FIRST-EVER EUROPEAN MEETING OF UN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES TASK FORCE TO BE HELD IN GENEVA ON 21-22 FEBRUARY

FIRST-EVER EUROPEAN MEETING OF UN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES TASK FORCE
TO BE HELD IN GENEVA ON 21-22 FEBRUARY

GENEVA, 19 February (UN Information Service) -- The fourth meeting of the United Nations Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) Task Force, to be held on 21 and 22 February in Geneva, will focus on how best to link the ICT efforts by the private sector, civil society and the United Nations system in furthering ICT-for-development.

Held at Geneva's Conference Centre of Varembé, the first-ever ICT Task Force meeting in Europe will focus on the vital roles ICT can play in achieving the Millennium Development Goals, adopted by the world's leaders at the United Nations Millennium Summit of 2000; the Task Force's contribution to the World Summit on the Information Society, to be held in Geneva in December 2003;
ICT-for-development in Africa; and the way the Task Force can best support and promote public-private partnerships, which are essential for any sort of development.

The plenary session, opening at 10 a.m. on Friday, 21 February, will consider how the Task Force can contribute to the Millennium Development Campaign and its role in monitoring its progress.  Chaired by Talal Abu Ghazaleh, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, TAG & Co. International (Egypt), the session will feature, among others, Erkki Liikanen, the Commissioner for Enterprise and Information Society of the European Commission; Professors Calestous Juma of Harvard University and Manuel Castells of the University of California at Berkeley; and Tengku Shariffadeen, President of MIMOS (Malaysia).

The Friday afternoon plenary, opening at 3 p.m. to discuss the Task Force's role in the World Summit on the Information Society, will feature Adama Samassekou, President of the Summit Preparatory Committee, which is holding its second session in Geneva from 17 to 28 February; Mark Furrer, Switzerland's Minister for Communications; Nitin Desai, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs; and Pierre Gagné, Executive Coordinator of the Summit's Secretariat.

The broader aim of the discussion will be to help develop approaches providing content to the Summit, as well as to help build alliances for action, turning the Summit into a truly comprehensive platform.  In its role as a broker between governments, civil society and United Nations agencies, the Task Force can

provide a unique perspective and intellectual leadership to the issues to be addressed at the Summit.

The plenary will continue on Saturday, 22 February at 9 a.m., with the follow-up to the third Task Force meeting on Africa.  Co-Chaired by Professor Juma and Debra Dunn, Senior Vice-President of Hewlett Packard, it will feature, among others, Nii Quaynor, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Network Computer Systems Ltd; Akhtar Badshah, President, Digital Partners; Lyndall Shope-Mafole, Chairperson of South Africa's Presidential National Commission on Information Society and Development; and Karima Bounemra Ben Soltane, Director at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa.

The morning plenary will also examine the Task Force's advisory role to the United Nations Secretary-General.  It will discuss how the Task Force can best assist in developing an ICT strategy for the United Nations system and help promote public-private partnerships for its implementation.  Chaired by Zoe Baird, President of the Markle Foundation, it will feature, among others, Talal Abu-Ghazaleh; Juan Rada, Vice-President of Oracle; and Amir Dossal, Executive Coordinator of the United Nations Fund for International Partnerships (UNFIP).

The discussion at the fourth meeting is also intended to review current programmes and activities.  The Task Force is carrying out many action-oriented initiatives that are truly making a difference.  One of them is the African Diaspora Network, launched in 2002, through which hundreds of African high-tech entrepreneurs and professionals based in North America and Europe are helping to launch ICT activities in their home continent, together with their Africa-based counterparts.  A similar initiative -- the Caribbean Diaspora Network -- was launched in January to mobilize Caribbean entrepreneurs and professionals based in North America.

In cooperation with the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), the Task Force is also carrying out ICT training for diplomats posted at United Nations Headquarters.  Hundreds of ambassadors and other high-level diplomats have been benefiting from this initiative, structured in five training modules and one seminar and carried out with the support of Intel Corporation.

Launched by Secretary-General Kofi Annan, the ICT Task Force will bring together government representatives, academic, and business and non-governmental organization leaders, united by the goal of using ICT to reduce the gap between the information-haves and the information have-nots.

For information, please contact Edoardo Bellando at 022 917 2304, bellando@.org; or Enrica Murmura, murmura@un.org; or visit the Web site of the United Nations ICT Task Force, at www.unicttaskforce.org.

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