Organized by: UNDESA-GAID e-Leaders Committee, Athgo International, Ministry of Economy – the Republic of Armenia

The Global Innovation Forum for Education and Development provides a platform for several hundred young people across the globe to advance their causes toward achieving the MDGs through ICT. The forum is set to encourage young people to get engaged in, and develop and propose new ICT initiatives that innovatively advance local communities in various emerging regions.

Area experts from private and public sectors and selected young participants are invited to showcase their successful ICT practices during the four interactive days. The forum will highlight new innovations in ICT and new ground-breaking business models and methods that successfully address the developmental needs in different societies.

First, the forum will concentrate on the basic needs and tools required for innovation process, in particular, basic mainstream and broad analytical education. Currently, neither educational type is widely available in developing regions, thus slowing innovation and hampering the implementation of existing ICT. Consequently, the forum will focus on ways to improve educational opportunities and quality through ICT, specifically focusing on building ICT skills among young people. To this end the impact of access, connectivity and relevant local content in meeting educational and analytical needs will be examined and methods to overcome the obstacles discussed and presented.

The second part of the forum will highlight some of the best practices in the areas of ICT access and connectivity with a special attention on the impact of appropriate local content to ensure sustainable development. Each participant will have the opportunity to engage policy makers, experts and his/her peers to draft innovative solutions to ICT development and implementation challenges. On the final day, the young participants will showcase their plans in innovation panels. The proposals will be evaluated by leaders in government, the private sector, and civil society, and will be showcased at the conference closing ceremonies.

Panel focus and requirements

Panels will focus on three ICT elements (access, connectivity and local content) in two different contexts:

1. Education for Innovation in the 3 ICT elements
2. Innovation for Development in the 3 ICT elements

The forum will also include discussions about innovative financing for new innovations and demonstrate creative ways of including young people in the process of innovation and implementation.

Location(s)