"Countries concluded at the 2005 World Summit that the internationally agreed development goals will not be achieved unless we do development differently"

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan will open the first-ever meeting at the United Nations of the newly formed Global Alliance for Information and Communication Technologies and Development (GAID) on September 27. Chairing discussion of Alliance strategic goals will be Intel board chairman Craig Barrett.

Launched in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 19 June, the Alliance promotes action to utilize new information and communication technologies to fight poverty and promote development.

In addition to Barrett, other Steering Committee members attending include Jamaludin Jarjis, Malaysia's Minister of Science, Technology and Innovations Minister; Luis Alberto Moreno, president of the Inter-American Development Bank; Walter Fust, director-general, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation; Titi Akinsanmi, program manager, Global Teenager Project, South Africa; John Bernander, secretary-general, Norwegian Broadcasting, European Broadcasting Union; Renate Bloem, president, the Committee on NGOs, Switzerland; and Guy Sebban, secretary-general of the International Chamber of Commerce.

The Steering Committee, which provides the Alliance with executive oversight and guidance, is composed of a chair, Barrett, and several co-chairs representing governments, business, civil society, the media and international organizations.

The meeting will open at 3 p.m. in Conference Room 8. Remarks by Secretary-General Annan and welcoming remarks by Under-Secretary-General Jos? Antonio Ocampo will be followed by a statement from Mr. Barrett.

An interactive discussion will examine the strategic goals and business plan of the Global Alliance, followed by a discussion on the Alliance's funding.

"Countries concluded at the 2005 World Summit that the internationally agreed development goals will not be achieved unless we do development differently," said Alliance Executive Coordinator Sarbuland Khan. "One of the ways to do that is connect the poor with the rest of the world, with the formal economy, through information technologies."

ICTs can help in the areas of enterprise, education, health and government, said Khan, allowing the poor to participate in the economy. "Many developing countries have strong growth rates, but the poor are not part of the growing economy."

GAID will seek to bring together the private sector and international financial institutions, such as the Inter-American Development Bank, in big
partnership initiatives, such as bringing broadband to Africa, Khan
said.

In countries like Kenya, Uganda, Mozambique and Ghana, mobile telephony
is locally driven and demand driven, Khan said. The greatest growth of
mobile phones is taking place in Africa, and women are using mobile phones to
generate businesses and income. "The issue now is how to get mobile telephony to
be a conveyor of information and knowledge on health and the economy. For
this, you need the private sector."

The Alliance seeks to bring together key organizations involved in ICT-for-development to enhance their effectiveness; introduce ICT-for-development into the broader development agenda; create an environment and business models for investment benefiting the poor; find technological solutions for specific development goals; and foster partnerships among all those involved. Partnerships
and new initiatives are expected to be announced at the closing of the 27 September meeting.