Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- A Forum on Global Alliances in New Digital Technologies for Enhancing Capacity was jointly organized by UNESCO Secretariat and the Uzbek National Commission for UNESCO in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, from 23 to 24 October 2008. It offered an international platform to exchange experiences in preparing national information managers in advanced digital technologies.

Over 80 information managers and ICT experts from Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Republic of Korea, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan participated in the Forum. They delivered interesting presentations on how to apply ICT to national needs and demonstrated new digital technologies such as Wireless Broadband Technology and Digital Multimedia Broadcasting Technology. A particular focus was made on concrete ways of launching related joint projects.

The participants reached a common agreement to expand the Association of Computer Centres for Exploiting Sustainable Synergy (ACCESS-net) into Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Republic of Korea, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, and Tanzania and beyond.

The event was particularly successful thanks to a series of working groups which produced result-oriented outcomes, including the proposal to convene an ACCESS-net assembly meeting in July 2009 in Ankara under the major funding of Haccettepe University of Turkey. Furthermore, the Forum detailed arrangements for reinforcing ACCESS-net sustainability and formulated several technical project proposals to be launched soon on bilateral and multilateral basis.

Dr Yong Sok O, President of ACCESS-net and Director of International Programme of Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), expressed his satisfaction with the meeting and declared that “it has spurred a new momentum to revive sustainability of the ACCESS-net members and encourage them to join their resources more effectively for enhancing capacity in ICT”.

The Working Group on Cooperation on ICT Capacity Building reached a preliminary agreement on modalities of cooperation among partner institutions, for example:

• 5-10 professionals from the National University of Uzbekistan will follow two-month study in e-leaning and e-environment in KAIST; and
• a training centre for software developers will be established at the National University of Uzbekistan, which will offer premises and staff while KAIST (or other Korean ICT institutions) will provide advanced workstations, software packages and high level instructors.

The Working Group on Advanced Geographic Information System (GIS) agreed that a UNESCO partner institution specialised in the advanced GIS from the Republic of Korea will visit the UNESCO Office in Tashkent by mid-November to review the current level of GIS on Bukhara cultural heritage and to provide a possible support to this project.