CONFERENCE AT UNITED NATIONS HEADQUARTERS ON 11 FEBRUARY TO EXAMINE HOW INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY CAN IMPROVE LIVES OF OLDER PEOPLE

Note to Correspondents

CONFERENCE AT UNITED NATIONS HEADQUARTERS ON 11 FEBRUARY TO EXAMINE

HOW INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY CAN IMPROVE LIVES OF OLDER PEOPLE

A conference on “Caring Communities for the 21st Century:  Imagining the Possible -- Age of Connectivity:  Harnessing the Generations” will take place on Wednesday, 11 February at United Nations Headquarters (Conference Room 2) from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Changes in age structure, as well as in economic, social and cultural life have presented new challenges that require adaptations of policy and action plans in order to ensure sustainable development, inclusion and equal opportunities for all.

The forum will provide an opportunity to examine the role of information and communication technologies in helping to meet these challenges by overcoming obstacles, developing projects, and creating products and services suitable for the needs of all generations, in particular older people.  It will be attended by professional and business leaders, permanent representatives to the United Nations, United Nations officials, and experts in urban planning, information and communication technologies, finance, government and health.

The keynote speakers will be Benjamin Gilman, United States Representative to the General Assembly, retired United States Congressman and Chairman of the House International Relations Committee, and Leonel Fernandez, President, Global Foundation for Democracy and Development, and former President of the Dominican Republic.

Speakers include Anna Kajumulo Tibaijuka, Executive Director, United Nations Human Settlement Programme (UN-Habitat); Sarbuland Khan, Executive Coordinator, United Nations Information and Communication Technologies Task Force; Danilo Piaggesi, Chief, Information Technology for Development Division, Inter-American Development Bank, Alexandre Sidorenko, United Nations Focal Point on Ageing; and Alan Toy, Project Director, UCLA Advanced Policy Institute.  Professor Michael Gurstein, School of Management, New Jersey Institute of Technology, will chair the event.

Each month the world’s older population increases by 1.2 million.  Information and communication technologies can significantly enrich the quality of life of senior citizens in several ways -– for instance, by creating networks of Internet-based information, training, support and systems for social and health services.  The conference will focus on defining the most effective and practical ways of achieving this goal.

The event is organized by the International Council for Caring Communities, in collaboration with the United Nations Information and Communication Technologies Task Force, UN-Habitat, the Programme on Ageing of the United Nations Department for Economic and Social Affairs, and the United Nations Department of Public Information.

Correspondents are invited to attend.

Contact:  Daniela Giacomelli, Secretariat of the United Nations Information and Communication Technologies Task Force, tel.: (917) 367 2432.

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