ICSTD Activities
2008
ESCAP jointly with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) organized the Sub-Regional Workshop on Community e-Centres (CeCs) for Rural Development from 16 to 18 April 2008 at New Delhi, India, under the project entitled “Empowering rural areas through community e-centres under South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) program” that is being executed by ADB and ESCAP, with funds provided by ADB’s Japan Fund for ICT (JFICT).
The workshop gathered senior officials, national consultants and resource persons to examine the progress of the project in the participating countries, including sharing outcomes of the project so far and sharing information on problems encountered and lessons learned during the implementation of the project, share good practices on CeC particularly in the SASEC region, and discussed future project implementation strategy at the regional and national levels. [23 April 2008]
The Asia-Pacific region has been the victim of some of the most devastating disasters in human history. Over the last ten years, six out of ten of the most deadly natural disasters occurred within the region.
To help prepare the countries of the region for future disasters by exploring ways of effectively utilizing information collected from Earth observation satellites, the ICSTD organized a Regional Symposium on Disaster Management in Bangkok from 19 to 21 March 2008 . High-level officials from the national disaster management authorities of 22 countries participated in the Symposium.
In his address at the opening session, Mr. Shigeru Mochida, Deputy Executive Secretary of ESCAP, noted that “effective disaster management relies greatly on effective information management. Relevant and timely information is indispensable to supporting decision-making on risk assessment, mitigation planning, monitoring and early warning, and rescue and relief activities”. He added that information collected from satellites could be a major contributor to improve the effectiveness and timeliness of disaster management. [24 March 2008]
ICT Applications Section has launched a Telecentre Online Database covering more than 12,000 telecentres in 16 countries. The database aims to support research and the exchange of information among people working in the field of telecentre development.
The database gives researchers a platform for taking stock of telecentre projects in the region. All information can be accessed by typing in key words, advanced searches based on specific criteria or by browsing a specific country or a selected telecentre project. The online database also provides statistical data related to telecentre projects in the region, including the number of telecentres per country and per geographic area.
The Telecentre Online Database is an output of a joint project carried out by the five regional commissions of the UN . The project aims to empower poor and disadvantaged communities -- and women in particular -- through transforming selected telecentres into knowledge hubs of a global knowledge network. These hubs will make it possible for community members to develop, organize, share and disseminate knowledge.
[12 March 2008]
Many parts of the world, including parts of Asia and the Pacific, have begun to benefit significantly from improved telecommunications infrastructure and services. Emerging benefits include job and business opportunities; improved delivery of educational, health and other public services; and from an overall feeling of being connected, regardless of location where such capabilities are available.
Small island developing States in the Pacific sometimes feel left out of such developments. Only half the populated Pacific islands have any form of telecommunications, with many of limited capacity and expensive. Increasing numbers of cables cross the Pacific, but most Pacific islands are bypassed.
The Enhancing Pacific Connectivity report recommends improved usage of existing regional governmental, industry and user cooperation institutions, and/or the enhancement of these into a capability to strengthen decision-makers’ abilities to move forward, to help increase Pacific synergies for acquiring, sustaining, and benefiting from current connectivity trends and opportunities. [10 March 2008]
Sentinel Asia, first advocated in 2005, now counts 8 international organizations and 51 participating organizations from 20 countries as members, and utilization of its systems is steadily expanding. Find out about Sentinel Asia by watching the introductory video:
Sentinel Asia - Fighting Natural Disasters with Space Technology
The Symposium entitled Towards Regional Disaster Management Support System - Satellite Information Access Mechanismwill be held at the United Nations Conference Centre in Bangkok, from 19 to 21 March 2008. The sysmposium is part of the activities of the ESCAP project entitled Towards Improved Capacity in Disaster Management Using Satellite-based and Spatial Information System in Asia and the Pacific, which is supported by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). [18 February 2008]
The Expert Group Meeting on the Provision of ICT Access for Disadvantaged Communities through Public-Private Partnership was organized by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) from 12 to 14 December 2007 at the United Nations Conference Centre in Bangkok, Thailand.
Experts from government, private, non-governmental organizations, academia and UN organizations working on ICT access and telecentres for disadvantage communities from China, India, Nepal, Malaysia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, and the Republic of Korea, as well as representatives from ITU and UNESCO, attended the meeting. [31 January 2008]
The Workshop was organized at the Ramada Bintang Bali Hotel in Bali, Indonesia from 27 to 30 November 2007.
Its objective was to train trainers on entrepreneurship and e-business development for women in cooperatives. The Training Workshop had joint sessions with a national workshop on women entrepreneurship development in micro and small enterprises that was organized by the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) and the Asian and Pacific Centre for Transfer of Technology (APCTT). The Meeting was attended by 17 participants from 12 countries: Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, and Thailand. [31 January 2008]
2007
The Fourth session of the Committee on Managing Globalization (Part II) is being held in Bangkok from 19 to 21 November 2008.
ICSTD prepared two Committee Documents on Consideration of information, communication and space technology issues:
[19 November 2007]
The Capacity Building Workshop on Information Society Statistics: Infrastructure, Household and other Indicators was held in Bangkok from 6 to 8 November 2007. It was co-organized and hosted by UNESCAP, in collaboration with ITU and APT, as part of the ongoing Partnership on Measuring ICT for Development initiative.
The workshop main objective was to inform the Members of the internationally available ICT indicators from various United Nations and inter-governmental agencies in the region, their purpose and genesis, and to discuss data collection, the use of these indicators in policy making and regulation, and the need for new indicators. [6 November 2007]
The annual Asia-Pacific Journal on Information, Communication and Space Technology will be published by the end of 2007. For this edition, we are seeking contribution in the form of original papers, related to ICST .
More details on the call for papers page. [28 September 2007]
Mr. Hideshi Kozawa, Associate Executive Director of the Japan Space Exploration Agency (JAXA), visited ICSTD to discuss collaboration between JAXA and ESCAP through a regional disaster management initiative, Sentinel Asia. [7 August 2007]
The meeting was to discuss and formulate regional framework and work plan towards the establishment of a regional network for joint development of the space-information technology enabled highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) monitoring and early warning model in Asia. [4 August 2007]
The workshop, co-organized by UNESCAP and the Tsinghua University, was to enhance understanding among policy makers regarding the importance of knowledge sharing and knowledge networks. [27 July 2007]
This is a report of a study on the assessment of the implementation and use of telecentres in Asia and the Pacific that was conducted by ESCAP from October 2006 to January 2007.
( Download Report | Appendix) [12 July 2007]
The workshop, co-organized by ADB, UNESCAP in collaboration with the Royal Government of Nepal, marks the first national activity of the project, “Empowering the Rural Areas through Community e-Centers (CeC).” [23 May 2007]
The workshop, co-organized by ADB, UNESCAP in collaboration with the Royal Government of Bhutan, marks the first national activity of the project, “Empowering the Rural Areas through Community e-Centers (CeC).” [18 January 2007]
UNESCAP organized an international conference to close the gaps between planning and implementing e-government, particularly in the areas of e-customs, e-procurement, and G4C. [17 January 2007]
Women entrepreneurs make a substantial contribution to national economies through their participation in start-ups and their growth in e-businesses. (Publication - 3 January 2007) [8 January 2007]
2006
UNESCAP is implementing a project to enhance access to information and knowledge of rural communities to improve their productivity and quality of life. A regional workshop is to be held in March 2007. [10 October 2006]
The Asian Development Bank and UNESCAP signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) yesterday for the establishment of 20 pilot Community e-Centers (CeC) in South Asia [29 August 2006]
The meeting was convened from 3 to 4 August 2006 in Bangkok, Thailand as one of the region's preparatory activities towards the 3rd Ministerial Conference on Space Applications for Sustainable Development, to be held in Putrajaya, Malaysia tentatively from 5 to 10 February 2007. [22 August 2006]
The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) has launched four new pilot projects targeting the development of e-business portals for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS). [4 August 2006]
To assist Kazakhstan in formulating policies and plans to reduce non-physical bottlenecks in international trade and transport, UNESCAP has organized a "National Workshop and Advisory Services on Trade and Transport Facilitation" in Astana, Kazakhstan from 24 to 26 July 2006. [26 July 2006]
The workshop took place in Lanzhou, Gansu Province, in China from 4 to 6 July 2006 with teleconference participation from Beijing and Zhuhai, aiming to share information in employing information, communication and space technology to help achieve population and health related Millennium Development Goals.
It was jointly organized by UNESCAP and the National Population and Family Planning Commission of China (NPFPC), with support from many Chinese institutes and enterprises [16 July 2006]
ESCAP organized the International Workshop on Entrepreneurship and e-Business Development for Women in Seoul from 3 to 8 July 2006. The workshop was one of several activities of the project entitled, “Establishment of sustainable e-business and network for green co-op enterprises for women in rural communities”. [15 July 2006]
[15 July 2006]
[5 July 2006]
To meet the region's requirements in the field of human resources development in ICT, ESCAP established the Asian and Pacific Training Centre for Information and Communication Technology for Development (APCICT) with financial support of the Republic of Korea.The centre was inaugurated on 16 June 2006. [22 June 2006]
2005
To discuss policy, operational and technical issues on the Internet in general and the management of Internet domain names and addresses in particular, an Internet Protocol (IP) Symposium for Asia and Pacific region was jointly organized by ITU and ESCAP in Bangkok on November 29-30, 2005 [2 December 2005]
ESCAP participated in WSIS, Tunis
ESCAP was represented at World Summit on Information Society by Executive Secretary Mr. Kim Hak-Su and staff from ICST division. The meeting acknowledges the specific role of the UN regional commissions under three action lines. See Tunis agenda. [1 December 2005]
The RWG is normally attended by RESAP members and invited experts. ESCAP encourages countries not yet participating in the RESAP network to join it and encourage more national contact points be nominated from each country. [29 August 2005]
ESCAP, in cooperation with partners, has successfully organized a regional expert group meeting on disaster management in Bangkok in June 2005 [22 July 2005]
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