PRESS CONFERENCE ON WIRELESS INTERNET INITIATIVES

PRESS CONFERENCE ON WIRELESS INTERNET INITIATIVES

In an effort to extend Internet connectivity to underserved populations around the world in support of Millennium Development Goals and the Declaration of Principles adopted at the World Summit on the Information Society, representatives of the United Nations and private sector organizations announced at a Headquarters press conference this morning a series of programmes to accelerate the adoption of broadband wireless technology in the developing world.

Presenting the initiative were Executive Coordinator of the United Nations Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Task Force, Sarbuland Khan; Executive Director of the Wireless Internet Institute, Daniel Aghion; Director of marketing for Intel Corporation’s Wireless Networking Group, Julie Coppernoll; General Manager of Global Wireless e-Business, IBM, Scott T. Stainken; Executive Director of the United Nations Institute for Training and Research, Marcel Boisard; and Executive Director of the United Nations Fund for International Partnerships, Amir A. Dossal. 

The speakers recalled that the new ambitious, one-of-a-kind programme had been developed in follow-up to the June 2003 conference on wireless Internet opportunities for developing countries, which had been organized by the United Nations ICT Task Force and Wireless Internet Institute.  Last December, a book on wireless Internet opportunities for developing countries had been released at the World Summit on the Information Society in Geneva.  In his introduction to that publication, the Secretary-General had written:  “Indeed, it is precisely in places where no infrastructure exists that Wi-Fi can be particularly effective, helping countries to leapfrog generations of telecommunications technology and infrastructure to empower their people.”

The “Wireless Internet for Underserved Populations and Local Communities” programme had been designed to achieve one of the leading development goals of our time –- universal connectivity.  The initiative involves all key stakeholders, from government and civil society to the private sector and field practitioners.  Among global partners participating in the programme, are IBM, Intel, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), the United Nations Fund for International Partnerships, the European Commission, the World Bank and regional and local professional organizations. 

Speakers emphasized that wireless Internet had the potential to bridge the digital divide by providing low-cost broadband Internet connectivity to underserved areas and communities.  Advanced wireless technologies could be used efficiently and cost-effectively to help foster economic development and productivity and deliver social services to the population. 

Planned within the framework of the programme are over 15 conferences, seminars and interactive workshops for Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East, which have been designed to help policy makers, development experts, field practitioners, service providers and user organizations to explore the use of broadband wireless Internet technologies in their countries and communities.  Emphasized in that respect are training and capacity-building, as well as cooperation at international and local levels and public-private partnerships.

Participants of the briefing outlined activities in four areas –- to be overseen by a multinational, multidisciplinary advisory board -- to complete the agenda of “Wireless Internet for Underserved Populations and Local Communities” programme in time for the second WSIS summit in Tunis in 2005.  They include:  national regulator capacity-building; global wireless Internet and local authorities; wireless Internet and the Arab World; and wireless Internet and the African Continent.  The four areas will address the issues of needs and application identification, policy and regulatory framework development, backbone availability, demand aggregation and infrastructure funding. 

The speakers also envisioned development of Web-based resources and publication of books and reports to raise awareness of the potential Wi-Fi and related technologies as development tools for underserved populations in developing nations.

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