..Press Release................................ UNESCAP News Services

Date 28 February 2007
Media Advisory No. N/07/2007

UN-APCICT Holds Major Forum on ICT Capacity-Building

Bangkok (UN Information Services) – Experts from 48 countries in Asia and beyond will gather in Incheon, Republic of Korea, for a forum on information and communication technology (ICT) capacity-building organized by the recently established UN Asia and Pacific Training Centre for Information and Communication Technology for Development (UN-APCICT). The forum is entitled: Where are we, where are we going and what will it take to fill the gap? It is scheduled from 5-6 March 2007, in conjunction with an e-government training to be held from 7-9 March 2007.

About 150 high-level participants, from national ministries and planning agencies, the private sector, academia and civil society, will discuss the status, needs and challenges of ICT capacity-building at the regional and national levels. They will also discuss the development of an ICT-related human resource development action plan.

H.E. Mr. Rho Jun-Hyong, Minister of Information and Communication, the Republic of Korea, will deliver the keynote speech. Congratulatory remarks will also be given by Mr. Ahn Sang-Soo, Mayor of Incheon City.

“As it was well recognized at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), building capacity in ICT, including the requisite human resources development, is a fundamental aspect of the development process,” said Mr. Kim Hak-Su, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP). “For most countries of the Asia-Pacific region, the main bottleneck for ICT diffusion is the lack of adequate human resources and a glaring discrepancy between their supply and demand, as well as a dearth of adequate training facilities.”

The Director of UN-APCICT, Ms. Hyeun-Suk Rhee, said “the meeting aims to increase awareness both at the political and technical level for the need to meet information society requirements and for linking the national policy agenda with ICT human resources planning, development and management.”

UN-APCICT seeks to evolve as an e-hub for building strategic capacity in the use of ICT in the economy and wider society.

For a full list of APCICT activities, please refer to:
http://www.unapcict.org/board/board_notice.asp

For more information on the Asian and the Pacific Regional Forum on ICT Capacity Building, please visit: http://www.unapcict.org/board/board_event_view.asp?num=2006121102

For further information, please contact:

Ms. Hyeun-Suk Rhee, Director
APCICT
Incheon
Tel: +(82) 032 245 1700
http://www.unapcict.org/

Mr. Hak-Fan Lau, Chief
UN Information Services
UNESCAP
Bangkok
Tel: +(66-2) 288 1866 Fax: +(66-2) 288 1052

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