🚀 go-pugleaf

I'm posting this on behalf of the conference sponsors.  Please reply to
the email addresses below.
Don Richardson

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                          INVITATION TO THE
               GLOBAL KNOWLEDGE FOR DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCE
                        INTERNET LIST DISCUSSION

PURPOSE OF THIS INTERNET LIST

The "Global Knowledge 97: Knowledge for Development in the Information
Age" Conference will be held in Toronto, Canada, June 22-25, 1997. The
Conference will draw an estimated 1,200 participants: senior government
officials, local knowledge builders, the NGO community, business
leaders, and other experts from around the globe. It will focus on three
core themes:

*  Understanding the information revolution and its implications for
   developing countries and the world's poor
*  Sharing strategies, experiences and tools in harnessing knowledge for
   development
*  Building new partnerships that empower the poor with information and
   knowledge, foster international dialogue on development, and
strengthen
   the knowledge resources of developing countries.

The Conference will explore each of these themes along six tracks:

1.  Empowering the Poor with Information and Knowledge
2.  Establishing Policy and Regulatory Frameworks that Support an
    Information Economy
3.  Harnessing Information and Knowledge: Infrastructure,
    Capacity-Building and Applications
4.  Fostering Science and Technology in Developing Countries
5.  Using Information and Knowledge to Support an Informed Public,
    Effective Governance, and Civic Dialogue
6.  Expanding Life-Long Learning and Distance Education Opportunities

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is sponsoring this
Internet List, GKD97, to facilitate broad discussion of the Conference
themes at all levels of civil society. The List offers a major forum for
the exchange of ideas as well as an important channel for input into the
Conference itself. UNDP and the other Conference sponsors encourage
those
from around the world, especially those in the South, to use the List to
express their own needs, experiences, and suggestions related to
Conference themes.

Our hope is that the List participants will discuss:

*  Proposed policies, strategies, tools, and partnerships to improve
   access to and use of information resources by the poor in rural and
   urban areas alike
*  Case studies, best practices, and other examples of activities that
   have expanded access to information and knowledge among the poor
*  Success stories of efforts, including public-private partnerships, to
   build "knowledge for development" capacity in developing countries
*  Research findings of relevance to the Conference discussions

HOW TO JOIN THE GKD97 LIST

Anyone who has electronic mail with Internet access can subscribe to the
GKD97 List. To join please send an e-mail to the LISTSERV host:

     MAJORDOMO@MAIL.EDC.ORG

Do *not* enter a subject.  In the body of the message, type the text:

     SUBSCRIBE GKD97

Do *not* put anything after GKD97.  You will receive a Welcome Letter to
the List.


WORLD WIDE WEB SITE FOR THE CONFERENCE

A Global Knowledge for Development WWW site
<http://www.globalknowledge.org> is under construction. It will provide
information about Conference-related activities, as well as archives of
GKD97 messages. A message will be posted to the List when the Web site
is open.

OTHER RELEVANT RESOURCES

UNDP and the World Bank each have Web sites, <http://www.undp.org> and
<http://www.worldbank.org>, containing materials related to the
conference themes and tracks, such as poverty, governance, and
information and knowledge. The GKD97 List will post messages informing
List members of other Web sites that may be of interest.

The Sustainable Development Networking Programme (SDNP) is a UNDP
initiative to provide connectivity, content and capacity-building in
developing countries, as well as access to information sources related
to Sustainable Development. For additional information on SDNP see
<http://www3.undp.org/> or send email to <sdnp@sdnhq.undp.org>

LIST ADMINISTRATOR

This List is administered and monitored by Education Development Center,
a nonprofit organization.  EDC is working collaboratively with the UN
system and is directly supported by UNDP for the activities in this
project.

The UNDP Contact Person for this project is Hans D'Orville
<hans.dorville@undp.org>

The World Bank Contact Person for this project is the Conference
Secretariat, Global Knowledge 97, Economic Development Institute
<GlobalKnowledge@worldbank.org>

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

For further information about GKD97, please contact:

Janice Brodman
EDC
<JANICEB@EDC.ORG>