|
Purpose and Objectives
This initiative is being implemented by the Commonwealth Secretariat and COMNET-IT as implementing and advisory
partner, with funding for development projects
provided by CFTC.
|
|
The purpose of the initiative is to:
-
catalyse and facilitate the articulation of
national and sectoral IT strategies, together with
their associated planning and monitoring
processes; a Regional focus is encouraged whilst maintaining
pan-Commonwealth sharing;
-
help nurture sectoral peer networks on a regional
basis;
-
encourage the sharing of programme information and resources
amongst Commonwealth and other development and
funding agencies.
|
|
The objectives in this first phase of the programme
(2001/2002) are:
-
the convening of three regional programme-launch
events as part of a broad-based sensitisation and
consultation process;
-
the identification of regional core groups of
experts and institutions willing to constitute
sectoral networks (e.g. for Health, Agriculture,
Tourism, etc.);
-
the development of Templates constituting
structured checklists or guidelines for the
development of national and sectoral strategies;
-
the cascading of national strategy formulation in a
number of states through expert-assisted
facilitation where requested.
|
|
As at time of reporting (August, 2001), the following has
been achieved:
-
three regional launch-events have been organised with high-level
political support in Jamaica, South Africa and
Malaysia (April, June and July, 2001
respectively);
-
total participation amounted to some 500 plus
resource-persons and delegates - from policy and
management levels - representing 43Commonwealth
states;
-
high-quality presentation materials, together with comprehensive
workshop reports and other resources are being
packaged for web-based and CD distribution;
-
templates have been completed for a number of sectors and will constitute
a separate publication for both electronic and
hard-copy distribution. It is hoped to continue to consolidate
these through further consultation;
-
a number of partnering agencies have been involved,
including Unesco, the Caribbean Development Bank,
the UN Economic Commission for Africa and the Economic and Social Commission for
Asia-Pacific.
|
|
Next Steps
-
Country Strategies;
facilitation services in support of the
development of national ICT strategies will be
provided in conjunction with other partners;
-
Sectoral Networks;
peer networks on a regional basis will be
developed and mentored, organising their own
web-based information, dialogue and occasional
meetings. The objective is to move on from the
platitudes to the sharing of real-life experiences
of initiatives intended to integrate ICTs into
everyday social and economic activity;
|
|
Programme Relationships
This programme is firmly aligned with and supports the
recommendations developed by the Commonwealth Expert
Group on IT for the High Level Review Group. It is also in full synergy with the work of the
Commonwealth Secretariat and the Commonwealth
Association for Public Administration and Management (CAPAM)
concerning Good Governance. This activity is also an excellent example of
how the Commonwealth, with its diversity and large
proportion of the world's population, acts as a
representative subset of society and as a catalyst for
global directives or initiatives (in the present
context the UN Report on the Digital Divide calls on
all states to articulate their national ICT strategy
by June, 2001). The Programme also represents a worthy cause within the
context of the G8 initiative on the Digital Divide. Through its emphasis on pan-Commonwealth
sharing, value for money is upheld in the interests of
both donors and beneficiaries.
|
|
Workshop Reports
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
