A Toronto-based international organization will play a major role in the United Nations World Summit on the Information Society, being held Dec. 10-12.
Taking IT Global (TIG) was started in 2000. During the summit TIG will co-ordinate the schedules for young technology leaders and will also co-ordinate a lobbying effort to see one of the strongest ever references to youth in a United Nations document included in the declaration to be issued during the event.
The Summit, whose first part is being held in Geneva, Switzerland, is being attended by more than 50 world leaders including German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and French President Jacques Chirac, and will explore everything from Internet governance to the use of new technologies to improve healthcare and educational systems in developing countries.
The TIG initiated a grassroots program called National Information Society Youth Campaigns in more than 30 countries. It involves youth holding meetings in community halls, delivering presentations in schools and radio and television appearances, as well as training others at Internet cafes, talking with decision-makers and implementing projects at a local level. TIG has published a book, and is currently making a video documentary.
A total of eight participants from the Toronto team will be attending the summit, including executive director Jennifer Corriero, Alex Fielding and Robert Guerra. Their plans for the event include a series of workshops, meetings between youth and world leaders, speeches and presentations, an exhibition and the announcement of an award program recognizing successful youth-led projects.
Corriero said she’s honoured to be part of the official government delegation
"This event will allow us to share perspectives we’re passionate about," she said. Like making education meaningful, creating employment for youth and tapping technology appropriately to help developing countries."
Fielding has spent the last six months at the Summit’s executive secretariat in Geneva as part of an internship funded through the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade.
"It’s definitely not your average internship," he said. "So far I’ve organized youth participation in four conferences, planned an exhibition, set up eight workshops and helped in public relations.
His role also included travel to meet with youth in Tunisia, where the second and final phase of the Summit will be held in 2005.
Guerra is a computer privacy advocate and one of the most prominent civil society figures at the Summit. He calls the Toronto organization an inspiration, and says their involvement demonstrates just how sophisticated their network is.
While the Summit is a major focus of TIG’s work, many other initiatives are also underway. Their online community is receiving more than 30 million hits per month, and this is likely to expand further with the addition of a groundbreaking multilingual system that allows members to translate the site into local languages from Swahili to Hindi. Each month there are new monthly themes to develop,
An educational pilot is underway in a number of Toronto schools to see how TIG’s community and youth empowerment approach can be integrated into the formal classroom environment. Following the four days at the world summit on the Information Society, Corriero will fly to India to speak at another conference on youth employment.
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