Advancing ICT Solutions for Development through Cross-Sector Partnerships
With a Special Focus on the Middle East and North Africa, Cairo 4-5 May 2005

Global Knowledge Partnership (GKP) organised, for the first time, an International Forum on cross-sector partnerships for the advancement of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) solutions for development. This event was co-organised by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (Egypt-MCIT) and the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt (AmCham), and co-sponsored by the Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation (SDC), the Swedish International Development Cooperation (Sida), the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), Microsoft, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and the International Development Research Center (IDRC).

Thematic Background

In today's fast changing environment that has led us to the Information Society, ICTs play an ever more important role as tool for social and economic development. The availability of information, the generation of knowledge and the faster and cheaper communication channels shape our economies as well as our lives, even in remote areas. However, in order to reach the full potential of ICTs for sustainable development, partnerships are needed that bring together the public and the private, the profit and not-for-profit sectors. These new initiatives will be crucial in order to make a real difference!

Experiences have been made in the effective use of ICTs as tools for development and poverty reduction. The International Forum on Cross-Sector Partnerships will build on these experiences, and lead the way to effective new partnership-based initiatives. A special focus will be on experiences from the Middle East and North Africa.

Please visit our dedicated website for this event.