Despite positive indicators of growth, there are still 1 billion people, or some 800 000 villages worldwide who still have no access to ICTs. The recently-held World Summit on the Information Society, organized by ITU, set down the goal to 'connect the unconnected by 2015.' To help mobilize the international community behind the WSIS goals, in June 2005, the ITU Secretary-General launched the Connect the World initiative with 22 founding partners.

Connect the World now has some 50 partners from government, business, international organizations and civil society. It is an open initiative and new partners continue to join.

ITU is continually working with partners to develop new initiatives, while additional partners are being actively sought in areas not adequately covered to ensure that underserved communities get what they need where it's needed most.

Here are just some of its success stories:

ITU Internet Training Centres

Under the umbrella of the 'Connect the World' initiative, ITU and its partners have been helping developing countries meet their requirements for skilled Internet and "new economy" professionals. To this end, it has been setting up Internet Training Centres, using existing educational institutions to establish ICT training programmes for both end-users and advanced users. ITU works with public and private-sector partners in order to set up Internet Training Centres (ITCs), using a train-the-trainers approach and transfers the Internet/IP related training programmes to the training centres/educational institutions, allowing them to provide affordable and relevant on-going training.

To date, 78 ITCs have been established offering a variety of curricula: 66 centres in partnership with Cisco Systems and 12 centres in partnership with the European Commission. The training programmes target different audiences, using both face-to-face workshops and e-learning methods.

The partnership project with Cisco, which started in 2001, has led to the establishment of 66 centres in 56 countries out of which 20 are in Least Developed countries. The curricula, offered through the Cisco Networking Academy Programme, include: Cisco Certified Networking Associate (CCNA); Information Technology Essentials (ITE); and, Panduit's Networking Infrastructure Essentials (PNIE).

The proof of success is in the people who have taken advantage of the training. 3 091 people have graduated from one of the training programmes and another 3 129 are currently enrolled. The programme aims for 30 per cent of students to be women. The current global average for ICT training is 27 per cent; remarkably 36 per cent of students in ITCIs in Africa are women.

What's more, ITU will be teaming up again with some of its Connect the World partners for an exciting new initiative, which is set to enhance and build upon the work of the Internet Training Centres, amongst other things. More details on these plans will be unveiled during the Opening Ceremony of ITU Telecom World 2006.

Mission 2007

Under the slogan "Mission 2007: Every village a knowledge centre" this Mission 2007.project ambitiously aims to take the knowledge revolution to more than 637,000 villages in India by 15 August 2007, the year when India celebrates its 60th year of independence. To achieve this, Connect the World partner, MS Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) - chaired by leading rural poverty activist and agricultural specialist, MS Swaminathan has set up one of the largest multi-stakeholder partnerships in the history of development. The alliance is addressing issues related to connectivity; content, services and applications; capacity building; care and management; and coordination. The villages are connected in a hub-and-spoke model, with one centre serving as the hub for a number of villages. The knowledge centres are open to all, irrespective of age, sex, religion, caste, and level of literacy and education.

Mission 2007 is guided by a holistic philosophy that emphasizes an integrated pro-poor, pro-women, pro-nature orientation to development and community ownership of technological tools. Mission 2007 encourages collective action for the spread of knowledge and technology, for example using local volunteers to gather information. The aim is to achieve job-led economic growth in rural areas by harnessing science and technology for environmentally sustainable and socially equitable development.

The fruits of the Mission 2007 movement can now be seen in many parts of India. Twelve villages in the southern Pondicherry region of India, have been connected using a hybrid wired and wireless network comprising Internet and email access through personal computers, telephone services, satellite-enabled videoconferencing, WorldSpace radio, and traditional technologies such as public address systems and community newspapers to disseminate relevant information in the local language. The centres provide computing skills and training to villagers. Special attention is paid to helping women, the poor and other marginalized groups acquire dignity and confidence.

Like many similar projects under Mission 2007, this one aims to transform the lives of the rural poor through improved access to information. The focus is on information sharing and knowledge generation at the village level. The community owns the project. Knowledge centre databases are updated daily, mostly by local volunteers. Villagers have access to information and services related to health, agriculture, fishing, education, markets, crop diseases, animal husbandry, etc. For example, in partnership with Aravind Eye Hospital, knowledge centre volunteers test the eyes of villagers and facilitate their treatment.

Grameen Village Phone

Connect the World is a collective brand and mission shared by some of the world's most significant programmes of change. One such innovative project, which has attracted an enormous amount of global attention is the Grameen Village Phone project. Begun in Bangladesh, Grameen Bank, led by development visionary Professor Muhammad Yunus, started giving poor local women micro-credit loans, without requiring any collateral. With these loans they could purchase a mobile phone and then rent air time to other villagers. There are now more than 200 000 of these "phone ladies" providing communications access to an estimated 60 million people living in rural Bangladesh. The Bangladesh phone ladies are earning good incomes for their families and generating business opportunities for others.

Thanks to the Grameen Village Phone project, Bangladesh has become an outstanding example of how ICT can affect social change and rural development. Based on this success, the Grameen Foundation, a global non-profit organization, decided to work with partners to replicate this model in other parts of the world.

In partnership with Nokia, MTN Uganda and MTN Rwanda, the Grameen Foundation has been accelerating the efforts to make universal access a reality by enabling African villages to acquire the benefits of mobility through implementation of the Village Phone Project. This linking of the telecommunications and microfinance sectors has facilitated the spread of affordable and sustainable mobile communications services throughout the largely rural, lower-income areas of Uganda and Rwanda.

The concept is simple yet effective. A microfinance loan of approximately 200 US dollars enables individuals to set themselves up as Village Phone operators, providing mobile communications services to their communities and boosting network connections in areas otherwise restrained by infrastructure limitations. The individual's investment is guaranteed to yield returns almost immediately and allows for the building of a business that can help provide for their entire families and ensure better health, nutrition, education and thereby a better future for their children.

The Village Phone Project is guided by the principles of sustainability, profitability and empowerment:

Sustainability: Acknowledged as a sustainable development tool by governments and development agencies such as the World Bank, the United Nations, The International Finance Corporation and USAID.

Profitability: A solid business model (business in a box for the entrepreneur) for reaching rural populations. Partner companies benefit by reaching previously untapped markets, all the while furthering their social responsibility objectives.

Empowerment: Empowering individuals through entrepreneurship and ensuring independence in shaping their future towards a better-educated, better-connected community.

Hear more about the latest Connect the World developments during the ITU Telecom World 2006 Opening Ceremony.

For more information about Connect the World, visit: www.itu.int/partners.