Spio-Garbrah to deliver lecture

.... IN HOUSE OF PARLIAMENT

The Chief Executive Officer of the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO), Dr Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, will tomorrow evening deliver a lecture at the British House of Parliament on the Commonwealth and the Digital Divide, at an event organised by the Council for Education in the Commonwealth (CEC). The lecture by Dr Spio-Garbrah is within the context of the series of Gladwin Lectures, which have brought a number of distinguished international speakers to speak to members of the CCE and other invited guests.

Previous Gladwyn Lecturers include the Rt Hon Donald MacKinnon, Secretary-General of the Commonwealth and Prof Akilagpa Sawyerr, Secretary General of the Association of African Universities. Following closely upon the heels of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Malta which adopted the Malta Declaration on Networking the Commonwealth as well as approving a Commonwealth Action Programme for the Digital Divide, Dr Spio-Garbrah is expected to examine some of the underlying causes of the digital divide, how this divide manifests itself in the Commonwealth, and whether Commonwealth institutions, as currently configured, are in a sound position to attempt to bridge this divide or not.

At a lecture at the Royal Commonwealth Society on 6 July, 2005, Dr Spio-Garbrah noted the considerable improvements that have taken place in the ICT sector of most Commonwealth countries in the last decade, but pointed out that in view of the structural, organisational, legal, and administrative arrangements amongst Commonwealth organisations, they are unlikely to make adequate progress in fulfilling the wishes of their Heads of State in networking the Commonwealth for development.

He argued that unlike the United Nations, whose agencies recognise each other?s specialisations and are better able to permit the most relevant UN agency to take leadership on issues that affect the global community, the Commonwealth family consisted of some 95 independent organisations and associations, many quite protective of their independence from the Commonwealth Secretariat, and unable or unwilling to be led by others.

He suggested during the RCS lecture that whereas in the case of the UN-led two-phase World Summit on the Information Society, the International Telecommunications Union had been recognised by other UN agencies as the lead body to help to move and manage the agenda, such an understanding had been impossible within the Commonwealth.

Dr Spio-Garbrah stated that although Heads of State of the Commonwealth have approved an Action Plan for networking the Commonwealth for development and have issued a Malta Declaration to that effect, there were no ICT experts on hand in Malta to brief the Foreign Ministers on the content and implications of the CAPDD. Furthermore, as usual, issues of how ICTs could help accelerate the development of member countries were buried as the 52nd paragraph in a 60-paragraph Communiqu?, which understandably dealt with a host of political and socio-economic issues.

The CTO CEO?s views on ICTs, the digital divide and the Commonwealth has in recent months been ventilated in such publications as the CHOGM Reference Report 2005 (p. 40), the Commonwealth Finance Ministers Reference Report (p. 105), and in several speeches and presentations to audiences in a number of Commonwealth countries.

The Gladwyn Lecture takes place in a Committee Room of the UK Parliament, with one Parliamentary Chairperson or Patron taking the chair. The CEC, which is a voluntary organisation, aims to provide a forum for informed discussion of Commonwealth issues, and mobilise opinion and resources on behalf of education in the Commonwealth.

The Gladwyn Lecture will be delivered from 18:00 to 19:30 in House Committee Room 7 in the UK Houses of Parliament, Westminster. Persons interested in attending should kindly arrange this through Megan Warner of the CEC at 01 865 310578 or maweductaion@easynet.co.uk or maweducation.dmi@btinternet.com

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Further information about the CTO and its services may be obtained from www.cto.int, or by contacting Marcel Belingue on +44 (0) 20 7024 7601 or write to m.belingue@cto.int.

About the CTO - The Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO) is an international development partnership between Commonwealth and non-Commonwealth governments, businesses and civil society organisations focused on information and communication technologies (ICT) and development. The CTO supports the international community?s efforts to bridge the digital divide and promote social and economic development, by delivering to developing countries unique knowledge-sharing programmes in the use of ICTs in the specific areas of telecommunications, IT, broadcasting and the Internet.