Korea, Gemalto, IBM, L1, Microsoft and Pfizer signed agreements with the World Bank to collaborate on the initiative and will soon be bringing to developing countries cutting edge knowledge and resources to advance this agenda. Intel is also supporting the initiative and will be signing a similar agreement shortly. Discussions are underway with other leading companies and interested governments, in this open partnership.
The launch of the eTransform Initiative marks a new way of doing business for the World Bank. Instead of mainly relying on its own technical expertise and financial resources to assist developing countries, the World Bank will also help bring to bear cutting edge expertise and resources from leading corporations and governments. The eTransforn Initiative helps developing countries access global expertise through peer-to-peer networks of industry innovators and country leaders. It also fast tracks promising projects by funding their initial design.
“The eTransform Initiative is about tapping information technology, expertise and experiencesâ€, said Mohsen Khalil, Director of the World Bank Group's Global Information and Communication Technologies Department. “Government transformation is about change management facilitated by technology. This initiative will facilitate the exchange of lessons and experiences among various governments and industry players, to maximize impact and lower risks of ICT-enabled government transformation.â€
Over half of the world's 6.5 billion people now use mobile technology, and more than 60 percent of mobile phone users live in developing countries. While much progress has been made in establishing such connectivity infrastructure across the developing world, much less has been achieved in using ICTs to transform development efforts and services across sectors. Innovative use of ICTs, and mobile-based applications in particular, represent the new frontier in making development efforts more impactful by improving efficiency, transparency and accountability.
Examples of such innovations abound:
· In South Africa, companies like Wizzit have used mobile technology to make mobile banking services available to poor communities that never before had access to modern financial services. Today, more than 120,000 South Africans are able to send and receive payments and make purchases using Wizzit's simple, effective approach.
· After the recent earthquake in Haiti, the World Bank and partners were able to leverage technology to do rapid damage assessment. By collecting high resolution, satellite imagery within 24 hours of the event and mobilizing the volunteer technical community to analyze building and infrastructure damage, the Bank and its partners were able to mobilize resources and humanitarian assistance quickly and effectively.
· In Uganda, the government uses mobile technology to collect province-level data on tuberculosis, HIV, malaria and other diseases that is more accurate than the data available at the national level. The improved data quality has helped public health officials better allocate resources and medicines to where they are most needed.
eTransform Initiative launched: Gemalto, IBM, Intel, L1, Microsoft, and Pfizer Join Korea
Special Correspondent - 2010-04-27 10:25
Washington - The World Bank Group, six leading companies, and a national government announced plans to collaborate in support of a new eTransform Initiative. The initiative leverages the expertise of the public sector, the private sector, and academia to help developing countries use Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) (e.g. telecom networks, computers and mobile phones), to improve lives and transform development efforts. Seed funding from the Korean Trust Fund on ICT for Development has made this initiative possible. The initial focus of the initiative is ICT for governance, in particular eProcurement. In a second phase the scope will broaden to include issues such as food security and climate change.