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First-Ever European Meeting of UN Information and Communication Technologies Task Force to Be Held

19 Feb 2003
The fourth meeting of the United Nations Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) Task Force, to be held on February 21 and 22 in Geneva, will focus on how best to link the ICT efforts by the private sector, civil society, and the United Nations system in furthering ICT-for-development.
 
Held at Geneva's Conference Centre of Varembé, the first-ever ICT Task Force meeting in Europe will focus on the vital roles ICT can play in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), adopted by the world's leaders at the United Nations Millennium Summit of 2000; the Task Force's contribution to the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), to be held in Geneva in December 2003; ICT-for-development in Africa; and the way the Task Force can best support and promote public-private partnerships, which are essential for any sort of development.
 
The plenary session, opening at 10:00 am on Friday, 21 February, will consider how the Task Force can contribute to the Millennium Development Campaign and its role in monitoring its progress.  Chaired by Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of TAG & Co. International (Egypt), the session will feature, among others, Erkki Liikanen, the Commissioner for Enterprise and Information Society of the European Commission; Professors Calestous Juma of Harvard University and Manuel Castells of the University of California at Berkeley; and Tengku Shariffadeen, President of MIMOS (Malaysia).
 
The Friday afternoon plenary, opening at 3 p.m. to discuss the Task Force's role in the World Summit on the Information Society, will feature Adama Samassekou, President of the Summit Preparatory Committee, which is holding its second session in Geneva from 17 to 28 February; Mark Furrer, Switzerland's Minister for Communications; Nitin Desai, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs; and Pierre Gagné, Executive Coordinator of the Summit's Secretariat.
 

The broader aim of the discussion will be to help develop approaches providing content to the Summit, as well as to help build alliances for action, turning the Summit into a truly comprehensive platform.  In its role as a broker between governments, civil society, and United Nations agencies, the Task Force can provide a unique perspective and intellectual leadership to the issues to be addressed at the Summit.