ISSUE 38: JULY–AUGUST 2005
network of research and training centres/programmes
FRONT PAGE | ARCHIVE |
Networks should enhance human contact, says UNU Rector
A ubiquitous network society should facilitate human contact and be oriented towards community and cultural enhancement, UNU Rector Hans van Ginkel told delegates to the Tokyo Ubiquitous Network Conference held May 16-17.
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| Hans van Ginkel |
In an opening address to the conference plenary, Prof. van Ginkel said that such a society should inspire trust and confidence and help to build knowledge and skills for work, citizenship and consumer choice.
"A ubiquitous network society should be consistent with long-term sustainability – personal, societal and environmental," he said. "In essence, the challenge is to create a society made up of convivial technologies that are easy to live with. These technologies should be controllable by ordinary people."
More than 600 respresentatives from international organisations, governments, business and non-governmental organisations attended the conference, which was a thematic meeting for the World Summit on the Information Society.
Highlight of the conference was a presentation
by Massachusetts Institute of Technology Professor Nicholas Negroponte on
the MIT Media Lab’s plan to develop a US$100 laptop. He said that many countries lack the ability to realize the full potential of their children through contemporary education systems. However,
providing children with laptops, broadband connections and a school syllabus for the use of digital materials will not only improve education,
it will also help to bridge the digital divide, he said.
The director of UNU International Institute for Software Technology
(UNU-IIST), Mike Reed, explained how UNU is using information and communication technologies
in a range of e-learning initiatives including the Global Virtual University.
© 2005 United Nations University