ICT Delta 2010

Posted on 18/03/2010

Prof. em. Dr. Wim A.G. Blonk, Close the Gap’s chairman,and Olivier Vanden Eynde, Close the Gap’s general manager, recently attended the ICT Delta 2010 conference. Olivier was one of the keynote speakers in a session called ‘the World’, lead by moderator Hennie Wesseling, ex CIO of TNT and member of WorldPC’s Board of Directors.

At ICT Delta 2010, 1,600 ICT European experts, policy makers, and stakeholders met, while Mrs. Nelie Kroes, EU Commissioner unveiled plans and priorities for the European ICT Agenda.

One the important milestones of the visit was the team participation in the ‘global session ‘the World’’ of Olivier Vanden Eynde. This was a live connection during the first BarCamp in Africa, online between Macha and ICTDelta 2010 in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. The Zambian team took time to learn from ICT developments in Europe and European participants leant from the Zambian team on how telecentre developments impact on the lives of the people in rural Zambia including the issue of integrating gender in ICTs. Using the live webcam, important exchanges of information on ICTs between participants of the ICTDelta 2010 and Zambian team took place. The other significant exchanges during the visit were the importance research models in ICTs how the outcomes could impact on rural livelihoods.

Close the Gap’s project manager David Leyssens is in touch with Macha Works and is aligning the offer and demand with Close the Gap to partner together in the near future.

Besides this very inspiring presentation on ICT 4 Developments, the other talks were just as interesting. All in all, it was an encouraging day filled with the exposure to several alluring technological applications.

Meetingspot has won the ICTRegie Startersprijs 2010 which consists of 10000 euros and a 3d printed trophy. Meetingspot is a Dutch company offering an online marketplace for temporary accommodation, events, and event locations. Neelie Kroes rewarded the team of young ICT entrepreneurs.

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