At the half-way mark between the 2005 WSIS targets and the Millennium Development Goals, is access to technology making a difference?
Geneva, 10 May 2010 - The opening of the WSIS Forum today brought together leading public figures and grassroots activists from the global development community to examine how information and communication technologies (ICTs) can be harnessed to help drive social and economic development around the world.
Speaking to around 600 delegates at this morning’s opening ceremony, ITU Secretary-General Dr Hamadoun Touré said that ICT network deployment – and particularly broadband - needs to move to the very top of the national agenda in countries worldwide. “Broadband is particularly important because it delivers benefits right across every sector of society. The truly transformational power of broadband networks can help us get the MDGs back on track. That’s why broadband needs to reach all people, in all nations,” he said.
Co-hosted by ITU, UNESCO, UNCTAD and UNDP, the week-long event (10-14 May) is the world’s largest annual gathering of the world’s ICT for development community, including UN agencies, governments, civil society and ICT industry representatives. In addition to reviewing progress towards the WSIS targets set for 2015, it fosters interactive debate and information exchange on a wide range of key topics such as rural development, multilingualism, environmental sustainability, education, healthcare and innovation.
For more, see http://www.itu.int/net/pressoffice/press_releases/2010/17.aspx