Calling for ideas to further ICT development

The Commonwealth Secretariat is inviting governments, NGOs and academic institutions to submit project proposals that can help bridge the digital divide.

The call for projects comes on behalf of the Commonwealth Connects Programme, an initiative to improve information and communication technology (ICT) skills in the Commonwealth and use them as tools for development.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Malta, Dr Michael Frendo, who chairs the Commonwealth Connects Steering Committee, said that priority would be given to projects that can benefit from “the common ICT wealth of the Commonwealth”.

“We seek projects that involve multiple partnerships in their implementation phase and which include plans to use ICT in national development plans,” Dr Frendo added.

Projects can be submitted no later than 5 January 2007. For details and to download applications forms, visit http://www.commonwealthconnects.net/ and click on the ‘Project Marketplace’ link.

The Commonwealth Connects Programme -- co-ordinated by the Commonwealth Connects secretariat within the Commonwealth Secretariat’s Governance and Institutional Development Division -- was launched on 3 August 2006. India, Malta, Mozambique, and Trinidad and Tobago, which are members of its Steering Committee, plan to fund the programme to the tune of nearly £1 million over the next three years.

The first project launched under the programme in August -- ‘Rebuilding After the Tsunami: Using ICTs for Change’ -- offers web development, e-communication services and training to organisations working on tsunami rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts in Sri Lanka and India.

Other Commonwealth Connects projects involve the provision of radio-based business training for women in Cameroon to help them in micro-enterprise; and the distribution of refurbished computers donated by Caribbean governments and citizens to local schools for computer training.

Key Links:

• Governance

Related News:

• Commonwealth Connects