Seminar on security in information technology to be held on 19 November

A high-level seminar on policy awareness and security issues in information technology will be held in the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Chamber on Friday, 19 November, from 9:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

The seminar will focus on the application of ICTs in the area of health in rural and developing areas.  It will also tackle digital security issues arising from internal threats, and the help offered by tools such as digital forensic.

The event is part of the series on “Policy Awareness and Training in Information Technology,” now in its third year, organized by the United Nations Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) Task Force and the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR).

Ambassador Ahmad Kamal, Chairman of the series of seminars, will deliver opening remarks, followed by ECOSOC President Marjatta Rasi, Marta Maurás, Office of the Deputy Secretary General, Navid Hanif, Office of ECOSOC Support and Coordination, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, and Sharon Silverman, Intel Corporation, Inc.

Presenters in the seminar include Eduardo Gelbstein, Special Fellow at UNITAR, Paul Meyer of VOXIVA, and Takeshi Utsumi, Founder and Vice President for Technology and Coordination of Global University System (GUS).

The series of seminars is presented under the auspices of the ECOSOC Ad-Hoc Open-Ended Working Group on Informatics with the support of Intel Corporation.  The programme is aimed primarily at ambassadors and other diplomats to the United Nations in New York.  It seeks to enable diplomats to acquire specific computer skills and be exposed to workings of the Internet; to raise awareness and understanding of policy and security issues related to the information society; and to provide input in preparation for the second phase of the World Summit for Information Society, to be held in Tunis in November 2005.

Contact:  Enrica Murmura or Robert de Jesus, United Nations ICT Task Force Secretariat, tel.:  (212) 963-5913, or Humaira Kamal, UNITAR Special Fellow, tel.:  (480) 361-3672.  Website address:  www.unicttaskforce.org.

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