Declaration on ICT for Development
World Congress on ICT for Development,
The 2009 World Congress on ICT for Development, WCID’09, held
Sept. 10-12,
1, Millennium Development Goal, for
Remedying the Unbalancing Boat
People, from every corner of the globe have same rights for
seeking the happier life. We are in fact in a big village and sailing on the
same boat.
Due to historical reasons, however, people have been in different
positions, richer or poorer, stronger or weaker, well-educated or
less-enlightened. Over-unbalance may lead to danger to the
mankind.
To remedy the situation, the United Nations have set a Millennium
Development Goal to at least halve the poor population before 2015. This is a
loyal responsibility for all of us.
2, Information Age, New Stage of Human
Society
Science and Technology as a whole is the major driving force for
the development of human society.
Material Science and Technology has made it possible for human
society to advance from nomadic age to agricultural age, Energy Science and
Technology has driven the society from agricultural age to industrial age, and
now Information Science and Technology is leading the society from industrial
age to information age.
3, ICT, Effective Tool for Development in
the New Age
Advancement of the human society depends on the new tools
innovated by science and technology.
The typical new tool in information age is the information and
communication technology, ICT, which has two stages to develop: the Primary
stage and the Advanced stage.
The Primary ICT Tool supports the convenience of information
sharing among people that will make better
matches among sectors of the society and thus improves the social
productivities.
The Advanced ICT Tool will support highest efficiency and
creativity in social productivities and provide equal opportunity for people to
use, leading the various kinds of gaps existed in society gradually diminished.
4, Education, Key to the Use of ICT
Tool
To effectively use ICT Tool for making progress in economic and
social development, people need to acquire necessary kinds of knowledge and
skills. Education will thus play the most fundamental and indispensable
role.
People in information age have the advantage of using ICT for
receiving education. This has been proved by many appreciable cases presented
during WCID’09.
5, Responsibility for Governments and
Citizens
Government in any country should take on the responsibility to
promote the national education for all people and place education as the top
priority on the national development agenda.
Government should also take effective measures to encourage all
stakeholders for building up and maintaining the national infrastructure as well
as creating the variety of information resources so that people, including
disabled people, can afford to use ICT Tool for learning, working and
living.
Citizens should well be aware of the importance of learning and
people are never too old to learn ICT.
6, Responsibility for International
Organizations
To reduce the unbalance of development among nations,
international cooperation between developed and developing countries should be
strengthened. Developed countries have responsibility to provide assistance to
the developing countries in this regards.
The international organizations have obligations to work together
for promoting various kinds of cooperation among nations. Conference, e.g.,
WCID’09, is one of the approaches for this purpose.
7, Public
Call
The participants of WCID’09 strongly appeal to all citizens,
professions, governments and international bodies to take effective actions in
promoting ICT for sustainable human, economic and social development.
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