ICT, Education and global development goals
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Jyrki Pulkkinen

Linkki esitysmateriaaliin

Linkki esitysmateriaaliin / Laurens Cloete

Finland supports developing countries' access to new information and communications technology (ICT), promotes efforts towards bridging the digital divide, and, in cooperation with the private sector and the developing countries themselves, seeks ICT solutions that suit the poorest countries. By harnessing and promoting the best use of ICT solutions Finland aims to serve the Millennium Declaration Goals (MDGs), to reduce inequality and to respond to new global challenges in line with the Principles and Plan of Action of the World Summit on the Information Society, adopted in Geneva 2003 and Tunis 2005.

Two of the principles on which the Finnish development policy is fundamentally based are, firstly, that people have a basic right to knowledge and learning as a cornerstone enabling an independent life and a self-reliant livelihood, and, secondly, that people's own skills and expertise are vital from the point of view of development in society. Lack of knowledge is also a critical aspect of poverty. In the global information society, access to information and the possibilities for communication are increasingly dependent on ICT. People are therefore becoming more and more unequal from the point of view of right of access to information, development and learning. The issue concerns not only the digital divide as such but also the wider overall gap between people with regard to access to information, knowledge and human welfare. Knowledge is a fundamental aspect of all development issues. Therefore Finland takes the promotion of local stakeholders' knowledge in the developing countries as one of the principal goals in its ICT-related development policy and development cooperation.

This forum will discuss topics related to ICT in education in the context of global information society. Speakers from existing collaboration programmes will share their experiences and views on the following questions, among the others: What role are ICTs playing in opening up new opportunities for learning in developing countries? What potential do they have to improve learning and increase the efficiency of education systems in developing countries? To what extent are governments developing policies to use ICTs as a lever for educational change?