sector policy encouraging innovations in ICT and learning technologies. Despite the fact that millions of people do have access to ICT and the Internet, for billions it is still out of reach. That needs to be changed. The development community needs to ensure that all the benefits ICT can bring are accessibl ...

The Star: Using satellite technology to enhance life

Malaysia is set to use satellite technology in education, agriculture, fisheries and telemedicine, to further improve incomes and the quality of life of its people, especially those in rural areas.

VNS: World Bank lends $88 million for IT project in Vietnam

The World Bank has agreed to lend Viet Nam US$88 million in concessional credit to support the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Development Project. [...] The ICT Development project, worth a total of $197 million, is aimed at enhancing infrastructure and application of ICT in order to increase the efficiency of public administration and the development of private businesses.

AllAfrica: Malaysia to Help Mozambique Develop 'Smart Card'

The Malaysian government has pledged to help the Mozambican authorities develop a "Smart Card", which will allow Mozambican citizens to have all their key documentation on the same electronic card.

INQ7: Philippine ICT roadmap pushes low-cost computing, Internet access

The new Philippine information and communications technology (ICT) roadmap wants to provide Filipinos with lower-cost computing and affordable Internet access. The new ICT roadmap, which is government's guide in policy-making, is also pushing new and existing projects related to providing universal access to ICT in the country. Presenting the new ICT roadmap, Commission on Information and Communications Technology Chairman Ramon Sales said that Filipinos need to have access to basic governme ...

ACN Newswire: Korea Establishes US$20 Million Knowledge and ICT Fund at ADB

The Government of the Republic of Korea has set up a US$20 million e-Asia and Knowledge Partnership Fund at Asian Development Bank. The fund aims to to bridge the digital divide and promote improved access to information and creating and sharing of knowledge through Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) in the Asia and Pacific region. The fund, managed and administered by ADB, will support ADB's developing member countries in achieving the Millennium Development Goals and the Wor ...

Fourth annual report of the Information and Communication Technologies Task Force

In its fourth year, the Information and Communication Technologies Task Force, through its core activities, working groups and regional nodes, made a substantive contribution to the preparations for the Tunis phase of the World Summit on the Information Society by sponsoring several regional meetings, organizing a series of global forums, producing several publications and participating actively in events organized by other stakeholders; organized three high-level round tables linking inform ...

VNA: Malaysia selected to jointly host global ICT forum

The United Nations (UN) has selected Malaysia to host the Global Alliance for Information Communication Technology (ICT) and Development Forum slated for June 19-20.

Malaysian Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation Dr Jamaluddin Jarjis was quoted by the Malaysian News Agency (Bernama) as saying that the forum will be jointly organised by the Malaysian Government and the UN's ICT Task Force in Putrajaya.

Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is scheduled to open the for ...

BERNAMA: UN Picks Malaysia To Jointly Host Global ICT Forum

The United Nations (UN) selected Malaysia to host the Global Alliance for Information Communication Technology (ICT) and Development Forum to be held for two days beginning June 19.

Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk Seri Dr Jamaluddin Jarjis said the decision showed the UN recognised Malaysia's efforts to become an ICT hub in the region.

He said the forum, jointly organised by the Malaysian government and the UN's ICT Task Force, would be held at the Marriott Hotel in P ...

News Today: Wireless internet vans, a boost to shrink digital divide

Setting up high speed wireless mobile internet vans in uncharted territories could well be the boost to shrink the digital divide. And if Smart Communications remains true to its commitment of rolling out about 1,000 of these in the country's most remote areas then it is likely that even the small fisherfolk in the less developed communities of the Philippines would soon be clicking into the worldwide web.

CIO: Intel Outlines Plan to Bridge India's Digital Divide

Intel will train 800,000 teachers for free in India over the next five years as part of a global strategy to integrate technology into the educational curriculum, company President and Chief Executive Officer Paul Otellini told reporters Tuesday in Bangalore, India.

More than 550,000 Indian teachers have already been trained during the first phase of the program, started in 1999, Otellini said.

Training teachers on the use of computers is just one part of a broad strategy announced by ...

Global Alliance for ICT and Development Launched

Press Release

17 April 2006

GLOBAL ALLIANCE FOR ICT AND DEVELOPMENT TO BE LAUNCHED

New York, 17 April (Department of Economic and Social Affairs) -- Secretary-General Kofi Annan has approved the launch of a Global Alliance for Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and Development.

As stressed by the 2005 World Summit and the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), inform ...

UN ICT Task Force Series 8: The World Summit on the Information Society: Moving from the Past into the Future

Any world summit is challenging to design and to organize: the World Summit on the Information Society exceptionally so. This book describes, through the voices of some of its major actors, essential parts of the complex undertaking of the WSIS, from conception to realization. The work of many participants culminated in the Geneva Declaration and Plan of Action, as well as in the I ...

UN ICT Task Force Series 10: Village Phone Replication Manual

Most people in developed countries take for granted their ability to contact others by telephone. However, in developing countries, access to communication services can be extremely challenging, especially for the rural poor. Given the high cost of deploying telecommunications infrastructure, governments and industry have little financial incentive to extend communications network ...

UN ICT Task Force Series 7 - WTO, E-commerce and Information Technologies: From the Uruguay Round through the Doha Development Agenda

Although much of the early Internet hype has faded, e-commerce continues to grow and spread around the world. In recent years, the potential and importance of e-commerce to the economies and industries of the developing world has become particularly evident. Yet as e-commerce develops into a global phenomenon, the need for rules and principles facilitating e-commerce has become inc ...