TMCD Director Xiaolan Fu presented on a panel at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Forum 2016, which was held in Geneva, Switzerland from 2-6 May 2016. She also had a bilateral meeting with the Secretary General of the International Telecommunications Union - Mr Houlin Zhao.

She discussed the topic of “Strategic Dialogue for WSIS Action Lines and Sustainable Development Goals” alongside Janis Mazeiks (Ambassador to the UN, Latvia), Mr Brahima Sanou (Director of Telecommunication Development Bureau, International Telecommunication Union), and Dr Heide Hackman (Executive Director, International Council for Science).

Dr Fu argued that her research in Africa suggested that innovations in Africa are mostly incremental, and low income countries lack the financial and human resources to produce major innovations that are needed for structural change. She emphasized the importance of technology transfer from more advanced countries (in both North and South) as a major driver of technical progress worldwide.

Information and Communications Technology (ICT) has proven to be a powerful tool for facilitating technology diffusion at an unprecedented speed, an unprecedented penetration width, and a much lower level of cost, to communities and users who previously could not access or afford these technologies.

In recognition of the important role that ICT can play in facilitating and accelerating technology transfer, the United Nations Member States have agreed to the development of an online platform, as mandated in the SDGs, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and the Addis Ababa Action Agenda for Financing for Development. The online platform will “serve as a gateway for information on existing science, technology and innovation initiatives”, “facilitate access to information and knowledge, as well as best practices and lessons learned,” and “facilitate the dissemination of relevant open access scientific publications generated worldwide”. 

This session took place on Tuesday 3 May 2016 from 10:45-11:45am.

As a side event, Professor Xiaolan Fu was also interviewed about her research and what it tell us about the information society today. Watch below:

More information about the event can be found at: https://wsisforum2016.pathable.com/meetings/397829