Digital divide takes centerstage at WCIT Kuala Lumpur
The World Congress on Information Technology (WCIT) 2008 commenced today in Malaysia’s capital, Kuala Lumpur. Spanning three days, WCIT will bring together the big names in tech, industry bodies, dignitaries and other notables.
Today’s keynote speakers certainly demonstrated WCIT’s diverse breadth. Intel’s Craig Barrett spoke on learning and tech in the classroom, Dr Robert Bishop demonstrated computer simulation’s role in life science, Dr Hamadoun Toure, Sec-Gen of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs , Sha Zukang, both spoke about the importance of technology’s role in bridging the digital divide.
Dr Toure spoke at length about telecommunications challenges in developing countries, and the technology industry’s role in surmounting them and empowering the underprivileged. Sha Zukang underpinned the shared theme in both his and Dr Toure’s keynotes, “Investing in developing communities is not a tradeoff.”
Barret probably made the most interesting statement of the day – that you can’t solve everything by throwing technology at it. If given a choice between a teacher and a PC, Barrett said “Take the teacher.”
Microsoft’s Bill Gates will be making a token appearance at the keynote hosted by Dr Ya-Qin Zhang, Microsoft’ Corporate Vice President. Gates will be appearing as a hologram, albeit only appearing for a brief 10 minutes – still guaranteeing a packed hall.
Besides Gates’s sci-fi appearance, the other highlight of WCIT will be Vinton Cerf’s keynote on “Tracking the Internet into the 21st Century,” scheduled on the last day of the conference.
The WCIT is held every two years and this is the 16th time the conference has been staged, with the next conference to be held in Taiwan. WCIT’s theme for this year is “The Global Impact of Information and Communications Technology: Enable Businesses, Empower Societies, Enrich Economies”.WCIT is the flagship event of the World Information Technology and Services Alliance (WITSA), a consortium of 73 international ICT organizations whose members comprise more than 90% of the global IT market.
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