WSIS Virtual Pressroom
Press Activities
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 | Press Conferences |
| Microsoft & Partners Activities |
| Demos of Joint Projects |
Press Conferences
Press Conferences
| Date/Time | Location | Session |
Thursday, November 17 |
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09:00-09:45 | Youth Observatory 5 Madagascar Street, 1002 Tunisia | InfoYouth Centre Opening Synopsis: UNESCO and Microsoft, with the cooperation of the Youth Observatory of the Tunisian government, will announce the opening of a regional youth centre in Tunisia that will serve as an information technology hub for North Africa. Attending the opening will be: Dr. Koïchiro Matsuura, Director General of UNESCO; H.E. Abdullah Al Kaâbi, Minister of Youth, Sports and Physical Education; H.E. Montassar Ouaïli, Minister of Communication Technologies; H.E. Sadok Korbi, Minister of Education; Jean-Philippe Courtois, President of Microsoft International, and Pamela Passman, Vice President, Microsoft Corp. |
14:00-14:30 | GKP Booth | Telecentre.org Launch Synopsis: The International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Microsoft, and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation will jointly announce the official launch of telecentres.org, which will strengthen the capacity of tens of thousands of community-based telecentres bringing the benefits of the information economy to isolated villages and communities on every continent. |
Friday, November 18 |
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09:00-09:30 | ITU Connect The World Pavilion, Launch Pad | Partnering For Digital Inclusion: A Look Back - A Look Ahead Synopsis: The United Nations and Microsoft will hold a joint press conference assessing partner activities at WSIS II, and address future joint engagement towards advancing digital inclusion initiatives. Presenters include: Amir Dossal, Executive Director of the United Nations Fund for International Partnerships; and Pamela Passman, Vice President, Microsoft Corp. |
Microsoft & Partners Activities
Microsoft & Partners Activities
| Date/Time | Location | Session |
Tuesday, November 15 |
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15:00-17:00 | Hammamet Room, Exhibition Centre | Microsoft & Partners Parallel Event – Partnerships in Action Synopsis: This roundtable will discuss issues concerning digital inclusion as it impacts the knowledge economy. Invited partners from government, business, IGOs, NGOs and academia will discuss collaborative projects and the learning’s from these efforts. |
Wednesday, November 16 |
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9:00-13:00 | Room Zaghouan | UNESCO ICT and Persons with Disabilities Workshop Synopsis: Building on the multifaceted relationship with UNESCO, this workshop will look at policies that promote accessibility and inclusion in the digital world, especially in developing countries, and given the participatory and inclusive goals of knowledge societies, at how access to cyberspace for people with disabilities. Microsoft will present relevant accessibility technology. |
10:00-13:30 | Room Expo 7 | e-Skills: Making the information Society a Reality Synopsis: An international symposium organized by the e-skills certification consortium (e-SCC) and the European Union will focus on the role of e-competences in bridging the digital divide, and how industry, with the support of governments and civil society, can strengthen e-skills capacity building. Participants include: EU Commissioner Viviane Reding; Erika Mann MEP; H.E. Taieb Hadhri, Tunisia Minister for Scientific Research, Technology and Skills; and Pamela Passman, Vice President Microsoft Corp. |
11:45-13:00 | Room Expo 7 | Best practices of multi-stakeholder partnership for e-skills training Synopsis: Panel discussion on the role of multi-stakeholder partnerships to foster e-skills training. Participants include: Pamela Passman, Vice President, Microsoft Corp.; Dennis Memela, Managing Director, Peoples Information and Communication Technology Engineering Academy, South Africa. |
13.00 – 15.00 | Jerba room | NEPAD e-Schools Initiative parallel session Synopsis: Panel discussion on the role of multi-stakeholder partnership’s in developing sustainable solutions for ICT in education on a continent-wide basis in Africa and towards progress to meet the Millennium Development Goals. Government ministers along with private sector and development organization partners will be presenting, including: Ministers of Education from Rwanda, Senegal, and Uganda; Dr. Henry Chasia, Deputy Executive Chairperson for the NEPAD e-Africa Commission; Mr. Hamadoun Toure, Director of the ITU; and Ahmed Kassam, NEPAD Special Advisor, Microsoft Corporation. |
16:00-18:00 | Roundtable Room on UN Summit Premises | "ITU Connect the World" Press Roundtable Synopsis: High profile, global platform for government leaders and executives to promote existing projects, launch new partnerships and share experiences and best practices towards advancing global digital inclusion. Participants include Mr. Kofi Annan, Secretary General of the United Nations; EC Commissioner Viviane Reding; Dr. Tarek Kamel, Egyptian Minister of Communications and IT; and Jean-Philippe Courtois, President Microsoft International. |
18.00-20.00 | WSIS Plenary Room | World Summit on the Information Society, Third Plenary Session Synopsis: Jean-Philippe Courtois, President, Microsoft International, will be one of several industry speakers during a plenary session outlining where business can contribute positively to the shared goals on the Information Society. Each business speaker will be allocated three minutes on the podium. Other industry participants include Shi Lirong Senior Vice President, ZTE; and Tao Deng, Vice President, Huawei. |
Thursday, November 17 |
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10:30-11:30 | WSIS Media Centre, Press Conference Room | ITU report “The Internet of Things” (Launch) Synopsis: Interactive TV-style debate on the launch of the ITU report, “Internet of Things,” which provides details about the emerging paradigm of ubiquitous computing and the importance of new technologies such as RFID and grid computing. Participants include: Jonathan Murray, CTO, Microsoft EMEA; Nicholas Negroponte, Professor of Media Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Dr Tim Kelly, Head, ITU Strategy and Policy Unit; Olivier Baujard, CTO, Alcatel; Dr Hitomi Murakami, Vice President, KDDI; Dr Walid Moneimne, Nokia; and John Gage, Chief Researcher, Sun Microsystems. |
10:30-11:30 | UNESCO booth No. 2303 | UNESCO, Community Multimedia Centers (CMC) Synopsis: Panel examination of how to effectively combine community broadcasting with the Internet and related technologies to promote digital inclusion. Participants include Ministers of Communications from Mali, Senegal, Mozambique; Dr. Abdul Waheed Khan, UNESCO; Walter Fust, Swiss Development Cooperation; Rich Fusch, IDRC; and Pamela Passman, Vice President, Microsoft Corp. |
11:30-13:00 | Amilcar Room | Putting ICT to Work for the United Nations Development Agenda/Millennium Development Goals Synopsis: Interactive roundtable discussion on the role of access, investment and finance in the development of an inclusive information society. It will focus particularly on the role of ICT in development. Participants include: Pamela Passman, Vice President Microsoft; John Cage, Chief Researcher, Sun Microsystems; Veli Sundback, Senior Vice President, Nokia; and Richard McCormick, Chairman Emertis, US West. |
16:30-17:30 | UNDP Pavilion, No. 2303 | UNDP-ICTDAR e-gov@asp Portal Announcement Synopsis: UNDP-ICTDAR launch announcement of e-gov@asp portal. The portal is based on the Microsoft Solution Sharing Network and provides a collaborative platform for the exchange of proven e-government solutions and e-services resources to further e-government development across the Arab region. Frank McCosker, Senior Director Government Services, Microsoft Corp., will be presenting. |
Friday, November 18 |
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9:00-14:30 | Matmata Room | Creativity, Capacity, Culture: From Geneva to Tunis, and the Transition to the Information Society Synopsis: This workshop is co-funded by Microsoft and will explore what developments have taken place since WSIS I in Geneva and the impact on creativity and culture. Introductory remarks by Pamela Passman, Vice President, Microsoft Corp., and presentation provided by Akhtar Badshah, Senior Director, Community Affairs Worldwide, Microsoft Corp. |
11:30-12:00 | UNDP Booth No. 1307.1 | UNDP Southern Africa Capacity Initiative (SACI) Pathfinder Agreement Synopsis: Jean Philippe Courtois, President Microsoft International, and Dr. Msiska, Director of UNDP SACI, will sign a memorandum of understanding to extend the Microsoft Pathfinder initiative to an additional nine countries – Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe. |
10.00-11.30 | Kairouan Room | Multi-Stakeholder Partnerships - Making ICT4D happen after Tunis Synopsis: This panel discussion has as its goal to give high-level impetus to ensuring that practical and substantial multi-stakeholder partnership initiatives are a major part of the agenda post-WSIS Tunis, and examining success factors for mainstreaming ICT4D into development strategies. Presenting will be Akhtar Badshah, Senior Director, Community Affairs Worldwide, Microsoft Corp. |
Demos of Joint Projects
Demos of Joint Projects
Please note that the following projects will be demonstrated at WSIS by Microsoft and our partners:
| • | ITN at UNESCO, UNESCO Booth, 2303 – Demonstration of the Innovative Teachers Network that will be available in English, Portuguese, French, German & Arabic. (Presentation scheduled for November 17th 14:15-18:00) |
| • | NEPAD eSchools, NEPAD Booth 2204 – Demonstration how Microsoft Learning Network Manager as a free solution supports low skills installation and support of school ICT facilities. |
| • | WISeKey NIS solution, Hewlett Packard Booth 1324, Microsoft Booth 2217 – WISeKey will demonstrate the National Identification Systems and E-Government projects executed with International Organizations at the National Identification and Secure E-Government Center. |
| • | UNDP-ICTDAR e-gov@asp, UNDP Booth 1307 – The portal is based on the Microsoft Solution Sharing Network and provides a collaborative platform for the exchange of proven e-government solutions and e-services resources to further e-government development across the Arab region. |