[Lac] Invitation to Seminar: 'Ensuring Universal Access to Knowledge and Services through Telecenters', March 23, 2004

[Robert Guerra]

>
>Dear colleagues,
>
>We would like to invite you to take part in the video-seminar in person or via
>the Internet broadcast. If you have questions to the speakers, feel 
>free to send
>them to me in advance or during the video-seminar. You can join in one of the
>participating cities or via the Internet broadcast at:
>http://webcast-ext.worldbank.org/streaming/live.ram (which will start at 9 am
>Washington DC time on March 23).
>
>Looking forward to your participation!
>
>Oleg Petrov,
>on behalf of World Bank's e-Development Services Thematic Group
>
>
>    'Ensuring Universal Access to Knowledge and Services through Telecenters'
>
>        The seminar is part of the e-Development Dialogues Seminar Series*
>
>Participating sites: Washington DC, Chennai (India), Rome (Italy), 
>Colombo (Sri
>                 Lanka), Bucharest (Romania) and Santiago (Chile)
>
>                             Tuesday, March 23, 2004
>                              9.00 - 11.30 a.m (EST)
>
>                             World Bank 'I' Building
>                       1850 I Street, NW Washington DC USA
>                             Conference Room I-1-200
>
>Program Description:
>
>Telecenters  are an essential element of broader strategies to 
>provide universal
>access  and  connectivity  in  developing and transitional 
>countries.  There has
>been  growing  demand from the client countries to provide 
>assistance and advice
>related  to  telecenters  and  connectivity solutions in rural, 
>disadvantage and
>remote  areas.  Countries are also increasingly interested in 
>packaging Internet
>access  with  certain  high-demand  services  to  provide  value 
>beyond  simple
>connectivity and insure long-term sustainability of telecenters.
>
>The purpose of the seminar is to discuss how telecenters can help 
>developing and
>transitional countries provide universal access to Knowledge and Services in
>disadvantaged, remote and rural areas.  The seminar will cover a 
>broad range of
>high-value added telecenter services, including eGovernment and eBusiness
>services, and provide an overview of the latest supporting 
>technologies, such as
>WI-FI.
>
>The  video-seminar  will connect speakers and participants in 
>Washington DC with
>experts in India, Italy, Sri Lanka, Romania and Chile. It will be 
>broadcast live
>on the internet.
>
>Speakers:
>
>Francisco Proenza of the FAO, connected via videoconference from Rome, will
>provide an overview of telecenter experiences around the world and will
>specifically address the type and range of services that can be successfully
>delivered to the community through telecenters.
>
>Our second speaker will be John Broomfield of Social Venture Partners.  John
>will focus on an integrated approach to SME development and Telecenter
>sustainability and some of the problems and solutions in providing 
>this type of
>assistance to Small and Medium Enterprises.
>
>Ashok Jhunjhunwala, will join us from India to talk about best practices in
>deploying locally adapted connectivity solutions to provide access to online
>government services, education, health and veterinarian services, agricultural
>extension, etc? making telecenters  an essential tool for unlocking the
>development potential of local communities.
>
>A key challenge to date has been to find relatively inexpensive connectivity
>solutions for telecenters in areas where the telecommunication 
>infrastructure is
>still deficient.  New technologies, such as Wi-Fi, provide new avenues for
>expanding universal access.  Our last speaker - Klaus Stoll of 
>Chasquinet - will
>focus his presentation on the potential of various wireless technologies for
>remote and rural areas.
>
>The seminar will be chaired by Nagy Hanna, Senior Advisor on e-Development,
>World Bank. We will be joined by participants in Romania and Sri Lanka where
>there has been a strong interest in World Bank's assistance in telecenter
>development.
>
>Discussants:
>
>Samia Melhem, Sr Informatics Specialist, World Bank
>James Hanna, Lead Operations Officer, World Bank
>Simone Cecchini, Economic Projections Division - Social Statistics 
>Unit, ECLAC,
>United Nations (via videoconference from Chile)
> 
>                                                                               
> 
>                                                                               
> 
>                                                                               
>
>Agenda:
>
>9:00-9:05: Opening Remarks: Nagy Hanna
>             9:05-9:20: Francisco Proenza (15 minutes)
>9:20-9:25: Questions
>9:25-9:40: John Broomfield (15 minutes)
>9:40-9:45: Questions
>9:45-10:00: Ashok Jhunjhunwala (15 minutes)
>10:00-10:05: Questions
>10:05-10:20: Klaus Stoll (15 minutes)
>10:20-10:55: Questions
>10:55-11:25: Discussions (30 minutes)
>- Questions from Romania
>- Questions from Sri Lanka
>- Questions/ comments from all
>11:25-11:30: Closing Remarks: Nagy Hanna
>
>For further information on this seminar, please contact Asheeta Bhavnani at
>edevelopment at worldbank.org or Oleg Petrov at +1 202-4738861.
>
>No building passes or RSVP is necessary to attend the seminar in 
>Washington DC,
>so everyone is welcome!
>
>View recent coverage on Telecenters on the Development Gateway at:
>http://www.developmentgateway.org/ict/telecenters
>
>Visit the e-Development Services Thematic Group site at:
>http://www.developmentgateway.org/edevelopment