ESCAP jointly with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) organized the Sub-Regional Workshop on Community e-Centres (CeCs) for Rural Development from 16 to 18 April 2008 at New Delhi, India, under the project entitled “Empowering rural areas through community e-centres under South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) program” that is being executed by ADB and ESCAP, with funds provided by ADB’s Japan Fund for ICT (JFICT).
The workshop gathered senior officials, national consultants and resource persons to examine the progress of the project in the participating countries, including sharing outcomes of the project so far and sharing information on problems encountered and lessons learned during the implementation of the project, shared good practices on CeC particularly in the SASEC region, and discussed future project implementation strategy at the regional and national levels.
Related documents:
Presentations
Agenda Item 3:
Overview of the progress of the project and Objectives of the workshop, Mr. Nokeo Ratanavong, Scientific Affairs Officer, Information, Communication and Space Technology Division, UNESCAP
Overview of telecentre development in the Asia and Pacific Region, Mr. Clovis Freire, Information, Communication and Space Technology Division, UNESCAP
JFICT Monitoring and Evaluation Framework, Ms. Agnes Navera, M&E Specialist, ADB
ADB’s ICT Programs in SASEC Countries, Ms. Hyunjung Lee, ICT Specialist, ADB
Agenda Item 4: Country Presentation:
Empowering Rural Communities through CICs” – Bhutan, Ms. Sangay Wangmo, Department of Information Technology, Ministry of Information & Communications
Progress on Project Implementation in Nepal, Mr. Keshabraj Acharya and Ms. Shailaja Regmi (Bhattarai), Ministry of Information and Communication (MoIC), Nepal
Establishing CeCs in Nepal, Mr. Tikajit Rai, ADB National Consultant
Country Reports & Progress, Mr. Arun Varma, Vice President, IL&FS
BANGLADESH JFICT Project 9068-Empowering Rural Areas through CeC: Progress, Challenges and Lesson Learned, Ministry of Science and ICT Government of Bangladesh
Agenda Item 5: Sharing experience
Pro-poor e-governance for the Millennium Development Goals - Strengthening local service delivery through CeCs, Mr. Lars Bestle, Programme Specialist, Access to Information, e-Governance and Media Development, UNDP Regional Centre in Bangkok, Thailand
Community Multimedia Centres, Mr. Alonso Aznar, Advisor for Communication and Information, UNESCO New Delhi Office.
Using ICT for Improved Governance and Service Delivery for the Poor, Mr. John Borgoyary, Programme Officer, UNDP New Delhi Office
Ensuring Sustainability of Telecentres - ITC eChoupal, Mr. Sachin Sahay, ITC Limited, India
Transforming Rural Communities through ICTs – M S Swaminathan Research Foundation’s Experience, Ms. S.Velvizhi, VRC Coordinator, M.S.Swaminathan Research Foundation, India
Enabling Government Policy framework/ mainstreaming CeC in national policy and plans – sharing good practices and lesson learned
ICT Policy Framework, Regulatory Environment , Infrastructure & Government Readiness to Promote CeC: Bangladesh, Ministry of Science and ICT Government of Bangladesh
Bhutan – Government Policy Framework, PIU of Bhutan
Government Policy Framework in Nepal: 3-year interim plan (2007 - 2010), PIU of Nepal
Agenda Item 6: Overall future project strategy and implementation plan
JFICT Project: Revised Schedule and Aggregated Activities – Proposal, Ms. Hyunjung Lee, ICT Specialist, ADB
M&E Readiness Assessment, Ms. Agnes Navera, M&E Specialist for JFICT 9068 Project, ADB
Agenda Item 7: Review and revision of the Grant Implementation Manual
Review and Revision of the Grant Implementation Manual (GIM), Project Implementation Unit (PIU), Ministry of Science and ICT Government of Bangladesh
Grant Implementation Plan – Bhutan, Ms. Sangay Wangmo, DIT, MoIC
Review of GIM of India, Department of Information Technology, Government of India jointly with IL&FS
Agenda Item 8: Summary of conclusions and recommendations
Summary of conclusions and recommendations, by ESCAP and ADB | 
