Message-ID: <022e01bdf930$47683500$78e06883@steve.tdg.ca> Date: Fri, 16 Oct 1998 14:09:49 -0400 From: Don Richardson <mailto:drichard@UOGUELPH.CA> Subject: Telecom for Rural Development Newsflash - Oct.16/98 To: mailto:DEVEL-L@AMERICAN.EDU
"Partnerships and Participation in Telecommunications for Rural Development" Conference at the University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario Canada: Oct 26 & 27, 1998. See note below for further information...**Conference News Flash** October 16, 1998 http://www.snowden.org
Item 1) Detailed conference agenda now on-line: http://www.snowden.org
The detailed conference agenda for the "Partnerships and Participation in Telecommunications for Rural Development" Conference is now on-line at http://www.snowden.org
Recent additions to the agenda include several speakers from developing countries who are involved in "Multi-purpose Community Telecentre" initiatives in collaboration with the International Telecommunication Union, and Mike Weibe of Bell Wireless Service who will be speaking about "Win-Win Partnerships for Rural Telecom."
Item 2) On-line pre-conference - covering the globe http://www.snowden.org/conference/forumintro1.cfm
We are impressed with the quality of the participation with the On-line Pre-conference and the breadth of experience represented among the participants. There is a significant Australian rural telecom presence in the On-line Pre-conference which indicates that Australians are likely making good progress in addressing the issues of telecommunications for rural development - it must certainly be a major public policy issue there!
Other registered participants are from Brazil, Burkina Faso, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, El Salvador, Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, Guam, Guatemala, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mexico, Mozambique, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, Papua New Guinea, Russia, Senegal, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, Turkey, Uganda, United Kingdom, United States, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
As of today, there are over 160 postings to the On-line Pre-conference. Key discussion threads include: "Specific Rural Development Objectives?"; "Training Issues - Non-technical"; "Participation in Content Development" and "Sustainability." Significantly, the "Sustainability" discussion thread is receiving the most traffic!
Item 3) Hotels are filling up fast for the October 26 & 27th Conference in Guelph. If you are planning to register, please do so quickly so that you can get a hotel room close to the University of Guelph where the Conference will take place. We are trying to arrange to hold additional hotel rooms at the nearby hotels, but there are no guarantees unless you have registered for the conference. See the registration information below!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ About the "Partnerships and Participation in Telecommunication for Rural Development Conference"
The two-day face-to-face conference on October 26 & 27, 1998 will take place on the beautiful campus of the University of Guelph in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. Guelph is a short 45 minute drive from Toronto with easy access to and from Toronto International Airport (Pearson Airport). The conference focuses on telecommunications for participatory rural development. It looks at how lessons-learned in Canada might be applied by people in other countries, and how lessons learned in other countries might be applied in Canada.
There is still time to register for the conference! You may call (519) 824 4120 ext. 2353 to register by phone, or you can print, complete and fax your registration(s) from our website at http://www.snowden.org/conference/registerpaid.html The conference fee is $349 +GST for Canadian residents and $300 US for non-Canadians.
This conference is sponsored by: Don Snowden Program for Development Communication, Foundation for International Training, Bell Canada, SR Telecom, International Telecommunication Union, International Development Research Centre, Industry Canada, Agriculture and Agri-food Canada, University of Guelph, and the TeleCommons Development Group.
Don Richardson Director Don Snowden Program for Development Communication University of Guelph Guelph, Ontario, Canada N1G 2W1 Tel: 519-824-4120 x 3811 Fax: 519-836-9941 Email: mailto:drichard@uoguelph.ca Web: http://www.snowden.org