Following a catered lunch buffet, we returned to the plenary conference room for more presentations. My favorite of the afternoon was delivered by Rodrigo Assumpcao, the Brazilian government’s e-inclusion guru. He gave a powerful presentation about the role of e-government in making government accountable to its citizens, and the need for bridging the digital divide to create an environment where all people are empowered to participate fully in civic life. His comments were very much in line with the “E-Government for All” work that I’d been doing for the Benton Foundation and EDC.
One of the next panel sessions was dedicated to Web accessibility for the disabled. As it turns out, Hong Kong’s government has taken accessibility very seriously, so presenters described a variety of programs to make sure that all local government websites are fully accessible. Along with strict accessibility guidelines, the government does Internet training with the disabled and senior citizens to promote access to e-government in otherwise underserved communities.
Later in the afternoon, Bangladeshi ICT Minister Abdul Moyeen Khan gave a presentation describing the opportunities and challenges faced by Bangladesh when it comes to using ICTs for development. Khan also presented a brief video about Bangladesh’s growing hi-tech industry. It was particularly interesting for me since I was going to have breakfast with Minister Khan the next morning.
As the sessions wrapped up for the afternoon, I slipped away a little early to help Louise van Rooyen prepared her presentations on e-learning and e-culture for tomorrow’s breakout sessions. Louise, who’s director of Australia’s Interactive Media Industry Association, had been given a CD-ROM with video clips from an Australian edtech project, but the clips weren’t compatible with her PC, so I offered my Mac so we could preview them. The clips turned out to be a little off-topic for what she was going to present, but we managed to explore some fascinating short films and music videos made by Australian prisoners as part of a 21st century skills initiative for the incarcerated.
Later that evening, all the overseas guests at the conference were invited to dinner in the hotel’s brand-new Chinese restaurant. Attendees were encouraged to wear their national dress, if they had one. Osama Manzar of India, Charles Nduati of India and Lawrence Zikosoka of Uganda all wore magnificent costumes, while I and the other westerners stuck with traditional business attire (though several people commented I should have come dressed as a cowboy). Seated at my table were Cahit Gurkok of the United Nations, MD Akterazzuman of the Bangladeshi Multimedia Association, and representatives from Hong Kong and Romania. Cahit and I had a great conversation about Turkey, where he was born, and shared travel stories from around the world. Cahit was a great storyteller and had most of the table listening along, often laughin gin hysterics.
Following dinner, most of us went upstairs to the bar where we spent a couple of hours drinking shiraz red wine and Asahi beer. I hung out much of the time with Louise and Rodrigo Assumpcao, but the whole gang was pretty much crammed around two small tables, giving each of us plenty of opportunities to flutter from conversation to conversation. At some point in the evening I realized this would be my last full night in Hong Kong; tomorrow I’d have to depart dinner early to catch my 12:40am flight back to the States. It was somewhat bittersweet, but I didn’t let it get me down, so I ordered another beer at last call and enjoyed the camaraderie for just a little while longer.... -andy