United Nations Global Alliance for ICT and Development GAID Introduction 1
Message from Mr Ban Ki-Moon United Nations Secretary-General central role to play in the quest for development, dignity and peace. The international consensus on this point is clear. We saw it at the 2000 Millennium Summit and at the 2005 World Summit. And we saw it in the two phases of the World Summit on the Information Society. With the launch of the Global Alliance for ICT and Development last March 2006, the international community has taken that consensus a crucial step further. The Alliance is well placed to promote the use of ICT in fighting poverty, illiteracy and disease, in protecting the environment and empowering women and girls. It is important that you work as a true partnership of all essential stakeholders Governments, civil society, the private sector, academia and others. All of you are needed GAID Introduction 2
Foundations of GAID World Summit on the Information Society [Geneva 2003 & Tunis 2005] - Established broad policy consensus on the principles of Information Society - Placed the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) at the centre of open & inclusive vision for Information Society - Established clear goals for ICT4D e.g. Connecting schools, universities, libraries, hospitals, etc. - Call for multi-stakeholder partnership at global, regional, national & local levels - Attended by 18,000 participants World Development Summit [Sept 2005] - Reaffirmed MDGs - Adopted broad UN Development Agenda with emphasis on ICT4D as a strategic tool for achieving MDGs - Attended by 191 world leaders Millennium Summit [Sept 2000] - Adopted MDGs: poverty; health; education; HIVAIDS; gender; environment; global partnerships - ICT as enabler of development - Attended by 153 world leaders GAID Introduction 3
The Mission of GAID An inclusive global forum and platform for cross-sectoral policy dialogue and advocacy promoting the use of ICT for the achievement of the internationally agreed development goals GAID Introduction 4
GAID seeks to contribute to: Mainstreaming the global ICT agenda into the broader United Nations development agenda Bringing together key organizations involved in ICT for development (ICT4D) to enhance their collaboration and effectiveness for achieving the internationally agreed development goals Raising awareness of policy makers on ICT4D policy issues Facilitating identification of technological solutions for specific development goals and launching of pertinent partnerships Promoting creation of an enabling environment and innovative business models for pro-poor investment and growth and for empowering people living in poverty Providing the Secretary-General with advice on ICT4D related issues GAID Introduction 5
We offer Access to distinguished network of commoninterest parties Cross-sectoral policy and partnership dialogue Solution partnering possibilities on different levels Assistance in funding mobilization and other support thru partnership and more GAID Introduction 6
Our Partners Are. - Governments / Member States - Enterprises / Corporations - Civil Society - Academia - Non-Governmental Organizations - Community-Based Organizations - ICT4D Practitioners - Policy, Technology & Innovation Drivers - UN System Organizations GAID Introduction 7
GAID s Structure * GAID s patron-in-chief is the UN SG * GAID reports thru the SG to the ECOSOC Steering Committee Strategy Council High Level Advisors Champions Network Roles: Provides executive direction & priority setting Reviews business plan and periodic progress reports Roles: Development of action oriented policy platform Awareness raising & advocacy campaigns Roles: Contribute to research & development Help advance relevant theories on ICT4D Roles: Experts, activists & practitioners - of information through experience in ICT use Members: 20 members representing main stakeholder groups Mr. Talal Abu-Ghazaleh (Chairman) Mr. Kamram Elahian & Mr. Ramón A. Garza (Co- Chairs) Members: 74 members composed of government, civil society, and international organization representatives Regional Networks Role: Open & inclusive to reflect the regional perspective & specific needs Thematic Networks Flagship Partnership Initiatives Communities of Expertise Partnerships for Advocacy GAID Introduction
Thematic Areas The Inaugural meeting of the Alliance in Kuala Lumpur in June 2006 agreed that the Alliance will initially focus on the use of ICT in promoting the following four broad areas: 1. Education 2. Health 3. Entrepreneurship 4. Governance Activity within these areas will take place predominantly via Flagship Partnership Initiatives, Communities of Expertise, Stakeholder Networks, and Regional Networks GAID Introduction 9
Flagship Partnership Initiatives FPIs aim is to leverage joint resources and to spur visible action across the four GAID focus areas to produce concrete and measurable deliverables. The seven established so far are: Telecentre.org Increasing local capacity and providing access to e-learning, training and skills development, local content generation, e-government and other relevant services to the local community Cyber Development Corp Promoting the establishment of a global outreach programme based on the spirit of volunteerism to help lesser-developed nations and communities benefit from global information and communication technologies, infrastructure and resources Connect the World Supporting efforts to consolidate and scale-up existing development activities and stimulate new partnerships with an aim to accelerate and strengthen efforts to bridge the digital divide GAID Introduction 10
FPIs continued: Global Initiative for Inclusive Information & Communications Technologies (G3ICT) Advocating ICT solutions for people with disabilities and accelerating the development of affordable solutions worldwide Open-Training Platform Using ICT to better serve local people through free training courses of knowledge and skills needed for improving living conditions and poverty reduction e-content and Creativity Selecting and promoting rich local contents and innovative applications to narrow the global content gap, emphasizing the importance of good quality contents and innovative applications to achieve core development goals United Nations Global Knowledge Repository for Electronic/Mobile Government (EMGKR) Researching concepts, approaches, including challenges and barriers to electronic/mobile governments GAID Introduction 11
Communities of Expertise CoEs are thematic groups established by a mandate from the Steering Committee to carry out a well-defined, specific task or tasks, within one or more focus areas of the Alliance. Fifteen of these communities have been established from the four GAID thematic areas and in the cross-cutting areas of gender, youth, content, rural development, and access and connectivity. (1) E-governance for Development (2) E-services for development (3) Information & Communication Technologies for Peace (4) ICT competencies for teachers (5) Enhancing access to & application of scientific data in developing countries (6) ICT for education (7) ICT integration and pedagogical engineering (8) ICT for country health strategies (9) E-agriculture (10) Gender, development and information society policies (11) International Taskforce on Women & ICT (12) Youth social technopreneurship (13) e-content and Creativity -- World Summit Award and Network (14) (15) Wire for Development (W4D) GAID Introduction 12
Stakeholder Networks Stakeholder networks build on existing groups and generate new synergies among constituents with shared interests. The Alliance will reach out to maximize participation by all interested entities, extend the outreach of the GAID and promote channels for smooth communications and collaboration. Following are the stakeholder networks formed under the umbrella of the Global Alliance: Constituency Civil society Youth Gender Persons with disabilities Parliamentarians Local government and regional authorities CONGO ATHGO International, Taking IT Global, Paradigm Initiative Nigeria, Suzanne Mubarak Women s International Peace Movement IT for Change, Centre for Women and Information Technology, Centre for Feminist Research and Action W2i, Secretariat for the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (Division for Social Policy and Development, UN/DESA), IBM International Parliamentarians Association for IT (supported by the Global Centre for ICT in Parliament, Rome) IT 4 All (Bilbao) Lead Organization(s) GAID Introduction 13
Regional Networks The Regional Networks will ensure the open, inclusive, participatory and truly global character of the Alliance, and the adequate reflection of regional perspectives and specific needs in the activities of GAID in the four focus areas. The following have been launched: - Transitional Countries (2 Oct. 2006, Baku) - Asia Pacific (19 Oct. 2006, Shanghai) - Europe (16 Jan. 2007, Dresden) - Africa (23 Mar. 2007, Addis Ababa) - Latin America & the Caribbean (Feb. 2008, San Salvador) - Arab States (Jun. 2009, Damascus) GAID Introduction 14
GAID in the Arab Region The Regional Arab Network will be the Arabic focal point for GAID This launch provides an opportunity for prominent panelists to share cutting-edge ideas, innovative knowledge, experiences, expertise and best practices in order to maximize the effectiveness of initiatives to meet the objectives referred to in the Millennium Declaration A Steering Group for the Regional Arab Network will coordinate all relevant activities and to encourage mutually beneficial communication between all stakeholders Areas of focus: poverty reduction and education Steering Group Members: Hessa Sultan Al-Jaber, Secretary-General, Supreme Council of ICT Abdulrahman A. Mazi, Managing Director, National Information Systems Co. Ahmed El-Sherbini, Deputy Minister for International Affairs, Ministry of Communication & Information Technology Farouk Kamoun, Director of Research Laboratory, National Institute for Informatics Mohamed Bachir Al Mounajed, Chairman, Softcad Company Nasser Khalaf, Director-General, National Information Technology Center Ali Shraydeh, Director-General, Central Agency for Information Technology Yousef Nusseir, Chief, Information and Communication Technology Division GAID Introduction 15
Outreach Activities GAID pursues a three-pronged awareness-raising and outreach programme to: 1. Influence policy at international, regional, national and local levels, promoting an enabling environment for the effective use of ICT to stimulate or accelerate economic and social development 2. Strengthen capacity of policy- and decision-makers to formulate effective and sustainable ICTD policy 3. Build brand recognition among all relevant stakeholder groups; promote awareness of its mission, objectives and role in the follow-up to WSIS; and attract contribution and participation. GAID Introduction 16
Progress Connect Africa initiative in Rwanda where stakeholders invested more than $55 million GAID Global Forum on Youth and ICT for Development in Geneva UN Meets Silicon Valley First FPIs 2007 2008 2009 Regional Networks for transitional countries, Asia Pacific, Europe, and Africa Two books: The Foundations of the Global Alliance for ICT & Development and Our Common Humanity in the Information Age 11th session of the Commission on Science and Technology for Development (CSTD), Panel discussion on ICT for development Programmes and Strategies in the Developing World, on 28 May 2008 in Geneva First ever United Nations Private Sector Forum in New York GAID Regional Network for Latin America & the Caribbean Global Forum for Innovation and Education for Development in Yerevan, Armenia, gathering over 300 young people who designed cutting-edge ICT solutions United Nations Meets Web 2.0 New Media, New Entrepreneurs and New ICT Opportunities in Emerging Markets event in Silicon Valley Launch of redesigned website and online social network In March, UN Headquarters in New York announced launch of Center for Women and Technology in Arab Region, aiming to empower women and girls to take leadership roles as full-fledge entrepreneurs and innovators in the ICT sector CSTD Panel on Mobile Technology in Global Public Health, 26 May 2009 New membership in Steering Committee and Strategy Council In June, Regional Network for Arab States GAID Introduction 17
Future Endeavors ECOSOC Ministerial Roundtable Breakfast, Digital Health & Development in Africa: Role of Public and Private Partnerships, 7 July 2009 Special event on Africa and least developed countries - Topic: Partnership & Health, 8 July 2009 Global Forum of Local and Regional Authorities, October 2009 GAID Global Forum: ICT and Innovation for Education, Monterrey, Mexico, September 2009 9 th CIVICUS World Assembly, Montreal 2010 GAID Introduction 18
Future Endeavors New Areas of Focus Poverty Eradication and Financial Crisis Agenda Climate Change Gender Equality Health & Education Governance GAID Introduction 19
GAID Website http://www.un-gaid.org GAID Introduction 20
Social network: http://un-gaid.ning.com GAID Introduction 21
GAID is a network of networks open to all interested stakeholders. The global challenges of poverty, illiteracy, disease, and environment can be met if we all join hands in a common struggle. The world has to achieve clear targets to improve human wellbeing by 2015. The challenge is great, but the opportunity is even greater. We can do this together. GAID Introduction 22
For further information please contact Secretariat of The Global Alliance for ICT and Development One UN Plaza Room DC1-1464 New York, NY 10017 Tel: +1.212.963.5796 Fax: +1.917.367.4340 Web: www.un-gaid.org Email: gaid@un-gaid.org GAID Introduction 23