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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Dear Colleagues, <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Below is President Dr Abdul Kalami’s speech when inaugurating
the first commonwealth connects International ePartnership <st1:City w:st="on">Summit</st1:City>
in <st1:City w:st="on">New Delhi</st1:City> <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region
w:st="on">India</st1:country-region></st1:place> last Friday. It is important
to note that the President did not just read his speech, but he used a PowerPoint
presentation to visualize his ideas. It was quite a trip for those who were
there.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Kindest Regards<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Harry <span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>PRESIDENTS ADDRESS AT THE INAUGURATION OF
COMMONWEALTH CONNECTS: INTERNATIONAL E-PARTNERSHIP <st1:City w:st="on">SUMMIT</st1:City>,
<st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">NEW DELHI</st1:place></st1:City> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;mso-ansi-language:EN-GB'>Following is the text of
the President Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalami’s Address <O></O>at the
Inauguration of Commonwealth Connects: International E-Partnership Summit
here today:<O></O></span></font><span lang=EN-GB> </span><span class=lean1><font
size=2 face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
mso-ansi-language:EN-GB'>Evolution of Commonwealth Knowledge Grid</span></font></span><font
size=2 face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
mso-ansi-language:EN-GB'> <font color=black><span style='color:black'><O></O><O></O>"Connectivity
enriches the societies"<O></O></span></font></span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>I am indeed delighted to participate in the inauguration
of Commonwealth Connects: International e-Partnership <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Summit</st1:place></st1:City>. I am happy that the summit is
aiming to promote effective global partnerships between public and private
sectors in developing and implementing strategies which will bridge the
digital divide across the 53 countries of the Commonwealth. My greetings to the
ICT Ministers of the Commonwealth, CEOs, Managing Directors, Government
Officials and Senior Representatives from Civil Society. Today when I am with
you, I would like to share with you some of the Indian experience in
connectivity for achieving the societal transformation. This along with the
experiences of other participating Commonwealth countries can lead to
evolution of a multi-lateral connectivity between and among nations. Hence, I
would like to discuss with you on the topic "Evolution of Commonwealth
Knowledge Grid". <O></O></span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Broadband economy for prosperity<O></O></span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>The telecom revolution in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country-region> has opened multiple windows
of opportunities and the benefits of this revolution are in the process of
percolating to the vast majority of our villages. It is through this network
that people living in the villages would be able to access modern education,
healthcare services and employment opportunities. And I believe, this would
be true for many countries in the Commonwealth spectrum. Broadband
connectivity is key to realizing the stated socio-economic goals. Large scale
utilization of local languages would enable people of the Commonwealth to
create content with ease and authenticity which, when shared, would have a
positive effect in the growth of economy of all the countries of Commonwealth
through the benefits of telecom revolution and related Internet and
multimedia tools. <O></O></span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial;font-weight:bold'>Bandwidth is demolisher of imbalance: </span></font></b><font
size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>The
bandwidth is the demolisher of imbalances and a great leveler in the
knowledge society. Making the bandwidth available is like the Government
laying the roads. Movement of materials through these roads creates wealth in
the industrial economy and the government recovers more than the investment
on the roads by way of taxes and enhanced prosperity to its people. In the
modern digital economy driven by knowledge products, bits and bytes traverse
the network and create wealth and this will recover the cost of investments
in the bandwidth. Thus, a singular action of making the bandwidth available
to all our people will bridge the perceived divide. The free bandwidth will
make economic sense if we appropriately cost the services offered using the
bandwidth. We have the fiber infrastructure ready up to block level, last
mile wireless technologies are being implemented and the VSAT technologies
for the unreachable are in place in the form of Satellite services. Hence, we
are well on course to bridge the digital gap. We are in the midst of
convergence of digital technologies. <O></O></span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>The total installed bandwidth capacity in <st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country-region>, is in
the range of 19-20 Terra bytes and lit-up capacity is progressively
increasing with enhanced economic activity. <O></O></span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Empowerment through Connectivity<O></O></span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>The total land area of <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country-region> is around 3.3 million
square kilometers with 7000 kilometers of coast line. The entire area is
spread into deserts, hilltops, mountains, sea shores, islands, valleys and
plains. Out of the billion plus population in the country 70% live in six
hundred thousand villages. We are in the process of a societal transformation
towards sustainable development for our growth. This we propose to realize in
a time bound manner through a knowledge society for empowering the entire
nation. Electronic and knowledge connectivity is the key to realize this
goal. Connecting a billion people gives multiple challenges. Now, I would
like to discuss about societal transformation. <O></O></span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>In the proposed model, the inter-connectivity among the
three sectors of the economy is brought about by four grids: namely,
Knowledge Grid, Health Grid, e-Governance Grid and the Rural Grid,. Each grid
is a system of multiple portals. This system of grid will bring prosperity to
700 million people in the rural areas and 300 million plus people in the
urban areas. In the process, it will ensure that the lives of 220 million
people are transformed from below the poverty line. First let me discuss
about knowledge grid.<O></O></span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Knowledge Grid<O></O></span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>The endeavor is indeed to build and transform an information
society into a knowledge society. The knowledge society will be a society
producing, marketing and using products and services that are rich in both
explicit and tacit knowledge, thus creating value-added products for national
and international consumption. In the knowledge economy, the objective of a
society changes from fulfilling the basic needs of all-round development to
empowerment. The education system instead of going by textbook teaching will
be promoted by creative, interactive self learning ? formal and informal with
focus on values, merit and quality. The workers instead of being skilled or
semi-skilled will be knowledgeable, self- empowered and flexibly skilled. We
have rich knowledge institutions but what we have to add is connectivity.
This connectivity today is technologically possible but would need creation
of high bandwidth reliable network infrastructure to the extent of minimum 10
Gigabits per second all through the country to provide uniform access of
knowledge in different regions leading to the creation of Knowledge GRID.
Now, I would like to discuss on establishing the next network in the system
of GRIDs across the country, namely Health Grid. <O></O></span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Health Grid<O></O></span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>The mission of telemedicine with healthcare Grid is
gaining momentum and it will spread to all the equipped Primary Health
Centres in the country, medical colleges and research institutions.
Connectivity between 35 urban super-specialty hospitals with 165 remotely
located Healthcare Centres has been established through Indian Space Research
Organisation (ISRO) telemedicine grid. This will enable unique case studies
and experiences to be exchanged between the super specialists through this
health grid. It will also be possible to conduct Conferences of specialist
doctors from multi centers to discuss the critical disease patterns and
provide treatment. Now I would like to take up e-Governance Grid.<O></O></span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Connectivity for E-Governance<O></O></span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Good governance is being recognized as an important goal
by many countries across the world. They have taken up specific initiatives
for open and transparent governance. Freedom of information is being
redefined and supported by detailed guidelines. The internet revolution has
proved to be a powerful tool for good governance initiatives. An important
dimension of the internet potential is the possibility of providing services
any time anywhere. Along with this there is a conscious effort to put the
citizen as the centre of focus of the governance. Citizens are being
perceived as customers and clients. E-governance has to be citizen friendly.
Delivery of services to citizens is considered as a primary function of the
government. Particularly in a democratic nation of a billion people like <st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country-region>,
e-Governance should enable seamless access to information and seamless flow
of information across the state and central government in the federal setup
crossing the inter-departmental barriers. <O></O></span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial;font-weight:bold'>Typical scenario: </span></font></b><font
size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>I
visualize an election scenario, where a candidate files his nomination from a
particular constituency. Immediately the election officer verifies his/her
authenticity from the national citizen ID database through multifactor
authentication, through a multipurpose Citizen ID card.</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'> <O></O></span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>The education credentials of the candidate come from the
university records. Candidate’s track record of employment comes from
various employers with whom the candidate had worked. His or her income and
wealth resources come from the income-tax department, and other sources.
Candidate’s property record comes from the registration of land
authority across the country. Candidate’s credit history comes form
various credit institutions like banks. Candidate’s civic consciousness
and citizenship behaviour comes from the police crime record. </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Candidate’s legal track records come from the
judicial system. <O></O></span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>All the details arrive at the computer terminal of the
election officer within few seconds automatically by the act of e-Governance
software agents which crawls across the various state and central government
web services directories through the network GRID and collects the
information automatically and presents the facts in real-time without any
bias. Artificial intelligence software analyses the credentials of the
candidate and gives a rating on how successful he or she will be as a
politician. Election officer sitting at the remote block of the country
decides on the spot and the election process starts. All the voters vote from
their home through virtual polling booths. If we consider the breakthroughs
and expansion in telecommunication and internet in the last five years, this
visualization is no longer a dream and is possible to be achieved by many
nations. <O></O></span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>To establish a system what I have visualized, we need a
high bandwidth broadband connectivity across the many Government departments
such as State and District Administration, Election commission, Universities,
Banks, Home/Police Departments, Insurance companies etc., This scenario
requires vertical and horizontal e-Governance grid established across various
institutions and the Government. Hence, we can draw information and feed
information from these GRIDs for seamless flow of data to achieve the goal of
good governance. Now let me discuss the significance of the sustainable
development through establishing Rural Grid. <O></O></span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Rural Grid<O></O></span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><font
size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>India</span></font></st1:place></st1:country-region><font
size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'> with six
hundred thousand villages and seven hundred million people living in the
rural areas needs an unique rural development model called PURA. PURA
envisages provision of three connectivities namely physical connectivity,
electronic connectivity and knowledge connectivity leading to economic
connectivity. For providing the knowledge connectivity to the PURA (Providing
Urban Amenities in Rural Areas) complexes, Village Knowledge Centers will act
as frontline delivery system. The Village Knowledge Centre should provide the
essential data required for the targeted population such as farmers,
fishermen, craftsmen, traders, businessmen, entrepreneurs, unemployed youth
and the students. Now the Ministry of Communication and Information
Technology is in the process of establishing 100,000 Common Service Centre
(CSC?s) across the country through public-private partnership model. <O></O></span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>We have so far discussed all the four connectivities at
the national level required for the societal transformation leading to
empowerment. Now, I would like to share with you the experience of
establishing a Pan African e-Network for providing connectivity among 53
African nations. <O></O></span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Pan African e-Network<O></O></span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>During the year 2003-04, I visited African countries such
as <st1:country-region w:st="on">Sudan</st1:country-region>, <st1:country-region
w:st="on">Tanzania</st1:country-region>, <st1:City w:st="on">Zanzibar</st1:City>
and <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">South Africa</st1:place></st1:country-region>.
I addressed the Pan African Parliament on 16 Sept 2004, at <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City
w:st="on">Johannesburg</st1:City>, <st1:country-region w:st="on">South
Africa</st1:country-region></st1:place> which was attended by Heads of 53
member countries of the African Union. Based on my study of the
communication, healthcare and education needs of the African countries, I
proposed the concept of Pan African e-Network for providing seamless and
integrated satellite, fiber optics and wireless network connecting 53 African
countries. <O></O></span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>The Pan-African e-Network project is estimated to cost
around US$100 million. As part of the project 12 universities (7 from India
and 5 from Africa), 17 Super Specialty Hospitals (12 from India and 5 from
Africa), 53 tele-medicine centers and 53 tele-education centres in Africa
will be connected. The pilot project on tele-education and tele-medicine in <st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Ethiopia</st1:place></st1:country-region> has
already been commissioned. One of our Indian Universities has taken up the
MBA Course for 34 Ethiopian students of <st1:City w:st="on">Addis Ababa</st1:City>
and <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Harmaya</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType
w:st="on">Universities</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>. As regards,
tele-medicine, the specialists from <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">CARE</st1:PlaceName>
<st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Hospital</st1:PlaceType>, <st1:City w:st="on">Hyderabad</st1:City>
are providing one-hour live tele-consultation to doctors in <st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">Black</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Lion</st1:PlaceName>
<st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Hospital</st1:PlaceType>, <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Addis Ababa</st1:place></st1:City> in Cardiology and Radiology
since November 2006. The Pan African e-Network will primarily provide
Tele-Education, Tele-Medicine, Internet, videoconferencing and VOIP services.
It also supports e-Governance, e-Commerce, infotainment, resource mapping and
meteorological services. Each remote location will be able to access the
Internet through the network by linking the HUB to Internet backbone. Using
this network the Heads of the State in all the 53 countries will be connected
for instant communication. The network is designed to have 169 terminals and a
central hub to deliver tele-education and tele-medicine services. The
proposed network will utilize state-of-the-<wbr>art technology and can be
integrated with the latest broadband technologies like Wi-Fi and Wi-Max. The
network is scalable to support different applications catering to increased
number of users. I am happy to inform you that 22 countries will be connected
in the first half of 2007 and the rest will be operationalized by early 2008.
<O></O></span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>RB Multimedia Studio<O></O></span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Now, I would like to share with you another experience
when I delivered 2006 Phillip Tobias Lecture on 27th September 2006 from
Rashtrapati Bhavan Multimedia studio using Multimedia tele-conferencing.
After the lecture, I was interacting with Prof Tobias and his team at <st1:City
w:st="on">Durban</st1:City>, <st1:City w:st="on">Johannesburg</st1:City> in <st1:country-region
w:st="on">South Africa</st1:country-region> and Sanfrancisco in <st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">USA</st1:place></st1:country-region>. This
experience made me realize the power of technology as an integrator of minds
leading to a borderless world without geographical barriers ? a symbol of
universalisation. Based on these interactions, I have suggested one of our
leading scientific institutions to collaborate with specialists in <st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">South Africa</st1:place></st1:country-region>
in Anthropology for promoting conservation of certain types of endangered
species. <O></O></span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>I am sure many Commonwealth countries participating in
today?s summit have several experiences to share and Commonwealth connects
programme can formulate a plan to integrate the core-competence of nations
for mutual benefit. This power of networking can definitely be used by
Commonwealth countries for sharing their core competencies and building a
knowledge platform for serving the development aspirations of the individual
nations through collective wisdom. <O></O></span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Suggestions<O></O></span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>I would like to give few suggestions for the consideration
of the Commonwealth Connects 2007: International e-Partnership <st1:City
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Summit</st1:place></st1:City>.<O></O></span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><br>
1. Evolving guidelines for common telecommunication policy to share
resources, network, infrastructure, without any barrier and facilitate
implementation through a Commonwealth co-ordination centre.<br>
<br>
2. Evolving guidelines for Common Information Security policy in IT. <O></O></span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>3. Modernizing education through state of the art skill
development programmes among the Commonwealth nations leading to skill
certification and acceptance among the countries for global employment
opportunities. <O></O></span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>4. Undertaking study of e-governance implementations
across the Commonwealth nations and suggest the best practices for the G2G
and G2C implementations. <O></O></span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>5. Creating a mechanism which will facilitate pooling of
core competence of nations for developing knowledge products and systems for
serving the global market in education, healthcare and e- governance. <br>
<br>
6. Identifying gaps in educational standards of IT professionals in the
Global business scenario in IT, ITES and BPO services and creating
institutional mechanisms for training, accreditation and grading based on
performance. Creating a common web portal for sharing information and
knowledge among Commonwealth countries. <O></O></span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>7. Creating a Commonwealth Connects Fund and Institute a
Commonwealth committee to address the above mentioned suggestions. <O></O></span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Conclusion<O></O></span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>The 53 countries of Commonwealth constitute a population
of 2 billion i.e. one third of the population of the Planet. This network of
independent nations in the past has taken up many initiatives for
interconnecting their heritage in art, culture, science and technology,
history, sports and way of living. Such a strong base of relationship and the
core competence of the countries can be further integrated into a very useful
partnership by providing connectivity through the Evolution of a Commonwealth
Knowledge Grid. This can address many common challenges for development such
as developing a knowledge society through quality education, providing
affordable quality healthcare to all, sustainable rural development through
cluster approach, providing transparent people-friendly-<wbr>governance and
above all evolution of an enlightened society for improving the National
Prosperity Index of all the partner countries. The model developed by the
Commonwealth Nations will have the potential to be extended to the entire
Planet. <O></O></span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>With these words, I inaugurate the Commonwealth Connects:
International e-Partnership <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Summit</st1:place></st1:City>.
My best wishes to all the participants of the <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Summit</st1:place></st1:City> for success in their mission of
creating a productive e-Partnership between and amongst all the Commonwealth
countries. <br>
<br>
May God bless you. <O></O></span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
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