The Hindu : National : Plan to push computer use

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Oct 26, 2007
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National

Plan to push computer use

WASHINGTON: The U.S. public and private sectors have joined to promote the use of computer technology in development around the world, especially in economic growth, governance, education and youth employment.

According to a press release, the five-year, public-private partnership among the U. S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the U. S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) and Microsoft Corporation aims to “catalyze the global community to address the diverse social and business challenges faced by those who currently receive few or no benefits from technology.”

In addition to disaster response, humanitarian assistance and health, the collaboration’s objectives include: promoting a clean, sustainable environment by focusing on climate change and other environmental problems; enabling access to quality education through dynamic technologies and resources; enabling economic development through digital technology, local innovation, access to credit and job opportunities; and promoting enhanced government service delivery, engagement with civil society, transparency, rule of law, human rights, attention to child Internet trafficking and protection issues, and strong intellectual property rights.

“Mobilising ideas”

“Government assistance alone will not lift countries out of poverty and bring lasting prosperity to the poor,” John Danilovich, MCC’s chief executive officer, said. “The private sector has a tremendous role to play.”

“In this age of increasing interconnectedness, this global collaboration with Microsoft will help to mobilise ideas and resources, skills and technologies to spur innovation and deliver results far more efficiently and effectively than ever before,” said Henrietta Fore, acting administrator of USAID.

The partnership’s first project involves an alliance among Microsoft, USAID and the Indonesia Entrepreneurship and Agribusiness Development Activity (or SENADA), a USAID-sponsored project.

Awards programme

The partners will sponsor iMULAI, a national business innovation competition and awards programme to promote innovation among business entrepreneurs and the general public in Indonesia.

“Microsoft believes in enabling new innovative avenues of social and economic empowerment,” said Gerri Elliott, a Microsoft vice president.

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