World Bank Supports Romania’s Efforts to Increase Access to Knowledge

Contacts:

In Romania: Alexandra Caracoti (40 1) 201-0324

Email : acaracoti@worldbank.org

Bucharest, November 20, 2007 - The Ministry of Communication and Information Technology and the World Bank launched today the Local Community Electronic Networks (LCeNs) in Roata de Jos commune. The LCeN was officially launched by Iuliu Winkler, Minister of Communications and Information Technology, together with Benoît Blarel, World Bank Country Manager and Marin Ghidanac, Mayor of Roata de Jos Commune. This is the first of the 246 LCeNs  implemented under the Knowledge Economy Project scale-up phase which follows the successful implementation of the pilot LCeNs in nine communities. The commissioning of all LCeNs will be finalized by end December,  2007.  

“Gaps in benefits from the information society should not exist between one region or another, between urban and rural, between the haves and have-nots, men and women, the young and the elderly,” said Benoit Blarel, World Bank Country Manager for Romania.   “Information means opportunity and empowerment for all, and coupled with the right use of technology it offers a powerful key to improve our circumstances. Empowerment comes from access to information. This is now true in Roata de Jos, as it is for 254 communities and 1.8 million people in Romania and anywhere else where access to information already exists.”, he added.

The Knowledge Economy project is a US 69, 4 million project, of which US60 million are financed by the World Bank.  The objective of the project is to accelerate the participation of the knowledge disadvantaged communities in the knowledge based society and economy of Romania. To this end, the project supports a coherent set of multiple interventions combining Government intervention with active community participation. The project also contributes to the development of an information society, better prepared to integrate and compete within the EU.

“The event today marks an important moment in the implementation of the Knowledge Economy project. We appreciate the excellent collaboration with the World Bank in this project and at the same time, the Ministry would like to reaffirm its commitment to initiatives aimed at reducing digital disparities and sustaining development of information society in Romania,” said Iuliu Winkler, Minister of Communications and Information Technology. “Competitiveness can be defined at level of companies or individuals, but I think we need to make a step forward in defining competitiveness at community level. The Knowledge Economy project will contribute to creating competitive communities in Romania, which will be able to use to their own advantage the benefits of EU integration”, the Minister added.

The Local Community electronic Network (LCeN) is a computer network serving as a knowledge center that provides information as well as services benefiting the local authorities, schools, public libraries, citizens and small businesses. Each LCeN comprises access nodes in public administration, public library, public point of access to information, main secondary school as well as secondary schools in the commune villages. 

LCeNs will be supported by a Community Support Center offering on-line advice and support the LCeNs staff and users. The support focuses on technical and business questions in response to client demand. It also provides professional support for the different client-groups, specifically in the fields of education, public administration and business sectors. 

For Romania, now a member of the European Union, access to and use of  knowledge and new information technologies is an important part of its integration process and of catching-up with the living standards of the member states. Access to information and IT technologies is changing the way the world is working and leading to huge productivity improvements and providing employment opportunities where it was not thought possible a few years ago. The same is happening to Romania, and a key objective of the project is to make sure it happens everywhere in Romania so that the benefits from growth are shared by all its citizens.