Statement by Mr. John Davison
Representative of the United States of America
July 3, 2001
Substantive Session of the Economic and Social Council Agenda Item 4: The role of the United Nations in promoting development, Particularly with respect to access to and transfer of knowledge and technology, especially ICTs, inter alia through partnerships with relevant stakeholders, including the private sector

Thank you, Mr .President.
The United States believes that information and communications technologies are among the most potent forces in shaping the twenty-first century. Their revolutionary impact affects the way people live, learn and work, and the way government interacts with civil society. ICT is a vital engine of growth for the world economy. It is also enabling many enterprising individuals, firms and communities, in all parts of the globe, to address economic and social challenges with greater efficiency and imagination. The U.S. believes that enormous opportunities are there to be seized, with benefits to be shared by us all.

The United States understands the potential benefits of ICT in spurring competition, promoting enhanced productivity, and creating and sustaining economic growth and jobs. Recognizing the need to promote digital opportunity and inclusion, the U.S. Government has embarked on several efforts, both internationally and domestically, to help meet these challenges.

One example is the Internet for Economic Development Initiative. This initiative was started three years ago to spread the Internet and electronic commerce to developing countries. It seeks to empower developing countries to use the Internet to energize their economies, gain access to knowledge that can improve standards of living, and foster the free flow of ideas. Through this Initiative, the United States is supporting developing country collaboration with the private sector, and multilateral and non-profit organizations.

The Leland Initiative is a five-year, $15 million U.S. government effort to extend full Internet connectivity to 20 or more African countries. The Leland Initiative builds on existing capacity with the ultimate aim of facilitating Internet access throughout each country , enhancing African ability to find solutions to African problems and making African-produced information available to the world. Our Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has launched a "Development Initiatives" program to provide assistance with telecommunications policy and regulation

to emerging economies, acknowledging that an appropriate regulatory framework is integral to fostering competition. Where competition has been present, innovation and investment have followed. The FCC has signed agreements with eight countries across the globe, countries which the FCC believes can serve as catalysts for change in their regions.

Domestic programs have been created by the U.S. Government to ensure that under- served segments of our communities are connected. "E-rate" provides Federal assistance to schools and libraries to connect to the Internet. The Department of Commerce's Technology Opportunities Program gives matching funds for model projects to bring the benefits of new technologies to local communities, providing more than 300 grants since its inception. Bridging the digital divide encompasses much more than just technology, which is the reason that the UN has such an important role to play. We congratulate the Secretary General on his initiative in this regard, as evidenced both through the ECOSOC report and the Millennium Statement.

The Secretary General's report lays out meaningful and practical approaches to partnerships among the public sector, civil society and the business community. The United States believes that the ICT Task Force could serve as a very useful vehicle for such partnerships. We are looking forward to participating actively in the ICT Task Force through the U.S. Coordinator for International Communications and Information Policy. We support an ICT Task Force that is catalytic in nature, promoting creative partnerships to achieve developmental goals. In order to perform its functions within existing UN resources and, rather than taking on an operational role, we believe it should act as a coordinator of the international community's various ICT-for-development efforts.

Given the importance of the private sector to these efforts, we strongly concur with the Secretary General's statement that the principles governing partnerships between the UN system and the private sector need to be outlined clearly. These partnerships should be developed transparently and be open to the broadest range of potential participants. The Secretary General's report provides us with an impressive and useful inventory and review of the UN's cooperative programs and initiatives in the technology and ICT areas. However, we are concerned that in a few places in the report, and in other discussions, including the draft " Agreed Conclusions," there is a tendency to cast technology and ICT issues in north-south, center-periphery polarities that are not fruitful for any concerned stakeholders.

The Secretary General's report provides ample evidence of the abundance ofICT programs being promoted currently. In order to get optimal results from available resources, we must make every effort to ensure that organizations stick to their areas of expertise to avoid duplication and ensure complementarity among the various initiatives.

We are appreciative of the efforts of the International Trade Center, which targets small and medium sized businesses in least developed countries. Many of its programs focus on the digital economy. For example, the ITC sponsored an Internet-based gourmet coffee auction in 1999, which was duplicated without ITC support the following year by its local partners. Its Executive Forum on "Export Development and the Digital Economy" last year brought senior trade officials and businesspersons together to examine best practices and to assist each other in formulating national e-trade strategies.

We also support the ambitious goal of WIPOnet, which is to connect government intellectual property offices worldwide. Sixty-five national intellectual property offices are scheduled to be connected by the end of this year .

The International Telecommunication Union was promoting ICT programs long before "digital divide" became a household word. The ITU's emphasis on infrastructure development, as well as gathering and analyzing ICT indicators and data are two of its particular strengths. This specialized organization's technical expertise and comprehensive membership of 189 states and 650 private-sector members make it an extremely useful resource or collaborator for other agencies embarking on ICT programs.

We look forward with interest to ITU Secretary General Utsumi's remarks during the High Level Segment later this month on his organization's plans to host a World Summit on the Information Society. Much needs to be done before 2003, however, to ensure that this Summit will offer a unique and worthwhile agenda for world political and business leaders who could otherwise be overwhelmed by many competing ICT activities and events.

Thank you, Mr. President.