digital divide

Details of the Second Dialogue in the Women's Dialogue series about women in political leadership have been been announced. This two hour dialogue, taking place on February 25, 2009, will feature an interview with Former President of Ireland (1990 - 1997) and United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (1997 - 2002) Mary Robinson, followed by a discussion with a worldwide audience on closing the political gender gap and on ways to empower and prepare the next generation of women leaders. It will link through videoconference participating live audiences in Jordan, Kenya, Lithuania and Ghana. Recommendations from this and the other Virtual Dialogues in the series will feed into a major international conference hosted by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf - The International Colloquium for Women's Empowerment, Leadership Development, International Peace & Security Conference to be held on March 7 ­ 8 in Monrovia, Liberia.More information about the series is available from the Virtual Dialogues site http://www.womensdialogue.org. More information about the Colloquium is available from the Colloquium site http://www.womenscolloquium.org.

Watch the live stream on Wednesday 25 February 2009 at 11.30 - 13.30 EST US Eastern Time (check your time) on http://vcg01.worldbank.org/vc/. Please note that the conference will only appear at the top as soon as the conference starts. Meanwhile you can test your streaming by visiting one of the recorded public conferences mentioned on that same page.

The first Dialogue in the series, Uncovering Barriers to Women’s Political Leadership: Virtual Dialogues Leading to the International Colloquium for Women's Empowerment took place on Thursday 22 January.

This Dialogue featuring an interview with President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Africa's first democratically elected female president, pictured here during the Dialogue. More than 100 people took part from locations in Liberia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Egypt, Sierra Leone and Tanzania. Using facilities provided by the GDLN network, this event used both videoconferencing and live streaming to connect the sites. Participants included the Minister of Women Empowerment of the Republic of Indonesia, Prof. Dr. Meutia Hatta Swasono and Minister for Industries, Trade and Marketing in Tanzania, Hon. Mary Nagu.

More information about these Dialogues is available on the Virtual Dialogues web site.

The Virtual Dialogues Secretariat announced today that the Minister of Women Empowerment of the Republic of Indonesia, Prof. Dr. Meutia Hatta Swasono,will join the first Virtual Dialogue taking place on Thursday 22 January. Dr Swasono will provide a summary of this virtual discussion on Women in Leadership which links sites in Cairo, Dar-es-Salaam,Colombo, Moldovia and of course Jakarta where she will be located.

At the heart of this Dialogue will be an interview with President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Africa’s first female President and it will include local discussions as well as an open moderated discussion with President Johnson-Sirleaf linking participants in all sites. Visit the Virtual Dialogues web site for more information.

Mathy Vanbuel described his experience in the provision of educational services to remote schools in Europe in a keynote presentation given on 15th May during an International Conference held in Athens. This conference called "Bridging the Digital Divide in Rural Communities; Practical Solutions and Policies'' brought together project leaders of several pioneering projects many of which are using the latest developments in satellite technology to provide solutions for remote and rural school communities in Europe and elsewhere. Organised in the Ellinogermaniki School in Pallini, this event brought together policy makers, academics and field practitioners from Europe and beyond who share an interest in promoting the use of ICT by rural citizens of all ages. See the Conference web site for more information.

ATiT staff recently supported the 2nd African ICT Best Practices Forum held in Ouagadougou,Burkina Faso from 21-23 April. The objective of the event, which took place over 3 days, was to provide a practical way for government officials from across Africa to share their own specific experiences and demonstrate practical examples of successful technology solutions in their respective countries, ultimately to replicate them elsewhere. This Forum attracted about 320 delegates from 39 countries represented, for more information, visit the Forum web site at http://www.africanictbestpractices.net

In this report, Prof Patrick Cohendet explains how the diffusion of ICT in society cannot be compared to the classical “passive” pace of diffusion of a given technology such as cars, television or telephone. On the contrary, ICT are not basic products.

Read more on the European Space Agency Telecom website: The Digital Divide in the European enlarged Economic Scenario.