The seminar on "A new approach for low cost ICT" organized by IIS took place in the Radio Research Institute on June 17, 2008.

Among the various efforts to bridge the digital divide, it is worthwhile to underline that for the first time in the short history of ICT, a non-commercial civil society academic initiative, the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) from MIT, has a major technological and commercial impact. The OLPC has been first presented at the World Summit on the Information Society in Tunis in 2005. The OLPC has created the new market of the low cost Ultra Mobile PC (UMPC). also known as ultra low-cost PC (ULPC). After the stunning commercial success of the eeePC from ASUS, many companies have just started or are now starting ULPC projects. A new generation of low-cost UMPC is on the horizon since the Processors & various chips for mobile phones ( mostly from the leader ARM ) are becoming powerful enough to equip a laptop, with the added benefit of a mobile/laptop convergence. It is also interesting to note that the success of mobile phones in developing countries has been far greater than expected. However, most mobile manufacturers are showing little interest towards educational and social application of mobiles, although some processing and connecting capacities are available.

It is clear the traditional mass market is not going to be efficient enough to bridge the digital and educational divide, new approaches must be explored.           

On one hand, despite technological breakthroughs, OLPC is plagued by logistical and  marketing problems, and a real lack of communication with potential users and buyers.            

On the other hand, because of the veil of secrecy created by a hot competition and by a traditional approach, most manufacturers have little interactions with educators, civil society and governments to really define the requirements for devices ( UMPCs, Mobiles; Networks ) that would best fit the needs of populations. Most governments around the world, and not only in developing countries, that are starting inclusive ICT programs suffer from a lack of foresight on the next generation of equipments. The procedural time lag to initiate a governmental or institutional program, increases the risk of starting a program with technology that is already obsolete. Civil Society has more flexibility, but its interaction with manufacturers is extremely limited. Manufacturers, and specifically innovative startups, have difficulties to reach out stakeholders in the field.

Therefore, there is a need of a forum where all concerned stakeholders may interact, to go beyond the exceedingly rigid procedures of public tenders and beyond a mass market approach too focused short-term financial rewards. The creation of such a forum is particularly well suited to occur within the multi-stakeholder implementation of the WSIS and also within the context of the UN-GAID.

It turns out that the European Union is financing a FP7 support action in the field of Information and Communication Technologies ( ICT-2007.9.1 International Cooperation: Development-related ICT research exploitation and cooperation road maps ), entitled the  Digital World Forum on Accessible and Inclusive ICT, that started on January 2008 for a duration of 18 months. The objective of this FP7 action is to make state-of-the-arts on low-cost technologies, build road maps with stakeholders to leverage access to ICT in Developing Countries, and create the conditions for their future successful implementation, to identify and federate local and regional expertise, and to leverage the direct involvement of local organizations.

The FP7 Digital World Forum on Accessible and Inclusive ICT ( DWF for short ) is therefore in a propitious position to provide the seed for a sustainable WSIS and UN-GAID Forum where all concerned stakeholders may interact to efficiently overcome the Digital and Educational Divide. Within the WSIS implementation framework, this Forum would feature the exceptional capacity and legitimacy to be open to all stakeholders worldwide :governments, businesses including ICT manufacturers and SMEs, civil society including academic, research and engineering institutions, as well as NGOs operating in the field.

Dr. Francis Muege (ENSTA, France) participated in the forum - a well-known expert in ICT development sphere, and especially in informatics, free software provision, free access to scientific publications, open educational resources and related issues, active WSIS representative.

On the part of Russia the event was attended by representatives of the Ministry of mass communications of RF, Institute of the Information society, Radio Research Institute, the Russian Association of Electronic Communications (RAEC), Regional Center of Internet Technologies (ROCIT).