The World Bank Group and the Swiss Government co-host the 8th Annual infoDev Symposium in Geneva on December 9th and 10th, 2003. The World Bank Group, through its Information for Development Program, and the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (seco) of the Government of Switzerland, jointly organized a major meeting on Information for Development in conjunction with the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS). High-level officials from government, business, international organisations and civil society debated, and offered practical solutions and new avenues of cooperation to promote information technology as a tool for development and poverty reduction. This by invitation only two-day event was limited to 600 participants. The event was organised around a small number of topical sessions. Each of those sessions introduced innovative tools and partnerships. The main objective of infoDev Annual Symposia is to share knowledge and foster a dialogue relating to what leaders and decision makers can do to benefit societies through the use of ICT. Particular emphasis is placed on activities and projects on how to improve local capabilities to make significant contributions to improving health, education and bridging the digital divide.

Opening Session: Success Stories, and Failure Stories
Organiser: World Bank Group / State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (seco), Government of Switzerland

This session will set the tone for the Symposium by taking a hard look at our experience in recent years with ICT for development -- both the successes and failures. It will focus on articulating some key principles for understanding the role that ICTs can play in development and poverty reduction, and key guidelines for future ICT for development interventions, based on experience from past projects. The new infoDev study, "ICTs, Poverty and Development: Learning from Experience", commissioned by the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (seco), will provide a framework for the discussion, and a controversial point of departure for evaluating our experience so far.

 

Moderator:
Maria Livanos-Cattaui, Secretary-General, International Chamber of Commerce, France

Panel Speakers:
Bruno Lanvin, Program Manager, infoDev, The World Bank Group
Mohsen Khalil, Director, Global Information and Communication Technologies Department, The World Bank Group
Kerry McNamara, Consultant, infoDev - Global Information and Communication Technologies Department, The World Bank Group
Nemat Shafik, Vice President & Head of Network, Infastructure, The World Bank Group
David Syz, State Secretary for Economic Affairs, Government of Switzerland
Peter Woicke, Executive Vice President, The International Finance Corporation, The World Bank Group

Session 1: Who is winning and who is losing in the information revolution?
Organiser: World Bank Group / State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (seco), Government of Switzerland

Is the digital divide broadening? Which countries face the biggest gap in their stage of development? What can be done to reduce it? How shall we measure success? What can leaders and decision makers do to make development countries benefit through the use of ICT, and how can we bridge the digital divide? The "Global Information Technology Report" promises to be controversial, and offers a candid look at success stories and failures in the area of ICT for development. Past experience and development trends related to the digital divide will be discussed.

Moderator:
Bruno Lanvin, Program Manager, infoDev, The World Bank Group Bruno Lanvin, Program Manager, infoDev, The World Bank Group

Panel Speakers:
Soumitra Dutta, The Roland Berger Chair Professor of Business and Technology, Professor of Information Systems, Dean of Executive Education, INSEAD, France
Jose Maria Figueres, Senior Managing Director, World Economic Forum, Switzerland
George Sciadas, Chief, Information Society Research and Analysis, Statistics Canada, and Scientific Director, Monitoring the Digital Divide Project, Orbicom, Canada

Session 2: Mobilizing Private Investment for ICT, with a special focus on Africa
Organiser: World Bank Group / State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (seco), Government of Switzerland

ICTs have the potential for tremendous impact on development in Africa, yet the continent remains severely underserved. The growth of telecommunications infrastructure in sub-Saharan Africa will not happen without a significant increase in private investment. Attracting higher levels of private investment will be critical in expanding this information infrastructure. This has started to happen in some parts of the continent, particularly in countries that first adopted market opening policies. While the regulatory regimes in many countries have impeded the expansion of service provision, several countries illustrate the benefits of well designed reform. The session will consider perspectives from key players in the fields of mobile and wireless telephony, data services and software.

Moderator:
Mohsen Khalil, Director, infoDev - Global Information and Communication Technologies Department, The World Bank Group

Panel Speakers:
Herman Chinery-Hesse, Founder and Director, SOFT Company, Ghana
Mohammed Ibrahim, Chairman, MSI Cellular, England
Ayisi Makatiani, Chief Executive Officer, Gallium Capital Partners, Nairobi
Ernest C.A. Ndukwe, Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Communications Commission, Nigeria

Session 3: ICT and Capacity Building - Trade Competitiveness, with special emphasis on SME's
Organiser: World Bank Group / State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (seco), Government of Switzerland

This session will explore how small exporters in developing countries can gain a competitive edge using ICT. The session stresses the importance of enabling a much more pro-competitive business environment in developing countries, particularly to give leverage to ICT-enabled opportunities - the 'e' dimension - to achieve the MDGs. The focus is on key implementation challenges, especially how SMEs in developing countries can be assisted in taking greater advantage of ICT to become more competitive in an increasingly globalised and networked economy. Moreover, it presents how SMEs establish themselves as poles for innovation at the community level, particularly through promotion and diffusion of an ICT savvy and risk-taking entrepreneurial culture. This session should spur creativity and innovation at the local level, particularly in sectors involving women and poor communities. The session will address how to focus on putting 'e' to work by finding new ways of doing traditional business, seizing new ICT related business opportunities, and helping SME exporters bridge the digital divide.

Moderator:
Ramamurti Badrinath, Head, Division of Trade Support Services, International Trade Center, Switzerland 

Panel Speakers:
Carlos Braga, Senior Advisor, International Trade Department, The World Bank Group
Y. C. Deveshwar, Chairman, ITC Limited, India
El Haj Gley, General Manager, La Poste Tunisienne, Tunis
Gisele Yitamben, Executive Director, ASAFE, Cameroon

Session 4: Development, Effective Networks, Security and Affordability

Organiser: World Bank Group / State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (seco), Government of Switzerland

Three issues related to the recent network technology development trend, and the participation of development countries in these trends, will be discussed during the session. Firstly, an in-depth state-of-the-art study of network security issues will be presented. The study, commissioned by the Swiss Government (seco), and conducted by a team of world renowned international specialists in network security issues, will offer a fresh look at how security concerns and development objectives can be combined. Secondly, the session will ask whether and how wireless Internet access in particular could present an opportunity for developing countries. Thirdly, the debate will focus on strategies to increase the benefit for developing countries from recent open source software development.

Moderator:
Alex Paul Pentland, Academic Head, The Media Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA

Panel Speakers:
Daniel Aghion, Executive Director, Wireless Internet Institute, USA
Paul Dravis, Founder and President, The Dravis Group, USA

Alan Greenberg, Former Member of the Board, Internet Society (ISOC), Canada

 

Session 5: Closing Session: Where do we go from here?
Organiser: World Bank Group / State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (seco), Government of Switzerland

Based on the outcome of the previous sessions, the Symposium will close with a list of practical products and proposals that are likely to be reflected in the conclusions of the WSIS and its follow-up.

Panel Speakers:
J. Denis Belisle, Executive Director, International Trade Center, Switzerland
Nemat Shafik, Vice President & Head of Network, Infastructure, The World Bank Group
David Syz, State Secretary for Economic Affairs, Government of Switzerland
Peter Woicke, Executive Vice President, The International Finance Corporation, The World Bank Group