session 4a, 6 may 2009 ist-africa 2009 copyright 2009 digital world forum digital world forum:...

Session 4a, 6 May 2009 IST-Africa 2009 Copyright 2009 Digital World Forum

Digital World Forum: Low-cost Technologies against the Digital Divide

Stéphane Boyera

W3C

France


Background

Digital World Forum on Accessible and Inclusive ICT

• FP7 funded project

• Support Action for International Cooperation (International Relations Unit) • Project Officer: Thierry Devars • Focus on Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America • Start date: 2008-01-01 • End date: 2009-30-09 • 7 partners from:

– France – Spain – Nigeria – Ghana – South Africa


Partners Consortium


Domain: ICT4D

• ICT and the Information Society: a great opportunity to leverage social and economic development – by facilitating the development and deployment of services (finance,

health, education, government, agriculture,...) at large scale and low cost

– by leveraging north-south, and international communication and exchanges

• Required Infrastructure, and investments (global and personal) created the Digital Divide

• Low-Cost technologies and mobile technologies: a new hope for potential solutions to bridge the Digital Divide

Digital World Forum: paving the road from hope to reality


Scope

• Mobile Applications • Low-cost laptops • Low-cost broadband technologies


Objectives

• State of the art • Community Building: creating a global forum for all actors:

industry, research, local communities, NGO... – particular focus on field expertise, and involvement of final

users/customers/local communities

• Identification of challenges and roadmap definition • Dissemination


Project Structure

• 3 technical Work Packages (WP) – WP1: Mobile Web applications (Leading Partner: W3C) – WP2: Low-Cost Laptops (Leading Partner: CSIR) – WP3: Low-cost Broadband Infrastructures (Leading Partner: Orange

Labs)


WP1: Mobile Web for Social Development

• Mobile Phones offer a scalable and affordable platform to develop and deploy eServices:

• > 4+billion of mobile phones in the World

• >80% of the World Population covered by a GSM network

• How to unleash the power of mobile phone as an ICT platform ?


WP2 Low-Cost Information Access Device

• The goal of this work package is to get an understanding and updated scenario of the current state-of the-art in the sector of low-cost laptop technologies for developing countries.

• It will particularly focus on providing a framework for a bottom-up process in order to define interactively a roadmap within an inclusive participation from all stakeholders.

• Leverage EU and EU major actors roles in the Low-cost laptop sectors

• WP Leader: Cleophas Dzinotyiweyi ([email protected]) - CSIR


WP3: Low-Cost Broadband Access and Infrastructure

• The goal of this work package is to devise a generic approach to the "last mile" issue in developing countries, by assessing each key technological solution in the light of a typology of local contextual factors.

• Major competing technologies: WiFi and WiFi mesh, WiMax, Edge, CDMA, 3G/HSxPA, ...

• Modus operandi: – conduct an exhaustive in-lab analysis of each technology

– enrich this analysis via interactions with key industry/market players and stakeholders

– identify appropriate initiatives to be undertaken at EU level

• WP Leader: Bruno Conquet - Orange labs ([email protected])


How to get involved in the project

• A public Website: http://www.digitalworldforum.eu – Announces and future events – Conferences and Exhibitions participations – Public Documents – Contacts

• A list for any enquiries: [email protected] • A set of Fora dedicated to each theme of the project

– a Forum on Mobile Web for Social Development: http://forum.digitalworldforum.eu/group/mobilewebforsocialdevelopment

– A Forum on Low-cost Information Access Device: http://forum.digitalworldforum.eu/group/WP2

– A forum on Low-Cost Broadband access and Infrastructure: http://forum.digitalworldforum.eu/group/lowcostbroadbandaccessandinfrastrucure


Conclusion

• Digital World Forum aims at – Make a state of the art in the domain of Low-cost technologies for

ICT deployment – Identify key challenges and most promising directions to explore – Assemble a worldwide inter-disciplinary community to discuss future

implementation of the roadmaps

• Feedback, participation and contributions are welcome • Final event in Brussels 29 September 2009


Agenda

• Introduction (S. Boyera - W3C) • WP1: Mobile Web Applications (S. Boyera - W3C) • WP2: Low-Cost Information Access Device (C. Dzinotyiweyi

- CSIR) • WP3: Low-Cost Broadband Access and Infrastructure (B.

Conquet & M. Francisco - Orange Labs) • Round Table (S. Boyera, C. Dzinotyiweyi, B. Conquet, M.

Francisco, T. Devars)