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MEETINGS
Workshop on Novel Telecommunication Technologies for Socio-Economic
Development - Beirut, 11-13 July 2005
Preliminary
information note
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ý1.ý Introduction
The Second Regional Preparatory Conference for the World Summit on
the Information ýSociety (WSIS) held in Damascus, on the 22nd and
23rd of November 2004, set the stage for regional ýcooperation to
close the existing digital divide in ESCWA member countries while
involving all ýstakeholders in building an inclusive information
society. The Conference was preceded by a ýPartnership Forum, held
on 21st of November 2004, which aimed of bringing donors, technical
experts ýand beneficiaries together in order to discuss and agree on
a number of projects and form partnerships ýfor their
implementation. The Conference resulted in the launching of the
"Damascus Call - Towards ýPartnership ýýfor Building the Arab
Information Society," and the "Regional Plan of Action for
ýýBuilding ýthe Information Society (RPoA)" The RPoA outlines a
comprehensive strategic framework that is ýbased on ten key areas,
ten partnership programmes and thirty-eight regional projects. The
latter ýincluded three projects that were proposed by Alcatel, a
world leader in telecommunications and ýInternet technology. These
projects ý are:ý
ý•ý Market information systems for agriculture and fishing
businesses;ý
ý•ý Partnership space for incubating telecommunications projects;ý
ý•ý Enhanced broadband access through pilot national applications.ý
Acting within its mandate, ESCWA has a key role towards building the
information society in ýWestern Asia. In this respect, one important
action was the signature on 26 January 2005 of a Letter of
ýUnderstanding (LOU) that defines the framework of cooperation
between Alcatel and ESCWA. . As a ýresult, ESCWA and Alcatel are
organizing a joint workshop in order to promote and launch the
above-ýproposed three regional projects.ý
ý2.ý Objectives
This workshop aims at launching concrete actions for the
implementation of the three regional projects ýproposed by Alcatel
through partnership mechanisms.ý
For this purpose the following immediate objectives are sought from
this workshop:ý
ý•ý Regional
awareness raising for "Market Information Systems" targeting the
farming and ýfishing sectors with the aim to launch one or more
pilot projects in the region according to a ýbusiness model that
was successful in other developing regions;ý
ý•ý Elaboration of a regional blueprint for broadband deployment
with the aim of developing ýbroadband access in the public
(connectivity of schools, hospitals, government and local
ýgovernance agencies) and private (development of broadband access
for business and ýindividuals) sectors;ý
ý•ý Development of added-value applications and services
responding to specific local needs ýoffered through mobile
networks infrastructure; Alcatel through its regional partnership
center ýin Cairo will contribute to this immediate objective
through providing guidance and training to ýdevelopers of such
applications. ý
ý3.ý Issues
The main issues to be dealt with at this workshop are: ý
ý•ý Enhancing living
conditions of rural communities living from agricultural and
fishing ýactivities through ICT-based market information systems;ý
ý•ý Increasing the efficiency of educational, health and
governmental (national and local) ýinstitutions, improving
competitiveness of enterprises, and building citizens’
capabilities ýthrough broadband penetration within the region;ý
ý•ý Improving the service offered by telecom operators and
leveraging the benefits of those ýservices for the local
socio-economic development through developing applications with
high ýlocal added-value.ý
ý4.ý Outcomes
ýThe most important
outcomes of the workshop will be creating awareness and launching
activities for ýimplementing pilot projects pertaining to the
following:ý
ý•ý Market
Information System (MIS) project:ý
i.ý Raising awareness of success factors and difficulties to
overcome in order to ýdevelop MIS projects based on experience
acquired by Alcatel and its ýpartners;ý
ii.ý Identification of areas of intervention where MIS could be
most helpful for ýthe local economic development of rural
communities;ý
iii.ý Identification of stakeholders (representatives of farmers
and fishermen ýcommunities, telecom operators, developers of
added-value services) willing ýto develop together consortia for
pilot experimentation of MIS. ý
ý•ý Broadband project:ý
i.ý Awareness raising regarding the impact of broadband access on
telecom ýnetwork service provision and the impact on the business
model of telecom ýoperators;ý
ii.ý Evaluation of the status of broadband penetration within
ESCWA countries ýand of experimentations to provide schools and/or
other public institutions ýwith broadband connectivity;ý
iii.ý Gathering of the elements needed to establish national
blueprints for ýbroadband deployment with an evaluation of the
needed experimentations.ý
ý•ý Partnership Center project:ý
Raising awareness regarding the possibilities offered by the
Alcatel partnership ýspace of Cairo to incubate projects related
to the development of added-value ýapplications through mobile
network operators. ý
ý5.ý Organization
The workshop is jointly organized by Alcatel and ESCWA and will be
held in the United Nations ýHouse in Beirut, during 11-13 July 2005.
ý
Each project will be introduced by Alcatel, followed by
presentations from international and regional ýactors on real case
studies and a discussion whose aim is to come up with concrete
actions that could ýbe carried out in the short term. ý
Participants are expected to be potential actors, including service
providers and beneficiaries, related ýto at least one of the
workshop themes. Alcatel and ESCWA will ensure a close follow-up
process to ýassist in the materialization of subsequent actions.ý
ý6.ý Participants/registration
Participants from regional development banks, government agencies in
charge of ICT for development ýpolicies, telecom operators, service
providers and representatives of professional and civil society
ýorganizations are invited to attend as potential stakeholders. ý
Pre-registration can be performed by filling and returning the
registration form by email to: ý
Mansour Farah farah14@un.org
and Souheil Marine
souheil.marine@alcatel.fr
A username and password will be issued for on-line registration to
allow updating of information in ýthe participants central database.
The login information will be sent to the registrants by email upon
ýreceipt of the pre-registration form.ý
A limited number of fellowship grants to attend the workshop are
available for participants with ýproven potential to become active
partners/stakeholders in one of these projects. Special attention
will ýbe given to participants located in least developing/post
conflict countries and those with limited ýfinancial means to
support their travel and subsistence expenses. The pre-registration
form includes a ýfield for applying for fellowship.ý
ý7.ý Language
The working language of the workshop will be English. Therefore, no
simultaneous translation from ýArabic to English or vice-versa will
be provided during the sessions.ý
ý8.ý Additional Information
Submissions, inquiries and requests for additional information
should be addressed to:ý
Mansour Farah
Senior Information Technology Officer & Team leader
ICT Division
Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia
Email: farah14@un.org
Tel: +961-1-978541ý
Fax: +961-1-981510ý
Or
Souheil Marine
Digital Bridge Manager, France, Africa, Middle East, and South
Asia.ý
Alcatel CIT
Email:
souheil.marine@alcatel.fr
Tel: +33 1 30 77 81 92ý
Fax: +33 1 30 77 25 50ý
Inquiries regarding
logistics, including travel and accommodation,
should be directed to:ý
Sukaina Al-Nasrawi
Research Assistantý
ICT Division
Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia
Email: al-nasrawi@un.org
Tel: +961-1-978546ý
Fax: +961-1-981510ý
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