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"Information and communication technologies (ICTs) make the world a smaller place. While there are differences regionally, nationally, ethnically, and linguistically, we are all one species, one people, and we have a lot to share in terms of making progress. And ICTs help make that happen." – Richard Fuchs

Leading up to the second World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), IDRC’s Director of Information and Communication Technologies for Development (ICT4D) program, Richard Fuchs,  toured  Atlantic Canada from October 11 to 14, 2005, speaking on the role of ICTs in shaping more prosperous and open societies.

Topics he broached included:

• How ICTs are empowering communities around the world and changing the face of "development";
• Why the WSIS matters and why Canadamust be there;
• What needs to be done to reach the poorest and remotest communities;
• The role of research in shaping ICT solutions to meet local needs;
• How IDRC can connect Canadian institutions with developing-country counterparts to share knowledge on ICTs; and
• IDRC resources available to Canadian students and researchers.

  For more information, or to arrange an interview, please contact Pauline Dole, 613 864-6746.

Richard Fuchs: Director of Information and Communication Technologies for Development A sociologist and rural development technologist, Richard Fuchs has amassed broad experience in academia, the public service, and the private sector. He served as Executive Director, and later as a commissioner, of the NewfoundlandEconomic Recovery Commission where he was also Vice-President of Rural Development. He was the founder and CEO of the Enterprise Network Inc., a Crown corporation that established Canada's first rural online and telecentre services. In 1996, he set up Futureworks, a firm specializing in the development of distance technology systems and services in rural areas of the developing world. In 1999, his company won Canada's Export Excellence Award in Newfoundland and Labrador. Mr. Fuchs established North America's first system of rural telecentres and online services in Newfoundland, many years before the Internet became publicly available. READ AN INTERVIEW WITH RICHARD FUCHS(2001)

WSIS provides a platform for dialogue on the central role ICTs play in human development, as well as a unique opportunity to engage governments, the private sector, civil society, and international organizations in a forward-looking action plan. IDRC and its partners have been engaged in the WSIS Preparatory Process from the onset and had a strong presence at the Geneva Summit in December2003 web.idrc.ca/wsis.

2005-09

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