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Background
The financing of information and communications technologies (ICTs) for development is an important area to address in the context promoting a more inclusive global information society. Wider diffusion and better use of ICTs can help to achieve more effectively the goals outlined in the Millennium Declaration.
The WSIS Tunis Agenda for the Information Society (November 2005) recognizes the scale of the challenge in bridging the digital divide, which will require adequate and sustainable investments in ICT infrastructure and services, and capacity building, and transfer of technology over many years to come. There is a continuous need to evaluate how existing as well as new financial mechanisms can support greater access and use of ICTs in developing countries. Following a recommendation by the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), UNGIS is pleased to announce that Open Consultations on Financial Mechanisms for Meeting the Challenges of ICT for Development will take place from 8-9 October 2009 in Geneva, Switzerland.
Objectives
These Open Consultations will offer a unique opportunity to review progress, share views and discuss new approaches at the national, regional and international level to the financing of ICTs for development. It will give the possibility to develop a better understanding on the need for future actions to respond to the part B of the Tunis Agenda. The meeting is intended to serve as a platform for information exchange, creation of knowledge, sharing of best practices and building partnerships.
Click here to see the draft report of the meeting
Download Audio Recordings from the Open Consultations
First Session - Opening Ceremony
2nd Session - Existing Financial Mechanisms and Issues at Stake (Part One)
3rd Session - Existing Financial Mechanisms and Issues at Stake (Part Two)
4th Session - Financing backbone infrastructure (national, regional, international) and universal access to ICTs
5th Session - Financing applications and content
6th Session - Financing for capacity-building (skills, institutions, regulatory framework)
7th Session - Other dimensions of financial mechanisms
8th Session - Open discussion
Draft Meeting Agenda
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Thursday, 8 October 2009
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9:00 – 10:30
Room K
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Opening Ceremony
Link to WSIS; Issues at stake; Overview of the main existing financial mechanisms; Expected outcome of the consultations
Ø Dr Hamadoun Toure, ITU Secretary General

Ø Mr. Petko Draganov, Deputy Secretary General of UNCTAD

Ø H.E. Basem Rousan, Minister, Ministry of Information and
Communications Technology (MoICT), Hashemite Kingdom of
Jordan

Ø H.E. Dr. Hoda Baraka, First Deputy to the Minister, Minister
of Communications and Information Technology, Egypt

Ø Mr Montassar Ouaili, CEO, Tunisie Telecom, Tunisia
(ar) 
Ø H.E. Andrzej Sados, Minister, Permanent Mission of the
Republic of Poland to the United Nations Office and other
International Organizations in Geneva

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10:30-11:00
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Coffee Break
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11:00 – 12:30
Room K
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Existing Financial Mechanisms and Issues at Stake (Part One)
Current financing mechanisms; How can existing mechanisms be enhanced?; Need for new mechanisms?; Role of various stakeholders (private/public; national/regional/international)
Address: Sami Al-Basheer Al Morshid, Director of the ITU Telecommunication Development Bureau
Moderator: Dr. Yuri Grin, Deputy to the Director of the ITU Telecommunication Development bureau
Ø Heather Thorne, Strategy and Business Operations Manager,
Grameen Foundation
A Framework for Sustainability in ICT for Development
Initiatives

Ø Doyle Gallegos, Lead ICT Policy Specialist and Telecoms
Practice Leader at the World Bank Financing ICT for Development

Ø Rafael Fuentes, ICT Agenda Coordinator, Analysis and
Programming Department, Corporacion Andina de Foment,
Caracas, Venezuela, CAF
Innovation in Infrastructures: A business proposal to benefit
us all

Ø Mitchell Strauss, Special Advisor to the President, OPIC,
USA
OPIC’s capability, efficiency and effectiveness in promoting
ICT related projects
Ø Patrick Kalas, SDC, on behalf of Global Knowledge
Partnership (GKP)
ØTomasz Janowski, United Nations University
Conversations on the World Financial and Economic Crisis -
Impact and Opportunities for ICT

Ø Open floor for comments and other contributions
Ø Oral contribution:
H.E. Mr. Martin Ihoeghian Uhomoibhi, Ambassador
Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Permanent Representative,
Permanent Mission of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to the United
Nations Office and other International Organizations in Geneva
Ø Relevant written contributions
Ø OECD/InfoDev
Draft Report from the Workshop on Policy Coherence in the
Application of Information and Communication Technologies
for Development
Background Paper on the Role of Competition in the Access
to ICTs

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12:30 – 14:30
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Lunch
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14:30 – 16:00
Room B
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Existing Financial Mechanisms and Issues at Stake (Part Two)
Current financing mechanisms; How can existing mechanisms be enhanced?; Need for new mechanisms?; Role of various stakeholders (private/public; national/regional/international)
Moderator: Anne Miroux, Director, Division on Technology and Logistics, UNCTAD
Ø Henry Chasia, Executive Deputy Chairperson, NEPAD e-
Africa Commission

Ø Bashir Patel, Director of Programme and Business
Development, Commonwealth Telecommunications
Organisation (CTO)
Funding Schemes in Some of Key Member Countries

Ø Yousef Nusseir, Chief of Information and Communication
Technologies Division, ESCWA
Financing the Implementation of WSIS Outcomes in the
ESCWA Region

Ø Open floor for comments and other contributions
Ø Relevant written contributions
Ø Towa Koh Michel, Coordonnateur National ACSIS
Cameroun, Directeur Fondateur du C.F.T.I.
De la Gouvernance et de la Solidarite Internationale
(fr) 
Ø Rami Adel Abou Shadi, Administrative And Finance
Coordinator, Communication and Information Technology
Center (CITC) - Mansoura University, Egypt
ICT between financial and planning strategies in developing
countries

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16:00 – 16:30
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Coffee Break
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16:30 – 18:00
Room B
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Financing backbone infrastructure (national, regional, international) and universal access to ICTs
Current financing mechanisms; How can existing mechanisms be enhanced?; Need for new mechanisms?; Role of various stakeholders (private/public; national/regional/international)
Moderator: Emamgholi Behdad, Chief of Projects and Initiatives Department, ITU
Ø Moctar Yedaly, Head of Telecommunications and Posts
Division, African Union Commission (AUC)
The AU Reference Framework for Harmonization of policies
and Regulations

Ø Robindhra Mangtani, Senior Director, GSM Association
Universal access: Mobile voice, data, broadband for all

Ø Hasanul Haq Inu, Member if Parliament, Bangladesh
TheFinancing challenges for development of ICT: The case
of Digital Bangladesh

Ø David Souter, on behalf of the Association for Progressive
Communications Regional Backbone Infrastructure & Broadband
Capacity / Universal Access Funds and Universal Service
Obligations

Ø John N. Kariuki, Communications Technology Expert,
Ministry of Information and Communications, NAIROBI
Financial Mechanisms for Meeting the Challenges of ICT for
Development

Ø Open floor for comments and other contributions
Ø Relevant written contributions
SeaCom
The Seacom Story

Ø Sola Afolabi, Director, Community Computer Centre, Office of
the Vice President, ECOWAS Commissin
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Friday, 9 October 2009
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9:00 – 10:30
Room K
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Financing applications and content
Current financing mechanisms; How can existing mechanisms be enhanced?; Need for new mechanisms?; Role of various stakeholders (private/public; national/regional/international)
Moderator: Makane Faye, Senior Regional Advisor, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA)
Ø Randi Ramusack, United Nations Technology Officer,
Microsoft Corporation
Partners for technology access: Creative financing solutions
for ICT4D

Ø Maui Sanford, President; Pacific Islands
Telecommunications Association (PITA).
Approaches to partnerships and consolidation; overcoming
the special issues of the small islands developing states

Ø Laura Garcia Vitoria, Directrice scientifique de la Fondation
des Territoires de Demain, France
Pour un développement basé sur l’innovation: le Living Lab
des Territoires de Demain et l’invention de cadres et modèles
innovants pour l’application des TIC au développement.
(es) (fr) (fr)
Ø Open floor for comments and other contributions
Ø Relevant written contributions
Ø Francis F. Muguet, NET4D, Switzerland; The Global
Patronage
A worldwide inclusive financing mechanism for Digital
Works / Free Software Fund for Digital Solidarities (FSFDS)
FSFDS.org
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10:30 – 11:00
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Coffee Break
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11:00 – 12:30
Room K
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Financing for capacity-building (skills, institutions, regulatory framework)
Current financing mechanisms; How can existing mechanisms be enhanced?; Need for new mechanisms?; Role of various stakeholders (private/public; national/regional/international)
Moderator: Cedric Wachholz, Coordinator for the World Summit on the Information Society, UNESCO
Ø Makhtar Fall, Head, Regulatory and Market Environment
Division, ITU
Building capacity to address financial mechanisms
Ø Ilari Lindy, Advisor, Information Society for Development,
Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland
The role of bilateral donors in supporting capacity-building in
the area of ICT

Ø Dr. Dong Ju Choi, Executive Director, Asia Pacific Women's
Information Network Center (APWINC), Sookmyung Women's
University, Korea
Financing for Capacity-building -Public-Private Partnership
(PPP) case of APWINC

Ø Dr. Francois Ullmann, President of "Ingenieurs du Monde"
Pour la prise en considération des biens immatériels
(fr) 
Ø Open floor for comments and other contributions
Ø Relevant written contributions
Ø Portugal, Ministry of Public Works, Transport and
Communications
Fostering Information Technology for all: State investment on
capacity building for younger generations and financial
mechanism and associated measures to stimulate investment
in NGN

Ø Md Shahid Uddin Akbar, Chief Executive Officer,
Bangladesh
Institute of ICT in Development (BIID)
Creating a new Financing mechanism for Capacity Building
through facilitating establishment of Centre of Excellence at
country level to strengthen the building of capacity, skills and
institutions on ICT

Ø International Taskforce for Women and ICTs (ITF),
Contribution

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12:30 – 14:30
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Lunch
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14:30 – 15:30
Room K
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Other dimensions of financial mechanisms
Emerging challenges; New developments
Moderator: Jaroslaw Ponder, Strategy and Policy Coordinator, ITU
Ø Alawia Alhamadabi, Head of Foreign Affairs, National
Information Center of Sudan
Sudan National Information Society Strategy

Ø Valeria Jordan, Coordinator of the E-Digital Inclusion
Component of ICT Projects, from the Area of Innovation and
Innovation and ICT of the Division of Production, Productivity
and Management, ECLAC
Emerging challenges: the Latin America and the Caribbean
perspective

Ø Katharina Kummer Peiry, Executive Secretary, Secretariat
of the Basel Convention
Financing ICT for Development - The Reverse Side of the Coin

Ø Open floor for comments and other contributions
Ø Relevant written contributions
Ø Dr Timothy Barker, DIYNGO
Searching for the Ghost in the Capitalist Machine: The
Utilisation of Financial Mechanisms to Fund Information
Communication Technologies for Development

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15:30 – 17:00
Room K
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Open discussion
Main conclusions; Best practices; Next steps
Moderator: ITU, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNECA
Ø David Townsend
Ø Swiss Administration (TBC)
Ø Open floor for comments, other contributions and conclusions
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17:00
Room K
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Closing ceremony
Ø ITU, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNECA
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Click here to see the list of participants
This Open Consultation will have multi-stakeholder character and is open to all WSIS Stakeholders:
- Governments
- Development Agences
- Development Banks
- International Organizations
- Civil Socity
- Foundations
- Research Institutions
- Private Sector
- Miscellenous
Call for Contributions
UNGIS invites representatives from government, international organizations, civil society and the private sector to take a pro-active role by submitting written contributions in electronic format to: contact@ungis.org no later than 30 September 2009.
Whether participating in the meeting or not, UNGIS encourages all interested stakeholders to submit written contributions by 20 September 2009. All submissions will be posted on a website dedicated to the Open Consultations at www.ungis.org, and reflected in the meeting’s summary to be prepared by the UNGIS secretariat. If you are interested in taking an active role in the Open Consultations meeting (as a keynote speaker, panelist etc.) you are kindly invited to contact the UNGIS secretariat at your earliest convenience.
Contributions are welcome on, but are not limited to, the following:
- Policy frameworks and implementation strategies relating to the financing of ICT
- Financing backbone infrastructure (national and international)
- Financing effective (universal) access to ICTs
- Financing the development of relevant applications and content
- Financing to strengthen the building of capacity, skills and institutions
- The role of global, regional and national resources and financial mechanisms
- Innovative models of financing ICT
- Role of the public and the private sector as well as combinations thereof
This list of topics shall stimulate contributions. Other suggestions are welcome.
For more information on the Open Consultations or other UNGIS activities please contact the UNGIS Secretariat at contact@ungis.org
1. When and where?
The Open Consultations on Financial Mechanisms for Meeting the Challenges of ICT for Development will take place from 8-9 October 2009 in Palexpo, Geneva, Switzerland.
2. How to get there?
Geneva Palexpo is located 10 minutes from Geneva’s city centre. Served directly by international airport, international railway station, motorway network. For more location information, please visit Palexpo website: http://www.geneva-palexpo.ch/en/Situation/index.php.
3. How to register?
In case you are still not registered, please click here and register as soon as possible. Please note that registration is compulsory for all participants of the meeting. Representatives of the International Organizations and Permanent Missions from Geneva are also required to register to the meeting and collect the UNGIS badge in order to attend the meeting.
Please note that the online registration system will be closed by 6 October. Based on the registration each participant will receive UNGIS badge, giving access to the meeting room and TELECOM exhibition.
4. How to get your badge?
Your badge will be available in the Forum Delegates Registration on 8 and 9 October 2009. Look for No 1 at the Registration Plan, available here.
Please note that the Registration Desk of the UNGIS Open Consultations will be open from 8:00 to 18:00. Taking into account the significant number of participants registered to the meeting so far we encourage you to plan your arrival to the venue well in advance prior to the meeting in order to get your badge on time.
We would like to request you to remember about taking with you your ID as well as hard copy of confirmation message you had received from the registration system.
5. How to follow agenda of the meeting?
Please note that the final agenda of the meeting as well as relevant materials will be made available at the UNGIS website (www.ungis.org) shortly.
6. Find accommodation
Are there any examples of new, innovative or multi-stakeholder mechanisms to promote opportunity, and what should be their role?
7. More information on Geneva
- City guide
City of Geneva - official website link
- Maps
Interactive map from city of Geneva: official website link
Street search map of Geneva link
Printable map of Geneva link
Download maps of Geneva city and Canton of Geneva link
- Transportation
Bus system, Transport Public Geneva link
Geneva International Airport link
- Weather
Weather conditions today and five day forecast link
Weather map and 10 day forecast link
8. Meeting's language
Meeting will be held in English. Please note that only for the Opening Ceremony, English / French interpretation will be provided.
For more information on the Open Consultations or other UNGIS activities please contact the UNGIS Secretariat at contact@ungis.org
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