Vision of Dr.Younus: ICT Empowerment Network

Nobel Prize Laureate and Managing Director of Grameen Bank, Professor Muhammad Yunus, announced during a special address to participants in the ITU TELECOM WORLD 2006 Opening Ceremony today, that Grameen will team up the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and other partners, including Cisco Systems, QUALCOMM and a newly formed consortium, Enclusion, to launch a virtual, global "ICT Empowerment Network" as part of their collaboration through the Connect the World initiative.

The newly launched ICT Empowerment Network represents the first concrete area of collaboration flowing from a broader agreement signed by Professor Yunus and ITU Secretary-General, Yoshio Utsumi earlier in the day. This agreement opens the door to broader cooperation between the two organizations, with the aim of combining Grameen's micro-credit expertise with ITU's experience in implementing ICT development programs and partnerships.

The ICT Empowerment Network seeks to implement the vision outlined by Professor Yunus when he received the ITU World Information Society Award on 17 May 2006. During his acceptance speech, Professor Yunus called on global ICT companies to take part in a global effort to combine the power of ICTs with micro-credit financing to help the poor to earn sustainable incomes. To help make this initiative a success, Grameen will reach out to more than 3,000 microfinance organizations and 100 million borrowers world wide, while ITU will lever the support and participation of its 191 member states and some 650 private sector members from around the world.

Please see the links below to know more:

http://www.itu.int/partners/telecom2006/empowerment.html
http://www.itu.int/partners/index.html
http://www.govtech.net/news/news.php?id=102689