Technologies for Access

Confirmed Speakers

Rishab Ghosh, UNU-MERIT
Laura DeNardis, Yale Information Society Project
Rinalia Abdul Rahim, Global Knowledge Partnership (GKP)
Eddan Katz, Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)
Corinna “Elektra” Aichele, Freifunk & Mereka Institute 
Moderating: Luis Villaroel, Ministry of Education, Chile

Wednesday, 10 September, 09h00 - 10h30

In a global knowledge economy, the ability to access and produce information and control its dissemination increasingly determines wealth, human development, and individual freedom.  Information and communication technology (ICT) architectures are capable of both enabling and restricting the ability of communities and individuals to produce, access, share, and use information. The international development community has placed emphasis on the promise of broadband technologies like WiMAX, GSM, and Wi-Fi to deliver critical communication infrastructures expeditiously and cost effectively.  Open source and open standards movements have also been linked to development objectives in developing countries.  Many governments support the deployment of technologies of access through public infrastructure investment, procurement policies, regulatory actions, educational programs, and stakeholder coordination.  Technology companies donate equipment, create training programs, and develop infrastructure.  Community initiatives, such as those that eschew the cost of traditional wired infrastructures in favor of wireless broadband, often face non-technical barriers such as legacy regulations, resistance by incumbent telecommunications providers, restrictive intellectual property arrangements, and institutional and cultural barriers to participation in wireless standards development.

This panel will assess the opportunities for and impediments to architecting ICTs for development and for multi-stakeholder coordination and partnerships in achieving possible objectives of promoting human development and freedom in the global information society.

The questions to addressed will include:

• Which technologies hold the most promise to help promote development and human freedom and ameliorate poverty?
  
• What are the realistic prospects and barriers for developing countries not only as consumers and users, but as producers of access technologies?
  
• What is the most effective role of government in supporting the development and deployment of technologies of access?
• How can governments, private industry, and civil society work together to architect effective ICT infrastructures to promote development?
• In what ways do technologies of access also create new possibilities for government surveillance and restrictions on the global flow of information?