GAID Introduction 2
Message from Mr Ban Ki-Moon
United Nations Secretary-General
central role to play in the quest for development, dignity
and peace. The international consensus on this point is
clear. We saw it at the 2000 Millennium Summit and at the
2005 World Summit. And we saw it in the two phases of
the World Summit on the Information Society.
With the launch of the Global Alliance for ICT and
Development last March 2006, the international
community has taken that consensus a crucial step further.
The Alliance is well placed to promote the use of ICT in
fighting poverty, illiteracy and disease, in protecting the
environment and empowering women and girls.
It is important that you work as a true partnership of all
essential stakeholders Governments, civil society, the
private sector, academia and others. All of you are needed
GAID Introduction 3
Millennium Summit [Sept 2000]
- Adopted MDGs: poverty; health; education; HIVAIDS; gender; environment; global
partnerships
- ICT as enabler of development
- Attended by 153 world leaders
World Development Summit [Sept 2005]
- Reaffirmed MDGs
- Adopted broad UN Development Agenda with emphasis on ICT4D as a strategic tool
for achieving MDGs
- Attended by 191 world leaders
World Summit on the Information Society [Geneva 2003 & Tunis 2005]- Established broad policy consensus on the principles of Information Society
- Placed the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) at the centre of
open & inclusive vision for Information Society
- Established clear goals for ICT4D e.g. Connecting schools, universities, libraries,
hospitals, etc.
- Call for multi-stakeholder partnership at global, regional, national & local levels
- Attended by 18,000 participants
Foundations of GAID
GAID Introduction 4
An inclusive global forum and
platform for cross-sectoral policy dialogue
and advocacy promoting the use of ICT
for the achievement of the internationally
agreed development goals
The Mission of GAID
GAID Introduction 5
GAID seeks to contribute to:
Mainstreaming the global ICT agenda into the broader United
Nations development agenda
Bringing together key organizations involved in ICT for
development (ICT4D) to enhance their collaboration and
effectiveness for achieving the internationally agreed development
goals
Raising awareness of policy makers on ICT4D policy issues
Facilitating identification of technological solutions for specific
development goals and launching of pertinent partnerships
Promoting creation of an enabling environment and innovative
business models for pro-poor investment and growth and for
empowering people living in poverty
Providing the Secretary-General with advice on ICT4D related
issues
GAID Introduction 6
We offer…
• Access to distinguished network of common-interest parties
• Cross-sectoral policy and partnership dialogue
• Solution partnering possibilities on different levels
• Assistance in funding mobilization and other support thru partnership
………and more
GAID Introduction 7
Our Partners Are …….
- Governments / Member States
- Enterprises / Corporations
- Civil Society
- Academia
- Non-Governmental Organizations
- Community-Based Organizations
- ICT4D Practitioners
- Policy, Technology & Innovation Drivers
- UN System Organizations
GAID Introduction
GAID’s Structure
Steering Committee
Roles:
Provides executive
direction & priority
setting
Reviews business plan
and periodic progress
reports
Members:
20 members representing
main stakeholder groups
Mr. Talal Abu-Ghazaleh
(Chairman)
Mr. Kamram Elahian &
Mr. Ramón A. Garza (Co-
Chairs)
Strategy Council
Roles:
Development of action
oriented policy platform
Awareness raising &
advocacy campaigns
Members:
74 members composed of
government, civil society,
and international
organization representatives
High Level Advisors
Roles:
Contribute to research
& development
Help advance relevant
theories on ICT4D
Champions Network
Roles:
Experts, activists &
practitioners
-
of information through
experience in ICT use
Regional Networks
Role:
Open & inclusive to
reflect the regional
perspective & specific
needs
Thematic Networks
Flagship Partnership
Initiatives
Communities of
Expertise
Partnerships for
Advocacy
* GAID’s patron-in-chief is the UN SG
* GAID reports thru the SG to the ECOSOC
GAID Introduction 9
Thematic Areas
The Inaugural meeting of the Alliance in Kuala Lumpur in June 2006
agreed that the Alliance will initially focus on the use of ICT in
promoting the following four broad areas:
1. Education
2. Health
3. Entrepreneurship
4. Governance
Activity within these areas will take place predominantly via Flagship
Partnership Initiatives, Communities of Expertise, Stakeholder
Networks, and Regional Networks
GAID Introduction 10
Telecentre.org
– Increasing local capacity and providing access to e-learning, training and skills
development, local content generation, e-government and other relevant services to
the local community
Cyber Development Corp
– Promoting the establishment of a global outreach programme based on the spirit of
volunteerism to help lesser-developed nations and communities benefit from global
information and communication technologies, infrastructure and resources
Connect the World
– Supporting efforts to consolidate and scale-up existing development activities and
stimulate new partnerships with an aim to accelerate and strengthen efforts to bridge
the digital divide
Flagship Partnership Initiatives
FPIs aim is to leverage joint resources and to spur visible action across the
four GAID focus areas to produce concrete and measurable deliverables.
The seven established so far are:
GAID Introduction 11
FPIs continued:
Global Initiative for Inclusive Information & Communications
Technologies (G3ICT)
– Advocating ICT solutions for people with disabilities and accelerating the
development of affordable solutions worldwide
Open-Training Platform
– Using ICT to better serve local people through free training courses of knowledge
and skills needed for improving living conditions and poverty reduction
e-Content and Creativity
– Selecting and promoting rich local contents and innovative applications to narrow
the global content gap, emphasizing the importance of good quality contents and
innovative applications to achieve core development goals
United Nations Global Knowledge Repository for Electronic/Mobile
Government (EMGKR)
– Researching concepts, approaches, including challenges and barriers to
electronic/mobile governments
GAID Introduction 12
CoEs are thematic groups established by a mandate from the
Steering Committee to carry out a well-defined, specific task or
tasks, within one or more focus areas of the Alliance.
Fifteen of these communities have been established from the four
GAID thematic areas and in the cross-cutting areas of gender,
youth, content, rural development, and access and connectivity.
Communities of Expertise
(1) E-governance for Development
(2) E-services for development
(3) Information & Communication Technologies for Peace
(4) ICT competencies for teachers
(5) Enhancing access to & application of scientific data in developing countries
(6) ICT for education
(7) ICT integration and pedagogical engineering
(8) ICT for country health strategies
(9) E-agriculture
(10) Gender, development and information society policies
(11) International Taskforce on Women & ICT
(12) Youth social technopreneurship
(13) e-Content and Creativity -- World Summit Award and Network
(14)
(15) Wire for Development (W4D)
GAID Introduction 13
Stakeholder Networks
Stakeholder networks build on
existing groups and generate
new synergies among
constituents with shared
interests. The Alliance will reach
out to maximize participation by
all interested entities, extend the
outreach of the GAID and
promote channels for smooth
communications and
collaboration.
Following are the stakeholder
networks formed under the
umbrella of the Global Alliance:
Civil society CONGO
Youth ATHGO International, Taking IT Global,
Paradigm Initiative Nigeria, Suzanne
Mubarak Women’s International Peace
Movement
Gender IT for Change, Centre for Women and
Information Technology, Centre for
Feminist Research and Action
Persons with
disabilities
W2i, Secretariat for the Convention on
the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
(Division for Social Policy and
Development, UN/DESA), IBM
Parliamentarians International Parliamentarians
Association for IT (supported by the
Global Centre for ICT in Parliament,
Rome)
Local government and
regional authoritiesIT 4 All (Bilbao)
Constituency Lead Organization(s)
GAID Introduction 14
Regional Networks
The Regional Networks will ensure the open, inclusive, participatory and truly global character of the Alliance, and the adequate reflection
of regional perspectives and specific needs in the activities of GAID in the four focus areas.
The following have been launched:
- Transitional Countries (2 Oct. 2006, Baku)
- Asia Pacific (19 Oct. 2006, Shanghai)
- Europe (16 Jan. 2007, Dresden)
- Africa (23 Mar. 2007, Addis Ababa)
- Latin America & the Caribbean (Feb. 2008, San Salvador)
- Arab States (Jun. 2009, Damascus)
GAID Introduction 15
• The Regional Arab Network will be the Arabic focal point for GAID
• This launch provides an opportunity for prominent panelists to share cutting-edge
ideas, innovative knowledge, experiences, expertise and best practices in order to
maximize the effectiveness of initiatives to meet the objectives referred to in the
Millennium Declaration
• A Steering Group for the Regional Arab Network will coordinate all relevant
activities and to encourage mutually beneficial communication between all
stakeholders
• Areas of focus: poverty reduction and education
Hessa Sultan Al-Jaber, Secretary-General, Supreme Council of ICT
Abdulrahman A. Mazi, Managing Director, National Information Systems Co.
Ahmed El-Sherbini, Deputy Minister for International Affairs, Ministry of Communication & Information Technology
Farouk Kamoun, Director of Research Laboratory, National Institute for Informatics
Mohamed Bachir Al Mounajed, Chairman, Softcad Company
Nasser Khalaf, Director-General, National Information Technology Center
Ali Shraydeh, Director-General, Central Agency for Information Technology
Yousef Nusseir, Chief, Information and Communication Technology Division
GAID in
the Arab Region
Steering Group Members:
GAID Introduction 16
Outreach Activities
GAID pursues a three-pronged awareness-raising
and outreach programme to:
1. Influence policy at international, regional, national and local
levels, promoting an enabling environment for the effective use
of ICT to stimulate or accelerate economic and social
development
2. Strengthen capacity of policy- and decision-makers to formulate
effective and sustainable ICTD policy
3. Build brand recognition among all relevant stakeholder groups;
promote awareness of its mission, objectives and role in the
follow-up to WSIS; and attract contribution and participation.
GAID Introduction 17
Progress
•Connect Africa initiative in
Rwanda where stakeholders
invested more than $55 million
•GAID Global Forum on Youth
and ICT for Development in
Geneva
• “UN Meets Silicon Valley”
•First FPIs
Regional Networks for
transitional countries, Asia
Pacific, Europe, and Africa
Two books: The Foundations of
the Global Alliance for ICT &
Development and Our Common
Humanity in the Information Age
11th session of the Commission on
Science and Technology for Development
(CSTD), “Panel discussion on ICT for
development — Programmes and
Strategies in the Developing World”, on 28
May 2008 in Geneva
First ever United Nations Private Sector
Forum in New York
GAID Regional Network for Latin America
& the Caribbean
• Global Forum for Innovation and
Education for Development in Yerevan,
Armenia, gathering over 300 young people
who designed cutting-edge ICT solutions
• “United Nations Meets Web 2.0 — New
Media, New Entrepreneurs and New ICT
Opportunities in Emerging Markets” event
in Silicon Valley
• Launch of redesigned website and online
social network
• In March, UN Headquarters in
New York announced launch of
“Center for Women and
Technology in Arab Region”,
aiming to empower women and
girls to take leadership roles as
full-fledge entrepreneurs and
innovators in the ICT sector
• CSTD Panel on Mobile
Technology in Global Public
Health, 26 May 2009
• New membership in Steering
Committee and Strategy
Council
• In June, Regional Network for
Arab States
2007 2008 2009
GAID Introduction 18
Future Endeavors
ECOSOC Ministerial Roundtable Breakfast, Digital Health &
Development in Africa: Role of Public and Private Partnerships, 7 July
2009
Special event on Africa and least developed countries - Topic:
Partnership & Health, 8 July 2009
Global Forum of Local and Regional Authorities, October 2009
GAID Global Forum: ICT and Innovation for Education, Monterrey,
Mexico, September 2009
9th CIVICUS World Assembly, Montreal 2010
GAID Introduction 19
• Poverty Eradication and Financial Crisis Agenda
• Climate Change
• Gender Equality
• Health & Education
• Governance
Future Endeavors
New Areas of Focus
GAID Introduction 22
GAID is a network of networks open to all interested stakeholders.
The global challenges of poverty, illiteracy, disease, and environment can be
met if we all join hands in a common struggle.
The world has to achieve clear targets to improve human wellbeing by 2015.
The challenge is great, but the opportunity is even greater.
We can do this together.
GAID Introduction 23
For further information please contact
Secretariat of The Global Alliance for ICT and Development
One UN Plaza
Room DC1-1464
New York, NY 10017
Tel: +1.212.963.5796
Fax: +1.917.367.4340
Web: www.un-gaid.org
Email: [email protected]