Secretary-General Touré meets with ICT industry
Geneva, 28 February 2007
ITU Secretary-General Hamadoun I. Touré today conferred with some of the leading lights of Silicon Valley at a meeting in Mountain View, California, with the aim of cementing ties with the private sector and promoting the use of state-of-the-art in ICT to bridge the digital divide.
Among the participants were executives from communications, hardware, Internet, software and venture capital firms, including Intel, Cisco Systems, Nokia Siemens Networks, Hewlett Packard, Google, IBM Venture Capital Group, Visa International, Microsoft, as well as Stanford University and the University of California, Berkeley.
Throwing the gauntlet
Speaking at the opening of the "UN Meets Silicon Valley" event, Dr Touré focused on three main trends that appear to be influencing the ICT industry: innovation and cybersecurity; changing business models; and the development of new markets. "Innovation is a key source of new products, added value and fresh growth in revenues", Dr Touré told participants. "I want to challenge you to think beyond the borders of Silicon Valley, beyond even the borders of the United States, to the emerging markets in the rest of the world." He said that closing the digital divide should not be seen as charity, but as a sound business model attractive to industry.
The Secretary-General stated that ITU is a unique intergovernmental organization which also boasts of strong relations with business. ITU has more than 650 members from the private sector along with its 191 Member States. "The Union has a noble mission: to provide access to the benefits of ICT to all the world’s inhabitants", Dr Touré said, "To achieve that goal, we need to work in partnership with governments, the private sector and civil society, and to exploit the dynamism of regions like Silicon Valley." MORE http://www.itu.int/newsroom/press_releases/2007/03.html
Geneva, 28 February 2007
ITU Secretary-General Hamadoun I. Touré today conferred with some of the leading lights of Silicon Valley at a meeting in Mountain View, California, with the aim of cementing ties with the private sector and promoting the use of state-of-the-art in ICT to bridge the digital divide.
Among the participants were executives from communications, hardware, Internet, software and venture capital firms, including Intel, Cisco Systems, Nokia Siemens Networks, Hewlett Packard, Google, IBM Venture Capital Group, Visa International, Microsoft, as well as Stanford University and the University of California, Berkeley.
Throwing the gauntlet
Speaking at the opening of the "UN Meets Silicon Valley" event, Dr Touré focused on three main trends that appear to be influencing the ICT industry: innovation and cybersecurity; changing business models; and the development of new markets. "Innovation is a key source of new products, added value and fresh growth in revenues", Dr Touré told participants. "I want to challenge you to think beyond the borders of Silicon Valley, beyond even the borders of the United States, to the emerging markets in the rest of the world." He said that closing the digital divide should not be seen as charity, but as a sound business model attractive to industry.
The Secretary-General stated that ITU is a unique intergovernmental organization which also boasts of strong relations with business. ITU has more than 650 members from the private sector along with its 191 Member States. "The Union has a noble mission: to provide access to the benefits of ICT to all the world’s inhabitants", Dr Touré said, "To achieve that goal, we need to work in partnership with governments, the private sector and civil society, and to exploit the dynamism of regions like Silicon Valley." MORE http://www.itu.int/newsroom/press_releases/2007/03.html