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

Date: 29 August 2012
Press Release No: G/39/2012

United Nations organizes review to strengthen flagship ICT for development programme

Incheon, Republicof Korea (UN ESCAP Strategic Communications and Advocacy Section) – Information and communications technology for development (ICTD) experts from Cambodia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Tajikistan today concluded a review of a methodology designed to improve a United Nations initiative to strengthen national capacities to harness ICT for socio-economic growth.

The 28-29 August meeting was organized by the Incheon-based Asian and Pacific Training Centre for Information and Communication Technology for Development (APCICT), a subsidiary of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).

Representatives from government, academia, civil society and the private sector examined various dimensions of a new ‘M&E (Monitoring and Evaluation) Toolkit’ being developed by the APCICT “Academy of ICT Essentials for Government Leaders” programme.

Launched in June 2008, the APCICT flagship programme aims to equip government officials and development practitioners with ICTD skills and knowledge. Available in nine languages, it has reached over 12,000 participants in 26 Asia-Pacific countries as well as in Africaand the Middle-East.

The Expert Group Meeting towards strengthening Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) of APCICT’s Academy, attended by 8 Academy programme partners, also concretized plans to customize and apply the M&E Toolkit in the field over the coming months. The M&E Toolkit is a generic tool designed to help Academy partners better capture the progress and impact of the Academy programme in different national contexts.

The outcomes and lessons learned from the field application will be presented at a regional meeting of Academy partners later this year.

“The results of this unique gathering will help to strengthen monitoring and evaluation of APCICT’s flagship capacity development programme, and provide Academy partners throughout the region with the practical tools to do so.” said APCICT Director, Dr. Hyeun-Suk Rhee.

“This gathering of M&E experts and facilitators was an important opportunity to share first-hand perspectives and develop resources that will help to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of ICT for development training programmes and frameworks, at the national and regional-levels,” noted Ms. Yvette Cabrera, Senior Competency Standards Specialist from the Information and Communications Technology Office of the Philippines.

For more information, please contact:

Hyeun-Suk Rhee, Ph.D.
Director, UN-APCICT/ESCAP
Incheon, Republicof Korea
T: + (82) 032 245 1700
E: director@unapcict.org