[Reformatted to 70 columns.] =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= This message was forwarded through the Red Rock Eater News Service (RRE). You are welcome to send the message along to others but please do not use the "redirect" option. For information about RRE, including instructions for (un)subscribing, see http://dlis.gseis.ucla.edu/people/pagre/rre.html =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Date: Tue, 11 Dec 2001 16:18:31 -0500 From: infoat_private To: infoat_private Subject: Markle Project Announcement: Global Digital Opportunity Project Dear Friends: Following our recent board meeting, I want to share with you the expansion of the Markle Foundation's commitment to its Global Digital Opportunity Project, which seeks to enhance developing countries' ability to fully participate in and benefit from the networked economy and society. This work is particularly relevant at a time when we are all more focused than ever before on the interdependence of our world. We have increased to $6.6 million our backing for work in this area, based on the tremendous opportunities we have identified in the project's first year. I also hope that this letter will serve as an introduction to the efforts we have already undertaken and that, over time, we might enlist your interest, experience, or support. Our increased commitment, in part, aims to stimulate new partnerships and investment by others. As you know, the Markle Foundation is a private philanthropy that works to realize the potential of information and communication technologies (ICT) to improve people's lives. We are working to make sure that the benefits of these tools can be more widely available, and that they can be effectively deployed in support of some of the most important development challenges faced by societies around the world. While information and communication technologies are no panacea for poverty alleviation, we do know that they can be a powerful support and accelerator for many development efforts in health, education, and sustainable economic growth. We also know that, in a world increasingly shaped by globalization and rapid adoption of technology, failing to match that pace can exacerbate existing social and economic divides. To achieve this, we hope to help accelerate change and bring a critical mass of resources to bear in this area by creating better understanding, more propitious policy environments, catalytic models, and partnerships across the public, private, and non-profit sectors. Our new investment in this area builds on more than a year's worth of initial work on our part. Recognizing that digital opportunity for all cannot be achieved without the participation of governments and the private and non-profit sectors, Markle has worked within a number of international initiatives on this front. We have also made serious efforts to involve the non-profit community in this dialogue, as well as making a selection of investments in actual applications that demonstrate the power of ICT for development. Much of this work has been driven by our role as the U.S. nonprofit member of the G-8 governments' Digital Opportunity Task Force (Dot Force), which led to the G-8 endorsement of an ambitious action plan to close the so-called "global digital divide." Today, we are proud to continue our involvement, along with an uncommon team of non-profits, multilateral organizations, corporations and governments, as the Dot Force moves to implement that plan. We are playing a similar role in the recently launched United Nations ICT Task Force and hold much hope for the ability of this powerful organization to draw strategic attention and resources to these issues. You can find a number of additional resources and information on our website, www.markle.org <http://www.markle.org>, such as the "Digital Opportunity Initiative," the strategic ICT-for-development framework that we created with the United Nations Development Programme and Accenture. I am delighted that we are moving forward with an increased commitment in this area. Specifically, the Global Digital Opportunity Project will have two components. First, in a partnership called the Global Digital Opportunity Initiative, with the United Nations Development Programme and a wide set of international private sector and non-profit partners, we will collaborate in a selected number of developing countries--providing pro bono expertise for the development of their own national ICT strategies, and developing and mobilizing solutions and resources to turn those strategies into action. Second, we are undertaking a variety of efforts geared toward enhancing developing countries' participation in the global decision-making bodies that are increasingly focused on critical ICT-related issues. Here we are looking at strategic opportunities to build capacity, expand representation, and ensure effective participation. Additionally, the Global Digital Opportunity Project will have a solid commitment to education and research on ICT for development, since making the case and disseminating successful results to key stakeholders is critical at this early moment in the debate. Because we are a medium-sized foundation, the level of our financial commitment may seem to pale by comparison to the large-scale challenges of developing countries and the budgets of international organizations and governments. Through our first year of work, however, we have come to see how a combination of strategy development, bridging sectors, and early financial investment can provide the type of catalytic models that others can draw upon for their own needs. In addition, we work in partnerships to achieve greater impact, whether it is with the United Nations or private sector companies. At the end of the day, our hope is that we can leave behind some foundational strategies that work, some key solutions that can be sustained and replicated, and some investment, both intellectual and financial, by the many companies, foundations, and governments it will take to make global digital opportunity a reality. We are more than happy to take some of the early risk in such a mission. Before I close, I wanted to introduce members of our growing team devoted to this endeavor: Julia Moffett, Managing Director and Chief Strategic Officer; Karen Lynch, Director, Global Digital Opportunity Project; Frederick S. Tipson, Director, Global Digital Opportunity Initiative; Stefaan Verhulst, Director, Governance Project. We look forward to keeping you apprised of the work of the Global Digital Opportunity Project as it gets underway, as well as about activities in Markle's other program areas in health, children's learning, and policy. In the meantime, please do not hesitate to share your efforts in this area with us, and let us know in turn if you would like to learn more about our work or receive more detailed information about ways we might collaborate. Feel free to contact me or Karen Lynch klynchat_private, and we look forward to hearing from you. Sincerely, Zoe Baird
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