2007_03_01_archive

Global Alliance for ICT and Development

Last week I attended a meeting of the Global Alliance for ICT and

Development (GAID), which was subtitled "UN Meets Silicon Valley." The

goal of the meeting was to talk about ways to advance crucial goals of

the UN with help from the technology community, especially poverty

reduction.

The people in attendance were good, and I had many exciting

conversations. The chair of the effort is Craig Barrett, Intel's

chairman. My main concern is that the outputs seemed to be focused on

predictable Silicon Valley lobbying objectives, which went under the

label of creating an enabling environment. This means getting rid of

telecom monopolies, competition based on open standards, adequate

intellectual property protections and so on. Don't get me wrong, I

think that these lobbying objectives are actually correct: the poor

will probably be better off if these things happen. but, it did seem

indirectly connected to poverty reduction, improved education and

improved health.

One of the key points made repeatedly was that the Global Alliance for

ICT and Development has no money. In spite of that, it would be great

if GAID could outline some big ideas about using ICTs to make real

impact on the global poor. A cogent vision could mobilize some

substantial resources. I've decided to work on this, not as an