infoDev, in partnership with UNESCO, is sponsoring consultative 'kick-off' meetings on May 21, Geneva, for an initiative exploring issues related to the introduction of low-cost ICT devices in the education sector in developing countries, which will occur alongside the follow-up meeting for the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in Geneva.
These meetings are designed to request input in designing a series of activities (sponsored research, capacity building and outreach, needs assessments) to help build consensus around common sets of practical issues and challenges to help aid work by many organizations.
The purpose of these meetings are three-fold:
- To gather together leading thinkers and representatives from various public, private and civil society organizations to establish a 'community of practice' for knowledge sharing among individuals, organizations and governments wrestling with issues related to the emergence of 'low cost ICT devices', many of them developed for and/or marketed to the education sector.
- To propose and provide guidance on an analytical program exploring issues (e.g. evaluation, implementation issues, technology choices, pilots) of common interest to multiple organizations. Parts of this research program would be funded by infoDev, parts by other partner organizations.
- To seek public input from organizations that have a stake or are involved in the use of ICT devices in Education.
Additional consultations, both face-to-face and on-line, will occur in other venues in the coming months.
If you are interested in participating in this meeting, please register through the ITU web site at http://www.itu.int/cgi-bin/htsh/edrs/ITU-SG/edrs21/edrs.registration.form.
Live Streaming
To connect live to the discussion, please click on the link below:
http://www.itu.int/ibs/WSIS/200805cluster/index.html