UNITED NATIONS GLOBAL ALLIANCE MEETING IN SILICON VALLEY URGED BY SECRETARY-GENERAL TO SEEK ‘DIGITAL OPPORTUNITY’ FOR ALL

(Received from a UN Information Officer.)

SANTA CLARA, UNITED STATES, 27 February -- A global network of tech experts, activists and Government and corporate leaders was asked by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon early today to help harness information and communication technology (ICT) to meet broad human objectives such as the anti-poverty Millennium Development Goals.

In a message to the Strategy Council of the Global Alliance for Information and Communication Technologies and Development, the Secretary-General said that a partnership of Governments, civil society, the private sector and academia could “turn the digital divide into digital opportunity” by promoting new business models, public policies and technology solutions.

The Strategy Council meeting, chaired by Global Alliance Chairman Craig Barrett, the Chairman of Intel, discussed efforts under way to bring more broadband to Africa and to expand the number and range of multitasking telecentres in developing countries.  “The Alliance has made much progress since it was formed last year,” Mr. Barrett said.  “It’s time to focus on actions with results, not protocol.  Our focus can improve people’s lives.”

Today’s meeting, held at Intel’s headquarters, follows two earlier Alliance meetings, in Kuala Lumpur and at the United Nations in New York, both in 2006.  The Alliance is an inclusive, multi-stakeholder global forum and platform for cross-sectoral policy dialogue and action.

“With a track record of partnering with Government and business in bringing the benefits of ICT to all the world’s inhabitants, we welcome every initiative that supports our efforts,” said International Telecommunication Union Secretary-General Hamadoun Tour箠 “Only with the combined effort of all stakeholders can we hope to meet the challenge of connecting the unconnected by 2015 and achieve the goals set by the World Summit on the Information Society.”

Alliance Executive Coordinator Sarbuland Khan noted that the “first world” and the nations that became emerging markets in the 1990s had adopted and internalized the Internet and advanced communication and information technology; now it was the time to bring the digital revolution to the less developed countries, attacking the strongest bastions of extreme poverty.

Alliance Council members will meet with a cross-section of Silicon Valley leaders on 28 February, in a dialogue hosted by Intel.

For further information, please contact Tim Wall, United Nations Department of Public Information, tel.:  (646) 707-8568, e-mail:  wallt@un.org, or Laura Anderson, Intel Corporation, tel.:  (480) 213-8464, e-mail:  laura.m.anderson@intel.com.