Mr. Abdul Khan, Assistant Director-General for Communication and Information for UNESCO and Chairman of the DOT Board of Directors, led the opening ceremony of the 'UNESCO International Conference and Exhibition on Knowledge Parks' in Doha, Qatar on March 29th.  The aim of the three-day conference was to demonstrate the value of knowledge parks* and encourage sustainable partnership building within the arena of ICT for development, with particular emphasis on Africa, Arab States and Asia.  Mr. Khan acknowledged that today's knowledge divide goes beyond rifts in technology and described technology parks as helping to "benefit people living in the shadow of poverty".

Mr. Mohsen Khalil, Director of Global Information and Communication Technologies Department for the World Bank Group, recognized the need for low income populations to be connected in the world, a problem that is especially difficult in Arab countries where there is a very high cost for connectivity.  "Access to information and knowledge within the appropriate enabling environment is key."  He said that one woman explained accessing the Internet as 'feeling the world under the tip of your finger'. 

Mr. Khalil concluded his presentation by stating that goverments must reform their policies to enable youth, to help translate concept into business, and to "unleash the power of human capital and give opportunity to the poor through easy access to information". 

 
   Conference Venue: Four Seasons Doha Hotel

*A Knowledge Park is defined as a mechanism to encourage entrepreneurial advancements in an array of sectors through the use of technology, typically working in conjuction with local universities. 

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Featured in picture: Robina Guchu, Mentwab Abiy, Janet Longmore, Asma Abu Hussein,  David Thibervile, Paul Akiki and Emily Marks

Five DOT Interns were chosen to attend the conference as the young global voice of ICT for development with demonstrated creativity and entrepreneurial skills: David Thiberville (DOT USA), Paul Akiki (NetCorps Lebanon), Robina Guchu (DOT Kenya), Mentwab Abiy (DOT Ethiopia) and Asma Abu Hussein (NetCorps Jordan).  The Interns and DOT would like to take this opportunity to thank UNESCO and the Qatar Foundation for organising the event and a special 'thank you' to both organisations for overseeing the Interns' travel and accommodation expenses.

To emphasize the extraordinary role that youth today play in enabling positive change in our world, the Interns gave a presentation at the conference entitled 'Youth Leadership: ICT + Communities = Impact'.  These young people presented an informative and moving description of their DOT internship experiences and the impact that it has made upon communities. 

Keep checking the DOT site for footage of their presentation coming very soon...

On the third and final day of the 'UNESCO International Conference and Exhibition on Knowledge Parks', Janet Longmore (President and CEO of DOT) facilitated the 'ICT and Youth' discussion. Four panel members participated in the discussion including a teacher from Qatar, Ms. Haifa Malaeb. 

Ms. Malaeb spoke passionately about the welfare of her students and the positive impact that ICT can make within the classroom.  One of her fellow teachers believes that using ICT in the classroom helps to motivate her students, minimize disciplinary problems and expand the students' minds as they can collaborate with students in other schools. 

Ms. Malaeb believes that ICT offers a wealth of opportunity for students. These ICT tools keep the focus of the students because they enjoy using them.  Ms. Malaeb concluded by stating that knowledge of computers is not enough, teachers must participate in professional staff development to ensure that ICT is presented and integrated properly into the classroom.

Ms. Astrid Dufborg, Executive Director of the Global e-Schools and Communities Initiative (GESCI), also concurred with Ms. Malaeb's sentiments as she believes that teacher professional development would inevitably be a difficult challenge but the potential outcomes of an ICT-enabled classroom would be tremendous.  Ms. Dufborg defined this transition as a role shift from the teacher as a trainer to the teacher as a facilitator, thus allowing technology to instruct in the classroom. 

In her closing remarks, Janet Longmore thanked the panel members for their contributions and insights and offered one solution to bridging this ICT gap in the classroom: a program whereby university graduates work alongside teachers to provide technology to the students (what we within the DOT community know as TeachUp!).

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