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India to host WITFOR 2012 | India is all set to host the World Information Technology Forum (WITFOR) 2012 at the Vigyan Bhawan here on Tuesday. The fifth edition of the coveted event is being organized by the International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP), in partnership with the Department
of Electronics and Information Technology (DEITy), Ministry of Communications
and Information Technology, Government of India. The Forum opens tomorrow with
the inaugural address by Communications and IT Minister Kapil Sibal. Other key
speakers at the inaugural function are Janis Karklins, Assistant Director General,
Communication and Information Sector, UNESCO, Sachin Pilot, Minister of State
for Communications and IT, Government of India, Leon Strous, President, IFIP and
J. Satyanarayana, Secretary, Department of Electronics and Information Technology,
Government of India WITFOR will focus, on use of ICT in agriculture, education,
health and e-Governance, within the overall theme of 'ICT for Sustainable Human
Development'. Representatives from over 30 countries will share their knowledge,
views and best practices in the use of IT for governance and delivery of key public
services, brought together on a common platform that will allow them to showcase
successful, working models of the use of ICT for development. WITFOR was born
out of the need for emerging economies and developed countries to collaborate
and harness the potential for digital technologies for sustainable development.
Since its inception in 2003, World IT Forums have been held four times-in Vietnam
(2009), Ethiopia (2007), Botswana (2005) and Lithuania (2003). The activities
of the Forum are broadly guided by the World Summit on the Information Society`s
(WSIS) Plan of Action, in order to help achieve the UN Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs). The participation in WITFOR has risen from 600 to 1,500 in six years,
bearing testimony to its robust content and the diversity of attendees. The WITFOR
conferences help bring together a variety of stakeholders to discuss, debate and
analyse ways in which ICT is powering the engine of growth and development in
the emerging economies for policymakers and practitioners to share knowledge on
'ICT for development' with their international counterparts who are facing similar
challenges in their countries. With over 80 speakers from around the world, WITFOR
2012 aims to bring together a unique mix of policymakers and political leaders,
social entrepreneurs, academic researchers, practitioners and executives, both
from the private and public sector. Leaders from multilateral organisations like
UNESCO, UNDP, the World Bank and from regional bodies like the West African Health
Organisation will share their experiences in meeting the challenges of globalisation
and sustainable development. Other attendees include high-level dignitaries from
the governments of Bangladesh, Canada, Sri Lanka, Nigeria, Moldova, Paraguay,
as well as senior members of academia and from across South Asia, Latin America,
Europe and Africa. The Forum, aimed primarily at fostering an informed debate
among policymakers, will also bring together senior bureaucrats and technologists
from South Korea , Canada , Nigeria , Kenya , Malaysia , Estonia , Moldova and
Secretaries to the Government of India - both from the Centre and the states.
WITFOR is an important international event that places the host country on an
international platform to showcase its achievements. So far, India has hosted
only regional ICT/e-Governance international events and partnering in WITFOR 2012
will give Indian Policy Makers as well as Industry and opportunity not only to
learn from other countries but will also open avenues for further cooperation
and business development especially for innovative products such as Aakash and
value added services delivered on Mobile Platforms. Also, WITFOR 2012 will give
Indian States an opportunity to showcase their premier e-Governance projects and
give international delegates an opportunity to visit such projects across India
The Forum will discuss the role of IT interventions in bringing about greater
transparency in governance, issues of privacy and security while dealing with
public databases, financial inclusion and ways of leveraging wireless technologies.
It will also debate challenges related to the training of health workers, capacity
building, evidence-based decision making to improve health outcomes, the role
of government in primary healthcare, and the role of ICT in creating digital content,
bridging the skills gap and the digital divide, as well as improving productivity,
food security, knowledge transfer in the agriculture sector. With nearly 1200
registrations, delegates are drawn from the public and private sectors across
India , as well as from Africa, Europe, Asia and Australia , including participants
from Greece , Poland , Finland , Croatia , Paraguay , South Korea , Zimbabwe ,
Liberia , Nigeria , Kenya , Ghana and South Africa . Indian delegates include
senior government officials from various states, public enterprises, private sector
and academia, from all across the country, as well as independent researchers,
ICT enthusiasts, students, entrepreneurs and members of the academia and development
practitioners.
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