1. ESCWA 3 September 2007Mansour Farah 1 Knowledge networks through ICT access points for disadvantaged communities Mansour Farah ICT Policies Team Leader ICT Division, ESCWA Regional Stakeholders’ Meeting on “Knowledge Network strategies, mechanisms and tools” Beirut 3-4 Sept. 2007

2. 2 Mansour Farah2 3 September 2007 Knowledge networks through ICT access points for disadvantaged communities Jointly implemented by United Nations Regional Commissions, with the Information and Communication Technology Division (ICTD) at ESCWA as the lead organization, over a period of 36 months starting in 2006. Funded by the United Nations Development Account

3. 3 Mansour Farah3 3 September 2007 Objective To empower poor and disadvantaged communities, women in particular, through transforming selected existing ICT access points into knowledge hubs of global knowledge networks, with the purpose of providing, developing, organizing, sharing and disseminating knowledge pertinent to these communities.

4. 4 Mansour Farah4 3 September 2007 Main Activities A review and assessment of existing ICT access points; Setting a global framework and detailed implementation plan; Implementation of global/regional networks; Launching knowledge networks amongst stakeholders; Transformation of access points into knowledge hubs; Activating knowledge hubs and engaging beneficiaries; Project evaluation and feedback.

5. 5 Mansour Farah5 3 September 2007 Relationship to MDGs (1/2) The project contributes directly to Goal 8 of the MDGs: “Develop a global partnership for development”, which includes “accelerated transfer of technology and improved employment opportunities for the growing ranks of young people in the developing world.” It aims at accomplishing target 7 “In cooperation with the private sector, make available the benefits of new technologies, especially information and communications.”

6. 6 Mansour Farah6 3 September 2007 Relationship to MDGs (2/2) The project also contributes to: MDG 1: “Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger”, by promoting employability, job creation and entrepreneurship; MDG 2: “Achieve universal primary education”, through the use of e-learning applications; MDG 3: “Promote gender equality and empower women”, through access to education, health services, jobs and political participation.

7. 7 Mansour Farah7 3 September 2007 Expected Accomplishments Established global/regional knowledge networks for community development; Enriched value proposition of ICT access points through their transformation into knowledge hubs; Increased engagement of beneficiaries in poor areas and disadvantaged communities in knowledge hubs.

8. 8 Mansour Farah8 3 September 2007 Terms and definitions ICT access points:  Centers that provide community citizens with access to technology and Internet access specifically; Telecenters:  Access points that are community development oriented; with shared ICT resources (specifically computers) linking socio-economic objectives directly with the use of ICTs (i.e. employment, poverty reduction).

9. 9 Mansour Farah9 3 September 2007 Terms and definitions Disadvantaged Communities:  Communities in underserved areas, both urban and rural, that include the following target groups, among others: Women Disabled Unemployed Poor Youth Elderly Immigrants Micro-enterprises

10. 10 Mansour Farah10 3 September 2007 Terms and definitions Knowledge Hubs:  ICT access points that acquire, organize and disseminate knowledge directly related to socio-economic development They also:  Facilitate the creation and dissemination of knowledge on socio- economic development  Build a reservoir of knowledge on topics relevant to the community’s needs (e.g agriculture, fishing etc…)  Provide value added services to the community, beyond communications  Allow people to find employment, enhance job efficacy and improve quality of life

11. 11 Mansour Farah11 3 September 2007 Terms and definitions Knowledge Networks:  Decentralized structures that promote cooperation between knowledge hubs, via a virtual space such an Internet-based portal. They also:  Aim at knowledge sharing  Bridge local and global knowledge  Are facilitated by knowledge managers

12. 12 Mansour Farah12 3 September 2007 Strategy – Global/regional level Promoting bilateral, regional and international cooperation, particularly South-South cooperation, in the areas of ICT access centres and community development through establishing a network of activists, actors, and policymakers; Creating global/regional knowledge platforms for learning, sharing experiences, and exchanging best practices.

13. 13 Mansour Farah13 3 September 2007 Strategy – National level Increasing awareness and understanding among decision- makers in governments/municipalities and NGOs of developing countries and countries with economies in transition of the potential of using ICT access points as knowledge hubs for the disadvantaged communities; Assisting those decision makers in governments/municipalities building indigenous capacity in policy making pertaining to disseminating knowledge networks in disadvantaged communities;

14. 14 Mansour Farah14 3 September 2007 Strategy – Community level (1) Revitalizing and enriching selected existing ICT access points, through enhancing their services and knowledge management; Developing and promoting value-added services of ICT access points to better serve their local communities; Networking existing selected ICT access point with each other to share experiences and best practices; Transforming selected ICT access points into knowledge hubs of the global knowledge platform, providing, developing, organizing, sharing and disseminating knowledge pertinent to these communities;

15. 15 Mansour Farah15 3 September 2007 Transformation of ICT access points into knowledge hubs

16. 16 Mansour Farah16 3 September 2007 Strategy – Community level (2) Activating and promoting the engagement of beneficiaries at the community level in the services offered by the established knowledge hubs; Promoting engagement of knowledge hubs with partners from their respective communities, such as schools, hospitals and entrepreneurships; Disseminating success stories (2-3 from each Regional Commission) to be combined in a pamphlet, posted on website, and shared as valuable knowledge gained from the project.

17. 17 Mansour Farah17 3 September 2007 Knowledge Hubs Built Around ICT Access Centres

18. 18 Mansour Farah18 3 September 2007 Progress (1/2) The project is in its early stages; focus has been on:  A regional review and assessment of ICT access points; culminating in a global review that identifies operational models for sustainability, needed technologies, required resources, and potential partners.  Development of a detailed implementation plan for transforming these access points into knowledge hubs and networking them.

19. 19 Mansour Farah19 3 September 2007 Progress (2/2) The implementation plan was developed at a regional commissions’ meeting held at the UN House in Beirut during 13- 16 November 2006, which was attended by focal points from all five regional commissions. It was specifically agreed that project would focus on: Strengthening existing knowledge hubs and networking them; followed by tackling the weaker ICT access points in need of transformation to knowledge hubs; Making use of regional meetings to create regional networks, while analyzing how other networks interact and transfer expertise, in order to harmonize efforts between regional commissions at the global level.

20. 20 Mansour Farah20 3 September 2007 Regional Reviews (1/2) Main tasks undertaken: Conduct interviews with managers of telecenters in selected member countries, supplemented by secondary research on existing telecenters from public information sources. Provide a report which will:  Present the quantitative and qualitative results obtained from the interviews in the selected countries;  Investigate the relationship between ICT and socio-economic development in the region;

21. 21 Mansour Farah21 3 September 2007 Regional Reviews (2/2)  Review the status of existing community ICT access points (and the communities they serve);  Indicate priority areas of service in the different member countries, showing best practices for each priority area;  Identify operational models for sustainability, required resources, and the role of govt. and potential partners;  Include a gender analysis of ICT access points;  Describe successful multi-stakeholder partnerships and governance schemes for ICT access points;  Propose types of business models;  Suggest priority areas where telecenters may have strongest local impact.

22. 22 Mansour Farah22 3 September 2007 Global Review (1/3) Consolidates five regional assessment reports into one global report; Objective: To narrow down the choices that were pinpointed by regional reviews and to single out the recommendations that would be most feasible for the successful implementation and sustainability of regional and global knowledge networks of ICT access points in disadvantaged communities.

23. 23 Mansour Farah23 3 September 2007 Global Review (2/3) Main tasks: Review each of the regional reports while paying attention to similarities, particularities and differences between regions; Synthesize the data presented in the five regional reports into one report highlighting the areas of interest most relevant on a global level; Identify five to ten ICT access centers per region most suitable for inclusion in initial regional/global knowledge networks.

24. 24 Mansour Farah24 3 September 2007 Global Review (3/3) Research and provide recommendations on:  How to build regional/global knowledge networks that take into consideration the specificities of each region as well as the commonalities between regions;  How to ensure the sustainability of said regional/global networks. Prepare a report synthesizing the above information.

25. 25 Mansour Farah25 3 September 2007 Next steps (2007) Within the framework of the main activities, several meeting and workshops will be carried out by each regional commission, the first of which is: Regional stakeholders’ meetings, currently being held to bring together knowledge hubs and other stakeholders to discuss knowledge network strategies, mechanisms and tools.

26. 26 Mansour Farah26 3 September 2007 Next steps (2008-2009) Implementation of knowledge hubs and networks at the regional level (followed by launching meeting of knowledge networks); Building and disseminating knowledge in regional networks and hubs (incl. training workshop on knowledge sharing and networking); Building global networks (incl. annual consultative networks meeting); Evaluation of the project.

27. 27 Mansour Farah27 3 September 2007 Sustainability Partnership between the local government, the private sector and NGOs; Good governance at the regional and national levels; A solid business plan.

28. 28 Mansour Farah28 3 September 2007 Monitoring and evaluation Number of established global/regional networks for the different priority areas; Number of identified value-added services based on the established knowledge networks; Number of parties actively involved in the established networks; Number of officials from governments/municipalities from participating countries involved in the launch of the Knowledge networks; Number of transformed ICT access points into knowledge hubs; Number of new services offered by knowledge hubs to the respective communities; Number of beneficiaries in poor areas and in disadvantaged communities engaged in the established knowledge networks; Number of women in poor areas and disadvantaged communities benefiting from the established knowledge networks; Number of success stories resulting from established networks.

29. 29 Mansour Farah29 3 September 2007 Implementation arrangements The project will build on existing and planned activities of participating entities (Regional Commissions); It will complement and further strengthen the RCs impact through the use of innovative, primarily web-based, tools and methods; All partners in the project may contribute to and be involved in all the activities; Delineation of responsibilities for implementation of specific activities will be based on comparative strengths and experiences of individual partner organizations; ESCWA will spearhead the implementation and will be responsible for overall coordination of the project; A network of experts from developing countries and countries with economy in transition will be established as an integral component of the global knowledge networks; The project will forge a series of complementary and synergistic multi-stakeholder partnerships with relevant activities undertaken by donor governments, private sector companies, academic and research institutions, and civil society organizations.

30. 30 Mansour Farah30 3 September 2007 Thank you for your attention! farah14@un.org