Technology for All Bridging the Digital Divide in

Technology for All Bridging the Digital Divide in Central and Eastern Europe ICT and Environmental Democracy WSIS/‘Aarhus’ Convention Side Event Jerome Simpson Head, Information Programme Wednesday 10 th December 2003 Jsimpson@rec. org

The Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe: Building Environmental Democracy • Head quartered in Hungary, with 9 Programmes, 15 country offices, established 1990, >30 donor countries • A mission driven, not-for-profit organisation promoting regional cooperation and local dialog between diverse stakeholders • An Information Programme focused on providing and promoting access to information

REC: Bridging the Digital Divide • Collaboration with EC/DG Information Society showcasing ‘ISTs’ for data collection/storage • In South Eastern Europe funding national environmental information system development and e-networking of NGOs • Founding the ‘Aarhus’ Electronic Tools Task Force to share ICT experience on information access at pan-European level • Following ‘Kiev, ’ transferring ‘lessons learned’ to Turkey and the EECCA region Jsimpson@rec. org

Technology: Bridging the Digital Divide Tools at our disposal… & Best practices… Jsimpson@rec. org

The Future: Bridging the Digital Divide Key challenges (e-governance) ØTransferring national best practices to the local & rural level ØClearly defining all institutional responsibilities Key solutions üE-governance üNGO networks üMobile society? üLibraries (for environment) ØUpdating legislation, protocols ØEducation, training, staffexchange, site visits ØFinancing Jsimpson@rec. org