WCIT 2008 live blogging - GAID

GAID: Global forum on acess and connectivity

UN-GAID is a committee of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. They're basically the branch of the UN that looks at the problem of narrowing the digital divide. For them to hold their annual meeting here in Kuala Lumpur is as big a deal really as WCIT, if you're concerned about the digital divide.

Today the youth take the stage. By youth, we mean young, ethusiastic guys under 30 in age.

They're presenting in an inclusive way, asking people to step up and put forward their experiences in involving youth in accessibility programs.

By the way, the sound sucks big time, which is embarrassing for a world-class seminar. It sucked in this hall yesterday too. Kudos to the presenters for just switching the mikes off and projecting thir voices.

A lot of what they're presenting on stage is about making people aware of what they do, and they bring with them a bucket load of enthusiasm. They're certainly not dry, but their pitch sometimes does increase in frequency when it doesn't look like they have the audience's full attention.

GAID is also big on discussions. They have roundtable type conversations, eight people or so, which I think is too many to have a decent back-and-forth conversation. But they do say good things.

Attending and listening to what they were discussing makes me feel that the world is coming to grip with what it means to solve the digital divide problem. The issue of gettig technology in the right places is the least of it. As important are issues of regulation, content and funding. But they have really smart people working on the problem, and that gives me hope.

Labels: wcit2008