UN ICT Task Force

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The United Nations Information and Communication Technologies Task Force (short: UN ICT TF) was an initiative of the various stakeholders (en: 'multi-stakeholder') associated with the United Nations , adding a global dimension to the multiple efforts to bridge the digital divide give, promote digital opportunities and put ICT at the service of development for all.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan speaks at the 6th meeting of the UN ICT Task Force in New York, March 25, 2004

Foundation and mandate

The UN ICT Task Force was founded by the Secretary General of the United Nations , Kofi Annan , in November 2001 , following a recommendation of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of July 11, 2000. She followed in the footsteps of the Global Digital Divide Initiative (GDDI) of the World Economic Forum (WEF) and the Digital Opportunities Task Force (DOT Force), which was founded by the G8 at their annual summit in Okinawa , Japan in 2000 . By creating a home for the UN ICT TF within the framework of the United Nations, it received a broader legitimation base in the eyes of many developing countries than the previous WEF and G8 initiatives, even if these two initiatives each had a multi-stakeholder approach, with broad participation by interested participants from both industrialized and developing countries. The UN ICT TF initially received a three-year mandate (until the end of 2004), which was extended for a further year. The mandate finally expired at the end of December 2005.

Purpose and goals

The main purpose of the task force was to give governments and international organizations political advice on how to overcome the digital divide. In the words of Kofi Annan :

We expect you to be a source of new ideas, advice to policy makers, and information on the 'best practices' that have proven to work. We expect you to raise awareness, form new partnerships and act as catalysts for change. We expect you to support the World Summit on the Information Society , which will be held in 2003, and to recommend new ways in which the United Nations system itself can make better use of ICTs in its development activities. Most of all, however, we expect you to help create digital bridges for the billions of people trapped in extreme poverty, untouched by the digital revolution and out of reach of the global economy.

The aim of the task force was to take on a leading advisory role for the United Nations, to provide support for the formulation of strategies for the development of information and communication technologies, to put these technologies at the service of development aid and on the basis of consultations with All stakeholders and member states to create new strategic partnerships between the United Nations system, private industry and financial funds and foundations, donors, recipient countries and other relevant stakeholders in accordance with relevant United Nations resolutions.

In November 2002 , in his Challenge to Silicon Valley , Kofi Annan called for suitable systems to be created at prices low enough to allow development to take place anywhere, whether through international aid programs, charities or through support in the form of microcredits . This request was followed, but in 2004 few UN programs continued to actively use information and communication technologies in developing countries. The UN Refugee Council ( UNHCR) had a refugee camp in Tanzania where the Global Catalyst Foundation made computers and communication devices available for use by the Burundi refugees who were staying there. The International Telecommunication Union worked with the Kingdom of Bhutan on the Simputer Project.

Membership and organization

The members of the UN ICT Task Force included high-ranking representatives from the global information and communications industry (including Cisco Systems , Hewlett-Packard , IBM , Nokia , SAP , Siemens , Sun Microsystems ) and globally active non-governmental organizations (e.g. APC ), Governments and international organizations. It was coordinated by a multi-stakeholder bureau, assisted by a small secretariat at the UN headquarters in New York. Technical advice was provided by the high-level Panel of Technical Advisors.

Area of ​​responsibility

World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)

The task force was active in the process that led to the World Summit on the Information Society ( WSIS ) in Geneva (December 2003 ) and Tunis (November 2005 ). In order to be able to participate in the second phase of the WSIS, the mandate, which was originally limited to 3 years, was extended by one year. The mandate expired on December 31, 2005. There will be no further extension.

Working groups

The task force members, experts from the Panel of Technical Advisors and other interested parties work in working groups that are organized around four broad topics:

  • ICT Policy and Governance (guidelines for and control of ICT)
  • Enabling Environment (supportive environment)
  • Human Resource Development and Capacity Building (personnel development and creation of capacities)
  • ICT indicators and MDG mapping (ICT indicators and assignment to Millennium Development Goals)

Regional networks

Regional activities were carried out in five regional networks:

  • Africa
  • Latin America and the Caribbean
  • Asia
  • Arabic states
  • Europe and Central Asia

To meet

17.-18. June 2002 : A session of the General Assembly of the United Nations was dedicated to the topic of information and communication technologies for development and addressed the digital divide in the context of globalization and the development process. The session promoted the connection and synergies between different regional and international ICT initiatives. The meeting also contributed to the preparation of the World Summit on the Information Society . Numerous countries were represented by high-ranking representatives from the areas of communication and development.

The task force held ten biannual meetings at different locations, which served as important meeting points for sharing best practices and bringing the various stakeholders together to work on common issues. In the eyes of the participants, the most successful meetings were those held in the context of a series of global forums :

  • 1st meeting: UN headquarters in New York ( USA ) - 19. – 20. November 2001 .
  • 2nd meeting: UN headquarters in New York (USA) - 3rd – 4th February 2002 .
  • 3rd Meeting: UN Headquarters in New York (USA) - September 30th - October 1st, 2002 , with a focus on ICT for development in Africa.
  • 4th meeting: in the Palais des Nations of the UNO in Geneva ( Switzerland ) - 21. – 22. February 2004 , with a private sector forum.
  • 5th meeting: at the WIPO in Geneva (Switzerland) - 12. – 13. September 2003 , for discussion of the Task Force contribution to the WSIS.
  • 6th meeting: UN Headquarters in New York (USA) - 25. – 27. March 2004 , with the Global Forum on Internet Governance .
  • 7th meeting: at the Foreign Office in Berlin ( Germany ) - 18. – 20. November 2004 , with the Global Forum on an Enabling Environment .
  • 8th meeting: in Dublin ( Ireland ) - 13.-15. April 2005 , with the Global Forum on Harnessing the Potential of ICTs in Education .
  • 9th meeting: at the ILO in Geneva, (Switzerland) - October 1st, 2005 .
  • 10th (final) meeting: on the sidelines of the World Summit for the Information Society in Tunis ( Tunisia ) - November 17, 2005 .

In addition, the Global Roundtable Forum on "Innovation and Investment: Scaling Science and Technology to Meet the MDGs" was held in New York on September 13, 2005 . The primary focus of the forum was on the critical role of science, technology and innovation, especially information and communication technologies, in the creation of expandable, down-to-earth, national and global activities to achieve the Millennium Development Goals .

WSIS II in Tunis

Parallel to the stand at the ICT4ALL exhibition, a series of events was held under the leadership of the UN ICT Task Force and some of its members:

Measurement of the information society

The 'Partnership for Measuring ICT for Development' comprises 11 organizations - Eurostat , the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization ( UNESCO ), the United Nations ICT Task Force, the five regional commissions of the United Nations and the World Bank .

Role of Parliaments in the Information Society

Parliamentarians presented their view of the role of national and regional parliaments in creating the information society in a “High-level Dialogue on Governance, Global Citizenship and Technology” on November 16th.

Choosing the right technologies for education

In this workshop, the Global e-School Initiative (GeSCI) presented its Total Cost of Ownership Calculator - a framework for identifying and selecting the right ICTs for schools by evaluating performance, feasibility and costs.

Creating partnerships for the information society

Two high-level round table discussions on November 16 focused on “Regional Perspectives for the Global Information Society” and “Women in the Information Society: Creating a Gender-Neutral Knowledge-Based Economy”.

ICT in the service of the Millennium Development Goals and the UN Development Agenda

This November 17th roundtable focused on how ICT can be used to meet internationally agreed development goals and how to raise awareness of the role of ICT in supporting development.

Achieving higher quality and better cost efficiency in health and education through ICT

This November 17th panel demonstrated the potential of ICT in improving the quality and cost-effectiveness of public key services, with a particular focus on education and healthcare.

Overcoming the digital divide with broadband wireless Internet

This round table discussion on November 17th discussed the critical role of broadband, wireless infrastructure in overcoming the digital divide.

Results

GeSCI

One of the noteworthy outcomes of the UN ICT Task Force was the creation of the Global eSchools and Communities Initiative (GeSCI), a new international non-profit organization in Dublin , Ireland that aims to promote education efforts in schools and communities through the Improve the use of ICT. GeSCI was officially founded at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in Geneva in December 2003.

ePol-Net

Another result of the task force is the Global ePolicy Resource Network (ePol-NET), which was created to support the global efforts of national e-strategies for developing countries. The network provides political decision-makers for ICT in developing countries with information on the development of national regulations and strategies for ICTs. The network was originally proposed by the members of the Digital Opportunities Task Force (DOT Force), who merged their activities with the UN ICT Task Force in 2002. The ePol-Net was also officially founded at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in Geneva in December 2003.

Next Steps

The task force ended on December 31, 2005, but the task of bridging the digital divide is not yet done. The World Summit for the Information Society decided to set up an Internet Governance Forum in order to give the various interest groups the opportunity for a global discussion of topics that affect the regulation of the global resource Internet. The WSIS has also decided on an implementation and follow-up process for which the principles embodied in the multi-stakeholder composition and working method of the UN ICT TF can represent a meaningful model.

Selected documents

Publications

As part of their work, the Task Force and its members have published a series of publications addressing various topics from the work of the Task Force. These books can be purchased or downloaded as PDF:

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Members of the UN ICT Task Force