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<Figure 2.4>
Source: Compiled by Author
2.4 Organizations
Below are some attempts by organizations, governments and business to offer a better realization of ICT4D to the practice.
2.4.1 UN ICT Task Force
The United Nations organized a special task force to discuss various ICT4D related issues in 2001. The task force held semi-annual meetings to address specific themes, such as a Global Forum on Internet Governance (UN headquarters in New York, March 2004);
a Global Forum on an Enabling Environment (Berlin, November 2004); and a Global Forum on Harnessing the Potential of ICTs in Education (Dublin, April 2005). The UNICTTF's was disassembled on December 31, 2005 with a new group called 'Global Alliance for ICT and Development' succeeding the legacy.
UNICTTF’s significance was that although there has been number of attempts from IGOs and many other international organizations previously, it was one of the first major
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attempts launched by the UN, a system we have in contemporary world politics that is the closest to the world government.8
2.4.2 GAICT and WSIS
Kofi Annan launched the Global Alliance for ICT and Development as he was ending his tenure as the UN secretary general in 2006. GAID included a huge range of member of personnel from various fields such as government, development cooperation, foreign policy, finance, the social (health, education) sector, regulatory agencies, industry and laborer’s associations, ICT producers and consumers, the media, NGOs, community social
organizations, foundations, scientific, academic and ICT communities and even individuals who provides advocacy and oversights on today’s issues in IT and implementing programs addressing the UN MDGs.
Also United Nations held summits in Geneva in 2003 and Tunis in 2005 to initiate an action called World Summit on the International Society. A plan of action is being followed,
with a ten-year deadline ending in 2015 after Tunis. This parallels the timeframe for the Millennium Development Goals.9
8 “What was the UN ICT Task Force?”, ITU, accessed Oct 25 2016, https://www.itu.int/net/wsis/basic/faqs_answer.asp?lang=en&faq_id=88
9 “Global Alliance for ICT and Development (GAID)”, Internet Society, accessed Oct 25 2016, http://www.internetsociety.org/who-we-are/related-and-partner-organisations/our-community-and-partners/gaid
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2.4.3 EU Funding
European Union has taken a countable role in ICT4D as well. The European
Commission is investing in research and development projects to encourage the increased use of ICT for sustainable growth with the belief that the implementation of ICTs could play a significant role in maintenance of sustainable growth of developing and least developed countries. Significant EU funds have, therefore, been dedicated to driving research and development in this area. The main funding tools are the Seventh Research Framework Programme (FP7) and the Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme (CIP).
The total budget for research and innovation is estimated to be €10.8 billion, split along thematic priorities, and EU has announced an €8.1 billion package of calls for
proposals under the EU’s FP7 in 201310. The CIP on the other hand runs from 2007-2013 in parallel to FP7, with total budget of nearly 4 billion euros, aiming for better adaptation and use of ICT, as well as development of the information society.11
2.4.4 Korean Trust Fund
As the dominant leaders of ICT with one of the top-tier scores in ICT development index, Korea has shown a degree of its obligations towards bringing the equality in ICT development of the world. In 2008, the Republic of Korea established the Korean Trust Fund on ICT4D that contributed 15 million US dollars trust fund towards World Bank projects that demonstrate cutting edge approaches to development problems, with specific focus on ICT.
10 “Research and Innovation FP7”, European Commission, accessed Oct 25 2016, http://ec.europa.eu/research/fp7/index_en.cfm
11 “Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme (CIP)”, European Commission, accessed Oct 25 2016, http://ec.europa.eu/cip/
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The Korean Trust Fund is implemented to the World Bank operations, and helps the World Bank remain a force for transformative development outcomes worldwide. It supports activities that serve as input in the development of three main domains of ICT4D:
• e-Transformation Across Sectors: Using ICT to transform the efficiency and/or accountability of service delivery in various sectors and to monitor/track results , especially in food security, social services, and IT industry development.
• Green IT: Implementing environmental friendly solutions that improve
(i) Energy efficiency of electricity and transportation networks of urban infrastructure
(ii) Climate resilience of agriculture and water resource management systems
• Broadband Connectivity Infrastructure: Increasing access to affordable broadband infrastructure services via policy and regulatory interventions. Also playing a role as a catalyst in Public-Private Partnership investment, particularly articulating mobile broadband.12
2.4.5 Swedish Program (SPIDER)
Also as one of the top leaders of state of the art ICT technology, Sweden established its own program called The Swedish Program for ICT in Developing Regions (SPIDER) to provide resources for ICT4D in 2004, and is primarily financed by the Swedish International Development Cooperation (SIDA), with complementary funding from Stockholm University.
12 “The Korean Trust Fund on ICT4D”, The World Bank, accessed Oct 23 2016, http://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/ict/brief/the-korean-trust-fund-on-ict4d
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The center is administered by the Department of Computer and Systems Sciences (DSV) at Stockholm University.
Similar to the Korean Trust Fund, SPIDER is offering catalytic funding to innovative projects focused on ICT4D, especially on e-Transformation across sectors, crosscutting ICT issues that focus on low cost and high quality technology free and open source software, mobile technology for development and various crosscutting development issues in youth empowerment, cultural creativity and capacity development.
SPIDER especially provides support to projects implemented in any one of the twelve priority countries for Swedish development cooperation: Bangladesh, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mali, Mozambique, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.13
2.4.6 Cisco Networking Academy (CNA)
As a part of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program, Cisco, the leading manufacture of network equipment in the network industry, provides an academic institute around the world to enhance IT skills and knowledge. Offered courses vary from basic IT knowledge to advanced networks, and Cisco offers their own certificate system to provide standards in networking knowledge such as CCNA, CCNP and CCIA.
By providing over 9,000 institutions from secondary schools to universities and community organizations in more than 170 countries, Cisco attempts assist individuals to acquire IT skills and find career in relation to the IT industry.14
13 “Welcome to SPIDER”, SPIDER, accessed Oct 23 2016, https://spidercenter.org/
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