Comment

Comment by DR. SYED MD. ZAINUL ABEDIN on September 29, 2012 at 2:07pm

Happy to see effective action for eliminating digital illiteracy from a global perspective .

Comment by Seu Yapa on September 27, 2012 at 9:17pm

Continue reading the whole blog here:

The symposium was opened under the patronage of HE Said bin Hamdoon bin Saif Al Harthy, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Transport and Communications for Ports and Maritime Affairs, with Fahad Sultan Al Abri, Director General of Digital Society Development Division at ITA, presenting the welcoming speech to the audience. Dr. Salim Al Ruzaiqi, CEO of ITA, and invited members and representatives from public and private organizations in Oman, also attended the event.

Another goal of the symposium is to help raise awareness about the Community Knowledge Centers (CKC) and Women Community Knowledge Centers (WCKC). CKCs/WCKCs, which are spread throughout the different Governates of the Sultanate, aim to eliminate illiteracy in ICT through reducing computer illiteracy, by providing education in computer and internet basics. Since first establishing CKCs in October 2009, the ITA has made excellent progress implementing and activating these centers.

Gathering experts from around the globe, the Knowledge Network and Multi-Sector Partnerships Symposium offered the perfect forum for those participating to share their experiences, through presenting the best practices and case studies of other countries’ involvement with community IT training endeavors, primarily through the creation of telecentres, public places whereby people can access computers, the internet and other digital technologies.

Delivering the keynote presentation, Mr. Rich Fuchs, the Co-Founder & CEO of Futureworks Consulting Inc. and Vice-Chair of the Telecentre.org Foundation, spoke about his involvement with the Telecentre.org Foundation, which aims to raise awareness of the importance and impact of information and communication technology (ICT) in communities around the world, since ICT is the heart of the knowledge sharing and collaboration between information holders. Mr. Fuchs compared communities' use of ICT in the world over the past years, where he presented statistics of the number of Internet users around the world and women's use of information technology. According to Mr. Fuchs, the top ten most frequently used applications by users of information technology are money transfer, GPS, mobile search, mobile browsing, and others. Speaking about Oman’s experiences with community IT Training, through the creation of the CKCs and WCKCs, he was quick to point out that Oman is positioning itself to take the lead in the next great wave of ICT adaption. He believes that Oman can sustain CKCs and that both the public and private sectors can work together to achieve progressed socio-economic development.

Following the Keynote speaker, Ms. Seema Al Kabi, ITA Team Leader in charge of the Community IT Training (CITT) Project, spoke about the e.oman initiative in general and the National IT Training & Awareness initiative which itself has given rise to number of projects which include the Community IT Training, Government IT Training & Certification, and Specialized IT Training. She highlighted some of the Community Knowledge Centers (CKCs) success stories and some statistics, which show the number of trainees in digital literacy training program has reached 30,000 people since 2009. Looking forwards, Ms. Al Kabi indicated a future goal of the CITT project is to obtain sponsorship from private companies to support CKCs/WCKCs.

The Knowledge Network and Multi-Sector Partnership Symposium continued throughout the day, with speakers focusing on key topics, divided into three sessions: Session 1 discussed the role of community IT centres in socio-economic development; Session 2 discussed CSR and sustainable community development through ICT; and, Session 3 discussed ICT for disadvantaged communities and persons with disabilities. For more information about the symposium, kindly visit: http://www.ita.gov.om/kns.