IFIP undertakes a number of activities under the umbrella of the World Information Technology Forum (WITFOR). The overall goal of WITFOR is to assist developing countries in developing and implementing sustainable strategies for the application of ICT and to share experiences that will help to bridge the digital divide and improve the quality of life. The generic goals are:
• Help to put ICT-enabled development initiatives on the agenda of different organizations, governmental bodies, and groups currently involved in ICT.
• Work with different groups to ensure that senior policy makers and political leaders are aware of the developmental potential of ICT and promote its diffusion and sustainable effective use.
• Assist international organizations and donor agencies to include issues of the spread of ICT and access to information into their loan and funding programs and be more pro-active in using new technologies to reduce existing social tensions and conflicts.
• Encourage scholars, analysts and researchers to put the issue of digital equity higher on their research agendas.
• Encourage industrialized nations, as individuals and groups, to listen to and learn from colleagues around the world about their unique concerns over access to ICT.
• Develop guidelines on these issues and advise governments, to formulate and follow the best strategy for the use of ICT in order to achieve global ICT-equity.
WITFOR examines different initiatives on effective, context sensitive development and use of ICT applications, access to quality relevant information, and the development of “fair use principles”. In particular the WITFOR events are intended to:
• help put ICT-enabled development initiatives on the agenda of different organizations, governmental bodies, and groups currently involved in information and communications technologies;
• work with different groups to ensure that the issue of ICT diffusion and sustainable effective use is on the agenda of senior policy makers and political leaders;
• assist international organizations and donor agencies to build issues of the spread of ICTs and access to information into their loan and funding programs with adequate financial and institutional allocations;
• develop guidelines on these issues and advise governments, to formulate and follow the best strategy for the use of ICT in order to achieve global ICT-equity.
The forum will address issues critical to developing countries, such as providing the necessary infrastructure and education and the application of ICT in for instance fighting health issues, improving health, agriculture and environmental sustainability.
In the proposed panel session the panellists will discuss with the participants what specific goals (cells in the action lines – SDG matrix) can be addressed by this approach, who could and should be partner in these efforts and how can we take this to the next level.
The national, regional or international activities oriented to these goals should be linked with the WSIS Forum. For example, the IFIP World Information Technology Forum, WITFOR 2016 (San José de Costa Rica, September 12-14, 2016, www.witfor2016.org) should be used in the next WSIS Forum as a source of cross sectoral projects done specially in developing countries.
With the format of a panel discussion it is proposed to take the main topics of WITFOR 2016, in line with the UN SDGs, as discussion topics:
• ICT and cross-cutting development issues, involving human, environmental and economic development challenges
• ICT and human development challenges
• ICT and environmental challenges
• ICT and economic development challenges