The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (UN-ESCWA) is organizing this workshop within the framework of the Development Account project on "Knowledge networks through ICT access points for disadvantaged communities," which is being implemented by the United Nations Regional Commissions with UN-ESCWA as the lead organization on its implementation. The main objective of this project is to empower disadvantaged communities by transforming selected ICT access points/telecentres into networked knowledge hubs. Project activities that have already taken place include: (a) Review and assessment of ICT access points; (b) Development of a detailed implementation plan; (c) Selection of ICT access points and planning project activities; (d) Preparation of regional and global strategies on the transformation and networking process; and (e) Preliminary design for the creation and implementation of a knowledge network portal.
This workshop, entitled Telecentre Leaders Forum is jointly organized by UN-ESCWA, Telecentre.org, World Links Arab, the Egypt ICT Trust Fund and the Jordanian Ministry of Information and Communications Technology.
The main objectives of the workshop/forum are:
(a) To convene telecentre practitioners, network leaders and support organisations in order to build functional relationships that will lead to the foundation of new or the strengthening of existing telecentre networks;
(b) To share and highlight individual telecentre activities and experiences that may be beneficial to other telecentres;
(c) To introduce participants to the ESCWA Regional Knowledge Portal as well as to similar online knowledge sharing tools that were developed by event partners; and
(d) To address the sustainability challenges of individual telecentres and of knowledge networks.
The workshop will include presentations, panel discussions and hands-on training sessions. It will cover the following:
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An introduction to the ideas, concepts, aims and objectives of the KN4DC project and of the "Regional Knowledge Strategy" that was developed by ESCWA to ensure the sustainability of the project, mainly targeting participants who did not attend past KN4DC meetings and workshops;
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The various features of the Regional Knowledge Portal that has been recently developed by and is being hosted at ESCWA;
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Online sharing tools and mechanisms that help with the transformation of telecentres into networked knowledge hubs;
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Recent activities of participating telecentres that are relevant to the work and activities of telecentre communities and to knowledge networks at large;
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The challenges of and suggested solutions for the sustainability of telecentres and knowledge networks.
The two-day workshop will be held on 15 and 16 July 2009 at the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology, Amman, Jordan.
Enquiries and requests for additional information should be addressed to:
Mansour Farah (farah14@un.org), ICT Policies Team Leader, ICT Division, UN-ESCWA, PO Box 11-8575, Beirut, Lebanon, T +961-1-978538, F +961-1-981510
Marc Khayat (khayat@un.org), Research Assistant, ICT Division, UN-ESCWA, UN-ESCWA, PO Box 11-8575, Beirut, Lebanon, T +961-1-978543, F +961-1-981510
League of Arab States, Cairo, Egypt
