Elizabeth Longworth takes on new function in UNESCO
15-06-2006 (Paris)
Elizabeth Longworth
© UNESCO
Elizabeth Longworth takes up her new office today as Executive Director of the Office of UNESCO Director-General after just under a three year term as Director of UNESCO's Information Society Division and Secretary of the Organization’s Information for All Programme.
Ms Longworth, who had a strategic role in assisting Abdul Waheed Khan, UNESCO’s Assistant Director-General for Communication and Information in directing UNESCO’s contribution to the World Summit on the Information Society, said that in her new function she would continue her strong support of UNESCO’s mandate to foster the development of policies, capacities and tools for universal access to information and knowledge.
"The experience of the past few years has shown that, in today's knowledge-intensive world where the forces of change are exponential, UNESCO has a vital role to play; the Organisation's work on building the capacities to generate, apply and optimize knowledge for development will increasingly be of critical importance and relevance," she says.
A former Director of the ICT Sector at New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, New Zealand’s national economic development agency, she was responsible for the development and implementation of national economic development strategies and programmes on ICT.
Prior to that, Ms Longworth practised law in New Zealand and developed a specialist legal and international consultancy practice advising on information policy issues, privacy, e-commerce, alternative dispute resolution and the legal, ethical and social implications of new technologies and information systems.
She had longstanding experience working with international agencies, including OECD, and as an expert to UNESCO, collaborating in areas such as transborder data flows, online dispute resolution, e-privacy, copyright and patenting, global networks and e-commerce.
She worked as a professional mediator and facilitator and was a member of the WIPO Panel of Neutrals. From 1998 to 2000, she chaired the New Zealand telecommunications industry body on number administration and portability.
"The experience of the past few years has shown that, in today's knowledge-intensive world where the forces of change are exponential, UNESCO has a vital role to play; the Organisation's work on building the capacities to generate, apply and optimize knowledge for development will increasingly be of critical importance and relevance," she says.
A former Director of the ICT Sector at New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, New Zealand’s national economic development agency, she was responsible for the development and implementation of national economic development strategies and programmes on ICT.
Prior to that, Ms Longworth practised law in New Zealand and developed a specialist legal and international consultancy practice advising on information policy issues, privacy, e-commerce, alternative dispute resolution and the legal, ethical and social implications of new technologies and information systems.
She had longstanding experience working with international agencies, including OECD, and as an expert to UNESCO, collaborating in areas such as transborder data flows, online dispute resolution, e-privacy, copyright and patenting, global networks and e-commerce.
She worked as a professional mediator and facilitator and was a member of the WIPO Panel of Neutrals. From 1998 to 2000, she chaired the New Zealand telecommunications industry body on number administration and portability.
Related themes/countries
· IFAP: News Archives 2006
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