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afrol News, 28 January - The Egyptian Ministry of Communications and Information Technology has provided a new fund to promote computer and Internet access with US$ 200,000 in start-up money. The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Trust Fund is to make technologies more widely accessible to and more affordable for Egyptians. The fund was set up last week, and is co-sponsored by the UN development agency UNDP. Over the next five years, the fund will support initiatives to widen computer and Internet access in schools and communities, and to use ICT in support of adult literacy. - These efforts will help create jobs and reduce poverty by introducing new skills, training and resources, and enabling communities to take advantage of the global reach of ICT, UNDP informs. "The initiative will also empower citizens by enabling them to access information at the click of a mouse." Support is to come from the government, the private sector, donor countries and international agencies. "The ICT sector will play a leading role in contributing to social, economic, cultural, educational and overall development," Ahmed Nazif, Minister of Communications and Information Technology told UNDP. - ICT is not only technology, ICT is development, said Antonio Vigilante, UNDP Resident Representative in Egypt. "In fact, it is a necessary tool for human development." One programme the fund is to support is the Smart School Network to expand computer access for students across the country. The goal is to enable every student to work at a computer for at least four hours a week, according to UNDP. To help achieve this, the project will encourage the growth of private sector education technology service providers. To expand access to ICT in local communities, the fund is supposed to build on information technology (IT) Clubs the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology has set up to promote commercially-run cyber cafés. - The fund will support mobile Internet units (buses equiped with media labs) that will visit schools and communities to offer computer training and Internet access, UNDP informs. "Sponsored by private companies, the buses will bring computers to remote areas with little electricity and limited or no Internet access." The initiative will also promote ICT for adult literacy programmes. In another project, the Community Portal, the trust fund is to set up an online bulletin board with links to information on issues relevant to citizens, such as local news, employment, law, human rights, social services, health, education and the environment. Sources: Based on UNDP
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