PRESS BRIEFING ON DIGITAL NETWORK FOR LATIN AMERICA, CARIBBEAN

PRESS BRIEFING ON DIGITAL NETWORK FOR LATIN AMERICA, CARIBBEAN

The creation of The Digital Diaspora Network for Latin America and the Caribbean was the continuation of a new road taken by the United Nations to engage the private sector with civil society in finding creative solutions to the digital divide, correspondents were told today at a Headquarters press briefing.

Moderating the briefing on the Network’s launch was the Executive Director of the United Nations Fund for International Partnerships and a member of the United Nations Information and Communication Technologies Task Force, Amir Dossal.  Joining him were:  June Yvonne Clarke, Permanent Representative of Barbados to the United Nations; Bill Clapp, Chief Executive Officer of Global Partnerships, an organization working to eradicate poverty in Central America; and Akhtar Badshah, President and Chief Executive Officer of Digital Partners, which is responsible for organizing and building the Networks’ core programmes.

Prior to the briefing, a conference launching the Network was held at Headquarters, attended by representatives of technology companies, global banks, entrepreneurs, educators and development experts.  The conference was organized by the United Nations Information and Communication Technologies Task Force (ICT), Digital Partners, the United Nations Fund for International Partnerships (UNFIP), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Inter-American Development Bank.

The new Network is the third in a series -– the first two being The Digital Divide Network for Africa (2002) and The Caribbean Network (2003) -- each seeks to provide expertise and funding to the regions’ entrepreneurs by using information and communication technology to help improve local economies. 

Ms. Clarke said that the work being done today and all that had preceded it was important for all countries, particularly those of the South.  To the extent that the gap in information technologies could be narrowed between the “haves” and the “have nots”, the possibility for progress and development was advanced.  Governments had the final responsibility for developing their countries and putting them on the map to progress, but many needed the kind of assistance that the Networks sought to provide.

Mr. Clapp said that any opportunity to bring business, social society and governments together was welcome, and he thanked the United Nations for being part of that.  Much to everybody’s chagrin, Bill Gates had told a conference that there was no point in getting computers for people who could not even afford to eat.  But, the poor needed access to education, information and less expensive products.  Those living under the “glass ceiling of poverty” needed to know their rights and the decisions of their governments, which could be facilitated by access to information technology.

Ms. Masullo said she was a research scientist, who had devoted most of her life to laboratory work.  One day she got out and never went back, because without a social agenda, there was no purpose to the technical agenda.  All one had to do was travel the world to understand that.  When that was in your heart, it did not really matter what progress you made in the laboratory.  “If we don’t move people into the future, we have accomplished nothing”, she said.  Algorithms and formulas were fine, but it was critical to understand how all of that affected people. 

Mr. Badshah said that anyone who was part of the diaspora community firmly believed that today’s technologies had the potential for reducing the brain drain.  The Networks could serve as a knowledge base in a very effective way to bring positive change to countries around the world.  Information technology was a means to do that.  If entrepreneurial activity was created along the way, there would be a mushrooming impact.  That was why events such as today’s attracted so many people from around the world.

The fact that Network meetings were being held here at New York Headquarters was encouraging more dialogue with local communities in the five boroughs, said Mr. Dossal, responding to a question about “wiring” New York City residents to their relatives in the developing world.  He suggested that civic-minded leaders in New York and groups like the Business Council of the United Nations could serve as outreach channels.

Replying to a question about funding, Mr. Badshah said he did not think that the aim of the Network was to rely on the United Nations as a funding source.  His hope was that members of the Network would start collecting resources.  There was great potential for investment, and small investments could be leveraged, leading to a significant impact in terms of creating projects.  The Network was not only seeking to obtain financial resources, but was allowing time for investment projects to blossom and assuming a leadership role in that process.  That made organizations want to contribute.  He could not put an exact figure on how much was flowing in, but there were significant resources.

Mr. Clapp agreed that a lot of the funds were investment funds and not charitable contributions.  The Networks also provided an opportunity for businesses to learn how to design effective, reliable, low-cost products for broader markets.  Those businesses would then have a cost advantage over their competitors in the future.

Asked about a commitment by Ted Turner, Mr. Dossal said he remains very committed, but his focus had been on the environment, women, population issues and children’s health, with a bit of attention to conflict prevention.  Mr. Turner believed in the power of technology, but had said that he could only do so much.  In the United Nations, there was a strong belief that technology was not a panacea, but a powerful tool for development.  He believed Mr. Turner was already supporting such projects.

To a question about membership, Mr. Badshah said there were some 700 to 1,000 people who were willing to provide their time and skills, including many from the Latin American community.  Citing some specific projects under way, he drew attention to an artisan group in Mexico that was being trained to sell their arts and crafts online.  In another example, 280 used computers from Seattle, Washington and Maine had been collected in February and delivered to an educational programme in Guatemala in June.

He said the Network was keeping its membership open.  It operated under the premise that anyone who walked through the door wanting to help should be allowed to do so.  Moreover, every university and educational institution had something to offer.

Mr. Clapp added that he was working closely with students at the University of Washington on various research projects.  There was also cooperation between a university in Costa Rica and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in developing community development ‘telecentres’.  Those interactions were providing students with the opportunity to engage in work that was not only exciting, but beneficial. 

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