Access to Information Means Opportunities and Chances for All

December 12^th, 2007

Dear Mr. State Secretary, Mr. Mayor, Mr. President of Brăila County, Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am delighted to be here today and participate, with the World Bank team working in the Knowledge Economy Project, at the launch of the Local Community Electronic Network (LCeN) in Ianca. As expressed during our previous LCeN launches in Roata de Jos, Baru and Sălasu de Sus, I would like to commend the Project Management Unit for its able implementation of the Knowledge Economy Project (KEP) and S&T Romania and AccessNet International, the companies supplying and installing the equipment and infrastructure both in Ianca and in other 33 communities in the South East Region. 

The Local Community Electronic Network is a computer network serving to provide information as well as services benefiting the local authorities, schools, public libraries, citizens and small businesses. A total of 255 networks, spread over a large number of communities throughout the country are being installed and ready to function by the end of December, this year. They are financed through the Knowledge Economy Project (total cost 70 million US$, loan 60millionUS$), which is a very innovative Government project supported by the World Bank, the first of its kind in Romania, also the first of its kind approved by the World Bank.

This project is not only about computers and information technology. It is about improving the lives of citizens in many ways, from education to access to funding resources for community projects, to better and more transparent public service delivery for citizens. Access to information and IT represent only the beginning of a period of economic and social changes. IT is one of the critical ways of social, cultural and economic accountability and empowerment.

This change has multiple facets and the possibility to benefit from high quality internet connection, at costs accessible for the community, represents just a beginning. Acquiring skills and confidence to navigate through the internet universe is another dimension of this change. It implies ability in using a computer, a keyboard, and even motor skills to handle the “mouse” and, obviously, a different way of looking at the world of information. Furthermore, there is a challenge generated by putting all these skills and abilities together for practical purposes and efficient use.  Such challenges are often ignored by approaches such as „let us equip and skills will follow.” So far, the Knowledge Economy Project has covered this first phase.   

However, this project is expected to offer a lot more: 

• Efficient education based on IT by preparing Romanian teachers and children for modernized teaching and learning techniques and for the skills required by the single European market economy;
• More efficient and transparent e-government services, so as to facilitate the citizen and business interactions with the administration.
• Online business solutions for SMEs, which would contribute to a higher productivity.
  

For Romania, now a member of the European Union, access to and use of new information technologies is an important part of its integration process and of catching-up with the living standards of the other member states. Public access and an increased role of the communities are also important when we speak about the use of internet for the purpose of community development and of providing adequate services.

Let me conclude by saying that gaps in benefits from the information society should not exist between regions, between urban and rural, between the haves and have-nots, men and women, the young and the elderly. Access to information means opportunity for all and, coupled with the right use of technology, it offers a viable solution to improve our living. Opportunities come from access to information. This is now true in Ianca as it is for 254 communities and 1.8 million people in Romania. And this is about technology for people.

Thank you!