[governance] FW: UN media advisory: Global Forum on Access and Connectivity to meet in Kuala Lumpur, 19-20 May

Mon May 12 17:24:59 EDT 2008

-----Original Message-----
From: Edoardo Bellando [mailto:bellando at un.org] 
Sent: May 12, 2008 2:02 PM
To: unlisted-recipients:; no To-header on input
Subject: UN media advisory: Global Forum on Access and Connectivity to meet
in Kuala Lumpur, 19-20 May

United Nations 
MEDIA ADVISORY

GLOBAL FORUM ON ACCESS AND CONNECTIVITY IN ASIA-PACIFIC 
TO MEET IN KUALA LUMPUR, 19-20 MAY 
Malaysia's Prime Minister Badawi to open annual meeting of GAID Strategy
Council on 18 May

New York, 12 May (UN Global Alliance for ICT and Development - GAID)  The
Global Forum on Access and Connectivity: Innovative funding for ICT for
Development, to be held in Kuala Lumpur on 19 and 20 May, will bring
together participants from different sectors to seek ways to expand
affordable connectivity, applications and services throughout the
Asia-Pacific region. 

Participants include Craig Barrett, Chairman of the United Nations Global
Alliance for ICT and Development and Chairman of Intel Corporation;  Amirzai
Sangin, Minister for Communications and IT of Afghanistan; Ali Abbasov,
Minister of Communications and IT of Azerbaijan; Benjamin Aggrey Ntim,
Minister of Communications of Ghana; Basem Fawaz Rousan, Minister of ICT of
Jordan; Maximus Ongkili, Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation of
Malaysia; Haj Klai, Minister of Communication Technologies of Tunisia; Hessa
Al Jaber, Secretary-General of the ICT Supreme Council of Qatar; Hamadoun
Touré, Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU);
Sha Zukang, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social
Affairs; Ulf Pehrsson, Vice President for Government and Industry Relations,
Ericsson; and Ahmed Mahjoub, President and CEO, Tunisia Telecom. 

Forum sessions will focus on closing gaps in high-speed broadband
infrastructure in Asia and the Pacific; innovative funding mechanisms for IT
infrastructure; applications and services for multilingual communities;
extending IT connectivity to island States; and enhancing IT workforce
training, especially for young people. 

As a region, said Global Alliance Executive Coordinator Sarbuland Khan,
Asia and the Pacific was amongst the early adopters of high-speed broadband
networks, and has invested in IT as the core infrastructure for modernizing
its economy and spurring innovation. While the region has some of the most
advanced broadband and IT-related technologies and policies, major gaps in
broadband infrastructure in the least developed countries continue to limit
investment, economic growth, employment and development. 

Panellists will give their views on business opportunities and on ways to
boost investment in the regions IT infrastructure, including through policy
and regulatory measures, innovative financing and public-private
partnerships. 

One meeting will focus on the initiative New and Refurbished PCs for
Schools, which aims at providing 500,000 new and refurbished computers for
10,000 schools, catering for 35 million students, by 2012. The initiative
has the support of the Virginia-based Consumer Electronics Association,
which has offered to work  with the Global Alliance to expand the supply of
new and refurbished computers and ensure that the end users are reached.
Intel, Cisco and other private companies are ready to take part in the
initiative. 

On 18 May, the Global Alliances Strategy Council and Steering Committee,
chaired by Craig Barrett, will meet to chart the Alliances next steps.
Malaysias Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi will open the morning Strategy
Council meeting, and Malaysias Minister of Science, Technology and
Innovation Maximus Ongkili will open the afternoon Steering Committee
meeting. Participants will discuss the progress of the Alliances flagship
initiatives and regional networks, and will be briefed on new initiatives. 

The Global Forum coincides with the 2008 World Congress on Information
Technology (WCIT), which will bring to Kuala Lumpur from 18 to 22 May more
than 70 IT industry associations representing more than 90% of the worlds
IT market, together with civil society, academia and other experts. 

The Global Forum, to be held at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, is
organized by the Global Alliance for ICT and Development. The Global
Alliance seeks to mobilize the human, financial and technical resources
required to develop ICT infrastructure, services and applications across the
world. 

Contact: Enrica Murmura at the Global Alliance, Tel.: (1-212) 963-5913,
e-mail: murmura at un.org, or Edoardo Bellando, Tel.: (1-212) 963 8275, e-mail
bellando at un.org. Website: http://www.un-gaid.org. 

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