Fourth Meeting of the Regional Interagency Working Group on ICT 27 March 2003 Bangkok FOURTH MEETING OF THE UN ICT TASK FORCE February 2003 Geneva

Establishment of UN ICT Task Force I.Ministerial Declaration of ECOSOC proposed to establish UN ICT Task force with objectives: (a) to provide overall leadership to UN role in ICT; (b) putting ICT in service for development; and (c) for giving a strategic partnership of stakeholders 2.set the mandate, composition and modalities operation II.ICT Task Force endorsed by the Millennium Declaration

Establishment of UN ICT Task Force (Cont’d) III.Secretary General consultations with stakeholders IV.ECOSOC approved recommendations of the Advisory Group on ICT in March 2001 V.Secretary General appointed members of the ICT Task Force. Representatives of 18 member states, 8 private sector, 4 NGOs and 6 United Nations VI.Small core secretariat of the Task Force was established VII.First meeting of the ICT Task Force was held in November 2001

Regional Network of the UN ICT Task Force 1.Network modalities 2.Four regional networks (Africa, Latin America, Asia and Middle East) are built on the basis of existing institution and initiatives serve as one-stop-shops for providing regional and sub-regional perspective UN Regional Commissions play a key role

Regional Network of the UN ICT Task Force - First Preparatory Meeting for Setting-Up of the Regional Network of UN ICT Task Force (4 February 2002, Bangkok) - First Shanghai Meeting of the Asia Regional Network of the UN ICT Task Force (26-29 March 2002, Shanghai) UN ESCAP, interagency coordinator Ministry of S&T of China and City Information, Shanghai, Government coordinator

Regional Network of the UN ICT Task Force (Cont’d) Ministry of I&C of India and Media Lab Asia, R&D and the private sector coordinator -Third Meeting of the ICT Interagency Working Group. The Working Group has become a member of the regional UN ICT Task Force Network

Agenda of the Fourth Meeting UN ICT Task Force Geneva, February 2003 I.Opening of the session -Opened by Mr Nitin Desia, UN Under- Secretary-General -First Annual Report of the UN ICT Task Force -Note on the Establishment of the Digital Diaspora Network for the Caribbean:

Agenda of the Fourth Meeting UN ICT Task Force (Cont’d) Worked through working groups and regional nodes Initiated action-oriented examination of ways to enhance the participation of developing countries in global ICT policy – Making Forums

Agenda of the Fourth Meeting UN ICT Task Force (Cont’d) Contributed to building nation e- strategies for poverty reduction and HRD Advanced the MDG Contribute to WSIS

Agenda of the Fourth Meeting UN ICT Task Force (Cont’d) II.ICT for Advancing the Millennium Development Goals and Monitoring Progress -Measuring and Enhancing the Impact of ICTs on the Millennium Development Goals -E-Readiness Assessment -Technology Innovation and MDG - Matching MDG, ICTs and Government Actions: a Preliminary Report

Agenda of the Fourth Meeting UN ICT Task Force (Cont’d) - Matching MDG, ICTs and Government Actions: a Preliminary Report: ICT as a tool to increase efficiency of achieving MDG ICT for networking and partnership ICT direct contribution to MDG (Distance education, tell medicine, e-commerce)

Agenda of the Fourth Meeting UN ICT Task Force (Cont’d) III.TASK FORCE’s Role in WSIS -Interactive panel discussion with the participation of Messrs Utsumi, Samassekou and Mr Desai -Statements on contributions to the preparatory process Working Groups of the Task Force

Agenda of the Fourth Meeting UN ICT Task Force (Cont’d) Regional Nodes: (1)UNECE (2)UNECA (3)UNESCAP (4)Ministry of S&T of China and City Information, Shanghai (International Form on ICT for Development, June 2003) (5)Ministry of I&C of India and Media Lab Asia

Agenda of the Fourth Meeting UN ICT Task Force (Cont’d) IV.Follow-up the Third Meeting Discussions on Africa V.TASK FORCE’s Advisory Role to the United Nations Secretary-General: -UN General Assembly Resolution of ICT for Development -ICT Strategy for the UN System