E-skills and information literacy central to development
20-05-2008 (Kuala Lumpur)
Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre,
venue of GAID's Annual Meeting
and Global Forum 2008
© Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre
E-skills and information literacy will become central in the development process, told Abdul Waheed Khan, UNESCO’s Assistant Director-General for Communication and Information, participants in the annual event of the Global Alliance for ICT and Development yesterday in Kuala Lumpur.
Chairing a Panel on Innovative Funding for ICT4D: Human Resource Investments in Attaining the Millennium Development at GAID’s Global Forum on Access and Connectivity and Innovative Funding Mechanism, he pointed out that the digital divide is less about equipment and technology than about content, value and people who are able or unable to access information and knowledge.
As Mr Khan explained, information literacy, a much broader concept than ICT capacity building, is becoming central to the development of knowledge societies. The extend to which peoples are information literate will in the future define their patterns of learning, their cultural expression and social participation. Only if societies are information literate - to same degree as their members can read and write - the millennium development goals will really be reached.
The three day GAID Annual Meeting that ends today in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, brought together partners to help implement a number of ICT projects of significant, catalysing impact.
The Strategy Council, in which UNESCO is a Member, and the Steering Committee also met in Kuala Lumpur to chart the next steps on the path to reaching GAID’s objectives. They discussed and identified the ways in which they can contribute to the successful implementation of the GAID Business Plan.
The UN GAID Annual Meeting brought together the International Telecommunication Union, the World Bank, in partnership with the Islamic Development Bank, and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), as well as from the civil societies, academia and other regional and international organizations.
As Mr Khan explained, information literacy, a much broader concept than ICT capacity building, is becoming central to the development of knowledge societies. The extend to which peoples are information literate will in the future define their patterns of learning, their cultural expression and social participation. Only if societies are information literate - to same degree as their members can read and write - the millennium development goals will really be reached.
The three day GAID Annual Meeting that ends today in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, brought together partners to help implement a number of ICT projects of significant, catalysing impact.
The Strategy Council, in which UNESCO is a Member, and the Steering Committee also met in Kuala Lumpur to chart the next steps on the path to reaching GAID’s objectives. They discussed and identified the ways in which they can contribute to the successful implementation of the GAID Business Plan.
The UN GAID Annual Meeting brought together the International Telecommunication Union, the World Bank, in partnership with the Islamic Development Bank, and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), as well as from the civil societies, academia and other regional and international organizations.
Related themes/countries
· Malaysia
· Abdul Waheed Khan
· Information and Media Literacy: News Archives 2008
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