Dr. Norman H. Okamura, Director of TIPG, participated as a panelist in the World Summit on Information Society Thematic Meeting: Ubiquitous Network Conference in Tokyo, Japan. Dr. Okamura gave a presentation the in a session entitled, “Knowledge Sharing and Capacity Building.”
Presentation Summary:
A ubiquitous network society has emerged in many parts of the world, encouraged, enabled, and sustained by policy, regulatory, technology, and human resource development infrastructure. Unfortunately, the ubiquitous network society is not yet a reality in many other parts of the world, including parts of the Pacific Islands region. This discussion describes some of the barriers to the ubiquitous network society for small island countries, including the vast geographic expanse of the region, small populations, high cost of transportation, and low income levels.
More importantly, the discussion identifies some of the policy, regulatory, technology, and human resource development infrastructure barriers that must be addressed by the Pacific Islands to enable the inclusion of such economies in the ubiquitous network society. These economies may otherwise become even more marginalized. Finally, the discussion identifies some alternative models that have been implemented in the region to lessen the gap and expand the network society.
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Dr. Nicholas Negroponte gave one of the key addresses. |
The conference was attended by approximately 600 participants from more than 80 countries. |
Web Reference: http://www.wsis-japan.jp/
