Abu-Ghazaleh Tackles ICT for Development, World Economic Crisis and GAID?s New Mission at ESCWA Conference in Syria

Mr. Abu-Ghazaleh who has been elected GAID Chair announced a new mission statement to the Alliance?s leadership

DAMASCUS --- June 17, 2009 --- Under the patronage of the Government of Syria, Mr. Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, chairman and CEO of Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Organization (TAG-Org), delivered the opening statement at the ?Follow-up to the Implementation of the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) Outcomes in Western Asia? conference which opened today in Damascus.

This event, organized by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), aims at tracking and revising the implementation of the outcomes of the WSIS, in addition to updating the regional plans of action to build the information society in Western Asia.

In his opening remarks, Mr. Abu-Ghazaleh, chairman, UN Global Alliance for ICT and Development (GAID), discussed various topics among which are Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) for Development, the world economic crisis, innovation and GAID?s mission.

Mr. Abu-Ghazaleh who was recently elected GAID Chair announced a new mission statement to GAID?s leadership.
?United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA)-GAID shall act as an inclusive, multi-stakeholder global forum, composed of representatives from public, private and civil society sectors as well as international organizations, for policy dialogue and partnership-building to promote the use of ICT for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and to enable and catalyze multi-stakeholder partnership for action under the GAID umbrella,? he said.

?UNDESA-GAID should address the slow pace of progress towards the achievement of the MDGs at the heart of developing countries and the added difficulties by the ongoing world economic and financial vises,? he added.

According to Mr. Abu-Ghazaleh, ?UNDESA-GAID will focus its key message on how ICTs and innovation can be harnessed to meet key global challenges such as poverty eradication, the financial crisis, climate change, governance and mainstreaming gender within the broader United Nations Development Agenda.?

The upcoming GAID Global Forum will be held Sept. 2-4, 2009 in Monterrey, where leaders from governments, the private sector, civil society and academia will get together for a focused dialogue on how to bring about innovation for education in policies and practices.

Mr. Abu-Ghazaleh also discussed the economic crisis by labeling it as an epidemic.

?The financial crisis attack has been reasonably absorbed. We now face the much more serious economic crisis attack. The first is like a hurricane. The second is like an epidemic,? he said.

?I call on governments and intergovernmental organizations to engage business as full and equal partners with equal responsibilities. Business is the major creator of knowledge and wealth. Business role is crucial for all purposes. Business should be seen only as more than a subject or a tax payer for government, but as a partner,? he added.

And on Innovation.

?Innovations in IT were accelerated by business profit motivation. The freedom in cyberspace encouraged greater investment in IT,? Mr. Abu-Ghazaleh said.

?Telecom is to be credited for its role as a medium for the Internet. Yet telecom should become more of a free space in itself rather than just a free space for IT. Governments and Business should jointly work towards that goal,? he added.

In addition, Mr. Abu-Ghazaleh shed light on various initiatives launched by TAG-Org to help humanity such as the Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Knowledge Society (TAG-Knowledge) and TAG-PEDIA, an Arabic monitored content, Wikipedia like and virtual encyclopedia.

The conference will review developments in the ICT sector from a regional point of view, namely those concerning the implementation of WSIS outcomes, the Regional Plan of Action (RPoA) for Building the Information Society in Western Asia, and the Arab ICT Strategy.

It will give prominence to such issues as the promotion of the digital Arabic content industry and the online Arabic cultural heritage, as well as the progress and prospects on the Arabic Domain Names.

Participants in the conference include ministers, policy-makers and decision-makers who are directly involved in the implementation of WSIS action lines as well as regional and national plans in Arab countries in general, and particularly in the ESCWA member countries.

Conferees will discuss issues directly related to the recommendations, resolutions and action lines of the two WSIS phases (Geneva 2003 and Tunis 2005) and of similar national and regional strategies and plans of action. They will also identify new projects for inclusion in the RPoA and in other plans of action, including the updated Arab ICT Strategy. The conference is expected to underline ICT use for regional development and empowering marginalized groups.

ESCWA conference is held in partnership with the two main WSIS coordinators, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Other partners include the League of Arab States (LAS), the Arab ICT Organization (AICTO), the Arab Institute for Training and Research in Statistics (AITRS), the Global Alliance for ICT and Development (GAID), Cisco, the International Development Research Center (IDRC), Microsoft, the Syrian Computer Society (SCS), and Syrian Telecom (STE), and Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Organization (TAG-Org).