New Delhi, July 10, 2004: A national policymakers workshop on July 9-10, 2004, organised by the M S Swaminathan Research Foundation and OneWorld South Asia, agreed on an action framework to take the benefits of ICTs to every village in India by 2007. The workshop was supported by the Nasscom Foundation, International Development Research Center (IDRC), Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation.
A joint action framework to implement this plan was drawn up at the workshop by professionals/academics, private sector, governmental and civil society organisations and the media.
The objective of Mission 2007: Every Village a Knowledge Centre is to facilitate and accelerate the setting up of knowledge centres in each village to generate knowledge-based livelihoods.
The National Alliance aims to be a movement that will help provide livelihood opportunities in the village communities. The alliance highlighted the need for policy intervention, such as delicensing and reducing the high regulatory environment. The alliance will also promote entrepreneurship in the villages.
There is a growing concern about adverse social, economic and political implications of the expanding urban-rural divide in knowledge skill and technological empowerment. This alliance will address this concern, said Prof M S Swaminathan, Chairman of National Alliance for Mission 2007.
The time has come for ICTs to be used for pro-poor development policies that benefit poor people directly in their day to day livelihood generation, added Dr Basheerhamad Shadrach, Secretary, National Alliance.
Policymakers and agencies like ISRO, AIR, TRAI, IITs and the ministries of I&B, IT and Department of Science and Technology have offered to support the initiative.
The alliance will have formal structures at the national, state, district and local levels that will plan and implement the objectives of the Mission. This will be supported by a secretariat.
The taskforces (on connectivity; content; policy issues; space applications; resource mobilisation; training & capacity building; and organisation, evaluation, monitoring and scalability) currently serving the national alliance will continue their functions.
For more information, contact:
Geeta Sharma
Operations Manager, Mission 2007.
Email:
Geeta.Sharma@oneworld.net
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