JOSE MARIA FIGUERES APPOINTED SECRETARY-GENERAL’S SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE ON INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES
Press Release
PI/1305
JOSE MARIA FIGUERES APPOINTED SECRETARY-GENERALS SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE ON INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES
20001113The appointment by Secretary-General Kofi Annan of the former President of Costa Rica to head the United Nations Information and Communication Technologies Advisory Group was announced today in New York.
President Jose Maria Figueres -- a leader acclaimed for advancing the use of digital technology for development of his country -- will lead a team of experts drawn from the private and public sectors and countries of the North as well as the South. The Advisory Group is charged by the Secretary-General with drawing up the specific modalities for an Information and Communication Technologies Task Force on the basis of guidelines set by the Economic and Social Council in July. The Task Force will serve as a catalyst for bringing together international agencies, governments and private businesses and foundations in harnessing the potential of technology for development for all.
The Advisory Group is comprised of a Whos Who of pioneers in advancing information technology and promoting its uses for economic and social development. Within its ranks are Vinton Cerf, widely regarded as the founder of the Internet; sociologist Manuel Castells, a top analyst of the social implications of the information technology revolution; Jiang Mian-heng, vice-president of the Academy of Science, China; and Muhammed Yunus who, as chief executive officer of the Grameen Bank, is bringing cell phone technology to farmers and villagers in rural Asia. Among the advisers drawn from the public sector are Jay Naidoo, former Minister of Communications of South Africa, and Estonian Foreign Minister Toomas Ilves, who both have been instrumental in making their countries regional leaders in information and communication technology and e-commerce. Indonesian Ambassador to the United Nations Makarim Wibisono placed these issues prominently on the United Nations agenda earlier this year, in his capacity as President of the Economic and Social Council. The private sector is represented by, among others, Cisco Systems chief executive John Chambers, Pacific Century Groups chairman and chief executive Richard Li (China), Nokia chief executive Jorma Ollila, Hewlett Packard chief executive Carleton Fiorina and Sam Pitroda, chief executive of WorldTel, based in India. (See complete listing below.)
The Advisory Group will advise the Secretary General in consultation with governments, the private sector, foundations and multilateral development institutions on building a strategic partnership with the private sector to bridge the global digital divide. To that end, President Figueres is asking Advisory Group members for recommendations as to the structure and necessary support mechanisms of the Information and Communication Technology Task Force.
The Task Force will be the response to the call for action in bridging the digital divide prominently featured in Secretary-General Kofi Annans Millennium
- 2 - Press Release PI/1305 13 November 2000
Report. The idea for a Task Force and Trust Fund originated with a high- level panel of experts, convened in New York in April at the request of the General Assembly and chaired by José María Figueres. The proposal was endorsed by a Ministerial Declaration at the 7 July meeting of the Economic and Social Council, and was promoted further in a meeting of five heads of State of the Economic and Social Council bureau with the Secretary-General on 8 September, in the context of the Millennium Summit.
The appointment of President Figueres was announced by the Under-Secretary- General for Economic and Social Affairs, Nitin Desai, at a New York press briefing today.
For more information, contact Tim Wall, Tel.: 212 963-5851, e-mail: wallt@un.org; or Yasmin Padamsee, Tel.: 212 963-7704, e-mail: padamsee@un.org of the United Nations Department of Public Information.
Secretary Generals ICT Advisory Group
José María Figueres-Olsen former President (Costa Rica) Zoë Baird President, Markle Foundation (United States) Eric Benhamou Chief executive officer, 3Com (United States) Manuel Castells Professor, University of California at Berkeley, (Spain) Vinton Cerf Senior vice president, MCI WorldCom (United States) John T. Chambers President and chief executive officer, Cisco Systems (United States) Carleton Fiorina President and chief executive officer, Hewlett-Packard (United States) Toomas Ilves Minister of Foreign Affairs (Estonia) Jiang Mian-heng Vice president, Academy of Science (China) Andrei Korotkov Head of Information Department of the Government (Russia) Richard Li Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Pacific Century Group (China) Erkki Liikanen European Union Commissioner for Enterprise and Information Society, European Commission (Finland) Jay Naidoo President of South African Development Bank (South Africa) Yoshiji Nogami Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs (Japan) Jorma Ollila Chairman and chief executive officer, Nokia Corporation (Finland) Sam Pitroda Chairman and chief executive officer, WorldTel (India) Nii Quaynor Chairman and chief executive officer, Ghana Internet Corporation (Ghana) Tadao Takahashi Ministry of Science and Technology (Brazil) Serge Tchuruk Chairman and chief executive officer, Alcatel (France) Makarim Wibisono President of the Economic and Social Council (Indonesia) Muhammed Yunus Chairman and chief executive officer, Grameen Bank (Bangladesh).
* *** *