Tag: WSIS

Digital tech and the most marginalised: what still needs to be done?

The ICT4D Collective and Microsoft (UN and International Organisations UNIO) (supported by Bangladesh NGOs Network for Radio and Communication, ICT4D.at, and YouthIGF) convened a very lively and interactive Session 360 this morning at the WSIS+20 gathering at Palexpo in Geneva. This began by recognising that digital tech will not be used successfully to deliver the SDGs (especially SDG10) by 2030, but then focused in a very positive way on what governments, the private sector and civil society can indeed do to try to ensure that the poorest and most marginalised can use digital tech to improve their lives.

The session built on an online survey conducted in advance of the gathering to explore what people in our networks consider are the most important actions that can be done by governments, the private sector and civil society (as well as international organisations and academia). This is summarised in the slide deck used to guide the sessions (the whole deck is also available by clicking the image below).

Lively introductory thought-provocations were given by Erica Moret (Microsoft), Bazlur Rahman (BNNRC), Paul Spiesberger (ict4d.at) and Yuliya Morenets (Youth.IGF), and the main focus of the session was then to create together a mind map from brainstorming by participants both in the room and also online (as well as using post-its). This generated a wide range of positive and constructive ideas for what we all need to do if we really care about helping the most marginalised use digital technologies to improve their lives. This discussion is summarised below (click on image for full sized .pdf file):

The session ended by participants re-committing themselves to doing something different in the interests of the poorest and most marginalised.

Join the ICT4D Collective at our session on digital tech and the most marginalised at the WSIS+20 High-Level Event in Geneva on 8th July

We are delighted to be jointly convening a session (306) at the WSIS+20 High-Level Event in Geneva on 8th July at 09.00 in Room L, Palexpo, Geneva. The joint convenors are the ICT4D Collective and Microsoft (UN and International Organisations UNIO), supported by Bangladesh NGOs Network for Radio and Communication, ICT4D.at, and YouthIGF.

Session Outline

The multistakeholder digital tech communities associated with the UN system seem unlikely to deliver on the SDGs by 2030, despite the efforts of those involved in developing and implementing the Global Digital Compact (2024). In particular, SDG10 on reducing inequalities remains insufficiently addressed, with much emphasis instead continuing to be placed on maximising economic growth through innovation. All too often the most marginalised, especially those with disabilities, LGBTIQ communities, women in patriarchal societies, the elderly, ethnic minorities and refugees, are in practice made yet more marginal through the adoption of the latest digital tech by those more powerful and richer than they are.

UNDESA, ECOSOC/CSTD, many other UN agencies, and the IGF process are all conducting widespread consultations about the future of “digital and development” and the WSIS Process, but these have still not sufficiently addressed the tendency for digital tech to be used to increase inequalities, rather than to address issues of inequality and equity. Our interactive session is the culmination of a consultation process during the three months before the annual WSIS Forum through which people across our different networks have contributed their ideas to what the five highest priorities should be for governments, the private sector, civil society and the UN system in creating greater equity in the use of digital tech. The findings of this process will be presented during the session, and participants invited during the session to add to the recommendations through the interactive development of a mind map on marginalization that will provide a very specific output to feed into the wider ongoing debate within the UN system about digital tech and equity.

Please make your voice heard beforehand

Everyone is invited to contribute before the session through a short (max 10 minute) online survey available at:  https://app.onlinesurveys.jisc.ac.uk/s/rhul/digital-equity-wsis2025. This will form the basis of our conversations in Geneva, and so even if you cannot attend in person please do copmplete this survey about what needs to be done to ensure that the poorest and most marginalised can indeed benefit from the use of digital tech.

The ICT4D Collective at WSIS+20

Members of the ICT4D Collective and friends had an exciting and very busy time in Geneva during the 20th anniversary meeting of the World Summit on the Information Society between 26th and 31st May, 2024. Our full agenda is available here, but we summarise below details of the two main sessions that we convened.

Community Media Networks: envisioning the future (Session 331)

We convened this session on 29th May with ACORAB/CIN , BNNRC, TaC-Together, Youth IGF, Cape Town TV, CEMCA, and ICT4D.at, highlighting the importance of community media in reaching some of the world’s most isolated and marginalised people. Our very distinguished line-up of speakers and moderators included (in order of speaking): Pramod Tandukar (Executive Director, ACORAB, Nepal), AHM Bazlur Rahman (CEO, Bangladesh NGOs Network for Radio and Communication), Dr. R Sreedher (Tele Learning and Community Radio Practitioner), and Philomena Gnanapragasam (CEO Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development), with Tim Unwin (ICT4D Collective) and Paul Spiesberger (ICT4D.at) also being moderators.

Towards a better understanding of the interface between digital tech and the physical environment (Session 332)

This session (convened by The Digital Environment System Coalition, ICT4D.at and TaC-Together with YouthIGF) provided an overview of the agenda being developed by the Digital-Environment System Coalition (DESC), and an outline of our proposed contribution to the ITU’s Partner2Connect initiative. It emphasised the need for a completely new was of understanding the interactions between digital tech and the environment, that is much more holistic than the existing emphasis of the “global community” mainly on climate change, carbon emissions, and e-waste.

Other sessions in which members of the ICT4D Collective were involved.

We would also all like to share a special word of thanks to Gitanjali Sah and the ITU Interns who worked so hard to make WSIS+20 such a success

Do read Paul Spiesberger’s reflective piece at https://www.ict4d.at/2024/06/world-summit-on-the-information-society-wsis20-forum-high-level-event-2024/ for more details.

The ICT4D Collective at WSIS+20, Geneva, 26-31 May 2024

The ICT4D Collective is delighted to be participating actively in the upcoming WSIS+20 week of activities in Geneva, especially since 2024 is also the 20th anniversary of the foundation of the Collective, which was created in 2004 to conduct the highest possible quality of research in the field of ICT4D primarily in the interests of poor people and marginalised communities, and making the results of this available freely to the global community.

Geneva from the ITU

Members of the Collective are actively engaged mainly in the following sessions at WSIS+20:

All of these events have been convened jointly with our partners and friends or we have been invited to participate in their sessions as speakers and moderators, and we are most grateful to them for such collaboration. Please do join us at WSIS+20 – we promise to try to make our involvement exciting, interactive and challenging. Should you wish to contact us and arrange meetings during WSIS, do please use our contacts page.

What migrants want: digital tech, inequality and migration’ – MIDEQ WP9 convenes thematic workshop at WSIS 2023, Geneva.

Following the success of our online thematic workshop held during the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) 2022 meeting, the MIDEQ WP9 (digital tech, inequality and migration) team convened a hybrid thematic workshop at the WSIS Annual Forum 2023 in Geneva on 17th March examining ‘what migrants want’ in relation to the use of digital technologies as opposed to the numerous apps that are supposedly designed for them. Building on our ongoing research (see https://ict4d.org.uk/technology-inequality-and-migration/ and https://www.mideq.org/en/themes/digital-technologies-and-inequality/), we explored how co-design with migrants can help craft digital interventions that can usefully address migrant-defined inequalities.

The session, which aligned especially with SDG10 and WSIS Action Lines C3, C4, C5, C7(iii, iv,v), C8 and C10, was structured around our digital interventions from Nepal and South Africa using a series of short-form videos ‘created by migrants for migrants’ as a framing device for the discussion. The contributions highlighted many inequalities faced by migrants and how digital tech can meaningfully address them as well as how digital tech can support personal life choices, offer networking opportunities, and become a peer-to-peer learning tool. The overarching theme was the need for all actors at the interface of digital tech and migration to be mindful of the need to ensure the safe, secure and wise use of digital tech by migrants.

Despite increasing evidence of the challenges to the beneficial use of digital tech by vulnerable migrants, actors such as tech companies, international and local organisations continue to design technologies aimed at migrants without due regard to their unintended consequences. International organisations and fora such as WSIS that are at the forefront of digital inclusion must recognise not just the opportunities offered by digital tech for migrants but also the risks and harms associated with them. This is especially important given the pervasive structural inequalities and limited digital capabilities that characterise many migrant contexts.

WP9 co-lead Prof G Hari Harindranath led the session with Prof Tim Unwin and Dr Maria Rosa Lorini while Bryce Hartley from GSMA (online) and Julien Varlin from ILO Geneva served as discussants. The highly interactive hybrid session was attended by senior government officials and representatives from international organisations, CSOs and tech companies as well as researchers.

We also used the in-person WSIS Forum in beautiful Geneva as an opportunity to discuss pathways to impact for our work with colleagues at IOM and ILO.

Prof G. ‘Hari’ Harindranath

20/3/2023

The UNESCO Chair in ICT4D at the WSIS Annual Forum 2023

We are delighted that members of the UNESCO Chair in ICT4D at Royal Holloway, University of London, are involved in the following four sessions at this year’s WSIS Annual Forum in Geneva between 13th and 16th March 2023 (listed in chronological order):

  • Session 184: International Conference on Digital Transformation of Education: Road towards SDG 4 (Guest of Honour and Panellist), Thursday 16 March 09.00-09.45
  • Session 403: DESC Experiencing digital environment interactions in the “place” of Geneva (convenor) – this is a discussion-walk around Geneva commencing at the main entrance of CICG on Thursday 16 March from 16.00-18.30 (more details)
  • Session 204: DESC Reimagining the Interface between Digital Tech and the Physical Environment (convenor), Friday 17 March, 10.00-10.45 (more details)
  • Session 329: MIDEQ WP9 What migrants want: digital tech, inequality and migration (convenor), Friday 17 March, 11.00-11.45

Please do join us at these sessions, the last two of which will also be available for those wishing to join online. More information is available on the DESC sessions here.

Members of the UNESCO Chair in ICT4D at in-person WSIS 2022

Members of the UNESCO Chair in ICT4D have been involved in the World Summit for the Information Society (WSIS) since its inception in 2003 (Geneva) and 2005 (Tunisia), and have participated in many of the subsequent Annual Forums held in Geneva.

After two years of virtual WSIS events, it was a great pleasure to be back in Geneva during the week of 30th May-3rd June this year and excellent that so many of our Members, Affiliated Members and Partners could participate – both in person and online during the hybrid sessions. Congratulations to Gitanjali Sah and her team for putting on such an interesting and enjoyable week of events, which highlighted the great value of being there in person and holding conversations with old friends, as well as making new acquaintances.

Some of the highlights of our contributions included:

Paul Spiesberger (Affiliated Member and Chair of ict4d.at) served as a High Level Panel Facilitator throughout the event

Ahmed Imran (Affiliated Member and Director of RC-DISC at our partner, the University of Canberra), Tim Unwin (Chairholder) and others at the Academia Round Table on 1st June (Session 397)

Tim Unwin (Chairholder) Panellist in High-Level Dialogue on the Transforming Education Summit and the 2023 GEM Report on Technology and Education, 1st June (Session 298)

Providing summary of DESC Session 281 during HIghlights and Key Outcomes Session 489, 30th May

Tim Unwin (Chairholder) Panellist in Session 406 Academic perspectives on WSIS and the SDGs, 2nd June

Carlos Álvarez Pereira, Suay Ozkula, Paul Spiesberger, Knud Erik Skouby and Tim Unwin participating in Open Space Session on the Digital Environment System Coalition (Session 448), 2nd June

The WSIS Annual Forum remains one of the most valuable of the many duplicating and ovelapping digital technology events, conferences and summits organised by the UN and other agencies. It provides an important opportunity for governments, international agencies, companies and civil society to come together to discuss recent dvelopments in the broad field of digital tech for “development” focusing particularly around the Action Lines agreed almost 20 years ago by the UN system.

Members, Affiliated Members and Partners of the UNESCO Chair in ICT4D at Royal Holloway, University of London, look forward to paticipating in future WSIS events in the years to come.

Digital technologies and accessibility: from rhetoric to reality – at WSIS 2019

Accessibillity 1Members of the UNESCO Chair in ICT4D and our colleagues at the Inter-Islamic Network on Information Technology (INIT) were delighted to have convened and hosted the first session on Accessibility Day (8th April) at this year’s tenth anniversary WSIS Annual Forum held in Geneva.  The theme was “Digital technologies and accessibility: from rhetoric to reality”, and our session began with three short opening presentations:

Building on these inspiring presentations, participants then turned their attention to discussing what still needs to be done to turn rhetoric into reality with respect to the empowerment of people with disabilities through ICTs.  This was captured in the mind map below (link to a detailed and expandable .pdf file of the mind map):

What must we do to turn rhetoric into reality so that people with disabilities can be empowered through digital technologies

This discussion highlighted the continuing need for work in ten main areas:

  • Holistic approaches
  • Enabling voices of people with disabilities
  • Policies and legislation
  • Partnerships
  • Leadership
  • Differentiation between universal inclusion and assistive technologies
  • Training, awareness and capacity building
  • Building appropriate technologies
  • Finances
  • Delivering commitments

Working together, we can all contribute to the empowerment of people with disabilities (details of some of the UNESCO Chair in ICT4D’s activities and resources supporting people with disabilities).

UNESCO Chair in ICT4D at WSIS Annual Forum 2019

Screenshot 2019-03-27 at 22.33.08.pngMembers of the UNESCO Chair in ICT4D and TEQtogether are playing an active role in this year’s WSIS Annual Forum between 8th and 12th April in Geneva.  We are delighted to be involved in the following sessions:

  • Workshop with the Inter-Islamic Network on IT on Digital technologies and accessibility: from rhetoric to reality as part of the special WSIS Accessibility day on Monday 8th April (Room T103, 0900-10.45)
  • Moderating Academia Round Table Action Line C4 Facilitation Meeting on Capacity Building, New teaching approaches for higher learning in the digital era,  (Room L2, 11.00-13.00)
  • Moderating High Level Policy Session on Gender Mainstreaming on Wednesday 10th April (Session 10, Room 2 CICG, 10.00-11.00)
  • Panellist in EQUALS session on How ICTs could be useful tools against gender discrimination, Thursday 11th April (Room C2, 11.00-13.00)
  • TEQtogether workshop on Changing men’s attitudes and behaviours to women & technology, with the New York Academy of Sciences and Global Scribes, Thursday 11th April (H2, 14.30-16.15) as part of our contribution to EQUALS.
  • Delivering one of the inaugural WSIS TALKX

Please do join us for these sessions.  We intend to try to make them as interactive and participatory as possible!

Output from “Reclaiming ICT4D” session at WSIS 2017

Thanks so much to everyone who contributed to our workshop this morning at WSIS 2017 in Geneva on what we need to do to ensure that the poorest and most marginalised can indeed be empowered through the use of ICTs.

Our co-created mindmap is available here in .pdf format and by clicking on the image below:

Reclaiming small

A special thank you to our panel:

  • Alex Wong (Head, Global Challenge Partnerships & Member of the Executive Committee; Head of the Future of the Internet Global Challenge Initiative, World Economic Forum) on The power of partnership
  • Dr. Bushra Hassan (School of Psychology, University of Sussex) on The wisdom of marginalised women
  • Charlotte Smart (Digital Policy and Programme Manager, Department for International Development, UK) on The delivery of donors
  • Michael Kende (Senior Advisor, Analysis Mason, and former Chief Economist of the Internet Society) on The trust in technology
  • Nigel Hickson (VP IGO Engagement, ICANN) on The design of the domain name system
  • Torbjörn Fredriksson (Head of ICT Analysis Section of the Division on Technology and Logistics, UNCTAD) on The energy of entrepreneurship

UNESCO Chair in ICT4D at WSIS Forum 2017

JPN ChairMembers of the UNESCO Chair in ICT4D are delighted to be participating in the 2017 WSIS Forum being held in Geneva from 12th-16th June.

We are very pleased to congratulate one of our Honorary Patrons, Hon. Jean Philbert Nsengimana (Minister of  Youth and Information and Communication Technology, Rwanda), who was elected Chair of the WSIS Forum 2017.

Sessions in which members of the Chair (including Jean Philbert Nsengimane, Marco Zennaro, Charlotte Smart, Bushra Hassan, and Tim Unwin) are playing an active role as moderators and speakers include:

  • Special SDG9 Session Co-hosted by International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) (Session 266): Digital Transformation for Sustainable Development (Room 1, CICG, 9.40-10.45 Thursday 15th June).

  • Action Line C4. Capacity Building: Building Capacity to Leverage eAgriculture Applications (Session 309) (11.00-13.00, Room G2, ITU Varembé)

  • Innovation in ICT Technologies, Broadband, Smart Cities and Manufacturing for Sustainable Development Goals (Session 310) (Room C1, 11.00-13.00, Thursday 15th June)

  • Global Partnership for Digital Gender Equality, first Research Group meeting being convened by UNU-CS.  The UNESCO Chair in ICT4D is delighted to be one of the founding members of this research group undertaking important research in support of this significant global initiative being led by the ITU and UN Women (Thursday 15th June)

  • Building ICT innovation capacity (ITU) (Session 324) (14.30-16.15, L2 ITU Montbrillant, Thursday 15th June)

  • Network for Digital Development – Advancing a Global Action Agenda (World Economic Forum, IEEE) (Session 335) (16.30-18.15, ICT Discovery, ITU Montbrillant, Thursday 15th June)

  • Reclaiming ICT4D (Session 345) hosted by the UNESCO Chair in ICT4D (11.00-12.45, Popov 1, ITU Tower, Friday 16th June)

We very much look forward to seeing friends and colleagues at these sessions.  Copies of Tim Unwin’s new book, Reclaiming Information and Communication Technologies for Development will also be available at a special WSIS rate during our session on Friday.

 

UNESCO Chair in ICT4D session at WSIS Forum 2017

coverTo coincide with the recent publication of Tim Unwin’s new book entitled Reclaiming Information and Communication Technologies for Development (Oxford University Press, 2017), the UNESCO Chair in ICT4D is convening a workshop on Friday 16th June (11.00-12.45 in Room Popov 1) at the 2017 WSIS Forum being held in Geneva.  The key premise of the workshop is that the global spread of ICTs has increased inequality, and that the poorest and most marginalised have therefore failed sufficiently to benefit.  The workshop will explore whether the continued focus on the ways through which ICTs can contribute to economic growth will inevitably lead to ever increasing, and dangerous, inequality, and will make recommendations as to how different stakeholders can best ensure that the poorest and most marginalised can indeed benefit from their use.

It will begin with short (5 minute) perspectives from some amazing people (listed in alphabetical order of first names):

  • Alex Wong (Head, Global Challenge Partnerships & Member of the Executive Committee; Head of the Future of the Internet Global Challenge Initiative, World Economic Forum) on The power of partnership
  • Dr. Bushra Hassan (School of Psychology, University of Sussex) on The wisdom of marginalised women
  • Charlotte Smart (Digital Policy and Programme Manager, Department for International Development, UK) on The delivery of donors
  • Michael Kende (Senior Advisor, Analysis Mason, and former Chief Economist of the Internet Society) on The trust in technology
  • Nigel Hickson (VP IGO Engagement, ICANN) on The design of the domain name system
  • Torbjörn Fredriksson (Head of ICT Analysis Section of the Division on Technology and Logistics, UNCTAD) on The energy of entrepreneurship

Following these short, and undoubtedly provocative, presentations there will be an open discussion focusing on participants’ thoughts as to what are the most important priorities for action that different stakeholders must take so that the poorest and most marginalised people and communities can indeed be empowered through the use of ICTs.

The workshop is open to everyone with interests in ways through which ICTs can indeed benefit poor people, and there will also be an opportunity after the workshop for participants to purchase copies of Reclaiming Information and Communication Technologies for Development at a 40% reduction from list price.

We very much look forward to seeing you in Geneva at the 2017 WSIS Forum.