The potential of information and communication technology (ICT) to train and educate communities that have limited or no access to formal education channels will be the focus of an international conference to be opened by UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura at UNESCO Headquarters, and broadcast live on the internet, from 11 to 13 May.
The conference, ICT for Capacity-Building: Critical Success Factors will bring together local leaders, community educators and experts in learning from all continents, from as far afield as Brazil, Afghanistan, Senegal and Jordan. The discussions will focus on the critical success factors in using new delivery methods for learning and other skills development, especially for marginalized groups such as rural villages, urban poor, refugees, the visually impaired and those suffering the HIV pandemic.
Using satellite facilities and twelve centres affiliated with the Global Development Learning Network (GDLN), the emphasis will be on learning from actual case studies presented live from Latin America, Arab States, Africa and Asia. During the strategic sessions, development experts, academics, and representatives from industry, non-governmental and intergovernmental organizations will evaluate the impact of the current investment in ICT projects, debating the key issues of sustainability, impact monitoring and evaluation, infrastructure solutions, human capabilities, appropriation of technologies and content by local communities, and the social dynamics of these projects.
Through their discussions, the participants will identify prerequisites and success factors for capacity-building using ICT; collect and disseminate testimonies and case studies from around the world on how to make a quantitative leap in development by using ICT; and explore with the IT industry the need for technology that is appropriate to the development environment and that meets the needs of the people.
The event is one of UNESCOs thematic meetings in preparation for the second meeting of the World Summit on the Information Society (Tunis, Tunisia, 16-18 November 2005).
The event is one of UNESCOs thematic meetings in preparation for the second meeting of the World Summit on the Information Society (Tunis, Tunisia, 16-18 November 2005).
The article is taken from UNESCO.
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